Consumer complaint received 2025-11-18 00:00:00
Product: Mortgage — VA mortgage
Issue: Incorrect information on your report — Account status incorrect
Company: Freedom Mortgage Company
State: NC

Complaint narrative:
I am filing this complaint because Freedom Mortgage has reported inaccurate and contradictory information about my mortgage account, including a false forbearance status and inconsistent late-payment reporting. These errors have prevented my family from securing permanent housing during a XXXX  relocation and have caused significant and ongoing hardship. 

This situation began due to a military administrative error. My spouse was serving a 12-month unaccompanied rotation in XXXX XXXX , and I moved with our young son to XXXX  to be near family for support. Before these orders, we fully expected to return to our XXXX  home, so many of our belongings remained there packed. We owned two XXXX  properties at the time. The home financed by Freedom Mortgage was rented out through a property manager and generating rental income. The second Tennessee home was occupied by my brother, who remained there after XXXX to maintain the property and prevent vacancy issues. 

At the same time, we were also paying for the XXXX  home where my son and I lived. Because the military failed for nearly eight months to update my spouses XXXX from XXXX  rates to the higher XXXX  rate, we were underpaid by approximately {$1800.00} per month. Even with rental income and family assistance, we were forced to juggle funds between three homes. We never fell 30 days behind on the XXXX  home, but we often paid just before the 30-day mark. We expected the military to correct the XXXX  quickly, but instead, the error persisted until mid-summer, when my spouse finally received approximately {$17000.00} in backpay. This hardship was caused entirely by a documented military pay error, not borrower negligence. 

During this period, I contacted Freedom Mortgage to explain the situation. A representative told me I qualified for forbearance, but gave no explanation of what that meant, no terms, no disclosures, and did not tell me that forbearance requires a signed agreement. The only document I received was an Eligibility for Informal Forbearance letter, which stated that if I did not respond by XX/XX/year>, the offer would be deemed rejected. I never accepted or signed anything, and I continued making monthly payments. I do not know when Freedom Mortgage began treating my loan as if it were in forbearance because I was never provided any dates or confirmation. Throughout the entire period they later labeled as a forbearance, I continued paying before reaching 30 days late. Once the military corrected my spouses pay, I immediately brought the loan current and have remained current ever since. 

Despite this, Freedom Mortgage coded my account internally as being in forbearance and reported this false status to the credit bureaus. This is inaccurate and violates mortgage servicing rules and FCRA accuracy requirements. An unaccepted and unsigned informal hardship offer should never be reported as an actual forbearance plan. 

Freedom Mortgage also reported inconsistent and contradictory delinquency information to the bureaus. They initially reported two 30-day late payments, which automatically disqualifies a borrower from obtaining a VA mortgage for at least 12 months. After multiple disputes, they corrected only one bureau to show one 30-day late payment and informed me verbally that the forbearance never existed. However, two bureaus still show two 30-day lates, XXXX still shows one, and the forbearance remark remains on multiple reports. Even a single 30-day late within the last 12 months may cause denial depending on lender overlays, and a forbearance status results in automatic denial across mortgage programs. These inconsistencies have left me unable to qualify for any mortgage or many rentals. 

When my spouse unexpectedly received XXXX  orders to North Carolina, we had no housing lined up. We were unable to qualify for off-post rentals or mortgage approval due to the inaccurate reporting. As a result, my spouse, my five-year-old son, and I were forced to live in a hotel for over a week and a half with all of our belongings in storage. We eventually moved into on-post housingthe only unit available at the time. While suitable for many families, this unit is significantly smaller than our previous homes and can not accommodate our belongings. We brought approximately 70 % of our major furniture, but almost all of our non-furniture items ( including most kitchen supplies, household goods, and personal belongings ) remain stored off-post due to lack of space. The kitchen and storage areas are too small, requiring us to use the dining room and one spare bedroom almost entirely as storage. Only the living room, kitchen, and two bedrooms are fully functional. This transitional, partially unpacked state is not a long-term solution and is a direct result of Freedom Mortgages inaccurate reporting.

I have contacted Freedom Mortgage multiple times to request written proof that my account is not in forbearance, since the credit bureaus continue to report it. Each time, representatives told me that they had submitted a request for the documentation to be emailed to me or uploaded to my borrower portal. Nothing was ever provided. When I followed up after waiting several days or a week, I was given different explanations each time. This has gone on for over a month. Only within the last several days did a representative finally tell me that there is no forbearance code on my account and no history of any forbearance ever being applied. Yet, even after this admission, no documentation was provided and the reporting has not been corrected. Multiple credit bureaus continue to show an active forbearance status that Freedom Mortgage now admits should not exist.

These errors have displaced my family, caused significant financial and emotional hardship, and continue to prevent us from securing permanent housing. I am requesting that the CFPB require Freedom Mortgage to : 1. Remove the inaccurate forbearance remark from all credit bureaus.

2. Remove all inaccurately reported 30-day late payments tied to the military XXXX  error and the false forbearance. 
3. Provide written confirmation that no forbearance was ever placed on the account.

4. Correct and synchronize all reporting across all bureaus.

5. Provide documentation of all corrections to me and my loan officer so we can secure permanent housing.

Freedom Mortgage has had numerous opportunities to correct these errors but has repeatedly failed to do so. CFPB intervention is urgently needed.

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