Consumer complaint received 2018-02-07
Company: FRANKLIN AMERICAN MORTGAGE CO.
State: FL
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: FHA mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
My mortgage company is Franklin American Mortgage. During the time of Hurricane Irma, XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, Franklin American Mortgage contacted me in regards to having 3 months of deferred payments to help with the natural disaster I was going through. I was also told that those payments would be added to the end of my loan essentially making it 3 months longer than it initially was. I was ok with the idea of this as the hurricane did cause a difficult financial time with my family. They had told me my payments wouldn't be due until XX/XX/XXXX. I contact them in XX/XX/XXXX because I can no longer access my account online to make my payments like I always had in the past. The guy I spoke to informs me that is because of having the deferred payments from the natural disaster and takes my payment by phone. He then informs me that I have 3 options for repayment. This was shocking as this wasn't mentioned to me at the time they offered the deferred payments initially. I was then also informed I would have to " qualify '' for certain repayment options. He asked me to send over my most recent XXXX and Bank statement for XX/XX/XXXX. I did as he asked within 30 minutes of getting off the phone with him. He said they would need those in order to start the process of adding these to the end of my loan. After a week with no response from them I assume all is well. I receive a letter in the mail stating my mortgage is in default status due to the 3 months of " missed '' payments. I contact them and after a very long hold, reach someone who tells me the same information about there being 3 different payment options. I told her I had already submitted this information to someone before and that it should be taken care of. She then informs me that I was not approved for that program. Shocked, I asked why? She stated she wasn't able to see any of the reasons that I wasn't approved, was just able to tell me that I wasn't approved. She said I could pay the XXXX XXXX dollars all right now, or go through a 45 minute to 1 hour interview which would allow them to determine if I qualified for paying half immediately and the remaining over a 2 month period on top of my normal mortgage payment. This whole process was an offer they extended to me initially with no mention of anything other than it would be added to the end of my loan. They made it sound like they were actually trying to be helpful when in all actuality, it seemed they had some predatory lending tricks in mind. I haven't called back to speak for this interview as either of my remaining " 2 '' options are not adequate for me at all. Had I known it was going to be like this, I would have just found a way to continue paying them throughout the natural disaster. Please help me as this was not at all properly disclosed or in any way to help or benefit customer 's like myself.

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