Consumer complaint received 2017-09-05
Company: Seterus, Inc.
State: VA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
As of XX/XX/XXXX I applied for a modification to my Seterus mortgage account due to a layoff in XX/XX/XXXX which was keeping me a month behind in my payments. I had just gone through a 5 year divorce due to spousal abandonment and had been successfully paying the mortgage until this unexpected layoff of 18 days in XX/XX/XXXX. My ex had set up a payment 4 times post my layoff but each payment failed. After determining this was a waste of time with him I moved toward the modification post my decree of divorce after finalizing the XXXX and getting a Quit Claim Deed granted to me. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I XXXX to Seterus the required Quit Claim Deed and signed modification papers. I was told that I was in the trial period with a reduced loan payment that I must follow exactly. I questioned the reduced amount and if this would impact my credit and I was assured that I had to follow the process outlined by Seterus to complete the modification and my credit would not be impacted : 1. I completed the trial period plan payments as requested : a.XX/XX/XXXX payment set up for XX/XX/XXXX ACH withdrawal of {$2100.00} Confirmation # XXXX b. XX/XX/XXXX payment set up for XX/XX/XXXX ACH withdrawal of {$2100.00} Confirmation # XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX payment set up for XX/XX/XXXXACH withdrawal of {$2100.00} Confirmation # XXXX All of the above have been successfully completed. 

Post completion of the XX/XX/XXXXpayment and during my status call with Seterus the staff even stated that I had been approved and moved forward on securing the first three payments under the modification, which again was deceptive and leading. 
1. Setup the post approval modification payments for 3 months : a. XX/XX/XXXX ACH withdrawal of {$2100.00} Confirmation # XXXX - Completed b. XX/XX/XXXX ACH withdrawal of {$2100.00} Confirmation # XXXX in process c. XX/XX/XXXX ACH withdrawal of {$2100.00} Confirmation # XXXX - Arranged XX/XX/XXXXhas been processed and paid, XX/XX/XXXX should be processed and in route and XX/XX/XXXX is set up to be processed. All done through Seteruss ACH process. 

In the first week of XX/XX/XXXXI ran a credit report to start the process of evaluating my credit to set up for the future refinance of the property to honor the commitment required in the Property Settlement Agreement. This is when I found my credit scored had dropped due to Seterus reporting me as partial payments and behind in the mortgage. I thought ok, I expect behind but not partial payments as we had defined the payment arrangement. 

On Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX a pink signature slip arrived in the mail, I signed it and returned it to the mail box on Wednesday XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX a notification dated XX/XX/XXXX arrived regarding my modification which  states We have received your loan modification documents but we are unable to process them at this time for the following reason ( s ) : The modification documents were received without all of the required signatures. We need to have signatures or receive documentation that shows that those signatures are not required. The proper documentation could consist of a divorce decree awarding the property to the signing borrower ( required if both divorce borrowers are on the note ), a Quit Claim Deed showing the signing borrower has been deeded the property ( for non-married borrowers only ), or a Death Certificate ( if deceased ). Now suddenly ( tactically ) Seterus has changed their approach and the valid Quit Claim Deed is not acceptable. Additionally they have set forth a deadline of reponse as XX/XX/XXXX, the day of the documents arrival and are demanding a new modification document be signed by both parties, one of which, the ex husband, is living outside the United States, which they know this based on the Quit Claim Deeds notarization seal from XXXX XXXX. 
My request for modification occurs XX/XX/XXXX which is after the final decree of divorce on XX/XX/XXXX so their statement that the Quit Claim Deed applies to non married borrowers per Seterus own definition is not relevant and is a tool used to move toward foreclosure through misleading business practices. Additionally I feel that Seterus has discriminated against my marital status as a way to delay the modification process as a tactic to foreclose on my property. I feel that they are targeting me as a abandonded spouse due to my ex husbands XXXX XXXX operations and life changing events to try to beat me down to take the property through trumped up fees, predatory lending and deceptive business practices. When the signatures where discussed over the phone with Seterus representatives they stated that as long as I had a QUIT CLAIM DEED that was on file with the county of XXXX I did not require signatures from XXXX XXXX XXXX. Now suddenly ( tactically ) this has changed. 
Additionally Seterus is aware that my ex-husband is living outside the United States due to prior transparency regarding the account holders statuses therefore receiving a registered mail document on XX/XX/XXXX that is required back by XX/XX/XXXX would not facilitate the international time required to even approach getting a required signature, even though the QUIT CLAIM DEED resolved that issue legally and dually note it is notorized by the US Armed Forces in XXXX, XXXX. This too shows intent on the part of Seterus to utilize this knowledge to falter the modification process in order to move toward a foreclosure. 
The final Property Settlement Agreement stating I am taking over the property has been uploaded to the Seterus document system prior to the application for modification. This is the legal contract we have with the Court of XXXX to handle the house. This is how the legal system is handling the matter, last I recall Seterus was not the judge on the divorce case. I have stated numerous times my intent to keep this property. I am to refinance the house and the modification is a step in that direction, which Seterus is now adversely impacting through their deceptive and abusive practices will cause a direct impact to the agreements of the court case. 

Everything Seterus requested was sent to them via the fedex they supplied back in XX/XX/XXXX. It took Seterus over 60 days to get to this reviewed and issue notification at the last hour in order to strategically setup a default situation. I certainly do not feel like being discriminated against due to marital or XXXX status. I have been through 5 years of XXXX dealing with my ex husbands XXXX XXXX operations, personality changes and his filing for divorce due to this life event that rendered me a XXXX XXXX widow, yes that is an actual definition. And as I recall through this life event we, when married, where declined a modification by Seterus even though we had medical notes from the doctors and were going through 3 $ 100K+ operations on one salary. Yes, apparently Seterus saw no need for approving a modification during that crisis ; it was preferred to set a family up for catastrophic failure. But I survived and have been paying this mortgage on my own for 5 years since he abandoned everything in XX/XX/XXXX. The last thing I expected from Seterus was deceptive business practices and a setup through the modification to try to take my home. However it was realized when I saw your negative reporting on my credit report saying I was making partial payments, partial payments Seterus required me to follow explicitly. And how does Seterus go from behind one single payment of {$2700.00} due to my 18 day unemployment to an escalated amount to over $ 11K? I have requested an itemized list to be sent addressing this question. I am sick of being attacked by predators when I am trying to do the right thing.

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 monetary relief