Consumer complaint received 2022-06-29 00:00:00
Product: Mortgage — Other type of mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage — 
Company: ALLY FINANCIAL INC.
State: ID

Complaint narrative:
I built my home and finance it by myself, in XXXX. I was the sole owner. Against my will, I was coerced ( by XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX of XXXX XXXX XXXX ) into refinancing my home in XXXX of XXXX and adding my Now ex-husband to my loan ( I married him in XXXX of XXXX kicked him out in XXXX, and finalized our divorce in XXXX ). At closing, I paid an additional {$3100.00} to buy my rate down to 0.75 %. My monthly payment should have consisted of 0.75 % ~Margin plus the 30 day Libor rate. They tried to get me to pay even more money to reduce my margin to 0.25 % but I did not have that much extra. As it was, I paid more money to buy my rate down than I wanted to pay. My home loan is known as a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and the payments change monthly based on the interest rate ( Margin ) plus the 30 day Libor. I am now discovering that the reason XXXX wanted my ( now ex-husband ) on my home loan is so they could increase my balance as high as possible so they could get a higher commission. I told them I did not want my balance to be that high, but they insisted it would be better in the long run. Since my very first mortgage payment in XXXX, the interest calculated on my account has been inaccurate. My loan was immediately sold to GMAC XXXX. I contacted XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX and inquired as to when my new lower payments would be taking effect since I bought my rate down and he told me something about pressure on the international markets or something like that. On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX emailed me and told me my rate fell half a point. I was extremely excited because I though my payments would be significantly lower. However, this was not the case. My payments were still not where I was told they were going to be during the presentation by XXXX XXXX. In XXXX of XXXX, I asked XXXX when I would be receiving a statement from my mortgage company regarding the " Points '' I paid to buy my rate down. He said it should come in the mail from either GMAC XXXX  or XXXX. I wrote him back on XX/XX/XXXX and told him I found my " points '' on my closing statement. NOW, looking back at my year end tax statement from GMAC XXXX  in XXXX, they did NOT include the points. At the time, I didn't really pay understand because I did NOT have any idea how that worked. I kicked XXXX out of my home in XXXX because he was abusive to my two young children, but did not file for divorce until XXXX because he refused to accept the fact that we were done. I do not have any children with XXXX. In my divorce decree, the judge awarded me sole ownership of my home. I have been the sole owner and monthly mortgage payer since I had my home built in XXXX. Although I contacted GMAC XXXX  on several occasions to try and find out why my payments were wrong, and why my payments weren't being applied properly, I was never able to get it resolved because nobody was able to figure out how my home loan was supposed to work. It was EXTREMELY frustrating. My monthly balance never seemed to change even though I had paid a significant amount towards the principal. Anything above my interest was to be paid to the principal. I have verification of every single payment I made on this account and it can be supplied if the need arrises. I have paid at least {$150000.00} TOTAL on my home and yet I am somehow facing foreclosure. GMAC XXXX  ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, AZ XXXX ) declared bankruptcy in XXXX and liquidated their assets in XXXX. I continued making my payments to GMAC even though a company named XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, IA XXXX ) had taken over my home loan from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX. My Bill Pay from my bank continued to send my payments to GMAC. I was not aware that GMAC was not my servicer anymore until I began researching my home loan timeline for this foreclosure. That is when I saw emails from XXXX. What I have found in my research is that XXXX was found guilty of fraud and numerous other allegations of wrongdoing. From the documents I am able to locate, I paid GMAC and XXXX a total of {$100000.00}. ( this does not include payments to XXXX  and ALLY. These payments were both tied to the same account number. These are the payments I can locate by searching my different payment methods. It could be more than this. During this entire time, I contacted XXXX hundreds of times to try and get my account straightened out. It was so stressful. They just kept giving excuse after excuse and kept saying they would look into it ; but that never happened. And then they were gone! XXXX took over my loan in XXXX of XXXX. It was a nightmare right from the start. My account number changed. Their online system was horrible. Nothing about my home loan looked correct. The payments, the balance, and the odd charges they kept charging my account were not applicable. Their system wouldn't accept payments from me that were less than what they claimed I owed. Prior to that I could make a payment every hour if I wanted. The amount of interest they were charging me was WAY too high. Calling them and trying to get a supervisor was impossible. Nobody knew what type of home loan I had, nor did they understand how to credit any of my payments. I tried telling them my balance was wrong, my interest was wrong and they needed to accept my payments regardless of the amount I tried to pay. They refused to help me. Even charging me a fee to take payments over the phone when their system wouldn't accept my payments. They are horrific and shouldn't even be in business. Then in XXXX of XXXX, XXXX suddenly doubled my monthly payment without any explanation. Even though my payments were not accurate to begin with, the XXXX rate hadn't changed much so my payment shouldn't have doubled. Once again I tried calling to get help but everyone I spoke with was useless. NOBODY knew how to help me. They kept telling me that a supervisor would call me back, but that call never came. It was an endless cycle of lies and deceit. In XXXX my interest only period ended and my payment increased by {$700.00} per month. I was able to keep up on these payments until XXXX of XXXX. I was still trying to get my mortgage balance/payments straightened out and because these payments weren't accurate, my mortgage fell behind. I was owed money from a company who emailed me and said they were going out of business and couldn't pay me. That was a complete blindside. I have several different companies, but that was a huge part of my projected income. So in addition to my payments being higher than they were were supposed to be, I now had to rebuild my companies. Come to find out XXXX was issued a Cease and Desist order for unsafe and unsound practices from the XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX. Then the pandemic hit and I started receiving mortgage statements from a company named ALLY Bank. They held off foreclosures during the pandemic. I spoke with a gentleman in XXXX of XXXX and asked for forbearance. He kept trying to tell me that the loan wasn't mine. I don't know if he was ever convinced that this loan belongs to me but he tried his hardest to tell me that it did not belong to me. He also said that I could only have forbearance for 6 months. That brings me full circle to this moment in time. I am trying to work with ALLY to have them straighten this out. I also have a housing counselor ( XXXX XXXX ) at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. She can attest to all of the incompetence we are experiencing. We asked for a loss mitigation packet on XX/XX/XXXX. My original sell date was set for XX/XX/XXXX. I did not receive that packet until XX/XX/XXXX. In the interim, I found a previous loss mitigation packet from XXXX ( which I sent to XXXX  but the post office was not able to deliver because they said nobody was at their address in New Jersey ). I emailed ALLY an 8 page hardship letter, along with numerous financial documents etc ... on XX/XX/XXXX. The email I was given to send these documents was XXXX. I received an error from this email " XXXX '' stating that the documents were too large ( even though they were under 20gigs ). The error message was from XXXX. This was a RED FLAG. Then on XX/XX/XXXX my housing counselor compressed/faxed/emailed all of these documents ( hardship letter which also asked for payment verification along with calculation of interest rate for my loan from XXXX to present, loss mitigation application, divorce decree, XXXX, XXXX, Owner policy Schedule A, and DT. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email from the loss mitigation department at Ally telling me the options in lieu of the foreclosure. They also asked me to enroll in their online portal. I started the enrollment process then noticed that the terms and conditions belong to XXXX  XXXX. I also noticed that the terms and conditions included a section that wanted me to give my permission to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX to use, reproduce, adapt, publish, translate, and distribute my user content in any existing or future media, text, images, audio material documents that I submit to the website for whatever purpose they desire. Another RED FLAG. XXXX called on XX/XX/XXXX and spoke with agent XXXX. She had to put XXXX on hold and finally WAS able to locate the documents sent on XX/XX/XXXX. The agent looked over the paperwork and made some suggestions. I complied with her suggestions and XXXX sent ALL the documents once again on XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX called to verify that the documents had been received. The agent told her that there was not an open case yet ; but that the foreclosure/sale date had been pushed out until XX/XX/XXXX. I had not received any notice regarding this so it was a surprise. We still do not know why the date was pushed out. On XX/XX/XXXX we did a three way call which consisted of me, XXXX and XXXX XXXX from ALLY. She informed us that NONE of the documents we had sent were in their system. She said we would have to send everything again. I was so upset. I kept asking her questions and she couldn't answer one single question. I asked to speak with a supervisor and she said this was not possible but that a supervisor would call me back within 24 to 48 hours. I waited all day XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX and no call ever came. I have screenshots of all my calls during this time and they did NOT call me. A supervisor, to this day ( XX/XX/XXXX, ) has never called me back. XXXX sent all of my documents again on XX/XX/XXXX. I received a letter in the mail from ALLY on XX/XX/XXXX dated XX/XX/XXXX, that states they are still missing several documents. This company has now lost all of my documents that were ( rejected XX/XX/XXXX ) sent again XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. The missing documents have been sent. On XX/XX/XXXX my phone rang at XXXX. I answered the call and it was ALLY. The person on the line was XXXX XXXX agent number XXXX. This was NOT a supervisor. Just a collection agent who couldn't help me. She tried telling me that she couldn't talk to me unless I verified which two accounts my prior payments had been sent from. I couldn't understand why she would need to know that. She said because it's a HELOC, she has to verify more than just my name, address, social security number, etc .... I told her my loan is NOT a HELOC and that it's a home ownership accelerator. She said she had never heard of that. I proceeded to tell her that the reason for my delinquency was mainly because of fraudulent payment ommissions and miscalculations of payments. She said that I had to contact XXXX and XXXX because ALLY didn't take over my loan until XXXX. She said that XXXX would be impossible to reach so " good luck ''. I informed her that since they now own my loan, they will have access to all of the information attached to my loan since its inception. I told her I wrote and asked for verification of my payments and calculation of my payments when I sent my hardship letter in on several different occasions. She said she didn't see those documents in her system. I told her they had FIVE Days to acknowledge receipt of my request ( this has not happened ). She said that documents get lost all of the time and I would just have to continue sending them. ( THIS IS RECORDED ON HER END SO YOU CAN VERIFY ALL OF THIS ). I was absolutely floored when she told me that they lose documents all the time. I believe they are trying to prevent me from getting my loan modified by losing my paperwork and telling me requirements that aren't true. That's unethical and not acceptable. XXXX XXXX did tell me that she would put in a request for verification of my payments made and calculation of my payments. In addition to the fraud, I also told her that my delinquency was due to financial hardship. I told her that we had sent in ALL of the documents that had been asked for and she said she would email the loss mitigation department to find out why they are still saying I have missing documents. XXXX called ALLY again in the afternoon of XX/XX/XXXX. She wanted to follow up with them regarding my conversation with XXXX XXXX. She was informed that the request for verification had been sent but they also told XXXX they have received the missing documents ( XX/XX/XXXX ) ; but will not accept my documents because I have redacted a portion of my bank statements and my taxes are expired. According to the letter I received from them, they only need to see my deposits. That is what I provided. They also said to provide my most current filed tax return ( which it's XXXX ). I filed my tax returns on XX/XX/XXXX. They want me to provide the extension I filed for this year. I have done taxes for 33 years and I know for a FACT that I do NOT have to file an extension unless I owe taxes. And even then, I have until XX/XX/XXXX of XXXX to file my tax return regardless of if I filed an extension or not. IF I owed taxes, I technically don't have to file an extension but I would be penalized higher for not filing an extension ; BUT if I don't owe taxes, I am not legally obligated to file an extension. HOWEVER ; their letter states that either tax returns OR bank statements are necessary. I DO NOT TRUST them. I DO NOT want them having my bank account information. I sent them my bank statements with my deposits listed but my debits and my account number redacted. I also sent them my XXXX, XXXX, XXXX statements. They do NOT need to see my debits, they only need to see my deposits. That is what their letter asks for. They are also trying to say I have to include my ex-husband on my modification application since his name is still tied to my home loan. He has not lived her since XXXX. My divorce decree from XXXX states that the judge grants me as sole owner of my home. My ex is obsessed with me and since he was abusive, I have had ZERO contact with him since I kicked him out in XXXX. He only lived here from XXXX to XXXX. I know that ALLY can modify my loan without him. I have been the sole person who has made 100 % of the payments since day number one. In fact, once my payments are credited properly, I shouldn't have much of a balance left at all. In addition to everything that has happened. My mail carrier forged my name on some Certified Letters from the attorney handling this foreclosure. I filed a complaint with the postmaster in my home town. Both the carrier and the postmaster have tried to cover up this fraud. I have a witness that wrote a sworn statement regarding the carrier never exiting their vehicle on the day in question. The postmaster said their GPS tracking system shows the carrier never exited their vehicle AND ... ..NOBODY was home when the mail carrier forged my name and left the certified letters in my mailbox. I did not want these letters and I had never gone to the post office to pick them up in the past when the notice was left in my mailbox. I'm sure that a letter carrier forging my name comes with some pretty serious implications. I'm pretty certain this is a federal offense. Now the attorney who sent those letters " THINKS '' I have received them and read them. I still have not opened them. I will also be filing a complaint with the postmaster General. I asked my local postmaster what the update was today. He said he would find time last week to speak with the carrier after I sent him the sworn statement from a neighbor. He has yet to reply. Me trying to get this straightened out is not due to lack of trying, it is due to incompetency and lack of follow up from XXXX, XXXX, XXXX  and ALLY. I am a female, self employed entrepreneur, and I raised my children all by myself without any help at all. I have been self-employed since XXXX. I work hard 24/7. I have never depended on a man ( or anyone else ) to help me financially. I have experienced GREAT success but also financial hardships. I refuse to lose my home because my interest rate and my payments were never calculated or applied correctly. I am so tired of this corruption and incompetency. I have PROOF of every thing I have said in this statement. I can back everything up. I do not have much time because my foreclosure has been rescheduled to XX/XX/XXXX. It was previously scheduled for XX/XX/XXXX, then XX/XX/XXXX. It keeps getting pushed out. 

Yesterday ( XX/XX/XXXX ) I received a notice from CFPB.. That notice was from XXXX who acquired XXXX. In their statement, they claim they have no record of my mortgage. They want me to provide them with information regarding my mortgage. I am not going to make their job easy. They sent me emails, and also reported my mortgage to the credit bureau so they should absolutely have record of it. The fact that they can't find record of it is very concerning. This just goes to show that they must not have record of all the payments I made to them. 

I spoke with my housing counselor today. She informed me that she spoke with ALLY yesterday ( XX/XX/XXXX ) and was told that they closed my loss mitigation application but could not provide a reason why. My counselor was told that I have to begin the process all over again. They told me to call on Friday and ask why it's closed. This level of incompetency is unacceptable. They need to be investigated for fraud and be shut down for incompetency. 

XXXX XXXX

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation