Consumer complaint received 2021-05-07
Company: Freedom Mortgage Company
State: LA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: VA mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX a tree fell on my chimney and both then fell on my house. My home is not livable, and I need to make repairs. Some repairs have been made, but I do not have enough money to pay those contractors, and I do not have enough money to pay anyone else to complete the rest of the work. The representative that I spoke with explained that, for repairs over $ 40k, it is their policy to " monitor '' the claim, which means that they will release only a portion of the funds, and then I will have to have an inspection by their representative before they will release any more funds for any further repairs. I have been unemployed since last XXXX, and do not have any extra cash or credit to complete these repairs out-of pocket and then wait for reimbursement. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, being more than 50 % complete, I requested an inspection online. Contractors were already awaiting payment at this time but I was told to request inspection after 50 % of the work was completed. On XX/XX/XXXX, at XXXX I received a call from someone speaking broken English. I could make out the words mortgage company being repeated. The call was dropped and they did not call back. At first I assumed this was a spam call, and I was driving at the time. However, recalling the inspection request, I called back later to double check that this wasn't important. The person was very argumentative, and broken English, but I managed to discern " inspection cancelled ''. I have a broad experience with accents, and this persons shouting was barely understandable. 

I tried to access the online system to see what the status was, but the system gave me a message that said that my claim was no longer serviced by the site and to contact the mortgage company directly. I called the mortgage company back, and told them what happened, and they said they would schedule another " expedited inspection ''. Pertaining to the website, the agent said it must just be a temporary glitch. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, having heard nothing, I called again. The representative asked for my address to look up the claim, and after inputting that information, he informed me that their system was down and he was unable to help. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, having still not received any indication of an inspection. I called again and spoke with XXXX, who said that she was able to find my claim in their system but couldn't locate any information on the inspection. She said this was probably because their system was being updated. She was going to contact the inspection company and call me back. During this time, I had been repeatedly trying to access the website, with no results. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, having still received no word on an inspection, I again attempted to access the website. Again I received the note Your claim has been found, however, this claim is no longer serviced by this site. Please contact your mortgage company directly. Calling the office again, XXXX answered. She advised that the company is having problems with all accounts and she could take my information and call back when she knows something. Supervisors have told her if someone wants to escalate the claim, to tell them that theres nothing she can do, and theres no way to request an inspection. After continued discussion, she said she could send an email to the case processor and theyll get back to me if they hear anything. She did send an email to the case processor and to management. She also said there was no task assigned, even though Id called on the XXXX and repeatedly before, so she assigned a task with the due date of that day. She assured me that management would review it, and someone should be calling me that day. 

It is not 24 hours later, on the XXXX, and as expected there has been no phone call. It is easy enough for me to provide photographic evidence of the work done to date. I will provide that here as there is no way for me to do so with Freedom Mortgage. 

Freedom mortgage is not, at this point, withholding funds because I wont meet their requirements. They are simply withholding my funds and not allowing me to meet any requirements. I have taken more than reasonable steps to meet their requirements. They are withholding my funds indefinitely without any recourse, and they are already overdue in issuing my funds to me, had they provided the inspection when it was requested. I am in temporary housing, and am unable to continue work to get my home livable again. This temporary housing has a limit, and Freedom Mortgages actions are threatening to have me without a livable home because they will not allow me to progress repairs on the property.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation