Consumer complaint received 2021-09-10
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: NY
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
Hello. 

This is in regard to a Deferred Mortgage during Covid, XXXX. As many Consumers I was laid off in XX/XX/XXXX until XX/XX/XXXX. ( 5 months ) My boss said if I wanted to go back on the payroll he could only afford to pay me half of what I was making. 

I had contacted Chase Bank sometime late XX/XX/XXXX regarding the Deferred Mortgage to discuss the details. There was NO ONE available in the bank so all my correspondence was done via phone. Up until today there is still NO ONE that you can speak to in person. Every person I spoke to ( and there were MANY ) said that I will not be paying any additional money on my mortgage. Originally they rolled it out as a 3 month deferment and then they extended it to 6 months when I agreed to the deferment. 
I confirmed with so many people at Chase that they would suspend my payments of {$1900.00} month and that I would pay the same amount when I started to make payments in 6 months. Everyone told me absolutely YES. What they DIDN'T tell me is that I would be paying interest on top of the deferred payment. I called the Chase Bank 6 months later to start paying my mortgage. At that time one of the Mortgage reps said we can extend it to 9 months. I reiterated that there are no additional charges and he said NO. I called in 9 months to start paying the loan again and they said they had extended it to 12 months. If my salary had not been cut in half I would never have agreed to any of the extensions. After 12 months I called XX/XX/XXXX to start payment and they told me I had to pay an additional month as they did not received the paperwork on XX/XX/XXXX which I did not receive. Originally I was told to call XX/XX/XXXX which is exactly what I did and they refused to not include the XXXX month in the deferent. I was the one that was always PRO active to start paying my mortgage. 

When I received my statement a year later there was a {$5500.00} discrepancy. When they restructured the loan they added the deferred interest which increased my loan by {$5500.00}. I have been on the phone for the last 3 months trying to correct this and NO ONE could really explain it. Most of the reps did not understand it themselves. After 3 months a light bulb went on that this had to be deferred interest that I was being charged for. NOW I see why they kept wanting me to defer my payment as they were charging the deferred interest. It all made sense. 

These deferments were suppose to HELP people and instead it tricked them into paying MORE money on their loan. It is despicable and unethical that they went under the guise of helping Covid customers and instead were cheating them. I have been dealing with XXXX XXXX and this has added to my stress! The way I have been treated is unconscionable. I am sure I am not the only Chase customer that has been deceived by Chase. 

To Recap : XX/XX/XXXX - Suspended Mortgage {$110000.00} XX/XX/XXXX - 13 month deferment tacked onto the back of the loan {$25000.00} Should be my starting balance XX/XX/XXXX {$91000.00} Paid 4 payments XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX {$7800.00} Current Balance should be through XX/XX/XXXX {$83000.00} * Chase has me at a balance of {$88000.00} a difference of {$5500.00}, which I believe is the deferred interest which has accrued. 

I implore you to look into this as I have not slept in months trying to figure out what happened and dealing with deplorable treatment from Chase. I am not sure if this is illegal, however it is certainly unethical! I believe it is a scam to bate unsuspecting customers. 

Thank you. 

XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation