Consumer complaint received 2024-08-12 00:00:00
Product: Mortgage — VA 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: NEW YORK COMMUNITY BANCORP INC
State: TX

Complaint narrative:
My ex-husband served his country in the XXXX for 14 years and we bought this house together in XXXX with a VA loan so we could raise our son who is now XXXX. Due to economic conditions and XXXX I have struggled since taking over the mortgage payment after our divorce and have tried to get Flagstar to work with me. When I lost income due to Covid I contacted them but they did not offer me the CARES forbearance to assist with this problem even though this is a VA loan and Flagstar was REQUIRED to provide this option. Instead I went through a lengthy and unorganized review process that lasted months. It was incredibly frustrating because even when I had an agent at Flagstar verify that all paperwork was received I would still be told that the file was not complete, then I was told they could not do anything to help. I contacted the XXXX because this was the worst customer service I had ever received in my life and somehow my file got reactivated once they received the complaint. I was pleased until I received the offer for assistance which raised my payment about {$800.00} from what it had been before. I do not see how this is helping my family keep our home, I dont see how this is fair and I know that the VA recently changed the guidelines so that delinquent borrowers with their hardship resolved could qualify for a program that does not reset the loan interest rate to the market rate and instead addresses the past due payments. The way that Flagstar has handled the servicing of this loan and the hoops I had to jump through to even get them to consider help is outrageous. 

XXXX and I bought the home in XX/XX/XXXX and moved in with our son. XXXX is an XXXX XXXX and because of his job he moved to XXXXXXXX XXXX. I was a stay at home mom during this period, but he rarely came home and then once Covid hit things went downhill. In XX/XX/XXXX I filed for divorce and went back to work. XXXX continued to pay the mortgage and support us until the divorce was finalized in early XXXX at which time I took over the payments. I was working full time as a XXXX XXXX at that time but then my hours got cut due to Covid. Not long after that the taxes and insurance went up on the property and it was difficult to afford the mortgage. I was able to get transferred to a different site that offered full time hours, but my classification changed which led to lower pay and required me to get XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. These factors caused major financial hardships and missed payments and I reached out to Flagstar to request assistance due to the Covid related income loss. Instead of being offered a CARES forbearance, I was told that I needed to apply for a loan modification and go through the regular process, even though this is a VA loan. I spent the next several months submitting and re-submitting the same information multiple times and speaking with customer service agents in order to try and move the process forward. I was told by one of the agents that my package was complete, and they did not understand why the other departments at Flagstar would continue to say that paperwork was missing. I called in to Flagstar weekly to try and get the package completed, and was still told sorry, you dont qualify for help because paperwork is missing After that I filed a complaint against Flagstar with the XXXX because this is truly the worst business I have ever dealt with in my life and this whole process has been unbelievable. After filing this complaint my file came back to my life, and then I was offered a modification. The problem is that this interest rate and payment on the modification is much higher than what it had been before and it is not affordable. I have been made aware of a new program by someone at the VA that helps borrowers with Covid related hardship get their loan modified without the full interest rate reset to the market rate. It seems like this was never considered for my family.

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