Consumer complaint received 2016-02-24
Product: Mortgage — Conventional fixed mortgage
Issue: Loan servicing, payments, escrow account — 
Company: Specialized Loan Servicing Holdings LLC (GA)

Hello, I am XXXX XXXX and thank you for reading my story. 
My husband and I are trying to save our home from being escalated out from under us by our mortgage holder. We finally got a modification in XXXX of XXXX & the 3 month trial was up XXXX XXXX, XXXX. 
Through the magic of escrow & intrest our $ XXXX mortgage is now $ XXXX and today I was informed my monthly payment was going up another {$200.00}. The lender claims that this is necessary because I 'm in arrears on the escrow {$4000.00}. This is XXXX! If there was an arrearage it should have been handled within the modification. 
We built this home ourselves in XXXX and it 's located next door to my XXXX year old mothers home whom I care for. My parents bought the property in XXXX Our home loan was with XXXX Mortgage for {$1900.00} a month and we had never missed a payment. I paid my own taxes and insurance. 
In XX/XX/XXXX my husband 's XXXX. XXXX was denied so he began XXXX work as often as possible but he earns much less than he did before. 
I am a XXXX. My employment has been off & on since the economic turndown. I have had several very good jobs just disappear due to mergers, takeovers, and closings. We have used up all our savings, sold our stocks, cashed in our IRA 's and my pension from XXXX. 
We have nothing left but our home. 
When XXXX XXXX XXXX bought XXXX 's mortgages in XXXX or XXXX they took over our mortgage. I continued paying my regular payment until one day XXXX refused to accept my payment. They said I was n't paying my full payment. When questioned they told me they had added two escrow accounts to my mortgage that brought the payment up to {$2600.00} per month. 
I asked them to remove them as I had not given them permission to add them but they refused citing that they had to protect the Bank in case I did n't pay my taxes. 
I got an Attorney ; XXXX XXXX XXXX. out of XXXX XXXX, FL ; and paid them {$2500.00} to help me get a modification. ( They turned out to be crooks and were indicted by the Florida Attorney General for Mortgage Fraud. ) As soon as XXXX heard 'lawyer ' they transferred my loan to Specialized Loan Service . 
It took me from XXXX to XXXX of XXXX, hundreds of personal hours faxing and copying, checkstubs, tax returns, IRS permissions and hundreds of miscellaneous documents to finally get a modification. BUT : The only modification offer they made was based NOT on my actual mortgage payment of {$1900.00} but on XXXX {$2600.00}. 
To keep our home we had to agree to pay {$2000.00} per month. Right after this went through my company closed in XXXX XXXX. 
For the last year we have taken every job offered. I worked at XXXX XXXX so we could keep the utilities on through the holidays. My mother, children and other relatives help.It means so much to us to be able to live without fear of losing our home, without having to choose which Bill to pay or how much food we can afford to buy. With your help we could finally be solvent again. 
We have lived with this sword of XXXX hanging over us for five years now. I can not express the gratitude we would have for all your help us to get out from under it. Thank you in advance for sharing our story.