Consumer complaint received 2022-03-11
Product: Mortgage — VA mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: MONEY SOURCE, INC., THE (CA)

I XXXX in late XXXX and had requested the California Military Families Financial Relief Act ( CMFFRA ) be enacted for a XXXX deferment on my mortgage. The request was submitted on XXXX XX/XX/XXXX with my Lender, The Money Source. Please see emailed request : Dear Sir/Maam, 

Pursuant to the California Military Families Financial Relief Act, section XXXX ( b ) ( XXXX ), this letter is my formal written request for deferment of financial obligation for the above-referenced account ( Loan # XXXXXX ). I have been ordered to XXXX XXXX with the United States XXXX XXXX from XX/XX/XXXX, through XX/XX/XXXX. These are XXXX XXXX Orders. The California Military Families XXXX XXXX XXXX establishes that a " XXXX who is called to XXXX XXXX may defer payments '' for the period of a service members military orders plus 60 days but not to exceed 180 days overall. The length of these orders is 131 days, which qualifies the service member for 180 days of financial deferment.Under the California XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, during the period specified in Section XXXX, the XXXX may defer the payment of principal and interest on the specified obligations. No penalties shall be imposed on the nonpayment of principal or interest during this period. No interest shall be charged or accumulated on the principal or interest on which the payment was delayed. No foreclosure or repossession of property on which payment has been deferred shall take place during the period specified in Section XXXX. The lender shall extend the term of the obligation by the number of months the obligation was deferred. I am hereby requesting deferment of XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX payments, resuming my payment schedule with the XX/XX/XXXX payment. I have attached a PDF of this letter as well as a PDF of my orders to this email.
Please elevate this request as necessary. If you have any questions or need any additional information, please contact me at the above address, via my mobile at XXXX, or via email at XXXX Since submitting my official request for the CMFFRA on XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, I have received every excuse as to why the XXXX loan deferment has not been applied to my account, including ; the request was not submitted, mistakenlyrequested SCRA instead of XXXX, the request was submitted and our attorneys are reviewing, your request is with loss mitigation, your request is with special loans, or you are being placed on a forbearance until XX/XX/XXXX, then special loans will have 30 days to complete the deferment, so youre just in a holding pattern for now. Each time I ask to speak to a supervisor, I am told a supervisor call me in XXXX hours, and most of the time I never get a callback, or I am told everything is fine and my account is in good standing until XX/XX/XXXX until my deferment processes kick in. I was told months ago I was assigned a customer Ally who is handling my case, which I have in writing from XXXX, but I was informed on XX/XX/XXXX that I dont have an ally anymore. Which explains why I was leaving voicemails and receiving no callbacks. I have spent countless hours on the phone with XXXX, on hold for almost two hours on multiple occasions, just to have no resolutions. I have been proactive from the start and have fulfilled all of their requests while having followed up numerous times too have nothing changed on their end. 

Since returning from my XXXX I have been threatened/harassed by my lender that they are going to foreclose on my home via certified mail, called by debt collectors, and they have even reported me to the credit bureau , dropping my credit score XXXX points. However, every time I talk to their customer support they tell me my account is in good standing until XX/XX/XXXX and there is nothing to worry about while special loans is working on your deferment ( as documented on my call on XX/XX/XXXX to a customer care supervisor ). Since my initial request on XX/XX/XXXX, I have made multiple calls to check on the status of my deferment. I submitted all initial documentation that was requested of me ; a formal written request and military orders. There was absolutely no movement on my deferment request until XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I requested a status check on ticket # XXXX with special loans and was told there were no updates. During that phone call, I stated if this is not resolved I will be seeking legal advice. Later that day, on XX/XX/XXXX, Special Loans made a comment on my account, stating that they needed documents showing, Reduced employment income statements, and referenced Chapter XXXX, section XXXX : If required by a financial institution, proof that the reservists employer does not provide continuing income to the XXXX while the XXXX is on active military duty, including the reservists military pay, of more than XXXX percent of the reservists monthly salary and wage income earned before the call to XXXX XXXX. ( https : //leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml? lawCode=MVC & XXXX & title= & part= & chapter=3. & article ) However, Section XXXX states : ( a ) Any person who receives a good faith request from a service member for relief pursuant to this chapter and who believes the request is incomplete or otherwise not legally sufficient, or that the service member is not entitled to the relief requested, shall, within 30 days of the request, provide the service member with a written response acknowledging the request, setting forth the persons basis for believing or asserting that the request is incomplete or not legally sufficient, or that the service member is not entitled to the relief requested. The response shall clearly identify the specific information or materials that are missing from the request and that would be required to grant the relief requested, and provide contact information, including a mailing address and telephone number, which the service member can use to contact the person. 
( b ) If the person fails to make such a response in the timeframe set forth in this section, the person waives any objection to the request, and the servicemember shall be entitled to the relief requested. 

It took XXXX 220 days after my initial request for me to hear anything back from special loans. This would be 32 days after my deferment should have ended. Per sections XXXX ( a ) and ( b ), XXXX had 30 days to request supporting documentation from me. They also had 30 days to provide me with a written response acknowledging the request, to which I never received a request for further documentation, nor any feedback from XXXX concerning my deferment request. Even after having called multiple times to check on the status. As outlined in XXXX, Section XXXX, XXXX waived their right to object to my request and I should have to be entitled to the relief requested. It has been 8 months and that relief has still not been granted. 

Since then, XXXX has informed me that since my forbearance ended on XX/XX/XXXX, I lost all credit reporting protection. This is the forbearance that I questioned multiple times to XXXX customer service employees, as I never requested a forbearance and didnt understand why I was placed on a forbearance, as opposed to the XXXX deferment I requested. On XX/XX/XXXX, I spoke to a customer care team member who elevated my ticket # XXXX to a supervisor. The supervisor called me on 3 XXXX and she informed me special loans was working my case with the suspense of XXXX XXXX and that my loan was in Good Standing until XX/XX/XXXX, so there was no reason to worry about it. I requested an elevation to talk to someone above her, but I received no call back from leadership. She stated she would call me back if anything had changed on my account- no callbacks have been made from her. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX reported me to the credit bureau for the month of XXXX, stating I was 180 days delinquent. No one ever called me to inform me that I would be reported to the credit bureau. I had never heard anything other than, XXXX worry, your account is in good standing until XX/XX/XXXX. I called XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX to request my credit reporting be fixed. When I talked to a customer ally on XX/XX/XXXX, I was informed that XXXX denied redacting my credit reporting that dropped my credit XXXX points, stating that it was accurate because I didnt pay my home mortgage for over 180 days. However, it the deferral had been completed in a timely manner, this would not be the case. I requested a supervisor call me to discuss my deferral and my credit reporting to be fixed. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, a supervisor from customer ally called to inform me that my credit reporting for the month of XXXX, which was submitted in XXXX, dropped my credit score XXXX points, because XXXX believed I was XXXX delinquent on my mortgage payment, would not be rescinded. I asked her if my credit would be reported to show I was never late on payment after the deferment goes through and she said, No, deferments are not credit protected. Thus, XXXX is stating to me, that they will not fix my credit reporting due to their own negligence in handling my XXXX deferment in accordance with CHAPTER XXXX. The California Military Families XXXX XXXX XXXX [ XXXX - XXXX ]. From the supervisor I talked to, this decision was made by XXXX XXXX XXXX of XXXX XXXX, XXXX. 

I was also informed by the supervisor, as she went through my call history with XXXX that they put in my request for CMFFRA on XX/XX/XXXX. This is 8 days after my original request. She stated that my home was put into forbearance in XX/XX/XXXX, which was never explained to me why, other than, the forbearance is a place holder until the deferment goes through. She then stated that there was a new request made for XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, which is what special loans is now trying to say was my request date. However, this is preposterous as there are months of documentation of my requests for XXXX since XXXX XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX a debt collector from XXXX called me to collect a debt and I informed her about my request for the CMFFRA. After XXXX minutes on the phone with her placing me on hold to talk to a supervisor, I was hung up on and they never called me back with a resolution. 

I have been pushed around by XXXX for over 8 months with no resolution. Due to their negligence, my perfect XXXX XXXX has been severely damaged and they are unwilling to make the proper corrections to have it fixed. I feel the money source is a predatory company and that they were choosing to ignore my request as a service member to enact the XXXX during my military XXXX overseas, in hopes that I would continue to pay my mortgage sans deferment. I am grateful there are laws that help protect me as a service member and feel bad for those who arent protected from this company 's careless professional practices. I am requesting that my deferment be processed as it should have been last year. I am also requesting XXXX to report to the credit bureaus that I was not derelict on my loan payments while providing me a copy of the statement. I appreciate all of your help in this matter. 

All supporting documents are attached and I can provide a full phone call log upon request.