Consumer complaint received 2022-08-22
Company: LoanCare, LLC
State: CA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: FHA mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
URGENT! Improper and Deceitful Loss Mitigation and Pending Foreclosure!! Hearing XX/XX/XXXX! 

To Whom It May Concern at Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, I need your help. Loan CareXXXX XXXX is trying to foreclose on me without going through the proper Loss Mitigation process. They took my Loss Mitigation application on XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, they told me they needed additional documentation, which I then provided. On XX/XX/XXXX the bank told me I had turned in a complete application, they would review it and get back to me. I NEVER HEARD ANYTHING BACK. When I called to check the status on the application ( XX/XX/XXXX ), they said they put it back into Foreclosure and sent it to their attorneys! There is now a Foreclose Hearing on XX/XX/XXXX!! They finally sent me the Denial letter ( attached ) on XX/XX/XXXX. Yes, just 5 days before they had a hearing and too late to do anything about it! They have denied by appeal rights, as appeals had to be in by XX/XX/XXXX ( according to the letter I got on XX/XX/XXXX ). And, when I read the letter ( attached ), it is just a denial of a loan modification for lack of income, not all the loss mitigation options!! Where are the rest of my loss mitigation options? To begin with, I sent them in a letter asking them to use my current XXXX and XXXX income for the loss mitigation from my bank statements they already had. I would qualify for Loan Modification with that income. They did not do this. They told me to submit another Loss Mitigation application, even though there was already a Foreclosure hearing date. I did that on XX/XX/XXXX. Secondly, and much, much more importantly, what about all my other loss mitigation options?! What about handing the property back? A Deed in Lieu? Can I do that? Can I just give the property back? What would be the requirements for that? That was not mentioned. What about paying the amount off in full? Can I do that? How much is it currently to pay in full? Can I pay it off?! There was no reference to that or any or the other loss mitigation options! What about a Short Sale? Can I do that? What would be the requirements for a Short Sale? Why are they not giving me my loss mitigation options and just putting me in Foreclosure? They said nothing about paying the property off, returning the property, or short selling the property. According to U.S. Department of Housing, there are actually 9 Loss Mitigation options ( see attached ) : 1 ) Repayment Plan 2 ) Forbearance 3 ) Loan Modification 4 ) Short Refinance 5 ) Short Sale 6 ) Deed-in-Lieu 7 ) Reinstatement 8 ) Consent to Judgement and 9 ) Settlement. I was only given ONE of these 9 options, and that wasnt even done properly. Where are my other 8 options? This bank is intent on Foreclosing on me no matter what! When I called the bank on XX/XX/XXXX and found out about this Denial Notice ( which I still had not seen ), the agent ( XXXX XXXX told me that it wouldnt matter what I made per month or year, it wouldnt matter if my XXXX income was included or not, they would never do a loan modification for me! He said it wouldnt matter if I made {$10000.00} per month, or double that, they would not do a Loan Modification for me, even though the denial was for lack of income! Because they are insistent on foreclosing on me, no matter how many rules, regulations, and laws they break! 
This bank ( XXXX ) has gone through the motions of Loss Mitigation with me for years, but never actually allows it. They have forced me into Bankruptcy ( XXXX ) twice. And then they dont follow the bankruptcy rules and they continue to charge me late fees and penalties. They never finish any loss mitigation, they tell me to turn in full and complete application packages, which I have done over and over, then they either tell me the underlying investor ( not them- they say its XXXX XXXX ) refuses to lower the crazy interest rate or do the loan mod. They are the ones that made me stop making payments to begin with! They required me to stop making payments for 3-4 months in order to even start the loan mod/loss mitigation process! Or they tell me they will accept a Short Sale if it is at least 80 % of the value of the property. I turned in Short Sale after Short Sale ( 3 altogether over 2 years time ) with the bank just stringing all of us along for 6-7 months each time, and then denying the short sale each time, even though it met the requirements. Or the other thing they do, is to just plain stop responding to me or contacting me. And deny my Loss Mitigation because I didnt respond in time to something I never received. 
They wont ( or dont ) contact me ( They actually said in XX/XX/XXXX when I called them, after 17 years of this loan and the same phone number, they say they didnt have my contact information ), and on several occasions including as recently as XX/XX/XXXX, gave me an incorrect email address to send my Loss Mitigation Application to ( XXXX ). This bank strings me along, as well as all the real estate agents and buyers involved in the Short Sale ; the bank makes me do all kinds of work, but in the end they always say 1 ) We arent lowering your interest rate from 7.75 % no matter what because the underlying investor ( XXXX XXXX ) refuses to do so, or, even worse 2 ) We make more money foreclosing on you, so thats what we are going to do NO MATTER WHAT. They are not following HUD rules or regulations. They are being very deceptive, and I need your help to fairly process Loss Mitigation and keep them from foreclosing on me. 
MY LOAN MODIFICATION ATTEMPTS They have never reduced their 7.75 % interest rate over the 17 years I have had this loan, despite my repeated requests and hardships ( XXXX, floods, covid loss of income, or bottom of the market in XXXX, even last year in XXXX when rates dropped to 2 %. This lender said they will NEVER drop the interest rate of 7.75 % they have me at. However, they had me fill out Loan Modification applications and I filled full packages out for them out 4 times because they pretended like they would do a loan modification. They, in fact, originally required me stop making mortgage payments for at least 3 months before I could even apply to prove hardship! Then I applied, and they told me they would not drop my interest rate, time after time. They then gave me a HIGHER monthly payment!! They supposedly gave me loan modifications over the last 5 years, with HIGHER payments! If I couldnt make the original payment because of financial hardship, how would I be able to make a higher payment?! Wasnt that the point of the loan modification : to lower the payment, so I could afford it either by dropping interest rate, or lengthening amount of time to make payments, or forgiving some of loan. They did none of that! How is that a Loan Modification? Their excuse was that the underlying investor ( XXXX XXXX is what they said ) refused to lower the interest rate. I couldnt accept the loan mod, because it wasnt a loan mod at all! They did that 3 times, and I finally started to realize they were not going to work out a true loan modification with me at all, no matter what I did, or how many times I filled out and sent in all the documents they wanted. I tried once more, and this time they said I no longer qualified because I refused the first three loan mods they did that increased my payments. 
MY SHORT SALE ATTEMPTS Then I started trying to at least do a Short Sale, though this wasnt my first choice. It was obvious they just plain would not allow a reduction of my monthly payment amount, or the interest rate, no matter what. It took a little while to find a real estate agent that was willing to do short sales, and we went through the process. I had a cash buyer for 80 % of the value of the property, which is what they said they would accept ( it was the minimum they allowed ). They dragged this short sale on for 6 months and kept asking for more and more documents, every week, and every month, which were always provided to them. Then they would say its been longer than 30 days, we need a new date and signature for all your documents. After all that, 6 months later the bank said No to the short sale. They didnt say why, but I assumed they wanted more than 80 % of the value, though their own rules say they accept that. But they refused it. A couple months later, we found another CASH BUYER for 90 % of the value of the property. Again, we went through an agonizing 6-7 months with the bank wanting more and more documents every month. Same exact story! They dragged it on and on, and then refused it for no reason! Even though it met all their criteria! Why?? They WANTED to foreclose on me! 
Unbelievably, we found another CASH buyer after that for 100 % of the value of the property! The value that the bank determined! There was no way they could refuse this Short Sale. But it was the SAME STORY 6 7 months of dragging this out with us, asking for more and more documents from the buyer, the real estate agent, and me, and the end of all this they refused the Short Sale 7 months later - because they could make more money if they foreclosed on me. That is the letter they sent me. Their exact words were FORECLOSURE RESULTS IN HIGHER RETURN THAN PROPOSED SHORT SALE. This bank has some shady practices, and Im not even sure if they are legal. Its certainly not ethical. This took a couple years, and poor buyer ( s ), poor real estate agent, and me who spent all that time and energy for nothing, all because the bank was determined to foreclose on me NO MATTER WHAT. 
DEED-IN-LIEU ATTEMPT At that point, I gave up and was exhausted. I offered to just hand the house over to the bank, even though it was supposed to be my retirement home. However, they would not accept that!!!!! They said they would not waive the deficiency that they had now accumulated, and that I would need to hand the house over PLUS {$150000.00}!!!!! They said they would sue me for the {$150000.00} if I didnt pay it! And thats after I handed the house over! 
XXXX ATTEMPTS I was obviously in no position to be able to do that, so I had to file XXXX XXXX. I tried filing BK twice, but they would not go along with the waiver of deficiency in the BK plan. The bank continued to violate BK rules ( see attached ) not only by continuing to charge late fees and interest, but by continuing to set Foreclosure dates. They refused to go along with any XXXX plan. 
PAYMENT ATTEMPT I sent in two monthly payments while I was in XXXX for {$1600.00} each one on XX/XX/XXXX ( see attached ) and XXXX XX/XX/XXXX ( see attached ), as was their current monthly payment amount. The bank cashed the first check on XX/XX/XXXX, and 2 days later had Foreclosure hearing on me! After they cashed the check! 
The second check in XX/XX/XXXX, the bank sent back. Their reason? We are unable to accept these funds because your loan has been accelerated and the payment was not sufficient to reinstate your loan ( see attached ). And again, set a Foreclosure hearing for XX/XX/XXXX. I was in Bankruptcy! Do they not understand Bankruptcy laws, or were they purposely violating them?! 


In short, this bank has flat out REFUSED my loss mitigation rights year after year. They refuse to do anything but foreclose on me, and thats what theyre doing again. I have a hard time getting a hold of them to check my status, but on XX/XX/XXXX I received a Notice of Foreclosure Hearing. When I finally got a hold of them, they told me they havent contacted me because XXXX ) they didnt have my phone number. WHAT?! Ive had the same phone number the whole 17 years of this loan. And 2 ) they said a Cease and Desist was on put on my account a year or two ago. Once again, WHAT?! By them? I certainly didnt do that. But that was their excuses for not contacting me and going straight into Foreclosure. They actually said they purposefully have NOT been contacting me. 
I need CFPBs and HUDs help in getting this bank to abide by the housing rules, laws, and regulations. I have done everything they asked me to do AND MORE, but it does no good, as they are insistent on Foreclosing on me NO MATTER WHAT and no matter how many Housing rules, laws and regulations they break. 
They have now set a Foreclosure Hearing for Wednesday, XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX without sending the options from my Loss Mitigation package I turned in on XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX they told me they had a complete application. I never heard from them again. When I called on XX/XX/XXXX, they said they put me back in Foreclosure and sent it to an attorney. I cant get anywhere with this bank, they are insistent on foreclosing on me, and not allowing my loss mitigation rights. Ive spent YEARS trying to work out something with this bank, spending lots of money doing so. 
This bank has told me : 1 ) They will NEVER lower the 7.75 % interest rate on this loan, no matter what my hardships are, 2 ) They will NEVER give me a loan modification, no matter how much money I start making to support one, 3 ) They wont do a Short Sale, because they make more money foreclosing on me. 
This bank is probably violating every housing rule and regulation there is. Please hold them accountable and start by making them take this property out of Foreclosure, cancel the hearing on XX/XX/XXXX, and force them to complete a legitimate Loss Mitigation. They need to be under the supervision of HUD and CFPB, as they have never completed an honest or fair Loss Mitigation for me.

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