Consumer complaint received 2022-09-12
Company: Longbridge Financial, LLC
State: CA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Reverse mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
1. I paid XXXX XXXX {$12000.00} for High Grade Wood Grain Porceline Tiling for my entire home. Included in the receipt was labor and all other materials to remove the damaged carpeting in the Livingroom, Hallway, Master Bedroom & Master Bedroom Closet and install the new tiling.. 

2. Shortly thereafter, I received a letter from the Repairs Department at Longbridge Financial stating that {$7600.00} was being withheld for required repairs as well as a required Contractors Affidavit of Confitional Waiver of Lien required for complaince with my Reverse Mortgage Agreement. 

3. I called their Repairs Department and was told that once the repairs were made, to send in my invoices, reciepts and the Waiver of Lien. I was advised that once received, I would be contacted by the Repair Department to schedule a HUD Inspector out to my home to confirm work was completed and was in compliance with HUD Standards. Once the inspector submits his/her report, Longbridge would return the withheld {$7600.00} to my equity line of credit. 

4. I had to go back and forth between XXXX XXXX and their XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX to determine who was the party responsible for completing your Lien Waiver. It took me 2 weeks to get that issue resolved. 

5. XXXX XXXX finally sent me the Waiver of Lien, and I forwarded it to XXXX. XXXX XXXX XXXX sent me thier company Waiver of Lien, not the one from Longbridge, so I contacted the Repair Department and was told to send XXXX XXXX 's waiver in..

6.The mid week in XXXX, Longbridge called me and advised me they were going to contract a HUD Inspector out to my home to confirm repairs had been made. They said it could take up to 2 weeks to have an inspector come out, and I was fine with that.. 

7. Around the last week in XXXX, XXXX XXXX sent out thier HUD Inspector ( Who was actually the same appraiser that came out when I initially applied for my Reverse Mortgage with XXXX XXXX XXXX is a very small community and there are very few professionals in XXXX XXXX XXXX .Anyway, he came out, he took pictures of the areas repaired and he submitted his report. 

8. The next thing I know, the Inspector was on the phone with me saying Longbridge kicked his report back to them telling the Inspector to change the name of the Business noted as XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  ( The Mortgage Broker I applied for a Reverse Mortgage through ) and to change the name on his report to Longbridge Financial. I didn't understand why he was so upset and literally livid at the request, He began telling me that what they asked for was not legal, therefor could not be done. I told him to contact Longbridge directly, but was told they couldn't get through on the phone. 

9. I decided to do a conference call with the HUD Inspector, Longbridge Financial and myself, which ended up becomibng a shouting match because the Repairs Representative would not listen to his concernes nor mine. She would not and refused to transfer us to a Supervisor, nor would she provide us with any information on how to speak with a supervisor to find a solution to the issue. 

10. The HUD Inspector then called FHA or HUD to verify that he was correct in that changing the Lender name on his report would be illegal, and XXXX  informed me that he was correct per FHA/HUD. 

11. The following day, XXXX  called me and said that their requirement to change the name on his report had been dropped and no longer required. Whether HUD contacted Longbridge Financial or not to advise them that this was an illegal request is not known. We just know they no longer required this change. 

12. I then called the Repair Department again, to ensure all my documents, receipts and invoices were recieved as well as the HUD Inspectors report. I was advised that yes, everything on my end was fulfilled and I do not need to do anything else. I was advised that once " Upper Management '' reviewed the paperwork, the funds withheld would be released for my withdrawl and would take about a week to review and a week to recieve the funds. This Operator Confirmed that ALL REQUIRED DOCUMENTS HAD BEEN RECEIVED and were in review by management. 

XXXX. However, on XX/XX/2022, a letter went out to me, which I recieved on XX/XX/2022 stating that although the HUD Inspector 's report was received, that XXXX had not yet received the " Contractor Affidavit And Conditional Waiver of Lien '' or any final invoices and/or reciepts are required to release the withheld funds on my account.

14. I again called the Repairs Department and got the same rude customer service rep I had conferenced with myself and the HUD inspector. She tried to say that this letter was sent out before they had received my documents or the inspectors report. This ... Made NO SENSE AT ALL!

15. I explained that I was told that a HUD Inspection was required, but would not be scheduled until all the required paperwork was submitted ( Reciepts/Invoices/Waiver of Lien ). Which was WHY I received call from Longbridge about scheduling out the inspector, NO NO NO! If I had not submitted my invoices, lien waiver, receipts, Longbridge would not have sent the HUD Inspectore out to my home to submit his report! 

16. The operator asked me to hold, and hung up on me!

17. I decided to check my account on their website, and it does not reflect that {$7600.00} is being held on my account for repairs. Yes, there is a place on the web page that has a box showing money being held for repairs. It shows a {$0.00} balance. 

18. This company 's web site does not provide any contact information to reach management, supervisors or anyone higher than a generic repair call center. 

19. I contacted their XXXX 's XXXX XXXX only to be told that I would have to contact someone from the Repair Department to resolve my issue. They did not have any phone numbers to contact management within that department. 

20. I emailed the company over and over and over again, asking that someone from management call me directly, and only receive a robotic reply saying that Someone would get back to me, that phone call never ever came! 

21. With my frustration getting out of control, I called the FHA Assistance line and spoke with a FHA Rep. I opened a claim, received a refence number XXXX, and a case number XXXX. 

I am EXTREMELY concerned that not only has this company taken funds from the cash out loan on my home to which they have no intention of returning to my Equity Line of Credit, but also that this company has the ability to damage my credit score and credit reports. 

I have complied with every single requirement to have the {$7600.00} retured to me, only to get so many false answers, or facts of what is happening and what is the problem that I can't get a part of the {$12000.00} that I paid to tile my entire home. 

I have been waiting for over 2-3 weeks for someone to contact me to resolve or clarify the issues preventing them from releasing funds that their web site isn ; t there. And if not being withheld for repairs, where IS IT??? 

I hope your agency can get involved and assist me in recovering money that Longbridge should have released three weeks ago or longer.. 

Thank you for your time. I know this was a lot of information. Please contact me if you need copies of emails, documents, my statement of facts, etc, etc etc.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation