Consumer complaint received 2023-02-20
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage — 
Company: SANTANDER HOLDINGS USA, INC. (MI)

Circumstances : In XXXX of XXXX, after being hospitalized  for one week with XXXX in XXXX of XXXX, my $ XXXX contract ( my sole income source ) with XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  ) in XXXX XXXX, Michigan was terminated. My recovery period from XXXX lasted 3-month after hospitalization. As a result of the loss of income and my inability to replace that income at 65 years of age, I was unable to continue to make my mortgage payment of {$2100.00} which included principle, interest, taxes, and insurance. On or about XX/XX/XXXX I entered into a forbearance with my mortgage company, Santander. 
After hearing about the Homeowners Assistance Fund through the American Rescue Plan for homeowners experiencing financial hardship after XX/XX/XXXX, I applied for a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  grant on XX/XX/XXXX. I was approved for a {$25000.00} grant from the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX ) on XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX sent to the Santander Homeowners Assistance Fund department ( Santander HAF ) a request asking Santander to confirm they will accept the {$25000.00} grant and apply it to my mortgage. After multiple requests from me, as well as XXXX, for a response to the XX/XX/XXXX request from XXXX, Santander has still not responded to this request. As of the date of this complaint submission, it has been 107 days since XXXX sent their original request. According to one person I spoke to in Santander Loss Mitigation department, I should not enter into a loan modification with the Santander Loss Mitigation  Department until Santander tells XXXX they will accept the {$25000.00} grant and apply it to my mortgage. If I enter a loan modification before the {$25000.00} XXXX XXXX is applied to my mortgage, it could potentially disqualify me for the XXXX grant. 
Unfortunately, no one seems to be able to speak to anyone at Santander HAF, not even internal employees. They have not responded to my requests for a response, nor have they responded to the requests from XXXX for a response. They dont even respond to the internal requests from their own Loss Mitigation department. At this point, I am very concerned that Santander will initiate foreclosure proceedings on my home I have lived in for over 22 years. 
I am only left to speculate on the reasons they have not responded. Is it because they want to force me into refinancing at a higher interest rate? If that is the case, I believe that would fall into the category of predatory lending. I can not even get a Loss Mitigation Supervisor from Santander to call me. I have made many attempts to communicate with Santander about this matter. However, I can not get a response from anyone there and this matter continues to drag on.

I am simply asking that Santander respond to XXXX indicating they will accept the {$25000.00} XXXX grant and apply those funds to my mortgage so I can then negotiate an appropriate loan modification. I am extremely puzzled as to why Santander would not immediately receive the {$25000.00} XXXX. 

Below is a timeline of events and calls pertaining to this issue : XX/XX/XXXX After falling behind by 2 mortgage payments, I entered into a Forbearance agreement for my mortgage with Santander on or about XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX I applied for a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX grant funded by the American Rescue Plan. 
XX/XX/XXXX I was approved for a {$25000.00} grant through XXXX XX/XX/XXXX I spoke to XXXX at Santander and requested a continuation of the forbearance until the {$25000.00} grant can be applied to my mortgage. XXXX told me I dont qualify for further forbearance and that the XX/XX/XXXX payment is due and will be reported as delinquent if it is not paid. I was not able to make that payment. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX received some intial verification information they needed from the Santander Homeowners Assistance Fund department ( Santander HAF ) to continue to process my approved grant. 
XX/XX/XXXX Since the arrearage on my mortgage was greater than {$25000.00}, XXXX sent to the Santander HAF a request asking Santander to confirm they will still accept the {$25000.00} XXXX grant and apply it to my mortgage. 
XX/XX/XXXX ( 3 days after MIHAFs original request ) I spoke to XXXX in the Santander Loss Mitigation Department. She did not show any updates in her notes from the Santander HAF. She indicated they have ten days to respond to such requests and that I should check back after ten days have passed. 
XX/XX/XXXX ( 27 days after MIHAFs original request ) I spoke to XXXX in Santander Loss Mitigation. She told me there was no update from the Santander HAXXXX regarding the XX/XX/XXXX request from XXXX. She said she would send an internal request for an update from the XXXX XXXX and that it would take XXXX XXXX hours to receive a response from them. 
XX/XX/XXXX ( 32 days after MIHAFs original request ) I spoke to XXXX at Santander Loss Mitigation and asked for a status on the response from the Santander HAF. XXXX said the inquiry is still under review. XXXX said she would send a second request to the Santander HAF asking for an update. 
XX/XX/XXXX ( 33 days after MIHAFs original request ) MIHAF sent a follow up request to Santander HAF again asking them to confirm they will accept the {$25000.00} XXXX grant and apply it to my mortgage. 
XX/XX/XXXX ( 35 days after MIHAFs original request ) I spoke to XXXX at Santander Loss Mitigation and asked for a status on the response from the Santander HAF. XXXX said there was still no response from Santander HAF and that she would send them a third internal message requesting status on the Santander HAF response to the XXXX request from XX/XX/XXXX. I also told XXXX I was now getting daily calls from the Santander Collections department. XXXX told me that as long as I was working with Loss Mitigation, I dont have to respond to the phone calls from the Santander Collections Department XXXX 
XX/XX/XXXX I spoke to XXXX at XXXX who told me if they do not get a response from Santander HAF, the XXXX Partner XXXX could cancel my XXXX XXXX. 
XX/XX/XXXX ( 35 days after MIHAFs original request ) I spoke to XXXX at Santander Loss Mitigation and stressed to her the importance of getting a response from Santander HAF because XXXX could cancel my grant if they do not receive a response from Santander HAF. XXXX said she will update my account with the information from XXXX indicating they could cancel the XXXX if XXXX does not respond in a timely manner. 
XX/XX/XXXX ( 60 days after MIHAFs original request ) I spoke to XXXX, a representative at XXXXantander Loss Mitigation, asking for status of the XXXX request. There were no updates. I asked the representative to send another request. She indicated she has no way of communicating with that department. I asked XXXX to escalate this call to a supervisor. She said she can not transfer a call to a supervisor and had to send an email to a supervisor requesting the call be escalated. XXXX said she would send an escalation email request to a supervisor. However, I never received a call from a supervisor. 
XX/XX/XXXX ( 61 days after MIHAFs original request ) I spoke to XXXX, a representative at Santander Loss Mitigation. I again asked to speak to a supervisor. The representative told me she cant transfer calls to supervisors and that she would have to send an email requesting a supervisor call back to me. I was told a supervisor would call me within XXXX hours, however, I never received a call. 
XX/XX/XXXX ( 76 days after MIHAFs original request ) I called Santander, spoke to XXXX in Loss Mitigation, asking for a status of the XXXX request. However, there was no update. I again asked for this issue to be escalated to a supervisor. The representative said she would email another escalation request to a supervisor. However, I never received a call from a supervisor. 
XX/XX/XXXX ( 97 days after MIHAFs original request ) I called Santander and spoke to XXXX in Loss Mitigation. I asked for an update on the XXXX request. XXXX told me there is not record of a request being received. I asked her why she is the only representative I have ever talked to at Santander that has ever told me there was no request received. She insisted that XXXX must have sent the request through the wrong portal and that the request should be sent to XXXX Mortgage who is servicing the Santander mortgages. Again, I told her I have never been told that by any other representative in Loss Mitigation and the other representatives were able to see a request had been sent from XXXX and that Santander had never responded to their request. She suggested I call XXXX to see where they sent the requests. 
XX/XX/XXXX I spoke to XXXX at XXXX. I told her that XXXX from Santander Loss Mitigation suggested that the XX/XX/XXXX XXXX request may have been sent through the wrong portal and I wanted to confirm that it was sent through the correct portal. XXXX said she would send a request for the XXXX XXXX to call me back to clarify and if I dont hear back from him by XX/XX/XXXX I should call back. 
XX/XX/XXXX I spoke to XXXX at XXXX to tell her I did not receive a call back from the XXXX  XXXX. XXXX told me the Case Manager would be the one to call me back, not the XXXX XXXX. After explaining the circumstances to her and how long it has been since the original request was sent from XXXX to Santander HAF, XXXX then sent an escalation notice to the XXXX  XXXX and the Case Manager asking for one of them to call me back. 
XX/XX/XXXX I spoke to XXXX at XXXX to tell her I still have not received a phone call from the XXXX  XXXX or the Case Manager. XXXX sent another escalation message to a team leader requesting for the Case Manager to call me. 
XX/XX/XXXX ( 105 days after MIHAFs original request ) The XXXX Case Manager called me back and assured me the request from XXXX to Santander HAF did go through the correct portal and that Santander HAF had previously sent XXXX other verification information regarding my mortgage account through the same portal. There is no doubt that XXXX has used the correct portal to communicate with Santander. However, XXXX still has not received a response to their XX/XX/XXXX request.