Consumer complaint received 2022-08-09
Company: FIFTH THIRD FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: KY
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
In XXXX, in the middle of COVID, forbearance options were provided to homeowners such as myself. As I was in a financial hardship due to COVID, I decided to use this option. At the time I was told I would have multiple options on how to settle this later, such as a restructured note, or a delay until the end of my note ( a balloon payment ). Starting the process was relatively easy, but getting any kind of feedback or assistance from my lender to settle things has been a nightmare. Essentially, I have never been given any option other than to restructure my mortgage to a XXXX YEAR note ( I only had XXXX years left on my original mortgage ). I was given no counseling on options, I was told it was impossible to speak with the loan modification person -- one day just a bunch of papers showed up via XXXX, and we were being coerced into signing them. The paperwork was not accurate ( one of the " owners '' was listed and required a signature -- my deceased father-in-law ), and I did not want to go from essentially a XXXX mortgage to a 40 year note. I contacted Fifth Third Bank ( my mortgage company ) and brought up the fact that I was not given any options and that even if I wanted to sign that paperwork it was not correct. After multiple phone calls after that, they sent NEW paperwork, that essentially was the exact same as the first round of paperwork, with slightly different payment amounts, but still a 40 year mortgage. I called them once again to state I did not want a 40 year mortgage, that I was never given any options, and they once again denied me the opportunity to discuss this with the loan officer doing forbearance situations. About a month later, I received a phone call from my mortgage company saying they are in the process of foreclosing on my home. Now, it is important to know that I have been making my mortgage payments, and on time for quite a while now. Even before I received the first round of paperwork, I have been making regular mortgage payments ( since essentially XXXX of XXXX ). AT NO TIME HAS ANYONE EVER THREATENED FORECLOSURE of my home, until this most recent phone call today. It has never even been a topic of discussion ... ever. Before COVID I had never missed a payment, I had never been late on a payment for literally XXXX years. During COVID and my hardship, I was told that basically I would not have to make payments during my hardship, up to 18 months I believe, and once my hardship was over there would be multiple ways to settle the situation. During COVID, my lender was extremely hard to get a hold of if I had any questions, and pretty evasive as to what my options would be when it was time to settle things. Now I feel like my lender is not only being evasive, but I feel they are purposefully attempting to slow play me into either a loan modification that I never wanted, or delay things until they can attempt to foreclose on my house, which has coincidentally gone WAY UP in value the last XXXX  years. In either case, it would be a great thing for them, but terrible for me. I have maintained contact with the lender throughout this whole process, have MADE MY PAYMENTS, and have attempted to settle the forbearance, but I feel like I am constantly being given the runaround, have not been ever given any options, and now, out of the blue, being threatened with a foreclosure. I feel this is an unfair and predatory practice, and I want to lodge a formal complaint against the lender.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation