Consumer complaint received 2025-08-30 00:00:00
Product: Mortgage — VA mortgage
Issue: Closing on a mortgage — Changes in loan terms during or after closing
Company: NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
State: OK

Complaint narrative:
I have XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXs from being a veteran. They took advantage of this and scammed me, I have tried continuously to get a refund and they refuse. 

I didnt notice due to making payments automatically that I was being scammed by NFCU since the start of the forbearance program which I tried to be taken out of 15 months but they wouldnt claiming it doesnt need to be paid back. I had a job the entire time and I tried to pay monthly on the site and app but it was greyed out, called it monthly and I was told they wouldnt take my payments and until I yelled and complained they wouldnt take them. They kept me on it around a year and a half and I had to get a lawyer to have them take me out of it. I only was allowed to pay 8 payments in a year and a half. However once these payments were paid, the total amount owed only went up. They added a bloom scam to the back of the loan. 

I found I wouldnt make money when I sold my house because I owed at the time XXXX more than I did before I moved in. I paid XXXX down, fast forward to XX/XX/XXXX I paid over 8 years+ I have paid an extra XXXX k in interest due to this scam. Lenders say based on the interest that is still left I will pay over XXXX so XXXX XXXX was paid and was flushed down the Toliet. I called to verify the payoff amount since I had owned at least 4 years at XXXX to XXXX a month in the end which I didnt know why it went up. I figured it should have been XXXX at the time in XX/XX/XXXX and tried to get details and I was told its XXXX to pay off. The numbers are crazy. Throughout the entire scam my payment was XXXX, but then once my lawyer got me out my payment changed to XXXX I was scammed I am seemingly no closer to paying my house off than I was XXXX years ago somehow. I do not know what is going on. I have XXXX  and a learning XXXX so I didnt understand the entire document and signed it. They verbally on the phone claimed the US government had a program that they automatically put me on and when I asked about not being able to make payments they claimed it was the assistance program. And didnt care that I had a job. They claimed the government would pay for my house a year and a half due to COVID 19. 

I found out I was scammed by Navy federal over the last 8+ years owning my house only after trying to sell my house. I made every payment on time and a little more each time than needed besides while on the forbearance which I asked to be taken off of many times. But I still made 8 payments while on it but it was a hassle and I had to call in since I couldnt pay online or on the app. They however eventually let me pay on the phone but it didnt make a difference and just went up. I bought this house for XXXX during a great time to buy thinking it would be sold during this time to buy a much better house. The mortgage total was XXXX once they forced me onto the forbearance I wanted the one I was shown today so I called the bank and my lender claims I owe XXXX to pay off. 

The original loan 4 years ago was XXXX because of my huge down payment of like XXXX to XXXX. They forced me to be on this so called government assistance program when Covid hit because they asked if I was affected, I told them I had lost my job of 2 and a half years when they asked if Covid affected me but I was already working again. I was making 6 figures while being forced on forbearance for over a year and a half. At first They claimed the government would pay the house bills for a period of time and I agreed and after four months I got annoyed that I couldn't make payments on the website, I called and asked to be taken off of it so I could pay online. I was still calling monthly to pay but I wasnt allowed to pay though I was making money until I threatened to sue. 

however when I asked them to take me off they always claimed it's pointless if I haven't gotten a job yet, I said I did have a job and everytime they made it sound like the government would pay again and I wouldn't owe any of this back or pay interest. I they wouldnt take me off so I was on it another 8 months and I was at that point told about a scam where you had to pay huge lump sums of cash back at one time once they got off of it and it wasn't really a government assistance program. I saw on the news that banks were doing these scams so I called the HUD and found that this program wasnt real. I called and demanded to be taken off and they fought it again, so I threatened to sue them. I found during the time of COVIDs start and most of the periods of bad communication NFCU had been hiring temporary help from temporary help desks and they were not clear or knowledgeable. 

I hired an attorney XXXX XXXX to force them to take me out which they finally did, After they finally canceled it the story changed from government pays to them talking to me about putting the debt at the end of the loan for repayment. I lost it with them and showed concern confused by the discussion of repayment. They calmed me down saying it just means the loan would become assumeable so the buyer could pay those payments once sold. I accepted hoping they were not messing with me again, however in XXXX I realized the payments were added to the back of the loan. I was XXXX because I was lied to and I have been trying to find a lawyer to sue them since XXXX. I had figured they just wanted to build up interest even though they claimed I was not having to pay it let alone gaining interest on payments that were during the time I was on the program. Ive paid many months and the interest still is building even though Ive paid more than the minimum. After around 4 years I am still paying the interest off. 

I had made most payments XXXX in the like 17 months, I found that I could make payments on the phone in the end, though I made the payments in the end I realized my balance was not going down even after 3 years of payments without being on the forbearance. So several months ago I tried to buy a house and navy federal claimed I had to wait 12 months from the time of getting of the ( forbearance ) I missed out on the house. Several months later once the time had passed I tried again and they claimed they had lost my VA eligibility documents. I had to spend months going through the whole process again to get them losing out on another house. So once I got it all finally I found another house I liked. 

However before going through the long process of going through with the paperwork I called and asked for my pay off amount because it didn't make any sense the last time they told me. I was told then it was around XXXX over 8 months before. Once I called NFCU claimed that I had a XXXX payoff amount once I sold. I brought up the fact that I litterally bought the house for XXXX and paid XXXX down with XXXX and a half years of payments of XXXX besides the XXXX year where they randomly raised my mortgage to XXXX a month. And now XXXX years owning the house I still owe XXXX. Ive paid XXXX into the house!! And yet I went down XXXX or so total since moving in 8 years+ before. I was supposed to be past all interest years before. 

I asked them to explain how the math works, they claimed it was stuff for closing. I wanted two other 2nd opinions so I went to two loan agents and was suggested a balloon interest trap which was outlawed in the XXXX. I realize now the lender had put me on a illegal interest balloon trap while in the forbearance program and told me many inaccurate things. They are no longer telling me the buyer takes over the loan on purchase and I wouldnt owe the past payments because it wouldnt be fair to them, but now they say I must pay what seems to be the interest built over the year and a half at the house sale which was XXXX at the time. They also claim I was on this program a year and 3 months or more. It changes the math by XXXX total + plus it's making me lose out of a 3rd house which is my dream house if it had not been fixed in a matter of days. 

I called again and they said interest is building because I'm not paying on the late payments which I'm told would be on the back of the loan, I don't even know how to pay it, how can it be late I asked when its on the back of the loan. I pay more than the minimum every month because I thought it would speed the pay off, however they say I'm still getting interest. They said no lump sum had to be paid. I had no idea what this thing really was and I was scammed. Fast forwarding to XXXX I am trying to move and still like 4 years ago have no equity in the house to move even with almost XXXX paid. 

I was told the care act was a government assistance program where they paid while you were under it and could prove you were on unemployment due to losing your job due to covid. However I was only on unemployment the first month, and I asked to be taken off. Also even if I was on unemployment I would still be able to pay. This scam was useless to anyone, they claimed The payments kept going down from the principal. However they changed the story to it's put to the bottom of the loan and is assumed by the new buyer. But now that I got my payoff it exposed the truth of them hiding it until I tried to sell and stacked it with interest which had to be paid separately. 

I only owed the extra XXXX in interest they said, denying that I owed 25 at the time 4 years ago, and also denying I owe XXXX today. They said Unless they waive the fees and only allow me to make up missed payments before then Ill have interest. 
I had demanded being taken off at 8 months and I thought I was, however multiple times after demanding to be off I found that I was still on it. After demanding to be taken out again, and I paid half of the payments still, around XXXX via phone call, yet they claim I owe 16 months worth. They likely scammed thousands of people. I would be fine with just paying the missed payments but they evidently had like XXXX in interest in XXXX, now in XXXX XXXX at XXXX + paid in interest. It just doesnt go away, since I got on the program but it never reflected in my total due, only was exposed once they gave me a pay out. 

I was told what happened was when I signed up for the so call government assistance payments there was a automatic 13 % interest charge. Yet another thing I wasnt told or I was misled over. I asked why I wasnt told and they ignored the question. I then asked how I even still have interest then Ive been paying it, they said I havent made a single payment towards the interest and its separate from the monthly payment which is odd since my payment randomly went up to XXXX as well. They imply my payments although more than the minimum are not high enough to beat the interest so my balance has continued to go up. I didnt know the interest had to be paid separately let alone that there was interest!!

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation