Consumer complaint received 2023-07-18
Company: Mr. Cooper Group Inc.
State: PA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
My mortgage was originally opened in XX/XX/XXXX with my local bank- XXXX XXXX. I received notification XX/XX/XXXX that my mortgage was purchased/transferred to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX subserviced by Mr. Cooper. Although I was disappointed at this change due to having a local contact, I unfortunately did not have any choice in the matter. I continued to make my payments without issue. I will point out that it is extremely difficult to pinpoint who I am supposed to contact in regards to my mortgage at this time. I was told XXXX XXXX owns my mortgage, but that XXXX XXXX XXXX is the servicer. But then I also am submitting my payments to Mr. Cooper. And all of those companies seem to be doing business as XXXX XXXX XXXX? The website I log into is under XXXX, but my payments are sent to Mr. Cooper. Who is responsible for actually taking care of my concerns? In all of the mortgages I have owned or been aware of through friends/family, there is ONE servicer and not all of these " shells '' which are incredibly confusing and in my opinion, should be illegal. 

Regardless, my home originally appraised for {$780000.00} in XX/XX/XXXX as part of the original purchase. ( I understand this appraisal is no longer valid- please understand the purpose in preliminary calculations. ) My current loan value is approximately {$630000.00} - for a ballpark loan-to-value ratio of 81.79 %. I have spent roughly {$60000.00} in improvements since I purchased the home. In my opinion and preliminary calculations, my home 's value should easily surpass the 80 % LTV minimum required to eliminate PMI. I contacted Mr. Cooper in XX/XX/XXXX to request that my PMI be removed in light of the improvements that I made to the property. I was first told by the PMI department that they will need to submit in writing the improvements and amounts spent to XXXX XXXX in order to have PMI removed. I am told that since the amounts are so close, I shouldnt need to complete any appraisals but that they will check into it and call me back. No one called me back. I followed up two weeks later and this time I was told that the original agent did not outline the improvements in specific-enough terminology. I reviewed the amounts/dates again with the new agent and was told they would submit and get back to me. No one calls me back. It is now XX/XX/XXXX when I contact Mr. Cooper again. This time a new agent apologizes for the false information I was previously given. I spend over an hour on the phone with her, again outlining the situation and the dates/amounts of the improvements. The new agent indicates I will need to have an informal appraisal completed. This would mean that someone would come to the house and walk around the exterior. I would not need to be home and the person would not need to see inside of the home. This would not cost me any money. I agreed to this process and she submitted that request. I am told someone will call me within 30 days with further information. After 30 days and no one calling me, I again contact Mr Cooper in XXXX XXXX. At this point, I am told that ALL of the previous agents were incorrect. Because my loan is less than one year old, I would need to obtain and pay for a complete formal appraisal which would run ballpark of {$500.00}. They can not explain why I was given false information, nor why I was never contacted about the previous requests that were submitted. I agree to the formal appraisal and Mr Cooper says they will expedite the request. I am contacted by the appraiser ( XXXX. ) and we set date for XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX. comes to my home and takes pictures/measurements of all of the rooms and exterior. He asks about improvements we have made. He says we should get the results of the appraisal in a week or two from the bank. We arent sure who he means by the bank but assume it will work itself out. I contact Mr Cooper one week later for an update they havent received the appraisal report from XXXX. I contact Mr. Cooper again at the two week, three week, and four week marks each time I am told that they havent received the appraisal report from XXXX. As it was then a month since the appraisal, I contacted XXXX. directly to inquire about the status of the report. He tells me that roughly one week after the appraisal, he received a cancellation from the bank and was told not to proceed with the report. XXXX. told me that he had a question in regards to a Maintenance Agreement. ( My home is roughly 1.5 miles back a private legal right-of-way which is in the deed. There is no Maintenance Agreement as it is a deeded right-of-way. We do not live in a neighborhood with HOA, etc. which would necessitate a Maintenance Agreement and I have never heard of this before. ) XXXX. tells me that he contacted the bank to inquire how he should proceed with valuing the property with this scenario, and the bank told him to cancel the entire appraisal. I immediately call Mr. Cooper and relay the same information. I am told they have no record of the appraisal being canceled, and they are still waiting on the report. After explaining everything multiple times to different reps, they finally agree to submit a request to XXXX XXXX for an update. I go back-and-forth with Mr Cooper over the course of the next two weeks and spend many hours on the phone with different agents. Eventually I am told that XXXX XXXX responded - the appraisal was canceled due to Lack of Access to the property. They have no idea why seeing as XXXX. accessed my property and even took pictures. They submit more requests to XXXX XXXX to hopefully salvage the appraisal since XXXX. already had most of the report finished. At this point I even tried to contact XXXX XXXX directly and was told they cant help borrowers directly and I need to contact my loan servicer. Over the past one week, I was told that Mr Cooper agents were submitting a Voice of the Customer type of complaint to escalate my problem to management. On XX/XX/XXXX, I receive an email from a new company called XXXX inviting me to schedule an appraisal with a different appraiser entirely ( XXXX. ). Their website is malfunctioning, so I google the company XXXX. directly. This company has a slew of complaints from previous customers for various reasons such as poor customer service, lack of communication, timeliness issues, and even grossly undervalued appraisals compared to local comps. Again I contact Mr. Cooper for clarification the agent doesnt know anything about any new appraisals. They still dont have any updates from management, and they are still hoping to salvage the previous partial appraisal. I communicate my discomfort with the new assigned appraiser XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I receive a call from a Team Lead at Mr. Cooper who relays that I need to schedule a brand new appraisal with XXXX. I again explain the problem and my concerns regarding XXXX, inquiring why I cant use previously assigned appraiser XXXX. The Team Lead agent tells me she doesnt know, but she will again document my concerns and escalate. As of today, I still do not have any resolution to why- or how long- I will continue to pay PMI despite the value of my home being satisfactory for cancellation. Further, the loan is now over one year old which means that according to Mr. Cooper 's original statement, the PMI should simply be removed based on description/values of improvements made to the property and no formal appraisal should be required. 

It has been approximately 4.5 months since I initially requested for my PMI to be removed from my loan. I have spent roughly {$420.00} in PMI premiums during that same time period for which I do not feel that I am liable. On top of this, I must take off another day of work to accommodate a brand new appraisal, which I am told will cost upwards of {$500.00} and will take another month to complete start-to-finish with an appraisal company XXXX. that I am not comfortable with. From the beginning of my write up, please remember that my original ballpark LTV ratio was 81.79 %. All of the above phone calls ( XXXX total hours ) I have spent on the phone with Mr. Cooper over the last 4.5 months are in regards to the value of my home increasing by less than a mere 2 %- when I have spent upwards of {$60000.00} in improvements to the property. Mr. Cooper and/or XXXX XXXX have failed to follow the requirements set forth in The Homeowner 's Protection Act of 1998 for timely removal of PMI within 30 days of the homeowners request.

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