Consumer complaint received 2022-01-03
Company: Freedom Mortgage Company
State: PA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Other type of mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
I have a USDA loan that is being serviced by Freedom Mortgage. I have a foreclosure sale date on XX/XX/XXXX and have been trying to fix things with Freedom but feel they have denied me access to government borrower assistance programs. I went through a difficult time where my income was cut in half and I tried to apply for a loan modification with Freedom two years ago but they denied me due to lack of income. I then filed for Chapter XXXX bankruptcy protection to save my home and reorganize my bills and made payments to the trustee. However I work as a XXXX XXXX XXXX and due to Covid we had a huge drop in business and I could not keep up with the trustee payments. I tried to work with Freedom and resume payments to them but they told me that I had to repay all past due amounts in one lump sum and I could not do that. Business has picked up over the last few months and my financial circumstances have improved and I can afford to make a reasonable mortgage payment and fix this if given the chance. 

I bought my home 4 years ago. I was working as a XXXX XXXX for XXXX XXXX and made a good living as a XXXX employee and was able to qualify for the USDA program. I had no problem making the payments for the first couple of years but then my daughter began having major medical issues and my wife had to stay home to take care of her. At that time my employer restructured and cut my hours in half, along with my income. I did everything I could to stay afloat but I could not make it and fell behind on the mortgage and tried to apply for a loan modification through Freedom at that time, but was told that I did not make enough money and was denied. I then filed a Chapter XXXX bankruptcy. I wanted to repay everything I owed but needed more time, and XXXX would not give me any options. 

I paid on the bankruptcy for over one year but when Covid hit my income took another hit and I was stuck making the choice of paying for food, medicine and utilities or the trustee payments for the bankruptcy. It got so bad that our electricity was shut off because I had a {$4000.00} balance. This was a bad time for our family, but I did not give up and kept trying. Over the last few months my current employer has seen their business boom and I have been working so many hours and overtime to help that I am in a much better place financially. I spoke with the XXXX foreclosure agents to see if I could begin making payments to work this out and was told that they would only accept the full past due balance to stop the foreclosure. I believe that there are government programs available that I would qualify for such as loan modification, forbearance, or even repayment plan. The reason I fell out of the bankruptcy is Covid related, it was not my fault that business dropped so much at that time. I am making enough money to afford a reasonable mortgage payment and I want the opportunity to save my home. Freedom is servicing a government USDA loan and I understand that there are multiple options available for distressed borrowers and I want access to these programs. I want to save my home and will do whatever it takes if I am given an opportunity to resolve this.

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