Consumer complaint received 2021-02-10
Company: SELECT PORTFOLIO SERVICING, INC.
State: TX
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
I fell behind on my mortgage payments in XXXX bue to closing of my XXXX  business. My. XXXX parents live with me. Since falling behind I have eagerly been trying to get caught up and make repayment plans to save the house from foreclosure as this is the home of my parents. 
During this time I was attending school and working as a XXXX XXXX  and any side job s that I could do to make ends meet. During this time I applied for help thru my mortgage servicer provider. I was never once able to get ahold of my account manager XXXX XXXX. Emails and calls were not returned. It was hard to understand the different options available or if I had any options available. For almost 2 years it was a constant work in progress trying to get back on track. During this time my mom tried to help and found a company that helps families in need of mortgage assistance to keep their home from going into foreclosure. 

In XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX was the company my mom found, " XXXX XXXX XXXX the owner and the woman that was " helping " us, she was very adamant that XXXX XXXX needed to be the only contact for SPS. She stated that she and her company specialize in home retention and that we needed not worry about contacting SPS directly. Since we were paying for her services she would be taking the burden off of us and dealing directly with SPS. We signed a " third party authorization form '' for XXXX XXXX to be the direct contact with SPS, which SPS acknowledge. During this time we were instructed to not make payments to SPS as this was all part of the home retention plan. We would resume payments once we were approved for a repayment plan. We paid several thousands of dollars to XXXX XXXX to get help as I was in desperate need to get help to keep my home. 
XX/XX/XXXX I contacted SPS directly to make sure I was doing everything I could to get help. At this point I was told that I could do a mortgage assistance retention plan by going online and filling out a form. This is when everything began to get even more confusing. I then decided that XXXX was not doing anything more than what I was able to do by contacting SPS. I email XXXX XXXX and let her know that I will not be continuing with her services. 
In XXXX I began making the monthly payments, as I was told by SPS that I was now able to make payments. Turns out the payments I was making was for past due balances owed - which I was not fully aware of, however I was happy to be able to make payments on money owed as I waited to get help with a mortgage repayment plan to get back on track. In XXXX I recieved a letter from the New York Attorney General stating that " XXXX XXXX " of " XXXX XXXX XXXX Solutions " had been XXXX for fraud and that I needed to contact my mortgage servicer to let them know about the " authorized third party " was a fraud so that I could get help before it was too late. 
I contacted SPS and told them of the arrest, I provided the documentation from the Attorney General, I told SPS of the money that I had spent on this company for help and that I was in desperate need of help. During this time I learned that there is a very specific list of approved home retention counselor that SPS works directly with - when I asked why SPS didn't vett XXXX XXXX or deny working with them as they were not on the list of approved home counselors, I got no reply answer and no help. I feel that not only was I a victim of fraud but so was SPS which could have been avoided had SPS vetted XXXX XXXX or at the very least denied working with them as an authorized third party representative since they were not on the approved list of home counselors. 
I have since gained employment, my parents are now able to contribute monthly and I can make the monthly payments.

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