Consumer complaint received 2017-07-10
Company: NATIONSTAR MORTGAGE LLC
State: NJ
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Reverse mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
My name is XXXX XXXX XXXX, and I am the daughter of XXXX XXXX XXXX. I am the executrix of her estate. My mother opened a reverse mortgage on XX/XX/XXXX through a company named XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. A loan that should have been voided after it was brought to the attention of the lender she was mentally incompetent as ruled by the courts of New Jersey. However, they continued to prey on her. Once the loan had been completed, it was then turned over to XXXX XXXX XXXX. According to XXXX XXXX XXXX, my mother was given a lump sum of money for her home. I investigated it when I was named my mother 's legal guardian in XX/XX/XXXX after she was diagnosed with XXXX. I presented all needed documentation to allow XXXX XXXX XXXX to speak with me ; it was not acknowledged. I requested proof of this payment - It was never supplied. I confirmed with other banks my mother dealt with ( during the period ) no such amount was ever transferred into any of her accounts. Even with the courts demanding answers and contacting the company themselves - they refused to speak to me and would only talk to my mother. <P/>We were repeatedly told to forward all legal information to the legal department - which we did several times in XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. In XX/XX/XXXX the account was later sold by XXXX XXXX XXXX to Nationstar d/b/a Champion Mortgage after being found guilty of fraud and predatory loan practices for reverse mortgages. We have never been contacted that the mortgage changed companies. My mother passed away on XX/XX/XXXX. Once again I reached out to find out what needed to be done with the home being that as her surviving family I was living with her to take care of her. We did not receive a response from either company. In the beginning of XX/XX/XXXX letters from Champion started arriving. They were statements of money owed. I reached out to Champion again to inform them that my mother had passed. They claimed during each call that it would be noted. However, it never was. They would send three party vendors to the home to speak to my late mother. I would tell them she passed away. They would jot information down on their notebooks but still return in the next couple of weeks. Eventually, they stopped ringing the bell and just tossed their literature on the porch and leave. A year went by as I continued to reach out for Champion, and still to no avail. I then enlisted the help of an attorney. He reached out to Champion in writing, and they refused to provide him with any information or items requestsed. The notices stopped, but I did not as I wanted to make sure that everything was handled properly. I was informed that I would be granted a certain amount of time after her passing to settle everything and decide if I wanted to keep the home. If I wanted to maintain the home, I was supposed to be able to buy it at a discounted price. I still reached out to Champion over the next five years to let them know A ) My mother passed B ) To supply them with the legal documents showing I was the handler of her estate C ) That I wanted to keep the home. During this time also due to my mother 's willing of the property to me, The probate court of NJ transferred the home to me and issued me a new deed. It officially became mines in XX/XX/XXXX. I continued to reach out to Champion, calling the numbers on the notices left and still would get the runaround. Told to fax my documents to legal and then being told they never got them. On XX/XX/XXXX, I called Champion as I normally had to again ask for guidance on what to do with the home. They again told me to fax over documentation. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a notification that stated current resident. I started to throw it away as junk mail, but something told me to open it. It was a notification that the house was going up for sheriff 's sale on XX/XX/XXXX. My daughter looked it up on the county 's website, and it was confirmed. We were never notified about this until this advertisement. No official letters were sent, no one came by the house, no documents were left. I contacted Champion once again, and they stated the documentation never made it to them again. They asked could I please send it over one more time. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a package from Champion stating that they received my request for information on satisfying the reverse mortgage loan balance. They stated they were willing to offer a discounted rate for sale, however, they could not mortgage it for me. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received another notification from Champion stating they had gotten the request to update the account authorization for the estate. I called and spoke to the same representative that had assisted me on XX/XX/XXXX. She told me to write a hardship letter and submit it to her. I wrote the letter and faxed it over that evening. The letter stated that I was requesting a postponement of the Sherriff 's sale so that I could find a mortgage or a way to purchase the house. I was told to give the letter some time. I did, nothing was resolved. I obtained another lawyer as my previous one retired during this whole drawn out process. My current attorney confirmed that the sale was not postponed. He requested the original documentation of the sale. I contacted Champion again to have them sent. On XX/XX/XXXX I went down to the XXXX County sheriff 's department and postponed the sheriff 's sale until XXXX/XXXX/XXXX. Also, I also finally received what was being alleged as the original paperwork. I question the originality of the documents sent to me by Champion because it states the amount of the mortgage at the signing was {$340000.00}. However, according to the documentation that was found by XXXX County court system, the actual amount XXXX XXXX XXXX claimed to have given her was {$220000.00} on XX/XX/XXXX. {$120000.00} of the {$340000.00} was paid to satisfy my mother 's debt with the bankruptcy court. The bankruptcy was then closed. However, does not leave a balance of XXXX. Instead, that leaves a balance of {$220.00}, XXXX that should have been given to my mother ( if a lump sum was paid ). Also, this would also mean that {$120000.00} would have been paid back to XXXX XXXX XXXX to lower the amount owed. In which case this becomes a regular mortgage, not a right reverse mortgage as my mother was lead to believe. Point of note a XXXX XXXX evaluation/appraisal of the property in XX/XX/XXXX stated the value of the asset was only {$87000.00}. There were no modifications or repairs made between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. Therefore the amount is highly questionable. Why would an organization give out so much money, on a property that did not have a value to this sum? Also, did they even pay for the original amount that was meant to go to my mother? Why were we not given proper notification? I have many questions and grievances with XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, and Champion Mortgage. The predatory actions of all three companies have been documented, and this case should be investigated. They could not produce answers when I filed my first complaint, so they opted to state the person filing it ( my daughter ) was not an authorized person to speak to. This is AFTER they updated CFPB twice they were working on a response. They had no response, they were looking for a loophole to avoid this case being looked into any further.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation