Consumer complaint received 2020-08-27
Company: SELECT PORTFOLIO SERVICING, INC.
State: NH
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
I have two issues, first is the fact I purchased a single-family home backed by XXXX XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX. COVID-19 happens and I lose income, so I am looking for mortgage assistance to defer payments via the Cares Act with my current loan servicer SPS Servicing. I start to inquire and I find out my loan is no longer backed by XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX sold it in XX/XX/XXXX to a private corporation. I was not notified. I did not even know that could legally happen. Now I am being punished for it because my mortgage doesn't fall under the protections of the Cares Act. 

Issue two, I called SPS Servicing in XX/XX/XXXX because I lost two of my 3 jobs because of Covid-19. I still held one full-time job at XXXX hours a week. Because I still had 1 full-time job I did not qualify for any unemployment insurance even though I lost a lot of needed income from the loss of the other 2 jobs. 

When I called SPS Servicing in XXXX I was granted a short-term hardship and agreed to a deferral of the outstanding payments that are added to a non-interest-bearing balance, which will be due upon maturity or payoff of my loan. The 3-month deferment was for the months of XXXX, XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX. This was great but was only for 3 months. 

In XXXX, I called SPS Servicing again knowing I would not return fully to all of my employers for quite some time and my income was still affected. I was looking for a deferment for at least another two months, XXXX and XXXX, or more would be better hopefully in-line with what the Cares Act allowed - a 6-month deferral. 
SPS Servicing would not do anything further until I filled out a Request for Mortgage Assistance application. After a lot of back and forth with them, I received an Unemployment Forbearance Plan for 6-months. I found it to be a huge coincidence that the amount of my next 6 months ' payments on this Plan is exactly - down to the cent - of my normal monthly mortgage payment before COVID-19 ( remember this I come back to it later ). The SPS Unemployment Forbearance Plan is for deferring XXXX and XXXX payments with a balloon payment due in XX/XX/XXXX of XXXX, XXXX, and the XXXX payment all due. So, my next 6 months of payments are the exact amount of my normal mortgage payment, so I am not saving any money for the next 6 months, and they want me to somehow miraculously come up with 3 months of mortgage payments in XX/XX/XXXX. 

So I complained to SPS Servicing and got nowhere. Then I complained to my Senator who contacted SPS Servicing. Here are some highlights from what SPS Servicing wrote to the Senator : " The Unemployment Plan we offer is for customers who are receiving unemployment benefit income. This program is designed to provide borrower 's with a lower payment while they seek new employment. At the end of the potential plan, ( the customer ) is required to reinstate the account through any additional programs they may qualify for or by reinstating the account. '' My response - I am not unemployed, wasn't unemployed, and I have not received a penny from unemployment. My plan amount is the exact same amount my mortgage payment was before COVID-19 so I do not have a lower payment as you claim. You want me to reinstate my account by paying 3-months of mortgage payments in XX/XX/XXXX. How does this help me? 

Another quote to the Senator from SPS Servicing, " In your inquiry you referenced the U.S. CARES Act.The provisions of the CARES Act specific to mortgage payment relief are only applicable to " government-backed '' loans, such as those originated, owned or securitized by the XXXX, XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX. While your account may have previously had this designation, it is not currently a " government-backed '' loan under the CARES Act. '' My response - so you won't honor this even though my XXXX XXXX  loan was sold to a private company in XX/XX/XXXX under no fault of my own and I have no recourse for them doing so. So you are not operating in the spirit of the Cares Act. 

And my favorite quote to the Senator from SPS Servicing, " We received the first plan payment on XX/XX/XXXX, and we consider the plan accepted. '' My response - So I made a mortgage payment - how do you assume that was my first plan payment when my plan payment was the exact same amount of a normal mortgage payment. This is what I referred to earlier. There is too much assumption in that statement. They don't allow you to accept or decline the Plan in any way, and good luck talking to anyone helpful when you call their customer service. 

All I was looking for when this started was to be allowed the rules of the Cares Act for my mortgage which was XXXX XXXX  backed when I started my mortgage in XXXX. If SPS Servicing was operating in the spirit of the Cares Act they would have honored the 6-month deferral, but instead, they want to play games and encourage the loss of my home during a global pandemic.

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