Consumer complaint received 2022-10-17
Company: Cornerstone Home Lending Inc.
State: TX
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
Im filing a complaint due to the servicer engaging in gross dissemination of misinformation, as well as engaging in deceptive practices as it relates to the terms and conditions of the servicers forbearance and repayment plans. The servicer has offered this consumer a forbearance plan that was initially presented as being a plan under/similar to plans under the CARES Act umbrella, accepted via verbal agreements, then later represented by the service in stark contrast to initial agreements. The servicer has also failed to maintain pertinent documents and correspondence that would ascertain agreements between the servicer and consumer. Letters, Billing Statements, applications for loan modifications, etc. have recently become inconsistently accessible, which the servicer is using to their advantage. 

In XX/XX/XXXX, prior to, and while enrolling me in the forbearance plan, the servicer clearly stated that mortgage payments suspended under the forbearance plan would not have to be paid back in one lump sum. Days after the enrollment, in a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, the servicer corroborated this claim with the following verbiage During your forbearance period, your monthly mortgage payments ( principal, interest, and escrow ) will be suspended. Forbearance does not mean your payments are forgiven. You are still required to fully repay your suspended payments, but not all at once. Furthermore, on the date the forbearance was approved, I was at least one month ahead on my mortgage payment -- my XX/XX/XXXX mortgage payment had already been received by the servicer on XX/XX/XXXX, and my next payment was presently due on XX/XX/XXXX. The servicer and I agreed verbally, over the phone to a six-month forbearance, which should have covered mortgages for the months XXXX XXXX XXXX. Instead, the forbearance was misappropriated for the months XXXX. I brought this to the attention of the servicer in late XXXX and was assured that I could calculate my forbearance period to end in XX/XX/XXXX despite the typo. However, for the remainder of the forbearance ( which eventually extended to 18 months ), the servicer continued to wrongly calculate the duration of my forbearance. Thus, the servicers records at all times were off by one month. Over the course of 16 months. ending in XX/XX/XXXX, I repeatedly extended my forbearance with the servicer to XX/XX/XXXX ( though the servicers records continue to be off by a month, and wrongly reflect an end date of XXXX ) to exhaust the full 18 months of suspended payments permitted by the servicer. 

During this time span, the servicer mailed ( or uploaded to my electronic account ) at least a dozen pieces of written correspondence that usually either notified me of my forbearances upcoming expiration and/or to offer me permanent options upon the conclusion of my forbearance period. The content of the correspondence is grossly inconsistent and confusing. For example, the letter dated XX/XX/XXXX details and confirm my forbearance extension, though it does not mention the date of the forbearances expiration. The following month, on XX/XX/XXXX the servicer sent a letter stating I missed a payment ( despite me being on a forbearance ). Four days later, on XX/XX/XXXX, the servicer sent a letter stating my forbearance will end on XX/XX/XXXX, and that at that time, my loan is currently due for the XX/XX/XXXX mortgage payment, and all mortgage payments thereafter ( all of which were suspended in the forbearance ). Prior to this letter, no agreement had been made with the servicer which would hold me responsible for paying the entire balance of mortgage payments that were suspended during my forbearance. In fact, I was still under the impression that my balance would not have to be paid in full based on the servicers own promise both verbally, and in the letter dated XX/XX/XXXX. 

Another example : On XX/XX/XXXX the services sent a letter stating I am delinquent {$28000.00}, in mortgage payments which must be cured by XX/XX/XXXX. The following day, on XX/XX/XXXX, another letter was sent stating Your Disaster-Related Forbearance Plan Is Ending Soon Act Now, with a XX/XX/XXXX deadline to respond. Later that day, XX/XX/XXXX, a second letter was generated by the servicer stating based on a review of your mortgage account, we are able to offer you a Trial Period Plan for a disaster modification with instructions to contact the servicer. Keep in mind, the correct expiration date for my 18 month forbearance, XX/XX/XXXX, was still a few weeks away. Nonetheless, I contacted the servicer prior to the XX/XX/XXXX date and per the servicers suggestion, requested a loan modification. The terms of the loan modification was seemingly similar, or narrowly identical to the same terms outlined in the XX/XX/XXXX letter which required a trial period consisting of three mortgage payments ( XXXX ) in the amount of {$1300.00}, due on the XXXX of each month. After the trial period, I was informed I would receive a permanently modified loan that would allow the mortgage payments suspended during the forbearance to be paid off at the loans maturity, which would be recalculated similar to a refinance. The servicer, despite conducting the application process with me over the phone, is now denying that I applied ( and subsequently attained approved ) for the loan modification. However, as proof that I applied for the modification, the servicer themselves sent TWO letters on XX/XX/XXXX stating We have received your request to be considered for a loan modification or other foreclosure prevention alternative. Both of the letters were identical in verbiage but different in format for some reason. On XX/XX/XXXX, I logged on to my account with the servicer and attempted to make my first payment. However, the servicers website would not allow me to make a payment. The website also reflected a payment due amount of {$1400.00}, which would be my regular payment. To prove this, I have a screen recording of me navigating the servicers website which I can easily admit as evidence. I contacted the servicer via phone that same day and briefly spoke to two separate representatives, neither of whom could find a record of my loan modification, nor could accept my payment over the phone. One of the representatives even suggested I re-apply for a loan modification. I was eventually told a representative from the appropriate department would be contacting me to rectify my issue. On XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted the servicer again, via phone. This time, the representative I was transferred to was able to locate my loan modification agreement and accepted my first payment of {$1300.00}. Two days later, on XX/XX/XXXX, the servicer sent a carelessly written letter stating We have completed our review of your request for a loan modification or other foreclosure alternative and have determined that you are ineligible for the reasons listed below : However, instead of the letter detailing the ineligibility criteria for my specific loan modification request, it instead provided three charts containing various other programs that showed me being Non-Approved for ( 1 ) Special Forbearance COVID-19, ( 2 ) Special Forbearance, ( 3 ) COVID-19 Payment Deferral ( 4 ) COVID-19 Payment Deferral ( listed a second time ), and ( 5 ) Flex Modification. The chart shows the status of Un-Evaluated for ( 1 ) Repayment Plan ( 2 ) Pre-Foreclosure Sale, and ( 3 ) Deed-In-Lieu. The stated reason for me not being approved is : You are currently in another modification Trial Period Plan. Upon receiving this notice, I contacted the servicer for clarity. In a reversal from 48 hours prior, I was once again informed there was no record of me being in a trial modification program, nor was there record of my payment. Again, I was advised to send a Mortgage Assistance Application to the servicers New Jersey office to request a loan modification, which I promptly did. While waiting for a response, I received a call from the servicer ( XXXX XXXX who is now in charge of my loan and is outright denying I had an agreement with the servicer for a loan modification. She also stated to me on XX/XX/XXXX the mortgage payments that were suspended during my forbearance are now due, and that the servicer does not have such an agreement that absorbs the suspended payments into the mortgage loan. XXXX didnt have a solution for this issue and stated she will discuss it with her supervisor to see if they can come up with something. However, I am requesting the agreement between the servicer and I regarding the loan modification be reinstated, on the basis that since being approved for the modification, the servicer has not provided me a reasonable avenue to participate in the program. At this point, the servicers own records do not reflect any of the written correspondence and agreements generated by the servicer that I possess. Adding more urgency to the matter is the fact that I have been waiting on a response to the Mortgage Assistance Application I was instructed to send to the New Jersey office, only to recently discover from the servicer ( XXXX ) that my loan was no longer attached to the servicers New Jersey office as of XX/XX/XXXX, therefore it is unlikely the application was ever processed.

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