Consumer complaint received 2017-07-24
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage — 
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. (NY)

Nearly 7 years ago, my wife and I, both employed with good jobs in XXXX, were financially devastated by the economic catastrophe that destroyed the housing market and jobs across America. We had stellar credit and had never missed a mortgage payment in our first 8 years of owning our house, but my wife lost her good job in the XXXX industry and due to the horrible state of the economy, could n't find work for a year or more. We owned a nice home in XXXX and were fine with 2 incomes.However, with only my income now and XXXX kids in school and all, we started spending all of our savings trying to stay afloat. After a while of barely making mortgage payments, we fell behind by 2  months or so. We kept thinking we were going to dig our way out, but my wife could n't get work with the collapse of the XXXX XXXX XXXX. We scraped together the now 3 months behind mortgage and went to the bank to pay up and settle up, but they told us we were now 3 +1/2 months behind and they would NOT take our 3 months. They told us it would all be folded into our new mortgage refinance that we were now applying for. They told us not to worry about making the next payments either, as they wer all to be added to our new refi deal.SO, every 6 -8 weeks, for over 2 and a half years, we filled out the new, yet exctly the same paperwork, the updated mortgage assistance checklist, and every time we would try to call the bank, all they ever said was, " everything looks fine, we just need a little more paperwork ''. This went on for those 2 + years and never once were we allowed to speak with anyone a t bank except the customer service rep, all of 25 years old typically, and none having authority to do anything or move our case forward. We never received ONE single email, as it seemed they did n't want us to contact anyone or to have a paper trail. We looked into selling our home nearly as soon as this all went sour, but with the collapse of the housing market due to the same BIG BANKS we are dealing with here destroying the mortgage and housing markets, our house was already worht so much less than we owed on our mortgage, so selling was never a viable option. Meanwhile after close to 3 years of NOT paying a mortgage as bank instructed, we had NO mortgage interest tax deduction, so our tax bill was through the roof, and our credit was shot due to missed mortgage payments. SO, now we had XXXX kids in college and XXXX on his way, and not one college would loan us a dime with our credit. 3 years now gone by, strapped for cash, the bank finally offered us a much higher interest rate and higher mortgage payment than we had initially BEFORE the housing market collapsed, and a payment nearly {$2000.00} more than it had been. We did n't understand how this could be, as bank knew the house was worth so much less now and we needed help with LOWER, not higher monthly payments. As we never had a single person at bank to speak with, we had no one but customer service people. Within weeks of this unfair mortgage refi option, one which they knew full well we could n't afford, as every 6 weeks for 3 years, we filled out the same financial paperwork, this massive, too big too fail bank, began saying we were behind in mortgage payments and began legal action. no one would speak with us, and we had NO money for an attorney. Then, without having served ANYONE in the household, only an old ex lawyer we had n't used in years, they began filing for foreclosure. But, as court records will now verify, we were never served, and many other proper notices or filings were not done. Yet the bank, never having served us, nor never having a foreclosure settlement conference, foreclosed on our home without telling us. At this point we borrowed $ $ from family to hire a real estate attorney, and within weeks, the foreclosure was overturned and the Big Bank forced by courts to enter into a new negotiation with us for a new mortgage. SO, once again, every 6 weeks, we began filling out the exact same paperwork we had been filling out for prior 3 years, the mortgage assistance checklist. And after another 18 months, we had NOT one singe offer of refi options. Our attorney said it was so frustrating at these Big banks, as no one seems to want to make a decision, and he had no idea how we dealt with them for 3 years, for the chain of bureaucracy is insane and so convoluted. And we still had no decision. We finally could not afford a lawyer any longer, and still had no offer from Bank. So for past 9-11 months we have been in housing court with a free court appointed housing advisor. And it took 2 years of dealing with this bank for them to come to us and tell us that even though we qualify financially, they were denying our refinance options totally, and only thing we qualify for is a short sale. And now, for 5 months, after telling us we do NOT qualify for any mortgage options, they still ask us to fill out every 6 weeks a mortgage assistance checklist. Now we tried to fix up the house, listed it for sale, and received 2 offers in last 2 weeks, both of which were rescinded when the buyers realized how impossible it was already proving to be to deal with this Big Bank 's inefficiency. For the offer that was presented took nearly 2 weeks for anyone at the bank to even acknowledge, and even then all they did was tell me we needed to fill out more paperwork, and the bank did n't even counter offer or discuss the offers at all. We do not feel this massive monster sized bank, who bought our distressed mortgage from one of the big banks who caused the banking collapse, have ever intended to be fair, and it is inhuman that they do not even care to call us to discuss our situation. They only have their team of a thousand lawyers send us new missed mortgage statements and past due invoices and new paperwork forms, even tho they denied our refi. We are at our wit 's end, and can not afford the lawyers we know we should be using. In a fair world we would be able to sue them for all their wrongdoings, but these 2 banks have likely XXXX lawyers apeice, and thanks to them, we have no money. All we wanted was to be treated fairly and like the honest hard working people we are, ones raising a family and being a part of our community. We know these 2 banks have been at best, incomopetent, and more likely, immoral and li unethical. Despite the fact the judge ordered our foreclosure overturned/ reversed, and stricken, it is still on our records, so still we can not borrow a dime, and now we have had XXXX kids in college for past 3 years. We have spent all our life savings and all our kid 's savings fighting Big Banks and only wanted to be treated fairly. We have tons of documents and paperwork we can send if you want to review. And more dates and loand numbers and names of these 2 big banks and how judges decisions showing they mishandled things. And despite all this, they have us nearly destitute and unable to move on with our lives. All we want is to be able to get out of this mess and try to rebuild our savings despite the fact that my wife is XXXX now and me nearly XXXX in 2 months. We wish we had the money to fight them and stop these banks from draining people of the equity in their homes and then foreclosing. We know of 2 other friends in XXXX who are going through the same nearly identical experience with same 2 banks. We would love some advice or legal guidance, for this is not right. Feel free to call me or email me as I would love the chance to further and more intelligently explain our nightmare and wee if there is a way out. Thanks ...