Consumer complaint received 2020-07-23
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage — 
Company: Onity Group Inc. (CA)

In addition to moving ahead with the process of foreclosing on my property during a statewide freeze on Evictions and Foreclosures that is still in effect ( https : XXXX ) I believe my mortgage servicer, PHH Mortgage ( or XXXX  XXXX XXXX  ) is also violating several provisions of the California Home Owners Bill of Rights, and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. 

I have been preparing a list of these potential violations and tried to confront them over the phone about the rules they seem to be breaking, but I get no response from them and they continue moving forward with attempting to foreclose. 


POSSIBLE HOME OWNERS BILL OF RIGHTS VIOLATIONS Notification of foreclosure-prevention options : Your servicer must try to contact you at least 30 days before starting the foreclosure process to discuss your financial situation and explore your options to avoid foreclosure. Your servicer can then start the foreclosure process by recording a notice of default in the county where your home is located, and will then send you a copy within 10 business days. Within 5 days of recording a notice of default, your servicer must generally give you information about options to avoid foreclosure that may be available. ( Civil Code sections 2923.55, 2924.9 ) I was never contacted by my servicer. I logged on to my online account to make a payment for XX/XX/XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, but I was blocked from making payments thru the site and given a phone number to call. I called the number and spoke with somebody that claimed my account was blocked because my account was delinquent and that I owed around {$4100.00}. I was told that if I attempted to send a check for my payment for any amount less than the {$4100.00}, that it would be returned. I immediately said that I would like to dispute the amount she was telling me I owed because, in my estimation, theres no way it could be that much. Reviewing my available payment history on the servicers site, it looked like I had missed 2 payments ( each payment is under {$800.00}, so there was about a {$2500.00} difference between the amount I was told was past due and the amount I could verify on their site that I owe. At this point, I was asked if I would like to review my finances and see what my foreclosure prevention options are. I agreed and she began to interview me. After about 15 minutes, I was told that they were sending me an application packet in the mail that I needed to fill out and send back, but that it looked like I may qualify for a forbearance plan. I waited for the application to arrive, but it never did. Instead I received a NOTICE OF DEFAULT. This means that after going out of my way to contact my servicer, ask for help and spend 15 minutes going over my finances to qualify for some kind of foreclosure prevention option, my servicer went ahead and recorded a NOTICE OF DEFAULT anyway. 


Guaranteed single point of contact : If you ask for a loan modification or other foreclosure-prevention option, your servicer must assign you a specific person or team who can walk you through application requirements and deadlines, knows the facts and status of your application, including missing documents needed to complete your application, and can get you a decision on your application. ( Civil Code section 2923.7 ) My so-called relationship manager and I have a definite language barrier. We had a very difficult time understanding each other and she had a super noisy phone line that made her sound like she was in a blizzard. We spoke only the one time I called ( when I was blocked from making my regular payment on XX/XX/XXXX ) and spent about an hour going over my finances with her and asking for help. I was promised I would get some forms in the mail to fill out for mortgage relief assistance that I never received. I have called her multiple times and been unable to reach her. The last time this happened, I decided to hold and wait for someone else to take my call because I needed answers about my application never arrivinand the NOTICE of DEFAULT that I received. The person I spoke with knew NOTHING about my situation and explained that they are not a relationship manager, but just trying their best to help me. 

Acknowledgment of application : If you apply for a loan modification, your servicer must notify you within five business days of any missing information, other errors, and deadlines for completing your application. ( Civil Code section 2924.10 ) SInce I did not receive the foreclosure prevention application I was promised, I went ahead and applied directly on my servicers website for a modification of my loan on XX/XX/XXXX. I have not received any response or acknowledgement for my application. 


Restrictions on dual tracking : Your servicer must generally pause the foreclosure process while it is making a decision on your completed loan-modification application and until after it gives you time to appeal a denial. It also can not foreclose on you while you are complying with the terms of an approved loan modification, forbearance, repayment plan, or other foreclosure-prevention option. ( Civil Code sections 2923.6, 2924.11 ) After requesting help on XX/XX/XXXX and being promised that a foreclosure prevention application would arrive in the mail for me to fill out that never arrived. I went ahead and applied directly on my servicers website for a modification of my loan on XX/XX/XXXX. I have not received a response either, but I did receive a NOTICE OF DEFAULT postmarked on XX/XX/XXXX. 


Denial rights : If your servicer denies your loan-modification application, it must state its reasons and identify other possible foreclosure-prevention options in writing. It must also give you a chance to appeal the denial. You may submit a new loan-modificati application if you have had a material change in your financial situation since the last application. ( Civil Code section 2923.6 ) If my load modification application from  XX/XX/XXXX has been rejected, then the reason for its rejection has not been given to me. 

I believe my servicer has also violated parts of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act : Communication with third parties is prohibited : revealing or discussing the nature of debts with third parties ( other than the consumer 's spouse or attorney ) [ 24 ] ( Collection agencies are allowed to contact neighbors or co-workers but only to obtain location information ; .25 ] ) The NOTICE OF DEFAULT I received was also sent to my parents address for some strange reason. Neither of my parents are listed on or have anything to do with my mortgage. They dont own any part of the property in question, and I have SPECIFICALLY requested that they DO NOT CONTACT MY PARENTS last time they attempted to foreclose my property back in XXXX. I explained back then that the property they are trying to foreclose is my primary ( and only ) residence, so thats the only address they should ever send anything to. They apologized but now that they are trying to foreclose again, they are sending all of these sensitive documents to my parents once again. My father is XXXX and he has just recovered from XXXX and a bad case of XXXX that might have been caused by the XXXX. My father and I have the same name. So when the oversized envelope that contained my NOTICE OF DEFAULT arrived in his mailbox, he thought it was a letter for him, which he then opened. My mother told me that when he opened it and saw that it was a NOTICE OF DEFAULT, he nearly had a XXXX XXXX. When they figured out that it was intended for me, they both began to panic and I received a call from them. In short, if I had to choose a third party that I do not want ANY of my private financial information shared with ( whether the information is accurate or not ) it would definitely be my parents. 

Without going into detail, sharing private financial information in general and sending them a copy of my NOTICE OF DEFAULT in particular has made my life and interactions with them a living XXXX. My servicer has no right to do this. 

*Harassment? 
I should also mention that the NOTICE OF DEFAULT that I received ( along with my parents ) did not arrive in my mailbox alone. The Notice is mailed as part of a 10+page packet in an oversized 8 x 12 envelope. This is common, Im sure. However, I received 17 of these oversized envelopes all postmarked and arrived on the same day. Im surprised they were able to all fit in my mailbox, but of course, this left no room for other mall that day. I first assumed that each of the 17 packets contained something unique, but I quickly discovered that they ALL CONTAINED THE EXACT SAME INFORMATION AND NOTICE OF DEFAULT. As we have already gone over, I believe the NOTICE OF DEFAULT should have never been sent to me in the first place ( and definitely not sent to my parents ), but they chose to send me 17 copies on the same day and mailed 2 copies to my parents. If not for the purpose of harassment, why send that many? Why inform my parents, who have nothing to do with this property about my alleged debt? 

Wrong address appears on the NOTICE OF DEFAULT *The property address that appears on all 19 copies I have received of my THE NOTICE OF DEFAULT is incorrect.