Consumer complaint received 2023-03-29
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: Specialized Loan Servicing Holdings LLC (NV)

My home mortgage lender, Specialized Loan Servicing ( SLS ), offered me a covid-19 relief program. The program began in XXXX of XXXX. It was a 12-month forbearance program. One of the options offered was, at the end of the forbearance, to add the amount that was in arrears on to the payment, which I agreed to. However, at the end of the forbearance, they instead required that the entire amount that was in arrears to be paid all at once. They told me at the time that it was the only option available, which was not part of the original terms, otherwise I would have never entered into the program. The terms are in writing, and they were also explained through the SLS rep over the phone. The original arrears amount owed was around {$27000.00}, which I did not have available to pay in one lump sum. Since the only amount they would accept was the full amount in arrears, after 2 years of fighting and being denied a loan modification, the amount is now {$90000.00}. I am in foreclosure, and they are taking my home. 

I did not initially approach SLS about this program. They offered it to me. My payments were on time and in full up to that point, although my business was suffering due to covid, I welcomed the relief. All my other bills are paid in full and on time, and my credit score is in the mid XXXX to this day. When I called around to see if a refinance was available, each establishment said that I needed to be able to show 3 months of on time payments before I could refinance. 

I hired a law firm of XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX to assist. Since SLS made it clear that resuming payments was not an option, we instead attempted a loan modification. We were repeatedly turned down as they stated that we did not qualify, partly because the XXXX was too low. The lender just appraised the home at $ XXXX and we owe a total of $ XXXX, which includes the amount in arrears. Throughout the process, I kept referring to the written notice that showed the option to resume payments was part of the original plan, and that they were not honoring the original agreement. They said that that notice was simply a standard form that they send out to everyone in the program. But that was the information that I was relying on in my decision to enter the program. After our mediation, SLS changed their tactics and told my attorney that we never initiated the repayment process through their online portal, and that was the reason that we could not resume payments. THAT IS NOT TRUE. The reason we could not resume payments is because they told us that we couldnt, and that full payment of the arrears amount was our only option. However, after the mediation, SLS referred to that same document and used it as the excuse for saying that we never initiated repayment through the portal. Theyre making a circular argument. First, they tell me that the document is just a form letter that goes out to all participants in the program, and that the clause referring to the repayment does not apply to us. Then, when they were pressed as to why they could not start accepting the repayment, they referred back to the same document and said that it was our fault that we never set it up through the portal! I spoke with their reps at least four times during the course of the forbearance, and each time they assured me that we could start the repayment at the end of the forbearance. They never once mentioned anything about the portal. If that was truly the only issue, then they could have simply said that if we're ready to begin repayment, just open up the process in the online portal. But they never said that. They only demanded full repayment. 

So, which is it ... .we were denied because we were told the repayment option did not apply to us, or we were denied because we never applied for repayment through the portal ( which we didn't because we were told that that option was not available to us )? 

Since my lender wont accept any payments, I can not qualify for anything else. These other lenders also said that they have heard similar versions of this story repeated many times. I am bringing this situation to your attention in hopes that shining a light on this injustice might expose this bait-and-switch practice and perhaps I can find a solution or some relief. I am requesting that they be made to honor our original agreement with the original terms.