Consumer complaint received 2020-10-28
Company: Shellpoint Partners, LLC
State: NC
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: FHA mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
On or about XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing to place my mortgage in forbearance due to a hardship related to COVID-19. The Governor of NC issued a stay-at-home order to curb the spread of the virus. That order affected my businesses, just like many others. 

On or about XX/XX/XXXX, I began the process to remove my mortgage from forbearance due to sustained economic recovery of my businesses. Although I believed I could begin making regular payments again, I was not able to pay the full past due balance. A representative named XXXX XXXX provide instructions for me to obtain a modification. She also e-mailed me the necessary forms and the contact information for my assigned single point of contact, XXXX XXXX. During our phone call, XXXX mentioned that I should not expect to hear anything for two to three weeks due to the volume. She encouraged me NOT to call in and follow-up during those first few weeks due to the volume of requests. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I emailed the requested information per XXXX 's instructions to XXXX. I copied XXXX XXXX on the message. I waited two weeks without any response. I did not fee comfortable continuing to wait, so on XX/XX/XXXX, I called and spoke to a different representative. That person said that Shellpoint received my e-mail but their system rejected the attachments because I copied XXXX XXXX. That person directed me to send the message again, but this time ONLY to loss mitigation and NOT to XXXX XXXX. I sent the message again while I was on the phone with that person and the person verbally confirmed that the message came through with the attachments. The representative also informed that I could upload the documents to the Shellpoint Mortgage website, so I did that as well, just to be sure there wouldn't be any problem. At no point prior to that did anyone tell me that I could upload the documents or warn me that the attachments would be rejected if I copied my single point of contact on an email. 

On or about XX/XX/XXXX, I called Shellpoint again to check on the status of the modification request. I was told that the underwriter reviewed my file and requested four additional documents : 1. Taxpayer Consent Form 2. Spouse Contribution Form 3. XX/XX/XXXX Tax Return 4. P & L for my business I repeated the listed items back to representative to confirm that there was nothing else. He confirmed. Immediately after disconnecting the call, I submitted the first three documents. I had to update my business financials in order to submit the P & L. On or about XX/XX/XXXX, I submitted the P & Ls for my businesses both by upload and by email to XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I called again to check on the status and make sure the correct parties received my documents. My call was also prompted by a letter from Shellpoint that I received in the mail. That letter requested many additional documents besides the four items I previously confirmed by phone on XX/XX/XXXX. I asked to speak with a supervisor due to the inconsistent information. I was told that a supervisor would call me back. That never happened. After being routed around, I learned that my single point of contact had changed from XXXX XXXX to XXXX XXXX and because a new person was working on my file, the requests were different. I was briefly connected to Ms. XXXX by phone. She explained that the additional request was because some of the documents I was told to submit had to be signed and dated. The prior representatives had not informed me of that, so the documents lacked my signature and date, therefore, they were not acceptable. Even besides the documents needing a signature and date, there were additional requests that I was never told about prior to speaking with Ms. XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I once again submitted all requested documents, including the new ones that Ms. XXXX requested and corrections to the previously submitted documents. I waited a few days for Ms. XXXX to review the documents and then acquired about whether the file was with underwriting. It was not. Ms. XXXX requested yet another document. After discussion, she agreed that said document was not necessary and directed me to write an explanation letter indicating that I would not be using my spouses income. I did so and submitted it on XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, Ms. XXXX confirmed that my file was submitted back to underwriting. Another representative informed me by phone that the underwriting process should take only 2 to 3 business days. 

On or about XX/XX/XXXX, I called to inquire about the status because I still had not heard anything back. The representative said that underwriting needed my signed and dated P & Ls for my businesses. I informed the representative that I already submitted those twice and that Ms. XXXX confirmed she already had them. The representative could see then in the file and then placed me on hold for an extended period. The representative then came back and said that Ms. XXXX would call me back. On or about XX/XX/XXXX, Ms. XXXX left me a voicemail indicating that I needed to resubmit an updated P & L because my income and expense numbers changed from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX. 

I was baffled by this because a business obviously would have new income and expenses post over the course of a week. I can not imagine why they would have expected the numbers to be the same. As of today, I have submitted the P & Ls for the third time and dated through XX/XX/XXXX. 

In the meantime, while all this was going on, I attempted to make a payment so that my mortgage would not fall further behind and continue to accrue a higher past due balance. The Shellpoint website showed a message that payments were blocked. I called to inquire about why I can not pay online. The representative explained that I can not pay until the mortgage is current. So, it seems that no matter what I do, Shellpoint will not complete the modification process to bring my mortgage current and they also won't let me pay to prevent it from falling further behind.

I have zero confidence that Shellpoint will resolve this matter. I have tried to address it with them over and over again. I need government intervention.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation