Consumer complaint received 2017-11-09
Company: Selene Finance LP
State: PA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: FHA mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
In XXXX I received a letter returning my mortgage payment, which letter was addressed to the incorrect person, at my address, with an incorrect account number. The letter stated that my check was returned because it was insufficient to bring my mortgage account current. As of that date I had no idea my mortgage was behind. After phoning Selene Finance, and them doing research, it was discovered that some time ago ( over 1 year ) Selene had raised the amount of my monthly mortgage payment ( though I was not aware of that ). I continued to pay my " normal '' monthly  mortgage payment. As I have since discovered, each month they would take part of my " normal '' payment and apply it to the deficiency in the prior month. Over time, this ( again unbeknownst to me ) caused my account to show several months delinquent. During the time all of this was being figured out with Selene, they returned another mortgage payment that I had sent prior to receiving the letter. I have gone back and forth calling Selene, each time having to speak with a different representative, trying to rectify this. I was told an amount to pay to bring everything current and I did that, only to have that payment returned. When I called about that payment being returned I was informed that I had been given wrong information by the last Selene representative that I spoke to. During this time, Selene apparently sent my mortgage to XXXX and XXXX to begin foreclosure even though they were well aware that I was in communication with them to rectify the account. It was because of THEIR misinformation that I was not able to resolve it prior to them sending it to foreclosure. There was a hearing date in XXXX. I appeared at Court but Selene did not. It got rescheduled. In the process of continuing to attempt to resolve my account, a reinstatement letter was issued stating that I had to pay {$5900.00} ( which was all of the monthly mortgage payments through XXXX, XXXX AND approximately {$1700.00} in legal/foreclosure fees. I consulted with an attorney who suggested I contact Selene and see if they would accept a lump sum and then a monthly payment over and above my regular monthly mortgage payment until the difference was paid. I phoned Selene and spoke with XXXX. Again I could get no last name or employee ID or any other information to be able to identify this person in the future. I explained the reason for my call, that I was attempting to rectify my mortgage, STOP the foreclosure, and keep my home. XXXX stated that if I would pay {$3800.00} ( not the exact amount ) by XXXX XXXX it would bring my account current through XXXX. I would then have until XXXX XXXX to make both XXXX and XXXX 's mortgage payment. I asked about the legal fees and he informed me that those fees would be added to my mortgage balance but that my monthly mortgage payment would not change but the number or remaining payments would. I verified with him THREE times ( at least ) that this would STOP the foreclosure. He assured me that by making the payment of the {$3800.00} ( not exact figure ) my account would be current and, therefore, there would be no foreclosure. I asked for payment instructions to make sure my payment would be received and applied as quickly as possible. He gave me wiring instructions, XXXX instructions, overnight mail instructions, and regular mail instructions. I advised that I would call him as soon as the payment was made. On Monday, XXXX XXXX the exact amount that XXXX told me to pay ( $ 3,800+ ) was wired from my bank to Selene . I attempted to phone XXXX Monday evening as I stated I would. When I called and asked for XXXX I was told he was unavailable. I had a XXXX on the phone. She went through the entire verification process and proceeded to tell my that my account was in default and in foreclosure. I then recapped my conversation with XXXX and advised her of the wire. The wired amount had not been applied to my account yet but she could see the wire. I then attempted to verify that this would now stop the foreclosure and that they would notify XXXX and XXXX. She then informed me that actually no, the amount wired was not correct. That the amount had to be what was indicated on the Reinstatement Letter ( the $ 5,900+ ). I again advised her of my conversation with XXXX, and that the Reinstatement Letter is in fact what led me to call Selene to attempt to resolve the issue through a lump sum plus payments since I did not ( and no not ) HAVE {$5900.00}. She continued to state over and over " ... the Reinstatement Letter .... ''. I got frustrated and advised her I no longer wanted to speak with her since she was not hearing me and that I wanted to speak to XXXX or to a supervisor. I was connected to XXXX, a supervisor. In looking at the account she stated that she could see what happened ( how the account got " behind '' ). She further gave me the boilerplate answer of " you have to pay the amount indicated on the XXXX XXXX to stop the foreclosure. '' I again reiterated my conversation with XXXX, his instructions and ASSURANCE that this is what I needed to do to stop the foreclosure ( in lieu of being able to pay the entire {$5900.00} ).  She stated that he gave me wrong information and that he would most likely lose his job. I told her this has been the problem since I knew there was a problem. You can never speak to the same person twice. A Selene employee tells you what to do to correct the problem, you do what you were told, only to then be told no ... that 's not correct, meanwhile the account getting further in arrears because they are not accepting ANY payments, including payments in the amount they instructed to be paid. She stated that she wanted to help me, she was going to go to her superior after researching, and I would get a call the next day. The next day I got a phone call from XXXX with Selene. He was VERY rude. He told me that I had to pay the amount on the Reinstatement letter, that he had listened to the recording of my call with XXXX but that XXXX was wrong and he was not bound to honor what XXXX told me. He did not attempt to assist me at all. I have since reached out to XXXX XXXX, FHA and HUD in an attempt to stop this madness. I was advised by XXXX to also file my complaint here.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation