Consumer complaint received 2015-12-17
Product: Mortgage — Conventional adjustable mortgage (ARM)
Issue: Loan servicing, payments, escrow account — 
Company: Seterus, Inc. (CA)

I purchased my property in XX/XX/XXXX and the original lender was XXXX. The lender on the second was XXXX XXXX. For the first 10 years, I was to pay interest-only. Then, the financial crisis of XX/XX/XXXX caused me to lose my job and I found it difficult to make my monthly payments. So XXXX, through HARP, I spoke with a certified HUD advisor from Hope Now, and she suggested that I contact XXXX to see if XXXX XXXX or XXXX XXXX owned my loan, write a hardship letter stating my financial situation, and that I would like either a Homeowner Affordability Stability Plan ( 30 year fixed that combines both my loans ) or a review of my account to receive a lower rate freeze for either a five year fix or for the life of the loan. She also suggested as a backup that I ask about a " write-down of principal balance '' or a " refinance with a short payoff ''. I sent letters to both XXXX and to XXXX XXXX, and one year later, there was no resolution, no help at all from either bank, but I continued to make my payments through any means necessary, including borrowing from friends and family. I was told that if I defaulted on my loan by NOT making payments for at least three months, that they would " consider '' refinancing or modifying my loan, but if I was declined, they would foreclose on my property. I had just had my first child and scrambling to find a place to live did n't sound appealing so I kept making the payments while still trying to get the banks to simply offer me XXXX consolidated loan at a fixed rate. Seterus eventually became the lender for my first loan and XXXX XXXX XXXX assumed my XXXX, but nothing changed with them either. Because I could n't find a job, in XX/XX/XXXX, I went back to school to work on my XXXX. I was still trying to get XXXX consolidated loan at a fixed rate with no success. I kept making payments. By XX/XX/XXXX, I still had no help from either bank and was getting more and more worried that the 10-year interest only program would end with much higher rates and cause me to default on the loan, this time because I could n't afford the payments. HARP was ineffective so I turned to the XXXX ( XXXX ) and after providing them with XXXX pages of documents and sitting at an all-day event XXXX miles from my home, they were unable to assist me. My next attempt to get assistance was by calling Seterus directly, and they directed me to XXXX XXXX to see if they would help me. XXXX XXXX told me that they would not refinance my loan to a fixed rate because the monthly payments would wind up being slightly more than what I was currently paying at that time. I told the representative that I could probably handle a slight increase in monthly payments if I could get in a fixed rate, but I did n't want to get caught with a much higher rate after the 10 year interest only arm was over. He insisted that he could n't assist me because of banking laws. By XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX was continuing to contact me to try resubmitting the paperwork, so out of desperation, I agreed and gathered a new batch of documents and resubmitted it all again, but they were still ineffective in their efforts. By XXXX XXXX, my worse fears came true. The 10-year interest only program ended and my mortgage payments more than doubled. I ca n't afford it. I tried to seek a modification with Seterus but they declined me because of my underemployment but they offered me a 6-month forbearance and told me that I 'd have to accept the offer immediately or they would start foreclosing, so I accepted, but I have reapply in XXXX. XXXX declined me altogether with no alternatives. I spoke with XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX and they mentioned that they would be willing to modify only if Seterus were willing to modify. So this complaint is for Seterus to modify in order to get help on the XXXX mortgage as well.