Consumer complaint received 2022-06-26
Company: Shellpoint Partners, LLC
State: NM
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
The XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX of XXXX XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX ( XXXX. XXXX, XXXX ) authorizes the Department of Treasury to administer XXXX and distribute {$9.00} XXXX to the states, territories, and tribes to help homeowners facing hardships caused by the XXXX pandemic. Funds must be used by XX/XX/XXXX, and target low-income and moderate-income homeowners based on area median income. A Department of Treasury XX/XX/XXXX, guidance explains that states can distribute XXXX funding to prevent mortgage delinquencies, defaults, and foreclosures, loss of utilities, and displacement. States can distribute funds so that homeowners can reinstate a delinquent mortgage and reduce the mortgage principal. Funds are sent directly to the mortgage servicer or other entity approved to receive payments, not to the homeowner directly. 

This problem of a gap between an active foreclosure and receipt of XXXX funds is a serious onethe number of foreclosures soon is projected to be staggering, with the expiration of federal and most state foreclosure moratoria and Consumer Finance Protection Bureau ( CFPB ) federal pre-foreclosure protections. Unfortunately, the CFPB has failed miserably in enforcing such protections they put in place to protect homeowners such as myself because mortgage servicers such as XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank and Shellpoint have conspired together to steal peoples homes from them by illegally foreclosing on them. You see, XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank ( See Complaint ID : XXXX ) and Wellpoint in XXXX case ignored dealing with the NM XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX would not receive any HAF XXXX Program funds to help homeowners like myself reinstate my delinquent mortgage and reduce the mortgage principal. I am sure I am the first they did this to obtain a foreclosed property as this was a very common pattern with XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank in regard to auto loans, which appears they have been applying this same method to mortgage loans as well. I am a former employee of XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank in which I work there for over 5 years performing collections on past due auto loans, but the main objective was to trick, conceal truths, and to persuade the customer to divulge the location of their vehicle they were hiding. My recorded phone conversations would indicate that I had established a payment arrangement to bring the account current, but my co-workers would use their personal cell phones to pretend to be confirming these payment arrangements when in fact they were working to repossess the vehicle. Our office was number XXXX for several years with the most repossessions average about XXXX per month and over XXXX per year. The repossessed vehicle would be sold at an auto auction only attended by dealerships contracted with XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank and they dealership would finance the original auto loan, would have the first bid option to purchase back the vehicle. The dealership would then finance this same vehicle to another customer and the same thing would happen over and over again. I knew something was not right as soon as I was hied by XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank, but the pay was too good to quit, so I looked the other way. After a year of working there, I was able to purchase my first home with the help of my parents who put down close to $ XXXX from their retirement funds as a down payment so I would have low monthly payments that I could afford to make every month. A that time I was now a homeowner and started asking questions because I did not want to be caught doing something illegal that could lead me to lose my new house. A short time later, XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank bought my mortgage loan from I believe was Bank XXXX XXXX which was my parents bank they did business with, and I later learned XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank bought my mortgage to use as leverage against me to keep me silent about the bank fraud I was witnessing. After 5 years of working for XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank, I was now required to became an active participant in this bank fraud which I refused. I did not believe that upper management was aware of this bank fraud, so I explained to them in an internal email how I was seeing XXXX XXXX different auto loan with different customer names, but all these loans were for the same vehicle. The dealership was buying back the repossessed vehicle for 10 % of the outstanding loan balance and the customer was responsible for the other 90 % of the past due loan balance plus legal fees. For example, if an auto loan was financed for $ XXXX and the vehicle had a balance of $ XXXX remaining an the vehicle was repossessed, they dealership would buy back the vehicle for $ XXXX and the customer would need to pay back the $ XXXX and they lost their vehicle and the same dealership would then finance another auto loan through XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank again with a different customer for around $ XXXX again as an example. This happening to over XXXX customers per month just in XXXX XXXX  alone was generating XXXX of dollars per month profit for XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank as well as the dealerships. So, when upper management flew out to our office in XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX, I assumed they were coming to address my concerns about fraud I had outlined in the email I had sent them, but instead they wanted to know why I was refusing to be an active participant in the bank fraud scheme that his bank was involved with. I advised him I did not want to lose my house and he stated that if I continue to refuse, I would be terminated, and XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank would XXXX day take my house from me. XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank were stupid enough to fight me on my claim for unemployment benefit payments as they flew dozens of attorneys to intimidate me into wanting to withdraw my claim which I refused to do. Once the judge asked me for my documentation supporting my claims of bank fraud, he was taken back at what he was seeing and immediately ruled in my favor. The judge stated to the defense of XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank that he would be forwarding copies of my documentation to local, state, and federal authorities. I also filed complaints with state and federal agencies against XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank which ultimately led to XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank having to close all their offices as well as all their bank branches in the State of XXXX XXXX 

If a homeowner is more than 120 days past due, the CFPBs mortgage servicing regulations permit servicers to initiate foreclosure immediately after the end of the forbearance unless a borrower submits a complete application packet. XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank had tried to do this even though I had already applied for the XXXX XXXX XXXX back on XX/XX/XXXX ( See Complaint ID : XXXX ). I again received a letter from XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank dated XX/XX/XXXX advising me their intention to foreclose on my house, but after I informed the XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX of this letter, and then the XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX notified XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank to cease and desist foreclosure on my house, I then received another letter from XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank, dated only 3 days later with a date of XX/XX/XXXX, which advised me that they just sold my past due mortgage loan to XXXX. ( See Complaint ID : XXXX ). Almost a month later, I received a letter from XXXX Dated XX/XX/XXXX, and in this letter, it stated that if I had been impacted by COVID-19, you may qualify for a forbearance plan. If you do qualify for a forbearance plan, you may be able to temporarily put a pause on my monthly mortgage payments, I would not be assessed any late charges, and negative credit reporting on my mortgage loan would be suspended. This means you will not be marked late for any suspended payments. Prior to the end of the forbearance period, I will need to contact them to discuss a permanent payment option and solution. Enclosed with this letter was a Mortgage Assistance Application along with supporting documentation would need to be returned by XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I completed the Mortgage Assistance Application along with supporting documentation which is also mentioned in my complaint against XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank ( See Complaint ID : XXXX ), which I mailed to XXXX on the same day via USPS Priority Mail with USPS Tracking XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. USPS Website showed this envelope had been delivered to their XXXX XXXX XXXX at XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, in XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX. I then called Shellpoint on XXXX XXXX, and spoke with XXXX XXXX at XXXX, who advised me that they had received my Mortgage Assistance Application and my status at this time was that it was in a pended status which meant it was still under review at that time. She then wanted to know when I would be making a payment to bring my account current which I thought was strange as I had just discussed with her about my Mortgage Assistance Application which was supposed to allow me to temporarily put a pause on my monthly mortgage payments, but she was trying to collect a payment from me. I then advised her I had also applied for the XXXX XXXX XXXX back on XX/XX/XXXX, and that they had received the letter from the XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, and that they had responded back with their answers in the portal back on XX/XX/XXXX. She wanted to know if I wanted to move my past due mortgage payments to the back end of my loan. I replied no as I wanted to see if my Mortgage Assistance Application was approved, and I also wanted to see how much money the XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX  was going to pay from the XXXX XXXX XXXX once my application was finally approved with XXXX now being my mortgage servicer. She stated she would follow up with me in a week with a phone call from Shellpoint. I then sent an email to the XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX advising I had just spoke with XXXX XXXX at Shellpoint advising me that they had responded back to their agency through the portal back on XX/XX/XXXX. I then received an email response back from the XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX advising me that they in fact did not hear back from Shellpoint until XX/XX/XXXX. They also advised me that they had sent a Re-Quote through the Portal the prior day which would have been on XX/XX/XXXX, but it could take up to an additional 14 days to get this Re-Quote since that last quote had expired as it had been more than 30 days since getting this last quote. 

A few days later, I started receiving numerous collection calls per day from XXXX in which I needed to call XXXX XXXX at XXXX and almost every call was from an unknown caller which was weird as it was not showing a phone number under my call history as it only tracks missed calls which have a phone number attached to the phone call. On XX/XX/XXXX, I sent an email to XXXX XXXX to get an update on their requote because I was receiving collection calls from Shellpoint. I was advised they were still waiting for the Re-Quote and that once it was received, my application would have to go through a second review. I was also advised that this program is a bit lengthier that the last one since they are now having now verify the loans directly through the mortgage servicer and can be quite time consuming. This now makes sense why XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank had refused to work with the XXXX XXXX to wait for payment as they did not want to deal with this time consuming application process and instead tried to foreclose on my house instead, but again once XXXX XXXX XXXX learned that they were trying to illegally foreclose on my house as stated in their letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, of their intention to foreclose on my house, XXXX days later, XXXX XXXX XXXX sent me a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, that they had just sold my past due mortgage loan to Shellpoint ( See Complaint ID : XXXX ). On XX/XX/XXXX, I finally returned XXXX of XXXX XXXX phone calls from Shellpoint and spoke with XXXX XXXX at XXXX regarding my past due mortgage loan. I asked him about my Mortgage Assistance Application, and he stated it was still in a pended status as it was still being reviewed as to whether it would be approved or not. He wanted to know the reasoning for my request for a mortgage forbearance and how I had been impacted by the Covid-19 Pandemic. I told him that I had it all written out in my Mortgage Assistance Application, but he wanted to hear it from me. I explained to him how XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank had bought my mortgage loan from my previous mortgage servicer when I was a former employee of XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank as they had terminated me when I refused to play an active role in this serious bank fraud. I then advised I had lost my job at the start of the Coronavirus Pandemic and was awarded unemployment benefit payments when the First Stimulus Package was approved by Congress. I had advised that in XX/XX/XXXX, someone had used my personal information to open a fraudulent unemployment claim in the State of XXXX XXXX when I never lived or worked in the State of XXXX XXXX I advised I believed it was the doing of XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank as they had access to my personal information, and it was retaliation against me for having all their offices and bank branches closed in the State of XXXX XXXX when I complained to state and federal agencies regarding their bank fraud practices. I then advised that I had filed a complaint against a state agency in XXXX XXXX  regarding my stolen unemployment benefits and this state agency along with the governor of XXXX XXXX XXXXd found me guilty of filing a fraudulent unemployment claim with the State of XXXX XXXX when in fact I was the victim of this same crime, and then became a victim a second time when my checking account was forced to by closed and my checking account balance was {$3700.00} at this time and this money was then stolen from me as to this day, I never received my money back even though the State of XXXX XXXX admitted to a State Senator as well as to federal agencies that I had been wrongfully accused of this crime. As a result of this stolen money, it helped me to be able to apply for the XXXX XXXX XXXX and allowed me to be approved XXXX prior times and at this time I was hoping to be approved for a third time as well. XXXX XXXX at Shellpoint then stated he would send me a letter in regard to all my payment options he had previously discussed with me. 

I believe on XX/XX/XXXX, I received the letter from XXXX XXXX as Shellpoint dated XX/XX/XXXX, that I had to pay the past due balance of my mortgage loan, which was {$5700.00} by XX/XX/XXXX, to avoid foreclosure on my house. Nothing in this letter address my Mortgage Assistance Application as to whether I was approved or not. It was like the just totally ignored my application all together which is what XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank had done when they ignored my application to extend my Unemployment Forbearance Program an additional XXXX  months, and they instead chose to try to illegally foreclose on my house. I immediately emailed a copy of this letter to the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXd they responded back to me on XX/XX/XXXX, advising me that they had just reached out to their contact at XXXX, XXXX XXXX, and requested an update on the Re-Quote. She apparently had responded back in the portal that she would have a response no later than tomorrow, that being XX/XX/XXXX. The change from XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank to Shellpoint occurred back in XX/XX/XXXX, which required additional verification regarding the new loan before they could even reach out to Shellpoint. Apparently, Shellpoint was taking their time in providing information to the XXXX XXXX New Mexico so they could drag this process past the deadline of XX/XX/XXXX, so they could then foreclose on my house and in order for me to keep my house after this deadline, I would need to payoff the remaining balance of my mortgage loan which would be impossible for me to do and Shellpoint was well aware of this which is why they were being quick to foreclose on my house. I then sent an email to XXXX XXXX at XXXX asking him to have XXXX XXXX at Shellpoint provide a Re-Quote to the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX as soon as possible through the portal. But XXXX XXXX at XXXX chose to ignore my request and emailed me another collection letting me know that I needed to make a payment on my past due mortgage loan, and nothing indicated in this email referring to the XXXX XXXX XXXX involving my application process. 

I then received an email on XX/XX/XXXX, in which they still had not received a response from Shellpoint regarding the Re-Quote and then received another email a short time later asking me if I wanted XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX to facilitate a conference call with XXXX XXXX at Shellpoint. I replied back agreeing to this as I understood that my XXXX XXXX XXXX application would not be determined until either early XX/XX/XXXX to XXXX XXXX or by this time, it would be too late to stop the foreclosure proceedings on my house. I wanted to speak with XXXX XXXX at Shellpoint along with XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX to see if we could move this deadline to the end of XX/XX/XXXX in order to avoid my past due mortgage loan going into foreclosure. But instead, XXXX XXXX at Shellpoint ignored the email from XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX. Apparently since XXXX XXXX failed to keep her work about putting the Re-Quote in the portal for XXXX XXXX to use this information to process my XXXX XXXX Application and since XXXX XXXX failed to respond to the email request from the XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX regarding the conference call involving myself, the XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX decided not to wait until XX/XX/XXXX to complete my XXXX XXXX Application process. You see, on XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email from XXXX XXXX at XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX advising me that I had been approved for assistance from the XXXX XXXX  Homeowners Assistance Fund ( HAF ). My approved award amount is XXXX and to allow at least 14 days for processing. Again, my past due mount I need to pay Shellpoint according to XXXX XXXX letter date XX/XX/XXXX, is {$5700.00} and there is an unapplied balance of {$400.00}, and again Shellpoint will be receiving {$6400.00} form the XXXX XXXX XXXX plus the {$400.00} will also cover my XX/XX/XXXX mortgage payment as well making my next mortgage payment due on XX/XX/XXXX, which I plan to make on XX/XX/XXXX once Shellpoint applies my approved award amount is XXXX to my past due loan balance which again is greater than the {$5700.00} that Shellpoint is requesting by XX/XX/XXXX to avoid foreclosure. 

My fear now is that Shellpoint will either refuse or delay applying my approved award amount is XXXX to my past due mortgage loan balance, giving them the freedom to foreclose on my house as I would not meet the XX/XX/XXXX, deadline. You may think I am being paranoid, but then why has Shellpoint been so deceptive with its collections practices with me when they refused to even process my Mortgage Assistance Application when I spent several hours a day for XXXX straight days on completing this application only to have it ignored by Shellpoint. Why did Shellpoint ignore my Mortgage Assistance Application, the same reason XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank ignored my Mortgage Assistance Application, which is they would rather foreclose on my house rather than accept money from the XXXX XXXX XXXX which would bring my mortgage loan current. Why was XXXX XXXX only interested in me paying the past due mortgage balance instead of working with the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX regarding my HAF XXXX Application was so he could get a very large financial bonus for being able to foreclose on my house where he would probably get a high XXXX for bringing my past due mortgage loan current. And why did both XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX at XXXX completely ignored the requests from the XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX was so they could string out the XXXX XXXX Program Application process past the XX/XX/XXXX, deadline so they could then again have the legal right to foreclose on my house. 

The State of XXXX XXXX can condition foreclosure activity on the lender or servicer by providing meaningful information about the XXXX XXXX XXXX to homeowners and pausing the foreclosure process to give eligible homeowners a chance to access these funds. Unfortunately, the State of XXXX XXXX does not enforce this and the federal government, your agency, should step up to the plate and actually enforce this so people such as myself dont lose their house. But I am not the only person this is happening to as hundreds, maybe even thousands of other homeowners may be in the same boat as me. While the Treasury Department has approved the XXXX plan for XXXX states including my state, states cant open their application portals until they finalize contracts with service providers, execute servicer collaboration agreements, and complete other administrative and logistical details. Only XXXX states including my state are now accepting XXXX applications. The problem here is servicers such as XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank and XXXX have decided to ignore the HAF applications and continue to collect on the past due mortgage payments and if the homeowner cant bring their account current on their own, then their home mortgage loan account goes into foreclosure. XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank tried to do this when the ignored the fact that I had applied for the XXXX XXXX XXXX and tried to illegally foreclose on my house by refusing to cooperate with the XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX and when they informed XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank to cease and desist foreclosing on my house, XXXX XXXX turned around apparently either the same day or the following day and sold my past due mortgage loan to XXXX, a collection agency. XXXX did the exact same thing XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank did which was to ignore the XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX which then actually sped up my XXXX application process in which I was then immediately approved. But because of these delays by mortgage servicers such as XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank and XXXX in communicating through the portal which is linked to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, by the time homeowners can apply for the XXXX XXXX Program, they may already be facing the initial stages of a foreclosure such as my case with both XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank and Shellpoint, or may be in active foreclosure and thank my lucky stars I did not end up here! By mortgage servicers such as XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank and Shellpoint delaying providing information which is needed to process the XXXX XXXX program application, they are in fact delaying the funding process so when the funds are finally released, these funds may be received too late to prevent foreclosure or, at a minimum, to prevent additional foreclosure-related fees and charges added to the loan accounts, which will make resolution of the delinquency more costly. 

Again, mortgage servicers such as XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank and Shellpoint are fully aware of this, and this is why they are using their stall tactics when it comes to XXXX applications and the delay in getting them processed so they can then go ahead and foreclose on a homeowners house. One can anticipate large numbers of homeowners eligible for XXXX who can not access the funds in time to avoid foreclosure or a foreclosure proceeding. Again, this almost happened to me as XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX had previously advised me it be early to XXXX XXXX, which is when they projected they would have completed my XXXX XXXX Program application, but because Shellpoint was trying to foreclose on m house by giving me a deadline of XX/XX/XXXX, and they were ignoring all requests in the portal or from emails from the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX went ahead and immediately approved my XXXX XXXX XXXX application. It appears now that as soon as these forbearance programs end, homeowners in such programs will have to work with their loan servicers to create a plan to repay the forborne payments. But again, in my case, both XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank and Shellpoint both sent me Mortgage Assistance Applications with the belief they were going to help me stay in my house, but then turned around and did the exact opposite, they both tried to foreclose on my house. XXXX XXXX XXXX should be a vital tool to help homeowners become current on their past due mortgage loans when their servicers do not offer affordable options to repay missed payments and the catch is, only if HAF payments can be received prior to the home being foreclosed. Again, sorry to sound like a broken record, but mortgage servicers such as XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank and XXXX are ignoring XXXX all together and either the homeowner brings their past due mortgage current themselves to meet the deadline given to bring your mortgage loan current or then have your house go into foreclosure. This happened first with XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank and then when they sold my past due mortgage loan to Shellpoint, Shellpoint also sent me a letter giving me until XX/XX/XXXX, to bring my mortgage current or my house would go into foreclosure. 

I strongly believe this problem is going to explode as no one seems to be policing the mortgage servicers such as XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank and Shellpoint as they seem they have created a huge gap between an active foreclosure and the receipt of XXXX Funds is a serious one as it again al most happened to me as my XXXX application was project to be completed sometime in XX/XX/XXXX, but Shellpoint was giving me a deadline of XX/XX/XXXX to avoid my past due mortgage loan going into foreclosure. I strongly believe this was done intentionally by Shellpoint as they had no intention of wanting to receive funding from XXXX to bring a mortgage loan current as they much prefer to be able to foreclose on the property as this would be much more financially beneficial for the mortgage servicer such as XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank and Shellpoint. I also strongly believe the number of foreclosures will soon be projected to be staggering, with the expiration of federal and state foreclosure moratoria and Consumer Finance Protection Bureau ( CFPB ) federal pre-foreclosures protections, but not sure which protections you were enforcing as none were enforced to help prevent my house from being illegally foreclosed on. By the actions that these mortgage servicers such as XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank and Shellpoint appear to be immoral and most likely illegal in their efforts to foreclose on a house rather than work to have XXXX funds applied to a homeowners account, so their past due mortgage account becomes current. The XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( CFPB ) again really needs to step up to the plate now and prevent all these foreclosures that are going to be taking place in the weeks and months to come. People should not be losing their house because the XXXX Funds could not be given to their mortgage servicer in time to prevent a foreclosure. I lost many nights of sleep, was stressed all the time, and my work production all suffered as a result of these mortgage servicers XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank and Shellpoint both refusing to work on making sure my XXXX application was approved and were willing to wait until the XXXX funds were disbursed instead of trying to foreclose on my house in an effort to basically steal my house from me when in fact I have been a victim of the XXXX XXXX  which is the entire reason for the XXXX funds in the first place which is to keep a person in their house so it is not taken away form them. XXXX is going to fail numerous people, it could be thousands as recently it was reported that XXXX homeowners are still on some type of Forbearance Program and if mortgage servicers such as XXXX XXXX XXXX and XXXX are not policed in regard to XXXX Funding, then thousands of people within fact lose their houses and HAF will look like a complete failure. Just keep mind, what happened to me could not only happen to you, but it could happen to a family member, a relative, a friend, a co-worker, and even XXXX of your neighbors! You have the power to prevent this and I am hoping with the information I have provided you in my complaint, I am hoping you can help other keep their houses when I asked for your help, you just looked the other way. I really hope your agency steps up to the plate and really decides to help other struggling homeowners stay in their house, so they dont lose their houses to mortgage servicers such as XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank and especially to Shellpoint. Again, my fear is that Shellpoint will either sit on this money or not even apply this money to my past due mortgage loan so they could then go ahead and foreclose on my house.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation