Consumer complaint received 2021-03-02
Company: Specialized Loan Servicing Holdings LLC
State: MA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
We applied for the CARES Act mortgage forbearance program from Specialized Loan Servicing SLS who manage our mortgage that is held by XXXX XXXX Specialized Loan Servicing SLS only allowed 90 day increments after a 2 week 'decision and approval process ' with no clear extension process. Specialized Loan Servicing SLS then scared us regularly with letters stating that we were delinquent and needed to make arrangements to forestall disaster. When we called we were told they just send out those letters automatically and the letters don't apply to people on the forbearance program. 
Extensions have been understandably somewhat awkward then recently there was what I assume was a miscommunication. We probably missed a letter prompting us to discuss whether we wished to continue in the forbearance or pursue options after, and even though the previous extension involved letters and phone calls, some by me, only to be told they weren't ready to discuss extensions, some by them. 
This time they appear to have decided not to call us and just assume we would exit and sent us a payment deferral option. That would have been an understandable method of proceeding if, when we called to tell them that we were not yet ready to exit the forbearance program, they had said " okay we will talk deferral options when you are ready ''. 
Instead they have pressured and intimidated us as they repeatedly denied our extension of their shortened 90 day forbearance cycle. We have used 8 months of the 12 or now 15 available. They have decided that they have their own rules for the CARES program which as defined had very few and explicit rules if a the borrower of a mortgage held by XXXX XXXX attests to covid related financial hardship, wishes to use the forbearance option, and have not yet used the originally 12 now 15 months of forbearance the loan servicer sets it up in increments of up to 180 days, but under whatever those counter-to-the-law rules Specialized Loan Servicing SLS is using, we have been denied access the forbearance program and they have sent us an array of disturbing and confusing letters, ending with a massive application for options to avoid foreclosure. 
It seems beyond belief to think that they would do this to just us. 
Are we wrong to think the forbearance program wasn't supposed to be this traumatic? 
The uncertainty of when to discuss extension, the inconsistency in communication modes, the menacing letters you can only find out aren't relevant to you by calling in ( if so why send them? ), the pretense that SLS needs two take 2 weeks to make a 'decision ' on a program in which they do not get to make decisions, the requirement to do it in 90 day increments instead of the 180 days, forcing this process to be gone thru twice as often. 
I can not understand what profit Specialized Loan Servicing gets from doing this?

Why can't they just follow the law in a helpful and supportive way.

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