Consumer complaint received 2018-05-21
Company: Caliber Home Loans, Inc.
State: TX
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Other type of mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
At the end of XX/XX/2017, after Hurricane XXXX hit the Texas coast, we applied for a disaster modification through Caliber Home Loans because my husband was unable to go to work for an extended time. At the time, we were told our account would be approved and not to worry about being behind on payments. The representative we spoke to told us to continue to make our escrow payments if we were able.While on the phone, I asked the representative if we should make a full payment for the month of XX/XX/XXXX, if we were back to being financially stable. She point blank told me no, and that all I needed to do was make escrow payments. After this, I called in at the XXXX  of every month for the next 6 months to check on the status of our modification and to make an escrow payment. Each time, I was assured that we would get approved and to ignore any foreclosure paperwork we received in the mail, which was at least one letter every week. Flash forward to XXXX, and we received notice via mail that our modification was denied and that we owed a total of almost {$9000.00} in back payments. When we called in to check on this, we were told that our payment would increase with the modification, so it was denied. This possibility was never even discussed with us. On XXXX XXXX, we were told that we could reverse the escrow payments we had been making for the past 6 months to apply to the amount owed, and that if we did this, we would still owe around {$4500.00}. We pooled our savings accounts, and my husband took a loan out against his retirement account to come up with the {$4500.00} we were told we actually owed. On XXXX XXXX we called in to make this payment. We were again assured that the amount of {$4500.00} was all we owed since the rest was in our escrow account. 5 days later, I called in to make our normal monthly payment. At this time, I was told we owed an additional {$67.00} to what we had already paid. Without arguing, I paid the extra {$67.00}. I was again assured that our account was current because the rest of the funds were in our escrow account. On XX/XX/XXXX, we called back in because we received a letter stating we were in preforeclosure. Again, we were told this was an error, and that our funds were in the process of being reversed. We were told to call back on Friday,XX/XX/XXXX to check on the status of our reversal. When I called on the XXXX, I was told that no one was available that could provide information about this process, but was yet again assured that it ( escrow ) was in the process of being reversed. Today, XX/XX/XXXX, we called back in to again check on the status of this reversal. This time, we spoke to a woman named XXXX who told us that the reversal was impossible because our escrow account had already been adjusted and audited for the year. She stated that this took place on XX/XX/XXXX and that the other agents we talked to were probably not privy to this information. We are now being told we still owe them this {$4000.00} ( thats weve continuously been told not to worry about ), and that the process of reversing our escrow now ( if its even possible ) will take months. At this point, our delinquency has not been reported to the credit bureaus, so our credit has not been affected. Yet. However, this entire issue could have been resolved if someone had better explained the disaster modification to us ( and the fact that we could be denied ), or if we had not been told we could reverse our escrow, or if there had been consistent communication on the part of Caliber Home Loans, period. At this point we are seeking the help of legal consul because of this gross miscommunication and lack of disclosure.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation