Consumer complaint received 2022-09-25
Company: Freedom Mortgage Company
State: VA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: VA mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
Subject : Mishandling of Loss Mitigation Process ( Possible loss of home ) I am writing this letter to escalate the circumstances regarding the possibility of losing my home due to improper handling of my home loan and mitigation process. I was a victim of Covid-19 and was out of work for approximately ( 1 ) year. Freedom Mortgage was notified and offered a Covid-19 forbearance plan for my VA approved home loan. The forbearance period ended XX/XX/XXXX. Prior to the program ending, I was proactive in trying to seek available programs to restart my loan payments with an approved program. I proactively contacted Freedom Mortgage and started the mitigation / modification process in XX/XX/XXXX. Below I will explain a timeline of events that have occurred since that date. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I was approved for the Covid-19 Refund Modification which I Accepted. Was told that I would receive official paperwork by XXXX XXXX within 14 days and that I was required to have the papers notarized and sent back to Freedom Mortgage. I was also told that I needed to make the 1st payment in XXXX. 
Details for this plan : Principal & interest {$1800.00}, Estimated escrow : {$210.00}, Interest rate 3.500 % Total Payment {$2000.00} ( I made the payment in XXXX but never received XXXX XXXX documents to notarize ) ****Made numerous calls to Freedom Mortgage regarding the paperwork and was told that they had made a mistake with the numbers and would make corrections and send out the papers again within 14 days. Was also advised to stop making payments because the payment amount would change. They advised that they would place the funds that I had already paid in suspense and once the amount was corrected and paperwork was received that I was to call and have them release the funds for the new 1st payment. Never received the documents as promised within 14 days. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Received a new mortgage assistance letter stating that I was approved for the VA Partial Claim Plan which I again Accepted. I called them to find out what happened to the Covid-19 refund modification program that I was previously approved for and asked why did the approval change to this new plan. The representative told me that they did not understand why it changed and that I should still be eligible for the Covid-19 Refund Modification since that is what I was approved for. The representative told me that they were going to escalate this issue and that I was not to pay until they had the underwriters straighten out the confusion. Was advised that I would receive the corrected documents within 14 days once again. 
Details for this plan : Principal and Interest : {$2200.00}, Estimated escrow : {$190.00}, Interest rate 3.750 % XX/XX/XXXX : Received another letter from the modification department and was told that this was a new offer. The envelope was empty. There was no letter inside and the letter was also blank on my online portal. ( Freedom Mortgage stated that they had made another mistake ) XX/XX/XXXX : Received another letter from the modification department stating that criteria had been met for a VA Disaster Modification. This offer stated that I was to accept this offer by XX/XX/XXXX or the offer would be rejected. ( I rejected this offer because it was the 3rd confusing offer issued and the terms were enormously unacceptable ). Called Freedom Mortgage and was advised that the offer was rejected. I was told that it was escalated to higher authority and to wait for them to correct the offer because it was not the right offer once again. Was told that they were contacting the underwriter to have them put the offer back to the VA Partial Claim. 
Details for this plan : To qualify for a permanent modification, I was to make the following payments in a timely manner : XX/XX/XXXX : {$3300.00} XX/XX/XXXX : {$3300.00} XX/XX/XXXX : {$3300.00} I have been calling Freedom Mortgage nearly weekly since XXXX of XXXX. I have been given inconsistent answers, bad advice, many different answers, and reasons for what has transpired thus far. All agents are confused and have stated that I must wait for the underwriters because they have thousands, and thousands of clients just like me. Have been told that my situation is part of a glitch. Told that I need to be patient because they are working it out. Unfortunately, on XX/XX/XXXX, I called Freedom Mortgage with my VA home loan representative on the phone with me for a three-way call. The VA home loan rep was in disbelief that all of this has happened and told me that Freedom Mortgage has not asked them for any type of approval thus far. Freedom Mortgage had us on hold for 1 hour and 28 minutes and then the call mysteriously dropped. I was told by the VA home loan representative that the VA was also going to send a letter and an email because they could not get through. I called back on the same day and a representative answered the phone and told me that she saw a problem on the file that was never told to me before. She stated that Freedom Mortgage had approved the VA Partial Modification Plan in XX/XX/XXXX and that I was supposed to pay {$2400.00} on XX/XX/XXXX. She also stated that Freedom Mortgage never mailed that letter to me and never entered it on the portal and that it was the mortgage company error that I never received this offer. She stated that this plan cancelled because they did not receive payment which was no fault on my part. She then transferred the call to another gentleman in the loss mitigations department. This Freedom Mortgage representative told me in so many words that my situation was hopeless and that I owed so much money at this time, that I needed to start thinking about selling my house and getting out before the ship sank! I was devastated by his lack of remorse for the turmoil that I had been through with this mortgage company for nearly a year trying to get resolution to restart my mortgage payments. He consistently told me how far in debt that I am in and how long it has been. I was aware of the debt amount and the time frame since I have been desperately trying to get a modification program. 


My current debt with Freedom Mortgage : XX/XX/XXXX : Total amount due {$50000.00} ( started modification process forbearance ends XX/XX/XXXX ) XX/XX/XXXX : Total amount due {$75000.00} ( No current modification plan approval completed to date ) I have applied for the Virginia mortgage assistance program twice. Was not qualified for assistance because the balance was too high, and the length of delinquency was originally to long as well. Freedom Mortgage has told me that they will resolve the issues regarding the confusion surrounding the modification issues and that my file is currently under review. I have been told this for nearly a year with no resolution. I am in fear that I may lose my home to foreclosure because of the confusion and disorganization that exist with this mortgage company. I think that my account has been mishandled and that the mortgage company has been overwhelmed with too many borrowers in need of assistance following the forbearance programs resulting from Covid-19 issues. I fear that they will not be able to resolve this issue and that I will be homeless before they find a resolution. 

In closing, I have attached supporting documentation to help to validate my unfortunate circumstances that exist with the Freedom Mortgage Corporation. I am humbly requesting any type of assistance that is available to help me to retain my 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