Consumer complaint received 2017-03-31
Company: CU MORTGAGE SERVICES INC.
State: MN
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional fixed mortgage
Issue: Loan modification,collection,foreclosure

Complaint:
In XX/XX/XXXX our lender, XXXX ( XXXX ) wrote a mortgage loan modification so that keeping our home would be more affordable. The payment was reduced to {$950.00} plus an additional {$280.00} for escrow with the total payment equaling {$1200.00}. The following XX/XX/XXXX our payment increased by {$200.00}, which caused a hardship for us. ( Please note that CU Companies is the mortgage servicer. ) When we questioned the {$200.00} increase we were informed it was to cover deficiencies in escrow as a result of the modification, however, at the time of modification we did not understand that there would be an increase a year later. 

By XX/XX/XXXX we were struggling to meet our mortgage payment and so went to XXXX and met with a HUD counselor to seek foreclosure prevention assistance. The counselor completed a mortgage assistance application on the CU Companies website and submitted that to CU Companies on our behalf. CU Companies responded to the HUD counselor by stating that they refused to offer us any workout options & did not provide detail beyond stating they refused to offer us workout options. 

XXXX suggested that we write to the Board of Directors at XXXX and request a workout plan, which we did do. The Board offered us a repayment plan at {$410.00} for 19 months resulting in a total payment of {$1800.00}, or 53 % of our income, sometimes more as part of our earnings is seasonal. We started the new payment last XX/XX/XXXX and have made the increased payment for 6 months now, under great financial strain as the percent of our income going towards our home is too significant. 

In essence, the modification in XXXX and the repayment plan in XXXX proved to be a recipe for failure. We do not want to lose our home. We are an " older couple '' who would be faced with homelessness should we lose our home. We want to work with our lender so that an affordable plan can be put in place. 

We emailed CU Companies om XX/XX/XXXX and requested that a modification review be initiated. We also wrote to the Board of Directors om XX/XX/XXXX requesting the same. As well, we will be submitting our proof of income along with a hardship letter to the Board early next week as XXXX will assist us with a hardship letter. 

We also do not completely understand the finer details of the repayment plan such as the details around the arrears amount. The repayment plan shows the arrears amount as {$6900.00} & states that this amount includes past due payments of interest, principal & escrow, late charges & charges the servicer advanced. If we divide the arrears by XXXX the result is {$360.00}, however, the supplemental payment is {$410.00}. It would be helpful to us if the arrears were broke down by item cost. In with this, our monthly statements do not show a supplemental account, so we are unclear around the details of how the supplemental payment is being applied. 

In ending, we want to explore all available foreclosure avoidance options that may be available to us. The last two workout scenarios were not at all affordable and it is our hope that, with help from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, CU Companies will work with us so that we can succeed in keeping our home.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation