Consumer complaint received 2024-08-14 00:00:00
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage — An existing modification, forbearance plan, short sale, or other loss mitigation relief
Company: BSI Financial Holdings, Inc.
State: TX

Complaint narrative:
I am writing to express my severe frustration and issue a complaint with BSI Financial. We did not choose BSI when we bought our home, but they bought our mortgage about four years ago. In that time, we have had many issues with BSI, but this latest one has been the worst and most difficult. 

In XX/XX/XXXX, my husband was laid off from his job. During that time, we continued to make our mortgage payments without delay, even with XXXX kids in XXXX By XX/XX/XXXX, my husband was still unemployed, but we also had a couple unexpected and unfortunate life events happen, and most of our savings was depleted. So, in XX/XX/XXXX, I submitted the paperwork for a financial hardship with BSI. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, we received an email from XXXX XXXX from BSI stating that the application was incomplete, and several forms of documentation were still needed. We submitted those the same day. On XX/XX/XXXX, I reached out to make sure they received all the paperwork. I continued to contact BSI over the course of the next four and a half months regarding the application. I had to resubmit the same documents on XX/XX/XXXX, per XXXX XXXX 's request to BSI because they lost the paperwork from XXXX. She said she would get back to me within a week or two. I did not hear back. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I emailed several members of the BSI Financial leadership team outlining the issues we were having and asking for any assistance they might provide. I received a call from XXXX XXXX from BSI within a day of my email. He told me that he would be handling this hardship process and get it taken care of for us. On XX/XX/XXXX, we resent the hardship documentation per XXXX XXXX 's request. 

In XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX said that there was now a different piece of documentation that was needed. We immediately sent that over. On XX/XX/XXXX, I emailed XXXX XXXX about the status of our application. He never replied. At some point between XX/XX/XXXX and XXXX XXXX, he was no longer with BSI, which we were unaware of. Obviously, he didn't respond to my email. 

In XXXX, I began corresponding with XXXX XXXX again because XXXX XXXX was no longer in charge of our application. During this four-and-a-half-month period, I was also calling regularly to check on the status of things because I rarely got email responses. Obviously, continuing to pay our mortgage was difficult but we did our best to stay on top of our payments. We have record of 28 phone calls during this time. On two different calls, I was assured that because we were in the process of the hardship paperwork, nothing would be noted to the credit bureau. 

Prior to this time period I had our payments to BSI on autopay from our XXXX XXXX XXXX account set to send on the first day of the month. Because times were tough, I stopped the autopay so that I had more flexibility in my pay date. I told XXXX XXXX that we would wait until a couple weeks into the month to pay to give us more time but also in hopes that the paperwork would be processed, and our forbearance would begin. I began making payments through the BSI portal in XXXX because it would process more quickly than the XXXX account. Because we were waiting to pay until just before each month 's grace period would end, sometimes BSI would go ahead and add the late fee. I spoke with XXXX XXXX about this. He said that during this time of process, there would be no late fees added and nothing turned into our credit. 

In XXXX, I paid my mortgage through the BSI portal and immediately received a confirmation. In XXXX, I attempted to do the same thing, but it said that we missed the XXXX payment. I attempted to pay it again. Unfortunately, that didn't payment didn't go through either. I spoke with BSI and XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX. Both said that it was the other one 's fault. Ultimately, it was figured out that there was some error in the system. Because I stopped autopay with XXXX, they wouldn't make a payment to BSI at all. We were able get that fixed so that payments could be made to BSI from XXXX. 

I can show documentation that I attempted multiple times in XXXX and XXXX of XXXX to make my payments. Ultimately, we were able to make them and get all caught up. We recently learned that BSI has turned into the credit bureaus that we were 60 days past due on our XXXX payment. So, although they can see that we were trying to make the payments, that I emailed during this time frame explaining this issue I was having, and them telling us that it would not go against our credit, they still made a negative comment on our credit file. This caused us to be denied on a HELOC application - a loan we applied for to help us pay off our credit card debts and continue to move forward in a positive manner. 

Finally, on XX/XX/XXXX, I called XXXX XXXX about the status of the hardship paperwork. While talking with her, she was reminded by a coworker that because we were only asking for a forbearance, we didn't need any of this paperwork after all. After four and a half months, twenty-five emails, twenty-eight phone calls, and countless hours of stress, it was a matter that took less than 5 minutes on XX/XX/XXXX. 

BSI has been an awful experience throughout out four years with them. Their customer service is horrid. They say they will call you back but do not. It is extremely difficult to speak to the same person twice. The call wait times are very long, and getting an email response is a XXXX shoot. I wish we could get a new mortgage company but were stuck. We have a low interest rate. So, it would cost us significantly to refinance with another company. I pray often that our loan will be bought in a lump purchase. In our experience, BSI really doesn't care about their customers. 

I am sad, frustrated, and at a loss. We have jumped through so many hoops over the course of that four months. We felt as if BSI was just hoping we would get tired and give up on the hardship application. This isn't how a mortgage company should run a business. No one should be put through this much stress. Being unemployed and financially strained is stressful enough without having to add this on top of it. 

I want the negative note from BSI on our credit report taken off immediately but ultimately, I want to make people aware of the poor and pathetic business practices of BSI Financial. 

Thank you for your time and attention. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me at XXXX Sincerely, XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation