Consumer complaint received 2017-06-19
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage — 
Company: CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP, INC. (GA)

My home went into foreclosure after my husband passed. I hired a law firm (  XXXX   XXXX   ) to as sist in me in getting a loan modification - which they did and under which I successfully completed the trial period and continued making payments - only to find out in  XX/XX/XXXX  that the law firm closed it 's doors prior to sending in the final paperwork for the loan modification. ( I have since been able to recover the fees I paid to the law firm because of this occurrence ). Neither the law firm nor Citizens sent the final paperwork to me, and I received no communication from Citizens that there was an issue with the loan modification until I received a check equal to my mortgage payments in the mail fr om Citizens. When I contacted Citizens about the che ck, I was then notified that the loan modification had been invalidated and that my account had been placed with  XXXX   XXXX   XXXX  for foreclosure. After numerous calls attempting to understand why the loan modification had been invalidated, I was told that the final paperwork sent to the law firm had not been returned. I asked why I was not contacted by Citizens prior to the loan modification being invalidated and was told that the policy was that all paperwork went through the law firm.   Fast forward 7 months, and no progress wit h Citizens, I filed for Chapter   XXXX  bankruptcy in an attempt to save my home. I have over the course of MANY MONTHS attempted to obtain a new loan modification and have also tried to negotiate a payoff. No matter which path I attempt to take with Citizens, I am given the same ultimate response : I am told that no decisions can be made regarding my account until 'the investors are contacted ' and that all decisions on my account are 'what the investors feel can be justified '.   I have attempted Loss Mitigation efforts for months :  Loss Mitigation re presentative  XXXX   XXXX  requested several forms via email including an authorization from my bankruptcy attorney releasing me to speak with Citizens, of which I completed and returned all.  XXXX   XXXX  then told me that unless I assumed the loan it is in my deceased husband 's name he could do nothing for me. I explained that I could not legally assume the loan in bankruptcy and asked how the loan modification had been successfully put in place the first time without my assuming the loan and received no response he stopped returning daily calls and emails and referred me to their foreclosure division. I had to get an email from that division -  XXXX   XXXX   XXXX  - to forward to  XXXX   XXXX  to prove to him that they do not have my account and that I need to speak with Citizens. After receiving the email, he agreed that he had made a mistake and then told me he would help me find a loss mitigation option, then once again stopped returning my daily calls and emails requesting help. I have not heard from him since that exchange. I was then forwarded to an account bankruptcy representative  XXXX  who told me she could do nothing to help me and then referred me to  XXXX  to negotiate a payoff.  XXXX   (  on Monday,  XX/XX/XXXX  ) told me she 'needed to speak to the investors ' and that she would return my call on that Friday. She did not return my call, though I called several times last week, and had agents call on my behalf several times last week. It has been impossible finding ANYONE to speak with about my account.   I am desperate to negotiate a payoff wit h Citizens One on my  husband 's mortgage as the principal owed is only ~ {$84000.00} and the home has been appraised for {$310000.00}. What has become increasingly clear is that Citizens and the 'investors ' want to foreclosure on my home and make the profit from the foreclosure sale instead of agreeing to any type of loss mitigation, including negotiating payoff on the mortgage, so that I can save my home.