Consumer complaint received 2017-02-16
Company: NATIONSTAR MORTGAGE LLC
State: FL
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Other mortgage
Issue: Loan modification,collection,foreclosure

Complaint:
We purchased our home in XXXX XXXX for {$420000.00}. We financed {$350000.00} ( 5.875 % interest rate - 30 yrs fixed ). From XXXX XXXX to mid XXXX, we made regular payments on the loan ; but due to salary cuts, the failing economy, and other life changing events in mid XXXX, we began falling behind. We were 3 payments late when we tried to obtain a loan modification. At first, XXXX told us that we did not qualify for a modification because we were n't significantly late on payments. They told us we had to stop making payments to qualify. We stopped making payments and continuously tried to obtain a modification. After 3 different " trial payment plans, '' on XXXX XXXX, we received a letter from XXXX stating that we did not quality for a modification because our income-to-debt ratio did not satisfy their criteria. We were now 14 months behind on payments. The account was transferred over to Nationstar in XXXX. We received a letter from them stating that we were past due in the amount of {$89000.00}. They put us on another trial plan and we began making payments on XXXX XXXX. We made 13 trial payments from XXXX XXXX to XXXX XXXX ( despite being told that the trial period would last only 3 months ), before we received our modification approval on XXXX XXXX. At the end of that year, the XXXX we received from Nationstar stated that our end-of-year balance for this mortgage was {$290000.00}. 
The terms of the modification were stated as follows : The new amount payable under the note would be {$390000.00}, including all unpaid amounts. {$290000.00} would be interest-bearing and {$94000.00} ( non-interest-bearing ) would be deferred to the end of a 40-yr fixed mtg at 4.625 %. NEW/UNPAID PRINCIPAL BALANCE. Any past due amounts as of the end of the trial period, including unpaid interest, real estate taxes, insurance premiums, and certain assessments paid on your behalf to a third party, will be added to your mortgage loan balance. If you fulfill the terms of the trial period including, but not limited to, making any remaining trial period payments, we will waive ALL late charges that have accrued and remain unpaid at the end of the trial period. 
Although this huge increase in the note should have raised our suspicion at the time, a combination of XXXX and misleading information from Nationstar led us to sign this modification as it was. 
Because we knew several people who had obtained principal adjustment loan modifications at the time and we had no detailed explanation from Nationstar, we understood that this clause meant that ALL unpaid late amounts would be waived, leaving us with the approximate original {$290000.00} unpaid principal figure after the modification. Furthermore, each year ( from XXXX-present ) we received a XXXX from Nationstar stating that our remaining principal balance was under {$290000.00}. Until present, when we log into the Nationstar website to pay our mortgage, there is a bold section that states that our principal unpaid balance is currently {$280000.00} and that we have over {$100000.00} equity in the home. We 've been making consistent, timely payments since the modification. 
It was n't until last month, when we applied for a refinance, that we noticed the discrepancy with what we thought we still owed - and what the Nationstar website led us to believe - and the actual payoff amount. We requested a loan payoff quote from Nationstar, which showed that our unpaid principal balance was just over {$370000.00}, consisting of {$280000.00} unpaid principal balance and {$94000.00} in lender paid expenses. 
We feel that they intentionally misled us into a loan modification that only benefited them, the lenders. Now, instead of owing {$280000.00} on 18 remaining years of a 30 year mortgage, we owe {$370000.00} on 35 remaining years of a 40 year mortgage.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation