Consumer complaint received 2021-07-29
Company: PROVIDENT FUNDING ASSOCIATES
State: AZ
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
Im writing to communicate my frustration with a situation involving Provident Funding. My frustration is with their stonewall tactics, the lack of professionalism, and ignoring their clients. They hold both the first position and the second position on my home loans from XXXX and have been leveraging their power by hurting my credit score and pushing me towards foreclosure. I did not understand what predatory lending was until interacting with Provident. At the beginning the company seemed great but was hiding their true colors under the guise of being more than flexible. What I did not know was the piggyback loan they offered to help me ended up being an interest only loan with term of 15 years with a balloon payment due at the end. They never disclosed what they were doing with the HELOC, and that this was a negative amortization loan. In fact, I did not understand that the loan was structured in this manner until recently when it was explained to me. I feel like they purposefully steered me towards the 2nd loan option and did not offer any other suggestions while leaving important information off the table that left me unable to make the correct financing choice on my home purchase. These lending practices had to cause a lot of other people hardship. I can not be alone. These guys are pros at financially ruining their customers. 

In XXXX I sent a distressed homeowners packet to Provident for a Mortgage Modification in order to stay in my home. Although they modified my first loan which helped a lot, they refused to modify the second or roll the second loan into the first to have one loan. They explained they were not able to modify the piggyback loan and it was separate. I asked if I could send a Distressed Homeowner packet for that loan, and they said no it could not be modified. 

In XXXX I could not continue paying on the credit card debt that I was stuck with from a divorce in XXXX. The debt was insurmountable. I made the difficult decision to file bankruptcy when I lost my job. The existing debt load alone should have been a red flag to Provident in XXXX when they steered me towards their piggyback loan scam. They probably did see a problem but the dollar signs we bigger than ethics. At the time many people were walking away from their homes due to their overleveraged positions and the hard ball collection tactics of predatory lenders like Provident. That was not an option for me for reasons of my family and my integrity to continue as the provider for it. 

Early in XXXX, I went to a local lawyer for a bankruptcy consultation. I was under the impression when he started giving me advice that he was the lawyer that would represent me. In that meeting, he told me to stop paying on my second mortgage because that would be forgiven at discharge of my bankruptcy. Feeling relived at the news, I stopped paying the second mortgage and continued to make my first mortgage payments on time. I hired the law firm to represent my case. Their fee was {$2500.00} and since I was broke, I had to arrange to make payments to them in the amount of {$120.00} per month. That was all I could afford being a single Dad to XXXX daughters that were XXXX and XXXX at the time. By the time I paid the balance owed to the lawyer it was XXXX of XXXX. I met with the lawyer once to prepare for the case we named my lender in the bankruptcy to keep my home. At that time, I inquired about the second loan going away and the lawyer said that was incorrect and that information was incorrectly conveyed by a paralegal at the initial consult. That individual no longer worked there and that was that. I was on the hook to resolve the situation with my lender which I did not think was going to be an issue in light of me naming them in the bankruptcy and not screwing them. 

In XXXX of XXXX when I received the court documents showing that my bankruptcy was discharged, and I contacted Provident Funding to try and rectify the situation with the piggyback loan that had gone unpaid. I had newfound confidence that my financial situation was improving. I wanted to get started putting things back together. I landed a five-year contract with a client commencing Fall of XXXX. was gaining sales momentum at my job, It seemed perfectly plausible for me to start working on paying down the hole of debt that paralegals advice had put me in. With this momentum, and feeling of hope, I made the dreaded call to Provident to work on reaching a solution that would fit my budget and satisfy them. 

I dialed customer service to let them know my bankruptcy lawyer advised me to stop paying the second mortgage and I was just informed that that was erroneous and incorrect. The reason I was calling was to work out a payment plan to repay the past due balance and begin making the regular payments as well. The 20 something on the phone in the most condescending voice possible said Well, no, we cant do anything. You need to pay your bill. You made the decision to stop paying us and we are under no obligation. You need to pay your balance due, in full, or the account may be sent to collections. I found out later that is illegal after a bankruptcy discharge. I explained again that I had just emerged from bankruptcy, I had income on the horizon, but I did not have the {$8000.00} to pay in a lump sum nor would I most likely ever. He was such a little XXXX and so rude stating again the same rhetoric. Gaslighting when I asked for any information to substantiate his claims. I said, after being berated like a deadbeat, Is there anyone else I can talk to? can we elevate this call to an account manager? He again started with the gaslighting to divert the conversation. He stated he was an account manager, and his boss would say the same thing. The call ended without resolution and me feeling like a deadbeat again after being stonewalled by Provident, that I thought was understanding because they modified the first mortgage. It was becoming evident they werent going to be as accommodating on the piggyback loan. I didnt understand why until recently when I found out how the 15-year interest only loan with a balloon payment. Provident Funding seems like they operate like a Title loan company in a strip mall.

Provident Funding has an online payment site and have used it pay on my loans. Each loan is listed separately. Since they were not receptive to setting me up with a payment plan I would have to figure that out but I still had a payment due. I went to the online sight and was not able to make a payment. When I clicked on the PAY NOW button a prompt appeared and said to call customer service. So I did and the automated phone system only gave an option to leave a message for loan servicing questions. No one called me back. The account was flagged for me to call customer service but when I did, I did not receive a call back and am still to this day locked out from making a payment. No one can tell me why I cant get into my account online, but they can tell me to pay my balance in full. Their customer service act like they work for a collection company and are demeaning in the way they speak. Once I got to speak to a person and I explained the situation of not being able to pay through the online portal and that I wanted to pay them I just couldnt pay them the amount due all at once. He immediately was confrontational and stated that I needed to pay my bill and that it had been my decision to not take responsibility and I should take responsibility and pay it. 

Thinking that customer service XXXX with the attitude was probably having a bad day and knowing that if a debtor pays something to a creditor it will stop collection proceedings. The jerk on the phone threatened that action. I did not want the harassment to start again. So, I wrote a check to Provident for the payment due and included the payment coupon from the book thy sent me. I enclosed the check and coupon into one of the envelopes they supplied and mailed it to them. A few weeks later I received the check back in the mail. It was not cancelled and had not been cashed. The money was still in the bank, and I had received a notice of an NSF transaction and no explanation with the check. They sent me a payment book and do not accept the payment. They locked me out of the online payment portal. They are unwilling to work out a payment plan and they mail my checks back. How can I pay them? They are ridiculous and should not be allowed to charge accumulated interest on loans they arent willing to accept payments on. They just want to steal my house.

When my daughter graduated high school and went to college, I called back to Provident Funding to try and resolve the situation again, and at their request, completed and sent them a Distressed Homeowner Packet. Just like the one I completed for the first mortgage. I mailed it and checked back a week later and they claimed never to have received it. They said maybe, it could be in another office with a bunch of other packets that came in over the weekend. 
They said I should fax it and do not forget the cover sheet. I faxed it to them and after a few tries it went through. After a few days of not hearing back I called to follow up and was told that the fax was not in their possession. I sent it again and they said it may have gone to a computer and would be processed. I never heard back.

Over the years I have rebuilt my credit by making my car payments early. I can not get a credit card because every time my credit score would raise to a good rating, they would ding my credit so that it would go down. I was never able to obtain financing due to their actions. I do not have credit with anyone else and my car payments have never been late so how does my credit rating go down when I am under bankruptcy? 

So to recap : they locked me out of the online payment site. They have a message that says to call customer service on the payment portal. When I call customer service, they stonewall me and tell me to pay my loan balance and there is nothing they can do. They are " unable '' to help. They have negatively affected my credit. I have not been able to refinance or obtain any other lender 's help and in NOT REPORTING correctly they have made it impossible for me to obtain credit. They have exacerbated the situation dinging my credit any time I got close to have a decent credit score. I could not obtain a loan for my oldest daughter to go to school or my second daughter. I had to borrow from a family member when my air conditioner went out and then again when the second unit died. Thank goodness we were able to squeak through and they both graduated but by no help of the XXXX that made it like that. 
Continually stonewalling and setting the rules of the game so it is not only impossible to win it is impossible to play should be looked in to. There must be some improprieties going on over there. 
It has been 7 years of stress and one demeaning experience after another trying to resolve my loan situation with Provident. Ive been being stonewalled every time I have tried to resolve the situation with them. Their employees are rude and act as collection agents. I have no idea what can be done because they are completely unreceptive to anything I suggest. At this point, I think that they can eat the interest since XXXX when I tried to fix the situation and they demanded I give them money I did not have. I am under the impression this company set the piggyback loan and steered me into it for just this scenario. 
How can they take this stance since they did not even allow me to make payments by returning checks, refusing to work with me to arrange a repayment plan, and locking me out of the online portal to make payments and now demand the full payment? Provident Funding has the worst customer service and supervisors on staff that I have ever worked with.

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