Consumer complaint received 2018-08-01
Company: Freedom Mortgage Company
State: WA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: VA mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
Between late XX/XX/XXXX and mid XX/XX/XXXX, I was having a combination of issues that led to missing a payment. 2 weeks after purchasing a new vehicle with reasonable payments, I switched shifts from night shift to day shift, and had a slight loss in accrued overtime hours. Shortly thereafter, my fianc started having some health complications 18 weeks into her XXXX  that ended with the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. Between the time I had to take off in late XX/XX/XXXX/early XX/XX/XXXX to assist in hospital visits ( 6 days total ), the change in shifts and getting back on track, we fell behind enough that I had no choice but to miss the payment for XX/XX/XXXX and roll the funds into XX/XX/XXXX, and make up the missing payment with my tax return. I made a payment in XX/XX/XXXX with my then mortgage company ( XX/XX/XXXX ) who forwarded the payment to the company they sold my mortgage to, Freedom Mortgage. at this time, I am unaware that my mortgage has been sold to a " debt collecting '' mortgage company.

XX/XX/XXXX comes around. I try to process a payment, and am promptly informed that Freedom Mortgage is now my go-to company, that XXXX  no longer handles my payments. I call Freedom Mtg, they inform me they will no longer be accepting payments from me unless I go through their loss mitigation process. The young lady over the phone tells me that I will be required to make my normal monthly payments during the loss mitigation process, and agrees to send me a packet to fill out. She lets me know the logical solution freedom will come to will be to roll the missed payment to the end of my loan and let me carry on with normal payments. I receive the packet on the XX/XX/XXXX.  According to the packet, I have 30 days to fill out the information and return it to Freedom. I filled it out and mailed it back on XX/XX/XXXX.  Within a week, I have notices on my front gate, a mailbox full of forclosure notices, and letters coming in from an asset management company Freedom hired to myself and my " unidentified spouse ''.

XX/XX/XXXX comes around, I call to make a payment. I am informed that I still can not make a payment, and they still have not received a packet. Early XX/XX/XXXX comes around, still no word from Freedom, just a normal monthly statement telling me I am now a little further behind than I was. I call in, and am told that they still have not received the packet. I requested a fax number to send the documents to, and the lady on the phone tells me they do not have a fax number I can use, it all has to be processed via mail. So, I went home, filled out another packet, and mailed it again.

Around mid XX/XX/XXXX, I am contacted by a VA representative, who I explain everything above to. She informs me that she will be contacting Freedom on my behalf. I requested that she pushed to have me put on freedoms Single Point of Contact list. On the XX/XX/XXXX, I receive an email from my VA rep stating that Freedom still has not received a packet, and I have been requested a SPOC placement so I could directly deal with whomever at freedom is handling my file. Up to that point, every two weeks when I get paid, I call and am told I still may not make a payment, and am told they do not know if my packet has reached loss mitigation. They told my VA rep a different story. they told her it had not.

Within a week, I receive a letter and a new, same packet to fill out. Like magic, this letter finally has a fax number and email to send the packet to. I immediately begin sending the completed packet fax-to-fax and fax-to-email weekly. No word from them until late XX/XX/XXXX. I get a phone call and an actual voicemail from someone at Freedom. I call back, and am told, still no packet. I am borderline irate by this point, and tell the gentleman on the other end of the line he needs to call the Loss Mitigation department and clarify right now. He does, and is told the packet arrived, but there is a missing signature on one of the forms, a missing date on another, and Freedoms address missing on the XX/XX/XXXX form ( it wasn't missing, they pre-print their address on the line ). What I am understanding from this, is there were a couple small, easily corrected issues on the packet, and they tell me no packet was received in lieu of giving me the issues I need to correct. I fix the issue on one of the packet copies I have and re-send it. And re-send it. and re-send it again. Still no word on receiving it, no calls with voicemails, no letters outside of normal statements saying I am further behind, and am still met with the same answer when I call to make a payment- a solid NO.

XX/XX/XXXX, I receive a letter from Freedom stating that after 4 months since my VA representatives request to have me assigned a single person to talk to, I have finally been assigned a point of contact at freedom. XX/XX/XXXX, I am contacted by a new VA representative. I explain everything to her, she informs me that from here on, she will be the mediator between Freedom Mortgage and myself. I send her the packet, she forwards it, and is told that there are missing documents, which she immediately finds in the copy she emailed to Freedom.

Sunday, XX/XX/XXXX, a courier from the asset management company is out in front of the house, taping forclosure imminent notices that state I need to call Freedom to the gate and snapping pictures of my home. The next day, there are the usual letters in the mail saying still no packet received.

In short, I missed one payment, then have been not allowed to make any more payments. Nowhere in any research that I have done, and nobody I have talked to at the Veterans Affairs Administration, has heard of a mortgage company refusing to take money or threatening forclosure over one missing payment. I have a good, steady job, love my home, and do not want to lose it. it has been a gut feeling since this has all started, that Freedom Mortgage had already made up their mind to take the house, get the guaranteed portion from the VA loan. This has managed to take me from good credit to credit wrecked so bad that it will be a miracle if I am able to rent a house if they take the one I am currently in. I have had ONE voicemail from an actual human at Freedom Mtg in 7 months. Letters stating no packet was received when in reality only one or two lines just needed corrected. Now, not only am I behind with them, they have also informed me I will be picking up a XXXX dollar bill from the Asset management company they hired, whose actions have been just short of full blown harassment.

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