Consumer complaint received 2018-03-13
Company: Flagstar Bank, N.A.
State: CO
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: FHA mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX I called my mortgage company, XXXX, to inquire if there were any hardship options. I was informed that I could download the docs from the website and that they had to be submitted via US Mail. I promptly did and mailed every thing that they required ( hardship letter, XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX bank statements, Uniform Borrower Assistance Form and the Expense Breakdown, Borrower Acknowledgement and Agreement and XX/XX/XXXX taxes ). The customer service rep I initially spoke to said the entire process would take 7 days as I was concerned about having a late payment remark being reported to the credit reporting agencies. I then followed up with a phone call and was advised that nothing was happening yet. I then received a letter 10 plus days later stating that my hardship application was incomplete and they requested that I sign the hardship letter, and forward the following additional documents : XX/XX/XXXX tax return, a letter from my roommate, XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX 's bank statements. Which again I promptly did. I then began calling to inquire as to the status of the hardship request once again. I was informed that the documents would be reviewed after 5 days of receiving them and downloading them and, if all documents were received it would then take underwriting 5 days to render a decision. My file was assigned to XXXX but I learned approximately 15 days later she was removed. About another week after that I was informed it was because my file had been closed. In the meantime I was getting daily phone calls from their collection agency and they were threatening to foreclose on my property. Over ten days later, and after many phone calls from me to Flagstar, I received another letter in the mail stating that my hardship application was still missing information and now they asked for the letter from my roommate to be signed by myself as well ( which they should have just asked for in the first place ) and now they wanted my XX/XX/XXXX bank statement which I hadn't even received yet as it was only around the XX/XX/XXXX. I sent all the other documents they requested and again followed up with phone calls every morning and was told that they could see that documents were received but they did not know what the documents were or if they were sufficient that they had to be downloaded to my file then after 5 more days underwriting would review them and render a decision. Still all the while receiving collection calls and threatening foreclosure because by now I was 2 months behind in my mortgage payment ( XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX ). The following are email correspondence that I sent to Flagstar : XX/XX/XXXX email XXXX, I apologize for taking longer than expected to get you these documents. However, I was informed during my last phone all on Wednesday, that you were now requesting my XX/XX/XXXX tax return. Additionally, the hardship letter that you now asked to be signed was at my work and I was out sick with the XXXX XXXX XXXX last week and my first day back was graveyard shift on XX/XX/XXXX (  I have the doctor note, proof of sick time from work and a prescription for XXXX ). I hope that now you have all the documents that you need to assist me. I am under so much more duress and stress now that I am two months behind in my payments without any resolution. I really would appreciate your attention to this matter. I look forward to speaking with you at your earliest convenience. 

XX/XX/XXXX email Good morning, Last Sunday night/Monday morning I emailed another batch of requested documents. As I stated in my previous email, I was not aware these documents were requested until I made a phone call to you inquiring as to the status of my hardship application. I then called the hardship department Monday morning at XXXX XXXX and was informed that the documents had been received and were being downloaded to my file and that someone from the under writing office would call me within 5 days. Additionally, I was informed that XXXX was removed from my file without a reason or a name of the person replacing her. I had not received a call by Friday, therefore I called the hardship department again at approximately XXXX XXXX as I did not want to wait another weekend to have resolve. I spoke to XXXX who informed me that my file had been closed due to not receiving " requested '' documents which I informed her I had emailed on Sunday night/Monday morning and called to confirm that they had in fact been received. XXXX then advised me that, among other things, my hardship request had been closed for failure to provide documents that I wasn't even aware had been requested. She informed me that the XXXX tax return needed to be signed ( which was the first time I had been asked to do this ) and resent and that the previous letter from my brother/roommate now needed to state that there was no lease agreement and that he was my roommate and that I now had to sign this letter as well. I asked why no one had called to request this information and explained that no one was in touch with me to request the additional documentation. I feel like I am just getting the run around from your company. I have provided all requested documentation with due diligence and in a timely manner because I am aware that time is of the essence just to find out when I call in that something else is now being required ( i.e., a SIGNED hardship letter, XXXX tax returns, then SIGN XXXX tax returns, XXXX and XXXX bank statements in addition to the initially requested XXXX and XXXX bank statements, now XXXX 's bank statements, a letter from my brother/roommate that he pays rent, then the letter has to state that there is no lease agreement and we are roommates, then I need to SIGN the letter as well ). I was initially told at the end of XXXX that this process would take 7 days and not to send in a partial payment and now I am hearing words such as foreclosure and default and representatives asking me to make a full monthly payment. I don't understand what exactly your hardship department 's purpose is at this point other than creating additional hardship and duress. I have received no resolve only requests for additional documentation time and time again. When will my file be reviewed? When can I expect answers and stop receiving requests from your department? It is not my fault that your representatives are not properly asking for complete documentation and thereby prolonging my request and hardship. This seems very unprofessional to me as if you are not trying to assist me at all but rather make me lose my home by default. I feel I am being held hostage by all of these unnecessary frivolous requests that should have been requested properly initially. When I initially called to inquire about hardships I felt that Flagstar had a understanding and realization that people do experience undue hardship and specifically because you have a department set up to assist customers that find themselves in this way. I read your paperwork and you offered so many alternatives on how you could help. It was laid out so professional and welcoming. I was so relieved and felt that help was possible, in reach and just around the corner. Here we are nearly 8 weeks later and there is no resolve. Like I said, I feel that are creating additional hardship and unnecessary requests and holding my feet to the fire with threats of foreclosure. Where is your responsibility and accountability for dragging this out? That's right, there is none, you are a huge multi million dollar company and I am at your mercy. Please find attached the XXXX XXXX tax return and an updated letter from my brother/roommate now SIGNED by me as well. I have not received my XX/XX/XXXX bank statement yet. Hopefully, you can proceed without it since I have now sent you XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. 

XX/XX/XXXX email Phone calls : XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX   XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX The above calls are just the most recent ones made by me to flagstar regarding my hardship application and inquiring whether the most recent documents had been received. Not one time was I ever informed that my application was incomplete until I received a letter in the mail yesterday. All I've been told was that it took 5 days from XX/XX/XXXX to get the documents downloaded to my file and that, in fact, they had been downloaded, THEN underwriting would have another 5 days to review the documents and that it could then take 30 days for underwriting to render a decision. In all my phone calls to your representatives I was never informed that my application WAS STILL NOT COMPLETE. This is the most unprofessional company I have EVER had to deal with. With such an important fiduciary duty as servicing my mortgage loan and YET YOU OFFER a hardship program?! I can't fathom WHY? All you do is cause MORE HARDSHIP. I will be contacting the better business bureau and the consumer financial protection bureau about your seedy practices. I have borrowed money from my retirement account to cover my XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX mortgage payments and XX/XX/XXXX is being sent in the mail in a few days. You have absolutely ruined my credit now due to causing me to become 3 payments behind in anticipation of forgiveness by way of HARDSHIP. Where, in fact, you had NO INTENTION of rendering a decision and I don't see how you at this point ever intended to assist me. I have all of my calls recorded and have kept all of my correspondence. Your company will NOT come out of this unscathed. Additionally, the letter I received yesterday DOES NOT EVEN STATE what is missing from my hardship application at this point. You have the most ridiculous business practices of any company I have ever been involved with. You can't sell my loan fast enough and what's more unfortunate is that I can't even refinance now due to your reporting my late payments to the credit reporting agencies. The fees you have incurred for me are nothing more than theft and you have caused them to be incurred purposefully knowing that you had no intention of ever assisting me with this " hardship '' only creating one. You were probably hoping for me to become so far in arrears that I would lose my home so that you could foreclose on me. That couldn't be more obvious and easy to claim with all of your red tape, no customer service skills and very doubtful any hardship program to begin with. 

None of my emails were ever answered or addressed. I received a letter a few days later that my file was still missing documents. In the meantime I took a loan from my retirement account to pay XX/XX/XXXX andXX/XX/XXXX payments. I have still not made XX/XX/XXXX payment. I felt I had to do this because they  were trying to foreclose on me and it seemed to me that were dragging this on purposefully to do just that. I was terrified and feared I would lose my home it I did not come up with the money. All of the customer service reps I spoke to XXXX, XXXX, XXXX and others were just giving me the run around. They never told me anything other than what is stated herein above.

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