Consumer complaint received 2023-09-18
Company: BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON CORPORATION, THE
State: CT
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Other type of mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage
Sub-issue: Foreclosure

Complaint:
From : XXXX XXXX XXXX Subject : XXXX XXXX XXXX Date XXXX XX/XX/XXXX at XXXXXXXX XXXX EST Below is a quick synopsis of my case : In XXXX, according to land records, XXXX took over our loan from XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, I refinance the mortgage with XXXX who puts us into a predatory option arm that was never properly explained to us. We never miss a single payment or were late, we finally realized that our loan was negatively Amortizing and why. Interestingly, they had my husband only sign one of the forms. All the rest of this loan does NOT have his signature and no one knows why. So it leaves me as solely responsible. 

XX/XX/XXXX, according to SEC records, a company called XXXX XXXX XXXX records they're holding of the Mortgage. I later come to find out that XXXX stands for XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and that they are owned by XXXX or XXXX XXXX XXXX. They are no longer in existence. 

In XXXX, XXXX XXXX asks XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX to bail out XXXX in the hopes of avoiding a housing market crash. TARP and HOPE are created but the crisis still happens. 

XX/XX/XXXX, I realize that our loan is negatively amortizing. I start an application process under HOPE and TARP and the upcoming HAMP laws to modify it. In the middle of it, we find ourselves also working with XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX but all paperwork is from XXXX XXXX XXXX which is owned by XXXX XXXX XXXX and XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX, we sign a loan modification or what we believed to be one. It was to last for 5 years at 1.5 % interest. Unfortunately, when it ended, it also put us back into the negatively amortizing predatory option arm that got us into trouble. 

XX/XX/XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX attempts the first of several attempts accellerate foreclosure despite use being in a loan modification that we are paying on time and in full. They would also call and harass us by Telephone and dropping notices off at our door. Yet, we were in compliance the entire time on our loan and loan modification. 

XXXX, In the middle of our XXXX Loan Mod, I became XXXX XXXXXXXX. The loan modification we were on with my debt to income ratio was pretty much all we could handle. Both DOB ( Dept. of Banking ) and I begged XXXX to do the right thing at the end of my loan modification to convert it to permanent loan. They refused. 

In XX/XX/XXXX, DOB requested I attempt a new loan modification before the old one ended so that we could keep the situation from going out of control with us not being able to afford the mortgage. XXXX denied my application stating it was premature. 

In XX/XX/XXXX, we began this process all over again, making this the 3rd loan modification attempt since XXXX. We were told by XXXX that needed to be 3 months behind in our mortgage to get one. We hoped for a resolution before having to do that. We were paid in full and on time at this point. 

XX/XX/XXXX, our 5-year loan modification ended but XXXX never offered us a permanent loan like they were supposed to under HAMP, HOPE or TARP. We completed this loan modification never being late or missing a payment. 

XX/XX/XXXX, per XXXX  demands, we stopped paying the mortgage because they told us we had to be 3 months behind in our mortgage to qualify for a HAMP modification. Since that time, XXXX has stalled the process 9 times, never denying us but always making us start all over. Sometime around XXXX, XXXX supposedly sold our note to a Private Investor who hires Bank of New York Mellon, as the trustee, and never notified us. We were then given a new Servicer, XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ). The new investor despite knowing that we had been in loan modification negotiations for over 2 years with 9 prematurely closed applications and no denials, put us into a special program that would prevent us from any appropriate loan modification processes. And this is now stalling and preventing a proper reasonable loan modification. Or so we were lead to believe. 

About this time we find out that the loan is illegal and was banned in XXXX because it is a negatively amortizing loan. This means that if we pay it, we are condoning it. 

XX/XX/XXXX, I file a Federal Lawsuit against XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX Bank of New York Mellon and XXXX. Of the 13 counts, the judge only allows 3 to proceed, related to violations of TCPA, Fair Debt Practices and Consumer Protection. The judge also dismisses the case against three of the defendants leaving only XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX and XXXX. 

In XXXX, I put a lis pens on the property related to my federal lawsuit to prevent them from selling it easily if they foreclosed. And I obtain my SEC records which show XXXX as holding my mortgage since XXXX to present. At the time, I thought XXXX was a federal company and did not realize they were XXXX 

XX/XX/XXXX, after numerous attempts to find out who the investor is and other information, XXXX finally sends a letter to DOB. DOB thought I had gotten a copy of this letter but I had not. 

In XX/XX/XXXX, after 13 attempts at loan modifications, XXXX finally gave us a loan modification that we could afford. But they refused to tell us what the terms would be at the end and what the breakdown was. Finally, in XXXX when we completed the trial period, they gave us a loan modification that was unacceptable. And here we sit again in limbo with no proper loan. 

XX/XX/XXXX, judge orders us into mediation and for XXXX to request their client put the loan process on hold until we mediate. We go into mediation, where after years of requests for the investor information and programs, XXXX finally tells us that my property is owned by a private investor and that they put us into a special program that prevents us from any other loan but the crappie one they try to force me to sign. The mediation judge orders all parties to do homework related to necessary discovery and that it is due XX/XX/XXXX. Instead on XX/XX/XXXX, XXXXXXXX contacts my limited scope attorney and tells them that unless I sign the loan they proposed in XXXX that mediation is off. My loan process is Not part of the lawsuit and the judge told them they had to put it on hold. Clearly the defendants came to mediation in bad faith. As well, XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX no longer had say on my loan and therefore was obligated to continue mediation even if XXXX refused. 

I tried to filed contempt charges against them for violation of the both judges ( federal and mediation ) orders/requests and for coming to mediation in bad faith. But the judge denied it saying I should have notified the mediation judge. I provide proof that i did and still the judge denies it. 

XX/XX/XXXX, DOB and I finally realize that they have a copy of a letter that was never sent to me telling us who the investor is. They send it on to me. It is XXXX. All the time, we had been lied to and told that XXXX XXXX XXXX was the investor and they sold us off. 

XXXX still has not been properly answered. 

And in the meantime, we now know that XXXX XXXX XXXX never owned or held our mortgage. In fact, XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX isa not listed anywhere on our land records or SEC records. The judge has denied us various motions and complaints based on false information from the defendants. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Foreclosure documents filed. Despite failure to provide us with our original documents. And despite the fact that the Loan is illegal and was banned 4 years before we were placed in it. We have tried to explain this to them as well as that because this is an illegal mortgage that they have left us in since XXXX of XXXX, we could not pay it as it would condone the illegal mortgage. We have since tried XXXX times to do a loan modification which has either been stalled, shutdown prematurely, or provided with a loan that was illegal with a balloon payment or provided with a loan that was even more than what we could not afford in the first place. They refused to honor our loan modification that we did for 5 years with no issues and convert to a permanent loan. The DOBanking has been involved but could do no more.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation