Consumer complaint received 2019-08-20
Product: Mortgage — FHA mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage — 
Company: MIDFIRST BANK (IL)

I purchased our home in XXXX, XXXX.  At the time of purchase, the house was placed into an Illinois land trust, to which my wife and I are beneficiaries as tenants by the entirety.  An assignment of beneficial interest, in a form that was approved by the lender, was executed at the time of sale, and the mortgage and title appear on record as to the trust. -------It is important to note that the trust was set up to keep our residential address from the knowledge of my XXXX former XXXX, who is a XXXX XXXX XXXX, and who has made XXXX XXXX from XXXX to XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX (her XXXX), in violation of an order of protection.  Those threats occurred during our marriage, and were not his first violations of the order of protection.  He also on at least one occasion recruited his XXXX to harass my XXXX and XXXX XXXX.   -------The loan was initially serviced by XXXX XXXX, and I was always current on every payment, having never made any payment after the due date.  On XXXX XXXX, XXXX, I changed jobs and was suddenly terminated without cause after eight days on the job.  Even though my mortgage was current, the loan was sold to Midland Mortgage.  -------My unemployment persisted, and I applied for and received an unemployment forbearance.  I paid the forbearance payments timely.  On XXXX XXXX, XXXX, I started a new job, and in compliance with the instructions sent when the forbearance was granted, I notified Midland on or about XXXX XXXX, XXXX, while I made another forbearance payment.  I sought a loan modification to push the past due payments into the loan. -------Midland instructed me to fill out paperwork for a loan modification.  I duly complied, and sent Midland the requested paperwork.  Midland responded by REFUSING to modify the loan unless the trust quit-claimed the deed into my name.  Midland would also accept no further forbearance payments from me.  My statements about the reasons for the trust were ignored, and I was told -- falsely -- that the quit-claim deed was a HUD requirement. -------At that point I hired an attorney, spending money to do so.  She thoroughly investigated the law, and verified that HUD has no such requirement for a quit-claim deed.  Specifically she cited Rule 4000.1 and noted that no title requirement exists that requires me to quit-claim the house out of the trust and expose my family information to a XXXX XXXX XXXX.  I gave my attorney formal permission to discuss with Midland, and she wrote Midland an explanatory letter on XXXX XXXX, XXXX, including along with that letter copies of the documents that proved that there was no legal requirement, and that the collateral assignment of beneficial interest had been duly executed.  My attorney even offered in writing in the letter to execute a second collateral assignment of beneficial interest that specifically named Midland. -------Subsequent to that letter, Midland began repeatedly calling my house phone on a daily basis.  These calls persisted.  I answered or returned one of these calls (I do not remember certainly) and again tried to make a forbearance payment, but Midland refused to accept it, stating that accepting the payment would jeopardize the modification process.  On XXXX XXXX, XXXX, my attorney reached the title department at Midland (they refuse to give my ATTORNEY a contact in the Midland legal department), and was told that the matter was under review. -------I then received a letter on XXXX XXXX, XXXX, in which Midland said the matter was under review.  The letter was dated and postmarked XXXX XXXX, XXXX.  The next day, Saturday, XXXX   XXXX, XXXX, I received a SECOND letter from Midland, this one dated XXXX XXXX, XXXX but postmarked XXXX XXXX, XXXX, that declined my modification because I did not quit-claim the house.  I forwarded these letters to my attorney, who began intensive efforts to contact someone at Midland who had knowledge and actual authority to handle this matter.   -------Then, on XXXX XXXX, XXXX, Midland called my house phone again, and then about one minute later my other phone.  I picked up the phone and the woman calling demanded $XXXX.XXXX for a "trial period" payment supposedly due on XXXX XXXX.  ***At no time did I ever receive any notice of any kind regarding a modification trial period!***  I told this fact to the calling party, who placed me on an extended hold.   I was then told that the modification FOR WHICH SHE TRIED TO COLLECT MONEY was still not approved.   -------I was also told that I still needed to quit-claim the house out of the trust for a modification to be considered.  I again mentioned that my attorney had looked into this and there was no requirement to do , and this is a Federally administered program for which Midland was inventing restrictions.  Moreover, I noted again that we were trying to protect ourselves from a XXXX XXXX XXXX.  She stated that we could leave the trust on the home as a co-owner.  i explained that does no good since our names would be on the public record with the house address.  I said that I could not compromise my family's safety; the Midland employee seemed unconcerned. --------------In summary, I am unsure if this whole mess is just a series of colossal miscommunications, or if we are dealing with an effort to avoid the modification and force us out of our home.  Given that at least one of the statements made to me by a midland employee was actually false, I tend to believe the latter. -------1. Midland has placed derogatory marks on my credit record that do not reflect the true state of the account.   -------2. Midland has acted to exacerbate the default by refusing to accept forbearance payments  -- thus becoming the sole cause of any delinquency on that plan.   -------3. Midland has made plainly untrue statements about a HUD requirement to quit-claim the house that never existed.   -------4. Midland tried to collect a "trial" modification payment, for a modification that was either (a) approved but I was never notified, which made me unaware of any requirements; or (b) declined for an unlawful pretext.  In either case, Midland exacerbated my default, and I am on the precipice of filing for Chapter XXXX relief, which will ruin me personally.   -------5. I am XXXX  years old, and being placed into this position is stressful.  I have multiple medical conditions, including a serious XXXX XXXX for which I am on XXXX  medications, without which I will XXXX. -------I, XXXX XXXX. XXXX, do on the pains and penalties of perjury as set forth in 28 USC § 1746, do hereby swear and affirm that the facts above are true and complete and to the best of my knowledge./s/XXXX XXXX. XXXX/s/