Consumer complaint received 2022-08-04
Company: MIDFIRST BANK
State: LA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: VA mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
There is a LOT of detail to my case, but ultimately the issue is that Midland Mortgage has used deceptive and bad-faith tactics to mislead me about the status and amounts due on my mortgage loan AND worked through multiple channels to obstruct my ability to have the loan refinanced through a different lender. 

I was offered a forbearance on the loan in XX/XX/XXXX as was typical at the beginning of the Covid Pandemic. I ceased making payments to Midland in that month and did not pay much attention to the status of the loan through many personal and family struggles during XXXX and XXXX. I did begin action to search for a refinance lender in XX/XX/XXXX, as interest rates provided an opportunity to lower the monthly payment and refinance in general seemed an ideal way to exit the forbearance, as it was unclear at the time what the response would be from government or industry about the ending of the pandemic forbearances. 

There were many delays and obstacles to overcome during the attempts to refinance, including the proposed lender being unclear at times what was necessary to close a loan, and which type to offer. Eventually we made progress with a VA IRRL refinance option, but progress was hindered at every turn by Midland making it difficult or impossible to obtain required documents and refusing to answer simple questions about the status of the loan. For example, it took a tedious, multi-day, multi-step process to request a payoff statement, which then they would only send by postal mail, and had no way of assuring that the document was being prepared and sent as requested. At least twice I requested and received no such letter, and on at least one other occasion it took so long to receive the requested payoff letter that it was obsolete and unusable by the time it arrived. 

Around XX/XX/XXXX however, the refinance option ultimately fell apart within days of closing because Midland refused to provide legally clear documentation on the status of the loan, e.g., was it in good standing or in forbearance or some other status? The documentation they did provide alleged that I was delinquent on all payments since XX/XX/XXXX despite clear communication from Midland that my loan was put in a government-directed forbearance program and that missed payments from XX/XX/XXXX until an unspecified future date would not be considered late or delinquent. 

As part of the attempted refinance, I made three payments to Midland during XXXX to show ability to pay and with an intent to bring the loan current and out of forbearance. It was after this point that Midland became elusive with information and refused to give legally required information to me as a borrower. 

I am now attempting to begin regular repayment to Midland, but they are making even that difficult. Yesterday I mailed a check to their payment processing center for an amount that I was best able to determine represents my current monthly amount due for principal, interest, and escrow. They refuse to allow me to make any kind of electronic payment on my account and will only interface with borrowers through a poorly-staffed telephone line. I have no means by which to contact them by any electronic online forms, internal messaging applications, online chats, or even ordinary pedestrian email. They have rebuffed my repeated efforts to obtain clear documentation on my loan, the terms of the forbearance, or to respond to my protests that they are failing to abide by the terms they offered me in XX/XX/XXXX. 

I have a hard time discerning the intent of this company towards me and presumably many other residential borrowers who are undoubtedly in the same situation. It's clear to me that they had no intention of cooperating with any attempt to have the loan paid off through a refinance offered by another lender. It now looks like they intend to extort terms from their borrowers by falsely labeling their loans as delinquent and threatening foreclosure. 

I would appreciate any assistance available, and I hope there is an effort by your agency to consolidate similar complaints against these highly irregular and unfair business practices. Thank you.

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