Consumer complaint received 2020-03-10
Company: SELECT PORTFOLIO SERVICING, INC.
State: FL
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
I am submitting this complaint because I sternly disagree with the way my mortgage lender has addressed my recent request for assistance. In XXXX I was forced to tale early retirement, for lack of a better term. In that position was had to use virtually all of my 401K to get through the year. I actively job searched for nearly 10mths. Being XXXX yrs old did not make me a sought-after talent at that time. At the end of XXXX I was able to become employed. Unfortunately, my salary dropped by more than {$20000.00}. 
In XXXX and much of XXXX I had a severe financial struggle. I requested to modify the terms of my mortgage to no avail. Each time a requested assistance I was denied without taking my loss of income into consideration. Within days of requesting to modify the mortgage I would receive a denial letter in the mail stating that they were unable to assist me and that they did not take my income into consideration. 
I would then appeal the denial with no success. I continued making the payment as funds became available, but the payments were not on time, but they were made nonetheless! In XX/XX/XXXX I again requested assistance and this time I was offered the ability to repay the balance by paying a few hundred dollars more than the current payment. I agreed to that all in an effort save my home. I had made arrangements for the mortgage company to take the proceeds from my checking account for the first payment in XX/XX/XXXX. However, at this same time, XXXX Florida was threatened with a direct hit from a hurricane at the highest category. I called the mortgage company and spoke with a young lady and I asked if they could not take the money from my account because I needed to now use that money to prepare for the hurricane. I recall telling the young lady that I did not want it to appear that I was trying not to pay the mortgage as promised, otherwise, I would be defaulting on the agreement. The young lady told me that she could not stop the payment, that I was too late, and she further noted that the mortgage company was in XXXX Fla and they were aware of the hurricane. 
Needless to say, by me not making the initial payment the records indicate that I did not keep the agreement. All subsequent attempts to modify or get mortgage assistance was simply denied verbally as each time I would call, the representative would tell me that they do not have any assistance to give me. 
Complaint : 1. Mortgage company deliberately placed ne in a no-win situation. I have received several pieces of correspondences all which tell me that they may be able to assist me and for me to call the representative yet when I call, I am verbally told they can not assist me. 
2. Mortgage company sends out several correspondences overlapping each other with no real way of understanding the process of what comes next. I have called the mortgage company as recently as XX/XX/XXXX with a representative from XXXX  on the line and specifically asked about a correspondence that referenced 37 days. I then asked what that meant or want was I supposed to do as I did not understand the correspondence and the representative could not give me any guidance. Subsequently I could only understand that my home would be placed in foreclosure and that I had 37 days to do something. 
3. I was verbally told that I did not have any more appeal rights. Yet, correspondence dated XX/XX/XXXX specifically speaks to appealing an earlier denial of modification. The appeal must be received by XX/XX/XXXX. This same letter speaks about foreclosure alternatives. Although I have been told verbally time and time again, even as recently as today after speaking with XXXX that there are no alternatives for me. There is far too much internal conflict, yet I, as the mortgagee am supposed to be able to navigate all of this by myself. 
4. I requested a Reinstatement Letter so that I could get what remaining monies from my 401K to put towards the delinquency. I spoke with a representative Friday evening on XX/XX/XXXX. The letter was mailed on XX/XX/XXXX and I received the letter on XX/XX/XXXX. You can readily see that this letter only gives me until XX/XX/XXXX to pay the delinquent amount. So, in essence I was given 6 days to cure the debt in the amount approximately {$4.00}, XXXX. 
5. Letter dated XX/XX/XXXX stated that I must completed necessary paperwork for loss mitigation ; however, each time I called the lender I am told that there are no programs to assist me. 
6. I called my lender on XX/XX/XXXX to discuss the short amount of time to cure the debt based on the Reinstatement letter noted in # 4. The representative then generated another reinstatement letter on XX/XX/XXXX and told me that the new amount to reinstate is approx. {$5500.00}. I asked how the reinstatement amount exceed {$1000.00} in 3 days. The representative could not give me a response other than to say maybe it is attorney fees. 
As you can see, it is not reasonable to expect a customer to navigate this process when the representatives are not sure what they should do and more importantly, their system charges excessive amounts within 3 days with no explanation.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation