Consumer complaint received 2024-06-02
Product: Mortgage — FHA mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage — Trying to communicate with the company to fix an issue related to modification, forbearance, short sale, deed-in-lieu, bankruptcy, or foreclosure
Company: Onity Group Inc. (HI)

We are overwhelmed with frustration at the way that PHH has handled the servicing of our mortgage loan. They are engaging in dual tracking and pushing us into foreclosure. We have been trying to resolve this matter for several YEARS but continue to be met with obstruction and denial of access to government programs that we should be considered for. The bank sends us letters telling us that there are options and that they want to work with us to resolve our situation while their law firm is going to court to try and force a foreclosure and take our home. We had a significant financial hardship shortly after we purchased our home with an FHA loan and began trying to resolve the situation within a couple of months. Our financial hardship was resolved several years ago, but due to the unethical servicing practices of our lender we have been stuck on a revolving hamster wheel while we try to find a path forward. This was a situation that could have easily been resolved but due to the obstruction it has snowballed into a much more serious issue. 

We bought our home in XXXX and put a {$50000.00} down payment. There was some repairs that needed to be done to the property before we could move in and we hired a licensed contractor to do this work in the kitchen and bathroom. Things went sideways quickly as the work was shoddy and they were far behind schedule. We had to move in to the home while the kitchen and bathroom were still torn up and stay in one room of the house for XXXX months. The kitchen cabinets were hung improperly with nails sticking out, the toilets were not properly installed and there were plumbing issues and the wiring in the kitchen was held together by duct tape. Between supplies and fees we had paid the contractor nearly {$40000.00} so we tried to let him finish the job but it got so bad we eventually had to fire him. In order to fix the damage we had to hire a second contractor to come in and correct the mistakes and replace the dangerous wiring which would have led the house to burn down in a matter of months. This added another $ XXXX to the bill. 

We made the first mortgage payment but due to the contracting disaster were financially strapped. Since the house was torn apart we could not stop the repair process and we missed our next mortgage payment. We contacted the bank to tell them the situation and that we would try and catch up with double payments. Although the situation dragged on we attempted to begin make a payment a couple months later but the bank would not accept our regular mortgage payment so we applied for a modification. The process was extremely difficult, sending in documents multiple times but it always seemed like something was missing or incorrect or lost. This was not a onetime problem. This continued to happen over and over again as our delinquent arrearages continued to grow. We were back on our feet financially in XXXX and had the ability to make the mortgage payment. If the bank would have actually taken the time to review our financial paperwork at that time to understand our income we could have qualified for FHA borrower assistance programs such as partial claim, loan modification, recapitalization of arrearages or repayment plan. Instead of conducting a review, they put us into foreclosure and things went downhill from there. 

We have continued to try and resolve this situation and have applied for borrower assistance options at least XXXX times. Finally in late XXXX the bank completed a review and then told us we did not qualify for help, this being the first time we had received an actual decision on our application in a 7 year period. Not long after that we received a solicitation letter from the bank that said they wanted to help and work with us to figure out a solution so that we could save our home. At the same time their Attorneys were aggressively filing legal actions against us to try and force a foreclosure auction and steal equity from our home.