Consumer complaint received 2017-06-01
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage — 
Company: Specialized Loan Servicing Holdings LLC (MD)

I have been trying to get a short sale approved and closed for the past two ( 2 ) years, since XX/XX/XXXX, after failing to be approved for a loan modification despite my valiant attempts to do so for the preceding two years, since XX/XX/XXXX. I would have rather kept my home, but when they refused, I then tried to at least avoid foreclosure. <P/>I know have four ( 4 ) offers, one that is all cash and one that is for more than {$15000.00} higher than the bank valued the house for, but they would rather foreclose on me than approve the short sale. This is why I need the CFPB 's assistance. <P/>I owe approximately {$220000.00} on a property that is today worth {$140000.00} per the most recent appraisal. I am underwater by at least {$80000.00}, and the house is need of a significant amount of repairs, at least {$30000.00} worth. <P/>The following are the challenges that I have experienced trying to avoid foreclosure via a short sale. I now have only seven ( 7 ) days left to avoid a foreclosure. Only today did I learn that I could be assisted by the CFBP. As bleak as it is, I am committed to doing all that I can to avoid foreclosure. <P/>1 ) I had XXXX mortgages, a first and a second. XXXX serviced by the same lender, XXXX XXXX ( prior to SLS taking over ). My mortgage servicing was initially with XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX 's XXXX XXXX ), but was transferred to Specialized Loan Servicing ( SLS ) at the end of last year ( XX/XX/XXXX ). <P/>In XX/XX/XXXX, the 1st mortgage approved the short sale, but the 2nd mortgage did not. Reason? They wrote me stating that they had determined that I was too far underwarter for the 2nd to recover anything. They were, therefore, going to release the 2nd mortgage lien. Good news! Or so I thought. <P/>The 2nd mortgage release was never forthcoming from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX department. Instead, the 1st mortgage ( keep in mind it was the same company ) denied my short sale because I did not close in time ( because we needed the 2nd mortgage release to be able to actually close. Everything was ready for the closing. ) Classic entrapment, because I need them to approve the short sale for XXXX the 1st and 2nd mortgage, not just one of them. And they had in fact stated in writing that the 2nd mortgage would no longer require consideration for a short sale because they were instead going to release the lien. But they never did. Instead, the referred me to foreclosure. <P/>Before the foreclosure could take place in XX/XX/XXXX,  the XXXX XXXX banking scandal broke. At the same time, I was petitioning through all known avenues, including elected officials. They finally agreed to postpone the foreclosure and review the case. <P/>2 ) Prior to resolving the issue, XXXX XXXX transferred the servicing of the 1st mortgage to SLS ( Specialized Loan Servicing ) at the end of XX/XX/XXXX. I was then advised by SLS that as they were a new company, I had to begin the process over completely as though I had never before applied for a short sale. This meant I had to re-list the house for sale, wait for new contracts, and the whole long and drawn-out process. <P/>a ) Despite my protests and sending documentation proving they were overvaluing my house, SLS insisted that the value was {$180000.00}. Against the advice of all experts, I had no choice but to list it for that amount. In the in interests of time ( I had a postponed foreclosure sale hanging over my head ), I sent in the paperwork as soon as I received an offer. They denied it saying it was too low below the unrealistic $ XXXX value. <P/>b ) I kept appealing and by XX/XX/XXXX, SLS consented to do a 2nd appraisal on XX/XX/XXXX. This time the value came in at $ XXXX - still high, but much more realistic than the previous $ XXXX. I called them and asked if they would permit my brother to buy the property at that price ( I was running out of time, and once again, the foreclosure had barely been postponed ). They said yes, subject to their investor 's approval given my up-front disclosure that this was not an arms-length transaction. I submitted the paperwork. <P/>After taking a month to review with no response from them, I called SLS only to be informed that they were not even considering the offer because it was my brother. That this was against company policy - never mind that I had called the same company ( SLS ) a month prior and been advised exactly the opposite. By this time, we were now towards the end of XX/XX/XXXX. <P/>c ) I appealed yet again. I was then advised to re-list the property and send in the new offer I received. Keep in mind that I do not control how long it takes offers to come in, and the clock is ticking. I submitted the first offer I received - all cash, no contingencies. On XX/XX/XXXX, SLS did a 3rd appraisal. This time the value came accurately at $ XXXX for a quick sale, and $ XXXX for a sale in 60-90 days. <P/>NOTE : For all these appraisals, the property condition remained unchanged. It was merely an issue of accuracy and paying attention to the facts that had been made available to them. So the truth of the matter is that the XX/XX/XXXX appraisal is what should have always been done. It took them 3 tries and more than 6 months to finally get it right. The whole time, they were postponing the foreclosure in 30-day increments. <P/>All the above brings us to where I am today : I have sent SLS two contracts : One is an all-cash sale for $ XXXX ( quick sale ), and the other is with a mortgage buyer for $ XXXX ( regular sale ) to mirror how they valued my house. The 2nd offer is more than {$15000.00} higher than the current value of the house. <P/>However, SLS has now taken the position that too much time has passed ( please note that I have n't been the cause of delay ), and that they will not even consider the offer as the foreclosure sale date is now XX/XX/XXXX.  Please note the following observations : i. SLS has been postponing the foreclosure sale date by 30-day increments this entire time. Should they desire, they can postpone it again. <P/>ii. At no point in time did SLS inform me of a deadline or cutoff by which they would need to have received the offers in order to consider it. Therefore, refusing to consider multiple, bonafide offers because of the time left borders on entrapment once again. <P/>It is grossly unfair to enforce a deadline that was never communicated. By definition, it is not a binding deadline. It is unilateral and arbitrary action with the worst of consequences for my interests.