Consumer complaint received 2021-10-21
Company: PENTAGON FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
State: CA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Home equity loan or line of credit (HELOC)
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
I am writing to find resolution with Penfed on the HELOC on property XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX CA XXXX - a duplex - which has two tenants. The heloc is the only loan ( there is no first mortgage/other loans on the property ). I have been a loanholder with Penfed for many years, since XXXX of XXXX and had an excellent history of payments, never any lates, until COVID where I became unemployed for 6 months and then when I regained employment with my former contractor it was at a reduced volume and hence less income. I would also like to note that I have two loans with Penfed and I have remained current on the other loan despite the challenges Covid has brought. 

Its important to note on this property that even though I was already faced with a period of unemployment and then reduced income, I have also had to contend with periods of no rent. The tenants on this particular property have had many instances of not paying rent. Late XXXX i did not receive rent for a period of 4 months until the county finally approved assistance for the tenant and i was paid by the county. I'm now in the third instance this year of waiting 2 to 3 moths for rent from one or other of the tenants. Currently even for this month of XXXX as I write this, one of the tenants was laid off and has not paid yet again. In XXXX XXXX the other tenant caught covid and was hospitalized so i did not receive rent for 2 months. It has been an ongoing cycle of unpredictability and me covering payments and expenses on the property not knowing if i would receive the rent or when of if i would have to go to eviction proceedings which were not allowed anyway until last month due to the eviction moratoriums. I have attached emails of communications with my property management company that reflect the non-payments of rents. 

Penfed offered me an opportunity to submit a hardship application. I did so and the loss mitigation department confirmed via email on XX/XX/XXXX ( see email thread attached ) they had the complete packet and a decision would be made within 30 days, so by XX/XX/XXXX. I was explicit with my Penfed point of contact XXXX XXXX on many phone calls that if i were to move forward with the application that my credit would be protected because if not i would figure a way out to become current so i can keep my property and not have my credit affected, I was assured my credit would not be affected whilst in the process. This was extremely important to me. 

I had not heard from Penfed and happened to notice on one of my credit cards that my credit score had dropped significantly into the XXXX 's. I immediately reached out to Penfed to find out what had happened with my application. I was told that it had been denied back on XX/XX/XXXX. Apparently XXXX had phoned and left me a voicemail on XX/XX/XXXX which i did not hear as my friend and i were unfortunately assaulted on the evening of the XXXX and robbed. They took my entire handbag including my phone. I did not actually know they had called me as i had to wait on a new phone through my insurance and use a temporary phone in the meantime which was very limited in its capability so i was unaware they had called. I have since heard the voicemail and it does not specify that it was important i call back. I should note that i had received many calls from Penfed over the prior months and this vm message was no different in tone. It also was the ONLY effort PENFED made to notify me of the denial! There was no written communication via mail or email and no further efforts by them to reach me. I also was under the impression that i would not hear until the 30 days period was up and that i was going to be notified in writing as that was the benchmark that had been set, as i had received multiple email communications with the loss mitigation department right through the hardship application process. This led me to believe along with conversations with XXXX that should I be denied I would be notified in writing. In addition my understanding was that in the case of a denial, I would be given the opportunity bring my loan current and keep my credit in tact. None of this happened. My credit has now been compromised and we did not come to a resolution on my loan that i thought would be workable under my new circumstances and with tenants still struggling to pay. I was since told on phone calls i was denied for showing a loss in income monthly. Which had i been notified i could have clarified that in fact i couldn't survive if i were losing money monthly and i do not run at a loss. So obviously there was some misunderstanding of my finances on their part and no effort on their part to clarify that with me before issuing the denial. 

Please also note i made many many phone calls to Penfed in the last 2 weeks once i became aware to try to rectify this with them and made a very reasonable offer which they also denied. They will have records, or they should as i was told verbally they took notes. I had asked for written confirmation and was told that's not something they do. Also i only received a notice of the denial in writing only after i phoned in to follow up and requested it.

With all this said and the extreme circumstances created by Covid combined with the low interest rate market and the fact that i do in fact make income monthly i do not feel their assessment and decision was fair or handled appropriately. They failed in their communication to me their longtime client and in providing the opportunity i was told i would have to rectify the situation should i be denied. I am therefore requesting that you could assist in requesting Penfed re-assess my file again and most importantly repair my credit to its prior status so that it does not reflect a serious delinquency. I would also ask that in their re-assessment that they are in better communcation so I am aware of any decision made. 

Thank you for your time and assistance in this matter.

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