Consumer complaint received 2020-06-13
Company: Freedom Mortgage Company
State: CT
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: FHA mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, CT XXXX XXXX : Freedom Mortgage FHA Refinance Refinance # XXXX Account # XXXX I began an FHA refinance with my current FHA lender, Freedom Mortgage XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, IN XXXX ) in XXXX, 2020. I was instructed over the phone by the loan officer,  XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX # XXXX XXXX, to not pay my XXXX payment and to turn off my autopay. The next day I received an automated email instructing me to keep paying the mortgage during the refinance process. I sent her the email and asked again if I should make the XXXX  payment. She replied " Just keep XXXX in the account ..do not pay .... '' Over a month went by and I heard nothing from the company - no calls or emails. I sent an email to the loan officer asking for an update - she replied I should wait to hear from a processor, which I hadn't at this point. I called into the origination 800 number to see how the refinance was progressing in late XXXX and a customer service representative told me it was on hold due to non-payment of the mortgage. I immediately sent an email to the loan officer XXXX and told her to resolve the issue. She replied to my email essentially denying she told me to not make the payment and turn off my autopay - despite the fact that I included her email from XXXX where she told me to do exactly that. 

I spent hours and hours on the phone attempting to get a hold of the a manager. The customer service representative originally told me no manager was available, and I could " walk away '' from the refinance if not satisfied. I explained I wasn't going to " walk away '' until my late payment status was removed. I continued to push for a manager for over an hour and eventually the customer service representative provided the name and contact information for XXXX XXXX manager : XXXX XXXX. I sent two emails to the manager and left two voicemails over the course of three days and was never contacted by XXXX. 

I called the standard customer service and made a payment over the phone. They waived the late fee but told me they couldn't remove from the system the fact the payment was made late - despite me being instructed to not pay the mortgage. Eventually a processor reached out to me named XXXX XXXX. I explained I wasn't moving forward until XXXX was removed from the loan and things were fixed. XXXX managed to accomodate the request over the course of the next week. When someone called to schedule the closing I was told my closing costs jumped by nearly {$6000.00} from the original estimate, with over {$10000.00} in fees being added to the loan balance. When I asked for them to provide me these figures in writing I was told they couldn't, and I needed to speak with a different department. The following day the processor XXXX XXXX sent me the closing estimate. 

The next day I requested a quote from another company to compare, XXXX, and they were able to give me the same exact rate ( 2.75 % ) with no cash required at close and roughly {$7000.00} rolled into the loan - a {$9000.00} difference. 

I sent an email requested Freedom Mortgage to stop the refinance immediately. I didn't receive any reply. I sent a second email requesting them to acknowledge my request - and XXXX replied saying it was received and they would cancel the refinance. 

I requested a Verification of Mortgage a few days later and my late payment is still being reflected.

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