Consumer complaint received 2022-09-29
Company: Mr. Cooper Group Inc.
State: MS
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
The loan on the subject property was originated by my deceased brother, XXXX XXXX XXXX, who purchased the subject property located at XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX, XXXX XXXX and subsequently closed on the mortgage on XX/XX/XXXX with XXXX XXXX XXXX  being the mortgage origination company, and later sold the loan to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX } Shortly thereafter that change of mortgage company and servicing company, and having made all payments timely my brother passed away on XX/XX/XXXX of XXXX. At the time of XXXX 's passing, the home this loan is attached to was left to me in The Last Will and Testament of XXXX XXXX XXXX, and that same legal instrument also named me as the Executor of his estate. Soon thereafter I notified XXXX  of my brothers death by phone call, and shortly after that notification by phone I sent a copy of the official death certificate via USPS, and via facsimile, both of which confirmation of receipt was confirmed by XXXX. 

During the original phone call with XXXX, I informed them that I was not only a successor in interest as defined in the specific carve out in the Garn St Germaine Depository Institutions Act of 1982 ( Garn Act, ) which defined a successor in interest and seven examples of which and the prohibition on due on sale action based on being a successor in interest, and that in this case it was by transfer of the property by death of a family member. Not only that but that I was the sole legal heir according to my brothers last will and testament and as such I would be assuming the payments on the home, and that I would be filing a probate action with the XXXX XXXX of XXXX XXXX, XXXX regarding final legal transfer of all of my brothers assets including the subject property at the time of that process completion, but that until that time I was legally stepping into his shoes and that I was provided the same legal protections under the Deed of Trust on the home and those contained in RESPA. 

Shortly after my attorneys filed the probate action with the court, I was provided official copies of the Letters Testamentary legally establishing me as the executor of the estate which therein I provided to XXXX  via USPS and via facsimile, both of which were confirmed as accepted and my legal designation within their notes regarding the loan was the heir and successor along with the executor. 

Payments were made on the loan from the time of my brothers passing and notice provided to XXXX until the Cares Act forbearance provided for secondary to the COVID 19 pandemic which halted the payments and set them aside based on the granted forbearance. This occurred in XXXX of XXXX and lasted until the forbearance period expired at the end of XX/XX/XXXX. 

At the time of the forbearance expiration XXXX  reached out to me after my call requesting information on how to proceed with the HUD/FHA simplistic loan modification related specifically to the set aside payments due to the forbearance and the process to restart the original loan and the options available in the HUD standalone portal for this type loan modification only due to COVID. Shortly after that a representative from XXXX loss mitigation department called me and detailed the process required to perform the streamlined loan modification and which option would be the best for me to choose, which was to move the set aside payments and create a separate non-interest-bearing note which would be for 360 months, or for any earlier chosen total of months chosen. I was advised that all that was needed based on all the information XXXX  held in the loan notes and file was to write a letter containing specific language provided by XXXX, not to start making the regular payments again until receiving written notice that the modification had been performed which the process might take up to forty five ( 45 ) days, and if I had not received anything in the mail in 30 days to contact them again, and to mail that notice, which I did initially on XX/XX/XXXX. Then having not received anything in writing in several weeks and trying to be proactive on the situation I sent a second request on XX/XX/XXXX, and finally a third on XX/XX/XXXX. 

On or around the middle of XX/XX/XXXX I received the first written notice from XXXX XXXX  company advising me that the loan on the home I was the legal heir and successor in interest for had been acquired by operation of a purchase from XXXX, and shortly thereafter the first notice from Mr Cooper in the form of a collection notice and also a monthly statement containing FDCPA required language when collecting a debt. There was nothing whatsoever in the notice as to the fact the loan was in a Cares Act forbearance or any mention of previously requested loan modification notices sent to XXXX. Therein I drafted several notices to send to Mr Cooper as the new servicing company to make them aware of the history of the loan, all documentation previous sent to XXXX  so that they could do an investigation into the loan file transferred with the note and make corrections in the file to include the loan modification requests, and to send a request specifically to Mr Cooper that if the modification requested of XXXX had not been completed, to please complete it as the new servicing entity for the loan securing the property that I now owned via transfer of ownership due to the death of my brother. 

These notices were as follows ; 1. A Demand for Validation and Legal Verification of the debt as Mr Cooper was approaching this as a debt that was in collections 2. A QWR/NOE/RFI requesting information specific to the loan, the forbearance, the request for loan modification and a general accounting of all fees applied to the loan 3. A Request for loan modification pursuant to the Cares Act forbearance with XXXX and FHA standalone portal modification options to reinstate the original note and create the separate note with the payments in forbearance and any and all needed to bring the loan current after its transfer. This mailing contained attachments including an official copy of my brothers last will and testament, a copy of his original death certificated, a copy of the Letters Testamentary issued by the XXXX Court, and copies of the previous requests to XXXX. The request itself also contained a history and summation of the life of the loan, the forbearance and the request for loan modification These aforementioned notices were sent five times during the period from XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX of XXXX, one by a mailing service which provided me proof of mailing, the second using the same mailing company sent XXXX which provided me both proof of mailing and documentation of receipt which I maintain in my records. The final three request for modification and QWR/NOE/RFI were amended in their structure to be specific only to the relevant period of the forbearance through the transfer of servicing rights and even more specific to the issue of legal heir/successor in interest for the home, and the loan modification requests, and additional attachments were included detailing the XXXX final order by the CFPB to RESPA and TILA regarding successor in interest and the servicing requirements to treat those who qualify for this designation by transfer of ownership by death of a family member to be provided all legal protections just the same as the original creditor including loss mitigation and loan modification. To this date NONE of those notices have been acknowledged in writing, no information requested has been produced in writing and sent to me, no corrections have been made to the loan file and therein the servicing of the loan by Mr Cooper and no loan modification, or any communication regarding same has been sent to me in writing, or communicated to me over the phone. 

Sometime in XXXX according to my conversation on XX/XX/XXXX with multiple representatives from Mr Cooper, including a collections agent, and loss mitigation representative the file was transferred to a law firm to perform the substitution of Trustee with the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX and to initiate a non-judicial foreclosure on the home in direct violation of a RESPA requirements regarding the recognition of a successor in interest/legal heir via operation of a will, none of the requests for information and correction to the loan file were ever performed, and it appears that Mr Cooper has internal policies either written, or assumed that prohibit a successor in interest of a legal heir to have the authority to sign a loan modification because they are not the original borrower, or their name is not on the Deed of Trust XXXX 

Not only are these potential and obvious violations of RESPA, but also are direct contradictions to the requirements set forth and agreed to be Nationstar D.B.A. Mr Cooper in the Settle Agreement and Consent Order with the CFPB.

Company public response: Company believes the complaint provided an opportunity to answer consumer's questions
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation