Consumer complaint received 2019-11-12
Company: Flagstar Bank, N.A.
State: TX
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: VA mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
XX/XX/XXXX Our business flooded and was destroyed in the Hurricane Harvey leaving us with no source of income as we both ran and operated the business full time. 
XX/XX/XXXX Our account was in good standing and we were not delinquent. In light of the Hurricane Devastation and the fact that our residency was declared to be a disaster zone, XXXX  ( or servicer ) contacted us. Received an EMAIL from XXXX stating that we could enter into Forebearance by responding YES-Responded YES - Entered into Forebearance Plan ( 3 mo to begin XX/XX/XXXX ) XX/XX/XXXX Disaster Forebearance Started for 1 year XX/XX/XXXX Application for Disaster Loan Modification submitted via email to XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX Our Application Documents Received by XXXX ( See Email and Letter Received attached ) XX/XX/XXXX XXXX   Sent a letter requesting more information with a due date of XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX Received letter requesting evidence of XXXX Disaster Loan, sent immediately to email XXXX XX/XX/XXXX Spoke to XXXX   regarding application and they had received documents and nothing more was needed at the time. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX called to say they had received the documents requested and the application was still in review. According to Flagstar and XXXX, Flagstar took over the account on XX/XX/XXXX -- We were not informed or notified of this transfer XX/XX/XXXX We received our first coorespondence from Flagstar via Certified Mail. An Intent to Accelerate. Called XXXX immediately upon receipt of letter from Flagstar to which XXXX informed us that they no longer were servicing the loan. Then called Flagstar to figure out why they had sent the demand letter and they indicated our account was default. 
XX/XX/XXXX Called Flagstar to discuss status of the account. Immediately we were routed to collections and were told our account was in default status and the total balance was due immediately. We expressed to them that there must have been an error because we were in active loss mitigation and forbearance through XXXX. They were not aware of this and told us they would call back in the next day because the person who was over our account was not in the office and would need time to review. 
XX/XX/XXXX Had not received a call back so we called Flagstar to get more information and then we were told we need to speak to Loss Mitigation department to discuss our options. Our 2nd attempt to speak to " account rep '' in loss mitigation was made and no call back was received. A person came to my house and left a note for me to call flagstar immediately. They took pictures of the house and said they were a field inspector hired to verify we were still in the home. 
XX/XX/XXXX No call back had been received by account rep so we called back and spoke with XXXX regarding our account, the status and the way to move forward. She said that based on RESPA Laws that they could not report anything to our credit within the first 60 days of the transfer. She also stated that " based on the information from XXXX, our account was in the process of applying for the Disaster Loan Modification but XXXX was showing incomplete documents and it would be in our best interest to just re-apply and resubmit all the documents instead of waiting on XXXX to submit them. '' She also said, " we needed to get our account into 'ACTIVE LOSS MITIGATION ' to avoid any credit reporting. As long as our account was in ACTIVE loss mitigation at the end of the 60 days, no negative credit reporting would be done ''. As you can see on the statement our account was indicating Active VA Modification for XXXX. XXXX informed me of how to access the application and submit the documents that had been requested. 
XX/XX/XXXX All documents requested for new application were submitted to online portal per XXXX 's instruction. She informed me to that they had 5 business days to review the documents and to get back with me if anything more was needed. I called them to verify that they did in fact see them in the portal and they assured me the documents would be reviewed within 5 business days. 
XX/XX/XXXX A person came to my house and left a note for me to call flagstar immediately. They took pictures of the house and said they were a field inspector hired to verify we were still in the home. 
XX/XX/XXXX I had not received any correspondence from Flagstar regarding the status of the review. So I called in and the " account manager '' actually answered the phone. She proceeded to express to me that she didn't realize the documents had been uploaded and that she " needed to get them reviewed ''. It had been 7 business days and was the Friday before XXXX. We had 5 business days remaining for our file to go to Active Approval before then end of our 60 day RESPA protection expired. She assured me they would be reviewed by Monday the XXXX and to call back on that day to verify. The lady we spoke to informed us that it was possible that if our file did not got " complete '' by the end of that 60 days that they could intitate the Foreclosure process. I was SHOCKED!!!! 
XX/XX/XXXX I called Flagstar back as instructed and was bounced around to several departments and then hung up on. It wasn't until I called back that I finally was able to get someone to look up my account because my " account manager '' was not available to speak. They told me that there was nothing changed and that the documnets were still under review and to call back after XXXX. 
XX/XX/XXXX I called back after still not hearing back and was informed that our account had been reviewed and a letter had been mailed out that they were in need of our business taxes ( which were not part of the original request ). I told them I did not think that should hold our file from being place into " Active '' status but they insisted. I finally was able to speak to a supervisor XXXX who I was able to express our discontent with how our account had been completeley mismanaged and the sense of urgency was lacking. We had a deadline to get this reviewed and they were not doing their part to ensure that was being done. He assigned our account to a new " account manager '' and told me if I submitted the document that day that they would ensure to have it reviewed by the following day. I also contacted the VA and spoke to an account rep named XXXX. He informed me that foreclosure had not been intiated on their end and that as long as we got our documents in on time, we should be good for the approval. We were assigned a NEW Account Manager XXXX XXXX by Flagstar XX/XX/XXXX Statement reflected Active VA Loss Mitigation but was showing Late FEES XX/XX/XXXX Our Application was deemed " Complete '' and sent to Underwriting, we were instructed there was no need to call in until 30 days had passed. 
XX/XX/XXXX A person came to my house and left a note for me to call flagstar immediately. They took pictures of the house and said they were a field inspector hired to verify we were still in the home. Called Flagstar to find out why the person came to our house and asked us to call. They told me the file was still under review and to call back XX/XX/XXXX if they hadn't called me. 
XX/XX/XXXX Flagstar called me and hungup. I called them back and they showed no record of that and didn't know why the account was still under review. Bounced me around from department to department and finally told me that the account had been approved and I would be receiveing my documents any day. 
XX/XX/XXXX I received a call saying we had not be approved yet. We had been " conditionally '' approved and I would be receiving a letter via Certified mail regarding the reasoning why. It was not because of us but because they were requesting a property inspection. Our account statement is now NOT reflecting ACTIVE loss mitigation and it is also showing that we are now incurring late fees and penalties which we were told we would NOT. 
XX/XX/XXXX Received the letter that stated we were " conditionally approved '' pending the inspection. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX came out and inspected inside and outside of home. I called Flagstar to tell them the inspector had come out. I was hung up and bounced around to various departments. Talked down to. I then called back and asked to report the way I was be treated to a supervisor. I was not able to speak to one because one was " not available ''. I expressed my discontent with their lack of customer service AGAIN. I informed them that I was meerly seeking information into the process and what was to be expected moving forward. I was assured again that our account would not be reported to the credit as deliquent and that we were in Active Loss Mitigation even though we were outside the 30 day window for application review. 
XX/XX/XXXX I was called by Flagstar the same day a person showed up to my house to take pictures and verify we were still in the home. I called back and asked about the credit which they assured me we would not be reported. I also asked about the fees which I was told was not supposed to be on the acount and they would try and figure out why they were there. I was bounced all over to multiple departments and no resolution was made. I was told they would call me back. 
XX/XX/XXXX I was called by Flagstar and told over the phone that we had been approved for a trial repayment plan. Our new payment {$2600.00} and our paperwork would be mailed out for us to review and sign. XX/XX/XXXX was the due date of the first payment and we had no later than the XXXX of XXXX to pay XX/XX/XXXX I had still not received ANY paperwork so I called them to find out why that was. They allegedely put in a request for the documents to be sent and also said they would " call me '' to verify they had been sent. 
XX/XX/XXXX I called back to inform that I had not received a call or paperwork. I was told that ANOTHER request was put in to have the underwriter mail the documents. They were not showing that request I made the prior week had been followed through on so they were going to put in another request. I spoke to XXXX. My husband then called back after I got off the phone to request to speak to a supervisor in which he was sent to a lady named XXXX who after he talked with her for a few minutes we learned that she was in Collections and NOT loss mititgation. While he was on the phone, I called back to talk to Loss Mitigation and was put on the phone with a lady name XXXX who was EXTREMELY rude to me and even started yelling at me. I was trying to tell her that I just needed to speak to a supervisor in loss mititgation or my account manager. She hung up on me. XXXX assured my husband that she would get with the right people in Loss mitigation and request that the documents be sent over. She also said she would followup phone call in 2 days. 
XX/XX/XXXX We had still not received any documents nor phone calls so I called them back. I also noticed that day that our CREDIT had been reported too by Flagstart for XXXX and XXXX that we were Deliquent. I BEGGED them to let me speak to ANYBODY that could help me with that because it must have been a mistake as our account is currently in ACTIVE Loss Mitigation under an Approved Trial Plan which we are still waiting for paperwork on. I was bounced again from department to department. Talked down to treated like a second rate human being and just completely disrespected. I tried to ensure them that I am just trying to do what is told and asked of me and that it was not my fault that the hurricane destroyed our business. I requested the documents to be MAILED again and I also requested that our Account Manager XXXX call us. 
XX/XX/XXXX I still had not heard back from XXXX or anyone else with Flagstar so I called them back in hopes that I could speak to ANYBODY that could help me. I tried to get to Loss Mitigation but our call kept going to Collections. I spoke to several people there and tried to explain that I am seeking the documnentation because we are looking to see what the terms are and the explanation for the increase in our payment. I spent over an hour on the phone with them. I spoke to several different departments and ZERO supervisors. I did speak to XXXX in Escrow and he sent me to Customer Account where I was told that I could dispute the credit reporting with the credit bureau. UHHHHH. However, our XXXX statement show we are in Active Loss Mitigation ( our XXXX and XXXX statement did not even though we were ) those are the 2 months that were reported. We still have not received the paperwork. XXXX called me back late Friday afternoon with no expanations as to what had been going on. I expressed my complete dissatisfaction with the entire process. She assured me HER Supervisor XXXX would call me Monday. 
XX/XX/XXXX The paperwork was finally received with a deadline of XXXX hours to resubmit and once it was received it showed that interest rate had been increased to over 1.75 % which is against the Federal Circular. The paperwork did not show Disaster Loan Modification but instead showed Traditional Loan Modification. This was not discovered until after it had be resubmitted to FlagStar. Flagstar did not have approval to increase the loan interest rate. They have reported delinquency to our credit and charged late fees to our account. They have also bullied us into signing the terms of the modification being that if we don't we would lose our home.

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