Consumer complaint received 2017-07-29
Company: NEW YORK COMMUNITY BANK
State: CA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Home equity loan or line of credit (HELOC)
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
We were notified by New York Community Bank inXX/XX/XXXX that our HELOC was going to " expire '' in XX/XX/XXXX and the entire amount would be due at that time. Our original loan documents state the loan terms would end in XXXX. I called and was told this was not true and the letter had been sent in error and that nothing is due. We had filed for bankruptcy and the loan was discharged in XXXX and not re-affirmed. They said all a payments were voluntary. We called many times and were told by New York Community Bank that they were no longer doing any of their HELOC loans and we had better find another lender. We were then sent a new letter stating that our loan would expire in XX/XX/XXXX and this letter referenced our Bankruptcy. We contacted our bankruptcy attorney and she stated the bank violated the Bankruptcy stay by sending us the first letter. But to sue them we would have to pay to do so. We are struggling financially and have missed some payments. She suggested we offer them money to try and buy the lien. We have made offers and now they wo n't even return our calls. They sent an appraiser to our house and when we received a copy of the appraisal they compared our home to homes in a different city with views of the ocean and another home that was one bedroom larger than ours. I spoke with the appraiser when he came in Mid XXXX. Then when we asked for assistance the single point of contact sent us a letter stating they may do an appraisal and requested we pay for it. The appraisal had already been completed at that time. Our HELOC was an interest only loan which was/is predatory in nature. When I tried to get assistance from them back in XXXX they informed me the Obama program did not pertain to HELOCs. I then found an article stating that New York Community Bank was selling all of its HELOCs that it had acquired from AmTrust to XXXX XXXX this article was dated XX/XX/XXXX the banks deal will go through in the third quarter. So it looks like NYCB is trying to call all HELOCs due and not sell them to XXXX XXXX. Ours was one of those as were many others. But they called all of the HELOCs due and gave consumers three months to pay these amounts and if they do n't they can foreclose. What are families going to do? I do n't have XXXX XXXX dollars to give them and how does one of the largest ( wealthiest ) banks in the US not work with families. They wo n't even return my calls.
History : After our bankruptcy discharge they refused to send us statements and they punished us by refusing to credit my payments which were paid in full on our account which I was able to access on-line they broke up our payments into small amounts and said they were short payments. When I called no one I talked to could explain it and they said they would look into it and call me back ... they never did. I have attached a copy of what I was able to print out. I am not able to access my " account '' at all for the last year.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation