Consumer complaint received 2018-06-01
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: GA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: VA mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
I have recently been made aware by an attorney of the legal definition and term successor in interest and the regulations of the CFPB regarding how mortgage servicers are required to treat people who appear to quality as such. Given this new knowledge and insight, I hereby assert that JPMorgan Chase has failed to properly recognize, identify, and treat me and my wife as successors in interest in the property we inherited through the last will and testament of my father, a veteran who died in XX/XX/XXXX. This property has a VA mortgage that has been serviced by JPMorgan Chase since my father purchased the residence.

Chase did not notify us of our legal rights as successors in interest under the law when given proof of our qualifications in XX/XX/XXXX ( my fathers will and death certificate ), nor did Chase provide us with an opportunity to formally declare ourselves as successors in interest by sending us the necessary documents as required by law. We were not aware of the term successors in interest and the legal rights that are provided to such designees through federal law and CFPB regulations when my father died in XX/XX/XXXX, so we obviously did not know to ask Chase representatives about the formal application process. However, Chase representatives were required by CFPB regulations to recognize people who do meet the qualifying criteria for successors in interest, and they knew we met that criteria as far back as XX/XX/XXXX, but they did not inform us of that fact as required by the CFPB. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rules since XX/XX/XXXX ( in effect at the time of my fathers death ) require mortgage servicers to have policies and procedures in place to promptly identify and communicate with family members, heirs, or other parties, known as successors in interest who have a legal interest in the home ( Source : Consumer Financial Protection Bureau : https : //www.federalregister.govXXXX  ).

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau amended their rules in XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX to broaden and strengthen the legal protections afforded to successors in interest. Chase, through its reckless handling of our situation and failure to properly identify us as successors in interest, did deprive us ( since XX/XX/XXXX ) of our legal rights and options relative to our inherited property under CFPB rules and Section 1463 of the Dodd-Frank Act section 6 ( k ) ( 1 ) ( B-D ) of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act ( Regulation X ).

We informed Chase in the late summer of XX/XX/XXXX that we inherited a property with a Chase serviced VA mortgage through the Last Will and Testament of the mortgagor, my father. We provided Chase with a copy of his will and death certificate to verify this fact. Chase was additionally informed of this fact at least thirty more documented times by phone, letter, and fax during XX/XX/XXXX-XX/XX/XXXX. A long-awaited deed of assent from the Estate executor was provided to us inXX/XX/XXXX, and we immediately submitted it to Chase, thereby providing them with even more proof of our qualifying status as successors in interest. Chase, however, responded to us by attempting to foreclose on the property in XX/XX/XXXX for the second time.

Chase representatives began to refuse all communication with us about the specifics of my fathers mortgage on our inherited property soon after we notified them of my fathers death in XX/XX/XXXX. We obtained an attorney speak to Chase representatives on XX/XX/XXXX via conference call to rectify this problem, but even she was successful. Chase representatives at XXXX refused to speak with me and my wife on that date or provide any information to us about the mortgage despite Chase having documentation ( my fathers will and death certificate ) at that time which clearly showed that we indeed qualified as successors in interest. Chase had a clear legal obligation to inform us of our rights as successors in interest, treat us accordingly, share with us my fathers account information, and accept our mortgage payments. Per existing CFPB regulations, we were legally entitled to speak to Chase about all matters related to the mortgage and property. Furthermore, Chase began refusing our monthly mortgage payments during this time. As a result, Chase willfully placed the mortgage on our inherited property in arrears and forced us to file bankruptcy twice for the sole purpose of stopping two improper and unnecessary foreclosure attempts ( one in XX/XX/XXXX, and another in XX/XX/XXXX ).

Nonetheless, over the past year we have continued to communicate information and provide documents to Chase which should have been recognized as meeting the criteria for our qualifying as successors in interest. We dealt primarily with two different people ( not sure if they are real ) who referred to themselves as our dedicated relationship manager in letters. These two people first contacted my bankruptcy attorney via USPS mail in the fall of XX/XX/XXXX. They sent to my attorney Request for Mortgage Assistance forms for us to complete and submit to Chase, which we promptly did in XX/XX/XXXX and   XX/XX/XXXX. As a result, these two people at Chase, if they truly exist, have personally been aware of our qualifying status as successors in interest in this property ( our only home ) for many months, but they too failed to notify us of this fact and have not treated us in the manner required by existing CFPB regulations.

In spite of multiple submissions of Request for Mortgage Assistance applications and required documentation to Chase in multiple formats ( mail, fax, etc. ) during XX/XX/XXXX, Chase failed to acknowledge receipt of those documents. We submitted these applications and required documentation to their designated address in Colorado via USPS mail in XX/XX/XXXX and via USPS certified mail on XX/XX/XXXX. Each of our application submissions to Chase by mail was subsequently followed up by sending our application and all associated documents with the appropriate cover letter and affixed loan number to Chase via fax to XXXX according to directions provided with the application materials. Overall, we made more than one dozen attempts to communicate with Chase representatives during XX/XX/XXXX, and in every instance it should have been obvious from our letters, voicemails, and faxes that we met the criteria to be considered legitimate successors in interest.

In XX/XX/XXXX, Chase, through its law firm, contacted the executor of my fathers estate to inform him of their intent to foreclose on our inherited property again on XX/XX/XXXX. The executor did not forward to us this letter, but we did find out about it through other means a few weeks later. Consequently, we immediately contacted the law firm and brought to their attention the fact that never informed us ( me and my wife ), the actual property owners, of the foreclosure ( only the Estate Executor ) and as a result their scheduled foreclosure action was in violation of state laws. I also provided the law firm with a copy of our deed of assent to confirm our ownership of this property. A few days later I received a response from the law firm stating that Chase had never informed them about us being the true owners of the property, and that Chase had not made them aware of our deed of assent from XX/XX/XXXX. As a result, Chases law firm cancelled the XX/XX/XXXX foreclosure and rescheduled it for XX/XX/XXXX.

We began making plans to address the XX/XX/XXXX foreclosure attempt by Chase until we were informed by our dedicated relationship manager in a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX that she had rescheduled the foreclosure for XX/XX/XXXX. With this revised date we then proceeded to work with our attorneys to prepare our legal recourse based on that timeline, but it soon became clear that this latest attempt by Chase to foreclose on our home would also be wrongful and invalid by state laws. The foreclosure proceedings were never published in the official county newspaper for four weeks prior as specified by state law, and state laws regarding proper notification of the real owners of the property had not been followed either. In spite of these facts, the repeated foreclosure attempts by Chase ( 3 in XX/XX/XXXX so far ) and letters they have sent us have been very confusing, totally improper, and equate to nothing short of harassment. Furthermore, at no time during this period did Chase acknowledge receipt of our Request for Mortgage Assistance applications from XX/XX/XXXX even though we have mail tracking confirmation of their receipt.

My wife and I complained about these on-going issues with Chase to our advocate within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, D.C. who was referred to us by The Office of the White House. She subsequently advised us to re-submit our Request for Mortgage Assistance form and all required documents to Chase once more, which we did on XX/XX/XXXX via USPS Certified Mail. It too was received by Chase at their office in XXXX Colorado on XX/XX/XXXX according to USPS tracking. Incomprehensibly though, Chase once more failed to acknowledged receipt of this application even though we have proof of its delivery and receipt by Chase through USPS certified mail tracking.

In spite of all our efforts and communications since my fathers death, no Chase representative ever informed us about our legal rights as successors in interest or provided us with the appropriate forms to file so as to be confirmed. According to CFPB regulations, this legally advantageous designation would have prevented Chase from rejecting our monthly mortgage payments, which by now has caused the mortgage to fall significantly behind and in arrears. Moreover, if Chase had followed CFPB regulations and informed us of our legal rights and options as successors in interest in XX/XX/XXXX or XX/XX/XXXX, we never would have needed to file for bankruptcy protection TWICE to stop two Chase foreclosure attempts on our inherited property in XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, or deal with the stress of three additional foreclosure attempts in the past four months. This gross negligence by all Chase representatives involved has resulted in significant personal expense and damage to our credit through multiple bankruptcy filings. Additionally, it has placed tremendous stress upon me and my family, and adversely affected my personal health to the extent that I was forced to leave a high paying job I had successfully performed and held since XX/XX/XXXX in order to address the associated health problems brought about by the nefarious actions of JPMorgan Chase.

I am filing this complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today in hopes of rectifying this egregious on-going matter with JPMorgan Chase and the Chase induced VA mortgage arrearage on our inherited property. However, I am very deeply concerned about the CFPBs foolhardy reliance upon the institution receiving the complaint ( Chase ) to properly and fairly investigate itself and make an objective assessment of its own actions and employees. If justice and equity are to be rendered in this matter, particularly at this juncture, I believe an unbiased third party will likely be required ( based on nearly 4 years of experience in dealing with Chase ) to appropriately investigate and obtain a fair and reasonable resolution. However, I do not feel that I should have to hire a team of attorneys to force Chase to respect my legal rights as successor in interest and treat me and my family according to CFPB regulations, but that is what I have had to do thus far over the course of more than three years.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation