Consumer complaint received 2018-08-24
Company: Seterus, Inc.
State: FL
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Sub-issue: Their investigation did not fix an error on your report

Complaint:
I had a mortgage with Seterus and was never late on payments. In XX/XX/XXXX, Hurricane Irma hit Florida and Seterus provided me with a disaster forbearance on XX/XX/XXXX. The loan is backed by XXXX XXXX which states that " the servicer must suspend the reporting of loan delinquencies to the credit bureaus while payments are suspended during an active ( disaster ) forbearance plan ''. 

IMPORTANT : During a phone call to Seterus in XX/XX/XXXX, I asked the Seterus agent what would happen if I sell the property during the forbearance. The agent said that it would be OK and it will would not affect my credit report at all. Furthermore, she did not say that I needed to pay the deferred payments before selling the home or they would report the loan as delinquent. She said that XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, I received the forbearance agreement. On page 1, item 2, it says Pay Seterus regular installments of {$0.00} between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. It also says on page 2, item 6, that this agreement may have credit reporting consequences. I called Seterus right away and the customer service agent said that this is a disaster forbearance and Seterus would not report missed payments on my credit report. She said to disregard that. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, Seterus sent me a loan payoff letter. It does not say anything about the loan being in deferment. It does not say that I needed to pay the deferred payments before closing. ***The payoff letter says to make payments when due and according to my forbearance agreement, the payments due were {$0.00} between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. See Attached " Seterus Forbearance.pdf ''. 

In XX/XX/XXXX, I sold the home and the mortgage was paid in full ( during the disaster forbearance plan ). 

In XX/XX/XXXX, I was shopping for a new home and mortgage. I was told by a mortgage broker that I can not be approved for a mortgage because Seterus had reported my loan as having a maximum delinquency of 60-89 days on my XXXX and XXXX  credit reports. He said federal guidelines do not allow any mortgage delinquencies within the past 12 months. This was the first of my knowledge that Seterus had reported the delinquency on the loan. So I called Seterus and they said that although the loan was paid in full, the loan was not current when it was closed, that the deferred payments would be reported as delinquent. 

I disagree because they needed to apply the check for {$92000.00} to my loan, then cancel the forbearance plan, then close the loan in their system. So technically, it was paid in full before it was closed. 

It's wrong to offer a forbearance plan and say that it will not affect my credit. Then I pay the loan in full during the forbearance. Then they tell the credit reporting agencies that I was delinquent. This is not right. All they said was that I needed to pay all of the deferred payments before the forbearance expiration date of XX/XX/XXXX. I did that by sending them a check for {$92000.00}. 

Additional information : - The reports make no mention of a disaster forbearance plan. Both XXXX and XXXX  show the status as maximum delinquency of 60 days. 

- Seterus sent me a forbearance agreement which makes no mention of what happens if I sell the house during forbearance. Specifically, it does not say that the payments need to be current if I sell the house during the forbearance period. Additionally, this requirement is not shown anywhere online within XXXX website. 

- Had I known that deferred payments would be reported as delinquent, I would have paid them in full prior to selling the home. Also, if I had have known if they were to report delinquencies my credit report, I would have not applied for the forbearance in the first place. I have never once made a late payment during the entire length of the loan and I have never made a late payment on any other loan or credit card. I've always paid every account on time.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation