Consumer complaint received 2025-06-23 00:00:00
Product: Mortgage — FHA mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage — Trying to communicate with the company to fix an issue related to modification, forbearance, short sale, deed-in-lieu, bankruptcy, or foreclosure
Company: CADENCE BANK
State: TX

Complaint narrative:
To Whom It May Concern, I am submitting this complaint to report Cadence Bank, the servicer of my FHA-insured mortgage, for ongoing misconduct and unreasonable delays in processing my deed-in-lieu of foreclosure and short sale requests. I have been trying to work with Cadence Bank in good faith since XX/XX/XXXX, and despite repeated outreach, they have failed to respond in a timely or reasonable manner. They are constantly blaming the FHA for lack of response and they only respond to me after I call them several days in a row after emailing them over and over again. 

Background : I purchased my home brand new in XX/XX/XXXX, unaware that it was built with severe construction defects that caused toxic black mold to form behind nearly every wall. My family became severely ill and I did not put two and two together until spring of XXXX. 
In XX/XX/XXXX, a licensed mold inspector declared the property uninhabitable, and I later found out that the estimated remediation cost would be $ XXXX including reconstruction. We vacated the property for my familys health and safety in XX/XX/XXXX. We incurred enormous expenses living elsewhere while still paying the mortgage, including medical bills related to my daughters XXXX XXXX from mold exposure. In XX/XX/XXXX, I could no longer financially sustain two living situations and formally stopped paying our mortgage with the intention of pursuing loss mitigation with a short sale/deed in lieu. 

The Issues : I submitted full documentation of the mold damage, inspection reports, hardship, and let them know that since I was a real estate agent, I could try to find an investor but that I needed a price that the bank/FHA would accept, especially given the huge remediation quote.

Per Cadence bank, FHA initially responded, stating I must repair the home firstan impossible financial task for us under the circumstances. The home is a tear down.

Since then, Cadence Bank has dragged its feet, failed to give clear answers, and ignored multiple requests, including multiple requests asking what price would be acceptable so that I could formally list on MLS rather than just advertise off market.

My belief is that possibly Cadence and FHA are intentionally delaying until I reach 120 days of delinquency, at which point they can initiate foreclosuredespite my ongoing good faith efforts to resolve the situation responsibly. I have never been late on my mortgage and never intended to foreclose but after almost 6 months now with no real answers than when I first started this, I have no other choice but to foreclose so that we can move on with our lives. 

Consumer Harm : The servicer could possibly be denying me access to fair loss mitigation options protected under federal law and FHA servicing guidelines by consistently blaming FHA when they dont have updates.

Their lack of response is forcing me toward foreclosure, even though Ive followed every reasonable step to resolve this and now we are out of time to wait any longer. 
Im concerned they may ultimately resell this property for a higher price than its really worth without disclosing the severe mold and environmental risk, endangering another family. I am simply asking for a fair review of my case and an opportunity to settle the matter responsibly through deed-in-lieu due to environmental hardship. I have no liens on this property and this horrible situation happened TO us but we did not CAUSE this. We did not build our home to cause deadly black mold behind almost every wall, our builder did with severe neglect that has been proven with inspection report from engineers. The lack of communication and deliberate stalling is a serious violation of consumer protection standards. 

I am happy to provide : Mold reports Remediation estimate Medical documentation Communications with Cadence Bank although when they finally do provide updates, its only through the phone call. I have requested a full file of my entire case with the loss and mitigation department so that I can see how often they actually are reaching out to FHA for response and if they really are requesting updates like they say they are. I am now at the 120 day mark and going to have to foreclose on my first home due to no fault of my own.

Thank you for your attention to this matter and for advocating on behalf of consumers like me. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Texas XXXX XXXX XXXX FHA Loan Number : # XXXX Servicer : Cadence Bank and FHA Property Address : XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation