Consumer complaint received 2019-07-01
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage — 
Company: SELECT PORTFOLIO SERVICING, INC. (GA)

History of how we came to the situation to date : We purchased our home in XX/XX/XXXX for {$420000.00}. At this time, my husband 's business with thriving and we could easily afford this and were told by our mortgage broker " that we could buy any house we wanted up to {$700000.00}. '' We thought we were being conservative when we decide on our home for {$420000.00}. At closing, we had two mortgages. The 1st mortgage was a no doc, interest only ARM for {$340000.00} ( est ) that landed with XXXX. The 2nd was a standard mortgage for {$80000.00} ( est ) with XXXX XXXX. Prior to the closing, when we expressed concern over the " interest only '' mortgage, the broker stated that we could easily refinance into a regular mortgage in a short time period. To this day, Im not sure what he did to qualify us for this but he was fired on the day of our closing. We made our ( very large ) mortgage payments faithfully and on time. In XX/XX/XXXX, our home appraised for {$460000.00} and we had a refinance scheduled to close in XX/XX/XXXX with XXXX that would combine both of our mortgages into a regular principal and interest mortgage. In XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX went under and the closing never occurred. 
We found ourselves in the mortgage crisis with a total mortgage payment that had now escalated to over XXXX XXXX/mo. We struggled to continue these payments and contacted XXXX for assistance to have our mortgage revised. They indicated that they could not assist us since we were not late on paying our mortgage. We then intentionally stopped paying our Mortgage in XX/XX/XXXX in order to qualify for an assistance program. While attempting to work with XXXX and thinking we were being reviewed for a program, we received a foreclosure notice for XX/XX/XXXX. 

As you know, during this time period, so many foreclosures were happening. We had heard horror stories about people coming home and all of their belongings were out on their front yards. We drove by many houses and actually saw this. We were terrified this would happen to us and decided to move out of our home before the foreclosure date and into a rental and were ready to just have the home taken and sold at auction. The foreclosure was stopped due to a government action at the time, stopping all foreclosures due to robo-processing. Our mortgage company, XXXX, then collapsed and our mortgage began being processed by XXXX  XXXX XXXX. 

At this time, my husbands business went under due to the economy and we were now a one income family while he attempted to find a job. We then attempted to short-sell our home ( that we were no longer living in ). Our beautiful home that appraised for {$460000.00} a year ago, now appraised for {$280000.00}. We had a buyer and a closing date. Three days before the closing, after the buyer had invested significant money and had sold their current home, we were notified that the short sale was cancelled by the bank with no explanation. We then received another foreclosure notice for XX/XX/XXXX. We assumed that this foreclosure occurred and were moving on with our lives. 

However, in XX/XX/XXXX, we were contacted by XXXX XXXX XXXX. They told us that the house had not foreclosed and that we still owned it and there were new programs that we qualified for to restructure our mortgage so that we could retain our home and they were going to XXXX us the paperwork to begin the process. However, they told us we had to be living in the home. That weekend, we moved back into the house. We spent {$5000.00} on movers and had to make the house livable again after being vacant a year and uncared for. We never received a XXXX   package with the loan restructure paperwork but a week after we moved back in, we received a foreclosure notice!! At this point, I contacted the Presidents Office at XXXX XXXX XXXX as they had a special team setup to assist with home retention. They did stop the foreclosure but after six weeks we were notified by them that XXXX XXXX XXXX was only the servicer of our mortgage and that our lender was XXXX XXXX ( we never knew this until then ) and that our mortgage was in a pool of mortgages that XXXX XXXX had deemed unnegotiable. Why didnt XXXX XXXX XXXX look at this before telling us we qualified for a new loan program and had us move back into the house??!! 

We were now two years behind on our mortgage payments and we tried everything to have our mortgage restructured. In XX/XX/XXXX, we hired an attorney and spent thousands of dollars in attorney fees in an attempt to sue, we enrolled in every possible government program and filed for Chapter 7 that was discharged in XX/XX/XXXX.  Our mortgage servicing company then changed to SPS. We did not hear from them for 2 years. We again attempted to have our mortgage restructured and were eventually told it was not negotiable. In XX/XX/XXXX we received another foreclosure notice and our attorney advised us to have my husband file Chapter XXXX to stop it. We continue through the next 2 years in a constant state of worry and stress trying everything to be able to keep our home. 

In XX/XX/XXXX, we received a 1099 for {$71000.00} from XXXX XXXX XXXX for a discharge of our 2nd mortgage with XXXX XXXX. With this 2nd mortgage discharged, we again attempted to restructure our mortgage with SPS. If they would waive the legal and late fees, we would afford to begin making mortgage payments again. They would not consider this and in XX/XX/XXXX,  we entered into the Short Sale program with SPS. In XX/XX/XXXX, we moved out of the house into a rental. 

Current situation and reason for complaint : We have found a buyer that offered SPS {$310000.00} for the house. SPS sent a realtor to do a BPO ( not a true appraisal ) which came back at {$390000.00}. SPS declined the offer. The buyers had an independent appraisal done which came back in the low $ 300s and they also provided a list of repairs needed to the home. The buyer then raised their offer to {$340000.00}. SPS again declined this offer. We requested that SPS have a true appraisal done on the home. We received a letter from SPS dated XX/XX/XXXX saying that the short sale has been declined. However, it appears that one department was not speaking with the other and the appraisal that was requested by SPS was conducted on XX/XX/XXXX. In the meantime, we received another foreclosure notice with a sale date of XX/XX/XXXX. SPS received the appraisal on XX/XX/XXXX. The house appraised for {$310000.00}. ( Just a note that a house 2 doors down from ours, just recently foreclosed and was sold at auction for {$280000.00}. ) We contacted SPS and even though they received this appraisal that they requested and that is {$34000.00} lower than what the buyer is willing to pay, they refused to consider the short sale and would not stop the foreclosure. The agent assigned to us said to me Im not supposed to tell you this but you can file bankruptcy to stop the sale to give us more time. 

My husband went to the courthouse today. On his way there, he called SPS again in an attempt to have them consider the short sale and stop the foreclosure. They are stating that they are acting on behalf of the Lender, XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX is refusing to Short Sale. Since they refused, my husband filed Chapter XXXX  today to stop the sale. Needless to say, his credit is ruined for a very long time. We are good people that have found ourselves in an impossible situation. The most recent monthly mortgage statement we received from SPS shows that we owe {$350000.00} but they are saying we owe them over {$500000.00} with attorney and late fees. If XXXX XXXX XXXX had not convinced us to move back into the house in XX/XX/XXXX and the house had been foreclosed on then, we would be well on our way to a new credit life. Our only desire was to raise our children in our home ( paying for it ) and have a normal life. We just want to move on and know that our house ( which was truly a home to us ) is going to a family that really wants it. We dont want to have our home foreclosed on. Now, there is an opportunity for SPS ( XXXX XXXX ) to sell the house for {$340000.00} which is more than they will ever get in a foreclosure and they refuse to do so. With the interest only mortgage payments we made for over {$130000.00} and the short sale, they will have received {$460000.00}. We need assistance with negotiating a short sale and a waiver of the deficiency balance.