Consumer complaint received 2017-05-19
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage — 
Company: SELECT PORTFOLIO SERVICING, INC. (VA)

I am 50 % owner in a small business. Around   XX/XX/XXXX , with  the economic downturn, I was unable to pay my mortgage due to low income. I was in the process of a divorce.     After getting notices for several years and the mortgage being transferred to a few different companies, I attempted to enter the loan modification process ( through  the HAMP government program ). The company currently owning the mortgage is Select Portfolio Servicing , Inc. ( SPS )  based in  XXXX   XXXX   XXXX , UT. The process of the loan modification began around  XX/XX/XXXX . The application process took several months. Ultimately in summer  XX/XX/XXXX , I was notified of the a loan modification trial period for three months. The trial period payment amount was {$2000.00}.     After completing the initial trial period with all payments on time, I received a loan modification agreement. The terms of the agreement were approximately {$2000.00} per month for  fifteen  years. Another key term of the agreement was forgiveness of approximately {$150000.00} of the debt.     I signed the document  and returned the SPS. I continued to make payments on time. Over the next few weeks to months I would call in to check the status. A few times I was told that there was a problem with the document. I was divorced from my wife who was a co-borrower on the original loan. I made it cleat to SPS form the beginning of the loan modification process that she did not wish to be included on the loan modification documents. I was instructed by SPS early in the process that this could be overcome by having her execute a Quit Claim Deed for the property. When I sen t in the loan modification I crossed out my ex-wife 's name from the agreement. When I would call in to check, I was told by   SPS that the problem was my ex-wife did not sign it. I would explain the Quit Claim Deed issue and typically the representative would note the account and I would leave the conversation feeling it was resolved. After a few months I was surprised when a rep told me the agreement issue was that I am not allowed to mark up the document at all. I requested SPS to send my a blank document and I would re-sign with her signature area left blank. For several months and many phone calls, the same issue came up. They would state they would send me a blank agreement to re-sign, but I never received another one.
After around three to six months of back and forth, I was ultimately told that the time win  dow for the agreement to be executed had expired. I explained my situation. They agreed to continue the loan modification, but stated I would have to start the entire process ( including application period ) all over again. I was very upset with this, but with a pending foreclosure potential, I did not feel I had any recourse. So, I started the entire loan modification process all over.   One thing to make very clear is that since the original loan trial period, all payments were continued on a monthly basis and paid on time. Even with all the issues, I continued to make timely payments.
The loan modification round 2 took over a year to complete. SPS continued to be con  fused by my income from a small business and income verification. Around the end of  XX/XX/XXXX , I became very concerned that the HAMP program was ending  . SPS stated since I was already in the process, it would not expire even is it extended past the end of  XX/XX/XXXX .
The 2nd loan tria  l period eventually was accepted. The new trial payment was approximately {$1500.00} per month. The three month trial period w as  XX/XX/XXXX ,  XX/XX/XXXX ,  &  XX/XX/XXXX . Again, I want to reiterate that between the summer of   XX/XX/XXXX  a nd spring of   XX/XX/XXXX ,  all monthly payments of approximately {$2000.00} were continued to be paid on time and accepted. The first time the payment was lower was when the new trial period started.     After making the three trial period payments on time i n  XX/XX/XXXX ,  XX/XX/XXXX ,  &  XX/XX/XXXX , I received the official loan modification for  Round 2  around  XX/XX/XXXX . I was completely shocked at the new terms of this agreement. There is a lower payment of approximately {$1500.00}, but the term is extended to approximately 19 years. The major issue is that now the modification has a balloon payment of approximately {$230000.00} due at the end of the loan. This is vastly different than the agreement from  XX/XX/XXXX .     I now feel trapped with no alternatives. If I do n't sign the agreement, I am concerned the terms will get worse with the expiration of the HAMP program. A worst case would be foreclosure. I have a deadline to execute the agreement of  XX/XX/XXXX . I am reluctantly signing the agreement and sending it in, so this situation does not worsen.     When I was evaluating alternatives the past few days, I called into a federal hotline to get advice. I was advised to file a complaint through your agency.     In regards to the original agreement, I know th at SPS  has it on file, because a rep over the phone was able to pull up the previous agreement and discuss the terms as recent as last week.