Consumer complaint received 2020-03-21
Company: PENTAGON FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
State: VA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: VA mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the national response to shut down businesses across the country, I am currently out of work for the next 30 days and my wife 's hours at work have been cut drastically. We are paying as much of our mortgage as we can, however we are unable to make the full payments. On Friday XX/XX/2020 I contacted Pentagon Federal Credit Unions mortgage department to alert them of our change in employment status due to this pandemic. I was informed that they are able to pause our payments under their forbearance program, however because we have a VA loan we would be expected to pay the full 2 months in a lump sum at the end of the of the mandatory quarantine period ( despite being out of work and having a significantly reduced income during that time ). After receiving the forbearance paperwork I saw that it takes 4-6 weeks to approve ( right as the quarantine is scheduled to be lifted ). This timeline is unacceptable and detrimental to many of PenFeds clients. I did some research and called back to PenFed to let them know The executive director of XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX guidelines for clients working companies unwilling to assist their clients during this national health crisis is to report them to the CFPB and state attorney general 's office. After hearing this information, a representative from PenFed by the name of XXXX assured me that PenFed is working with all of its customers during this time. After he confirmed with the Mortgage Manager, XXXX XXXX ( as well as a representative from PenFeds disaster relief department, XXXX XXXX ) XXXX informed me that I would receive a call back by the end of the day XX/XX/2020 to work out this issue. 
After waiting all day with no contact from PenFed I called again on XX/XX/2020. I explained my situation to 2 other employees one from the mortgage department and another from the disaster relief department at PenFed who both told me about the forbearance program and the expectation of being required to pay 2 months worth of our mortgage in full at the end of this pandemic crisis. 
I attempted to contact the VA to confirm this information. However, because of PenFeds delay in calling me back the VA is currently closed until Monday. 
Back during the nation wide furlough a year or 2 ago, PenFed was able and willing to work with us. However now that a majority of the nation is out of work due to a National health crisis, and a mandatory quarantine closing down many businesses, they are unwilling to assist. 
It is not possible to pay XXXX dollars a month ( or a total of {$4800.00} ) when your households net income for the month is a mere {$2000.00}. 
Unfortunately all of my correspondence with PenFed has been via telephone so I do not have any documentation to upload. 

I will also be contacting my state attorney general to alert them of this issue with my lender.

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 non-monetary relief