Date Received: 2022-07-19
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: I was married and my husband bought this house in XXXX. He put everything in his name and I was naive about this. In XX/XX/XXXX I suffered XXXX XXXXXXXX, he was convicted, he asked for a divorce and I was awarded the house in the court settlement, XX/XX/XXXX. The settlement also instructed him to allow me to speak to the financial institution, Freedom Mortgage, about the mortgage. He did not follow this order- although he continued to pay for the mortgage. The settlement further indicated that if he did not follow the order, that the court settlement would serve as approval for me to speak to the mortgage co. ( see divorce settlement attached, Section 1.1. A, B, C ). Unfortunately, my husband, unknown to me, ceased making the mortgage payments. He also had his bills sent to his parents house during and after our marriage so I never saw any bills ( I was naive in all this ). In late XXXX, my in-laws informed me of a letter to my former husband from a law firm. They gave it to me ( he has been out of contact with anyone for several weeks ). This was a foreclosure letter for XX/XX/XXXX. I have tried repeatedly to contact the mortgage company to allow me to see the bill, pay the mortgage and stop the foreclosure. They will not acknowledge the court settlement nor communicate with me out of their greed - because my name is not on the mortgage even though the house was awarded to me. This is life altering for me and my XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX. I am desperate and writing everyone and anyone to help. My husband was nefarious and controlling from the start. I was naive. have a XXXX XXXX that has impacted my ability to deal with him well. Freedom Mortgage is taking advantage of me and my family by not even allowing me to bring the mortgage up to date and stop the foreclosure. Please help.
Company Response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
State: AL
Zip: 350XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-07-19
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-07-18
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: My mortgage was sold from XXXX Mortgage on XX/XX/22 to Freedom Mortgage. I was in a COVID-19 forebearance at the time. I accepted the COVID-19 modification and had to submit twice because it was stated they couldn't read the notary signature. Freedom Mortgage has had my signed paperwork for over 30 days and they haven't processed it yet. I have also made a payment of {$4000.00} to be applied to the post COVID payments so that I had a couple of months to breathe. I was sent a receipt and was reassured this would happen. I have been receiving threatening letters every other day from Freedom Mortgage stating that I am in default and I am NOT. I have to call Freedom Mortgage every week to reexplain what is happening and then speaking to Loss Mitigation and they assure me that they are working on it. I have never been treated this way before and I am now worried that I am not protected because nobody knows that is going on and I want my money applied to my account. I need help with this situation ASAP. This has been going on since XX/XX/22
Company Response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
State: NY
Zip: 12304
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-07-18
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-07-18
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: Freedom mortgage continues to provide in inaccurate payment history to Lenders I am trying to refinance. The last payment history Freedom provided shows 30 day late payments for XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. I have attached a copy of the inaccurate payment history.
Company Response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
State: AZ
Zip: 85379
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-07-18
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-07-18
Issue: Closing on a mortgage
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: In XX/XX/XXXX I was offered a loan modification through XXXXXXXX XXXX with 4 trial payments starting XXXX. I signed the agreement with XXXX XXXX and made my 1st trial payment to XXXX XXXX on time. During this process my mortgage was sold to Freedom Mortgage. I spoke to representatives of Freedom Mtg who assured me that the company has to uphold the stipulations agreed upon when the mortgage was purchased. I completed the rest of my trial payments with Freedom Mtg during the months of XX/XX/XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX on time. During this process I made all my payments via phone as it states the conversations are on a recorded line. In XXXX I received a letter from Freedom Mtg stating documents were sent to me for a program that will help me catch up on the payments that were suspended during my COVID-19 Forbearance Plan. This document went on to explain their records reflect I did not complete the program and they are unable to approve me for the COVID-19 Post Forbearance Plan program at this time. I immediately contacted Freedom Mtg and explained I was never in a forbearance program. I was then informed the information was provided to the underwriter and I should receive communication back reference the above information. Every month I continued to pay the modified loan agreement amount for my mortgage on time and was advised by numerous representatives that it was still with their underwriter. Each month was a minimum of 30 to 45 minutes on the phone with representatives from Freedom Mtg as each time they had to read through the notes and documents in the system. I also spoke to several supervisors and was informed I would hear back from representatives which I never did. I made sure the contact number was added to my phone, so it did not show as SPAM. I then received documentation that I was behind on my payments monthly and called each time I got a new document. I was advised by Freedom Mtg when making my mortgage payments the company was applying my escrow and the rest of the payment was being sent to " unassigned funds. '' Representatives stated although they see in the system my payments were being made on time, they could not stop the documents as they were automatically sent through the company 's electronic system. In XXXX Freedom Mtg started reporting false delinquent payments to my credit bureau dropping my credit score by over 100 points. I contact Freedom Mtg monthly about the false reporting and was advised they will correct the reporting ; however, they can't do so until the new mortgage is signed, and the electronic system updated. I was informed my mortgage would be flagged to stop the reporting which did not occur. I have been very proactive with this company and have contacted them monthly for updates. I was told a different answer every month such as the underwriter is still waiting for information from XXXX XXXX, the process can take up to 90 days to get a response, ect. I called Freedom Mtg on XX/XX/XXXX and was advised by the representative the underwriter added a note stating the XXXX was terminated due to the customer being paid in full at that time. It was explained the investor was denying my loan modification due to my payments not being behind. I have since requested 12 months proof of payment from Freedom Mtg and I'm still awaiting this documentation. I am unable to pull the information from the online website as the information only goes back to XX/XX/XXXX. I also requested a copy of the notes in the system from my communication with representatives and a copy of the transcripts from my phone calls which was denied and not provided. Freedom Mtg has not upheld the stipulations under which my mortage was purchased and has since failed to properly communicate with me even after monthly attempts and has also destroyed my credit wrongly. Freedom Mortgage is also showing I incorrectly owe them almost {$9000.00} in back mortgage payments and fees.
Company Response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
State: FL
Zip: 33772
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-07-18
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-07-15
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: On XX/XX/XXXX I submitted an application for a COVID Forbearance plan due to my husband losing his job. We had also been keeping my daughters ( from my previous marriage ) with us all the time. ( I had shared parenting with my ex-husband ) as he was afraid to get COVID due to a weakened immune system. Although I am also a XXXX XXXX, I still wanted to try to give my daughters a normal life. They were exclusively attending school from my home for an entire year so bills were higher as he only pays {$150.00} per month which is the difference in the cost of their health care. He never paid anything extra for groceries, utilities, etc. I only applied for a 6 month forbearance as my husband was starting his own business. I called my loan servicer every month to try to communicate with them on the process & I also called a HUD counselor prior to doing this so that I understood the process. However, every time I called Freedom Mortgage the representatives I spoke with advised me NOT to make loan payments. When I called them told me that I would not make loan payments until I got my paperwork. This seemed normal during the initial 6 months. Then when I called in the 5th month because I still had no loan modification paperwork I started to worry. At one point I did have an escalated contact that had reached out. He seemed to be helpful but after a while he stopped responding. When it got close to my 6 month mark they indicated that there had been an error with my paperwork & that they had made a mistake with the interest rate & that due to the type-o that they had to send it back to be re-done. They also stated that due to high volume of people doing these forbearance plans that this was the cause for the delays. They also stated not to pay the mortgage & assured me everything would be fine. Even though my initial plan was to end on XX/XX/XXXX and my first payment was to be made XX/XX/XXXX and I called ready to make a payment I was told NOT to pay. They said that it would be ready for XX/XX/XXXX, so I waited and I called back. When I called back the next month though it was the same story all over again. There were more delays, the paperwork wasn't ready, I should pay & I should wait until the next month. This went on & on & on month after month. There were multiple delays explained to me by multiple agents & multiple times I was told repeatedly that my paperwork was either delayed due to volume of people that were doing forbearance plans or due to mistakes that were made on my paperwork. Multiple times I became worried and frustrated & asked to speak to a supervisor because this process didn't seem accurate. I didn't understand how I could request a 6 month Forbearance plan but have this process going on for so long. However, the supervisors ( or who I thought were supervisors ) would tell me the same things. Finally in XXXX of XXXX I spoke to someone who told me that even though I was not getting my paperwork if I wanted to get out of Forbearance I needed to start making my mortgage payments anyway. This was the first person that ever told me this. So on XX/XX/XXXX I made a payment of {$1300.00}. She told me to call back in XXXX to make another payment even if I didn't get my paperwork. I did call back in XXXX to make another payment and the next agent that I spoke with actually once again told me that there was something wrong with my paperwork that it was being sent back to Underwriting again because it was changing again & that if I made a payment that it would cause the paperwork to be incorrect & that I would be causing more delays. So once again I had people at Freedom Mortgage giving me conflicting information. I asked to escalate my call & so the next person I talked to that day did confirm what the first person said. They told me NOT to make my mortgage payment for XXXX. They said that loan paperwork had to be re-done due to my escrow account & that by me payment the mortgage it would have cause more issues. She also said that she was doing call backs & she could tell I was upset & frustrated so she offered to call me back. She sounded very knowledgeable & educated on the process so I did ask her to call me back but she never did. So of course I called back again in XXXX. This time they told me that everything would be ready for XX/XX/XXXX. I thought everything was finally going to be ready. I asked them why the prior associate never called me back. I asked them to look into the notes to see why she didn't call back. They said she wasn't even at a level where she had permission to do call backs to clients. At this point I really started to question things. So once again I asked to speak to a supervisor. When I was transferred I asked them if they were a supervisor and they told me that they were part of an escalations team. So I questioned them again & said so let me get this clear, every time I have asked to speak to a supervisor, I am being completely ignored & just being transferred to an escalations team? And the person told me yes. So I began to ask her questions. This time I asked her what her ID was. Her ID was XXXX and her name was XXXX. I asked her what my current interest rate was on my offer, that was when she told me that it was 5.1 %! I had no idea through all of this that my interest rate had changed. No one had ever told me that each time they were re-doing my paperwork I was getting a higher interest rate. When my original mortgage with Freedom Mortgage was 4.5 % and the interest rate that I had in XXXX was 3.1 %, I had never spoken to anyone about the terms of the agreement changing. So then I began to ask her about the program that was being offered to me. She had no idea what it was. She couldn't even explain it to me & had to put me on hold to ask someone else. I asked to speak to a supervisor & she wouldn't even allow me to speak to a supervisor. She was very rude to me & actually told me that I had to pay penalties & interest on the unpaid payments which isn't even true. This woman had no business taking calls with customers, let alone being on an escalations team. At that point I got off the phone & just decided to call back at another time to actually get a supervisor on the phone as I was on the phone for hours. So I did call back just prior to the XXXX XXXX XXXX holiday. This time I did speak to a supervisor, her name was XXXX and I explained everything to her, and by this time I was in tears. She did explain to me that I was actually supposed to be making the payments all along if I wanted to come out of my forbearance plan & I explained that the representatives at Freedom Mortgage had improperly advising me for months. I only wanted a six month forbearance & I had been calling in every single month asking for help, asking for a supervisor, asking why my paperwork wasn't ready & asking why I couldn't begin making my mortgage payments & all along being told incorrect information. This isn't how this process is supposed to work & now I am suffering because of it. I now have much more money that I have to repay, I have a higher interest rate than what I had in the beginning & I am in a worse place that when I started this. This has caused me so much stress, my marriage is suffering, I can't sleep. She agreed this was completely unacceptable and she did submit an escalation to ask that my interest rate from XXXX be approved. She also told me that my paperwork was being sent back again for more changes though, so even though she was trying to help the same thing that has been going on is still happening. This place just can not get it together. Now they are saying that there are issues with my name. I sent in paperwork for my name change in XXXX. She also said that she would call me back right after the XX/XX/XXXX holiday but she didn't do it either. So I called back again this week and once again I escalated to a supervisor, XXXX who was very helpful and her manager, XXXX. This is the highest I have gone now within the company. The manager, XXXX did confirm that all of the escalations are in place that XXXX did submit but they don't have an answer as to if it has been approved. They said that they would return my calls but I have never once had a call returned yet from this company. I phoned the HUD line this week and had a counseling session with XXXX. I am calling in today to make my mortgage payment of {$1300.00} which is what XXXX the first supervisor told me to pay, the XXXX XXXX agreed that this was the amount I should pay. And when I had the counseling sessions with XXXX they said that I should file the complaint as this should never take this long. I feel that this program has been misrepresented to me. I asked for a 6 month loan modification and this went on too long due to Freedom Mortgage allowing employees who had no education on the process to take phone calls & advise home owners inaccurately.
Company Response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
State: OH
Zip: 442XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-07-15
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-07-17
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Subissue: Their investigation did not fix an error on your report
Consumer Complaint: My original complaint sent to the company on XX/XX/XXXX : Freedom Mortgage placed me as a delinquent account on XX/XX/XXXX with XXXX. They followed that up with a derogatory account On XXXX XXXX with XXXX. On XXXX XXXX they reported to XXXX about a Improved account. The one that wasn't derogatory/delinquent in the first place. Now Freedom Mortgage placed me on Delinquent account on XXXX XXXX again, for the same account, and again in error. This is the kicker. XXXX lowered my credit score for them by XXXX points on XXXX XXXX. I asked for a 90 day forbearance on my mortgage loan from Freedom Mortgage for XXXX, XXXX, And XX/XX/XXXX following Hurricane Ida on XXXX XXXX. I was told by Freedom Mortgage that I was approved for a VA Modification Loan on XXXX XXXX. The loan started on XX/XX/XXXX. Freedom Mortgage repeatedly sent me letters trying to sign me up for a Covid type of forbearance that I repeatedly refused. They cancelled my VA Modification loan and this continues on through today. Freedom Mortgage told me that they do not report accounts to the Credit bureaus that are currently in Loss Mitigation. This appears not to be true. Their response on XX/XX/XXXX : XX/XX/XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, LA XXXX Re : Your Complaint to the CFPB Complaint # XXXX Dear XXXX and XXXX XXXX : We have reviewed your complaint and researched the issue regarding your request for loss mitigation retention options. You called on XX/XX/XXXX and advised that you were impacted by a natural disaster. You were placed on the disaster forbearance effective XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX. You called in on XX/XX/XXXX and advised that you were ready to resume making payments. The Customer Service Representative ( CSR ) incorrectly noted our system that you needed payment relief under COVID. As a result, you were approved for the COVID refund modification on XX/XX/XXXX. You called in on XX/XX/XXXX and stated that you did not want a modification and wanted to be reviewed for the partial claim. We closed out the modification review on XX/XX/XXXX. The partial claim is not an option under the disaster waterfall. We sent a streamline offer to you due to the COVID designation being present on the loan. Since you were not impacted by COVID, you would need to submit a complete loss mitigation package to be reviewed for a modification. I have attached a loss mitigation package for your review. Your credit has been corrected from XXXX, XXXX to XXXX, XXXX to reflect as current and we have extended credit protection through XXXX, XXXX in order to provide you enough time to complete the loss mitigation process. Very truly yours, XXXX XXXX XXXX Director Customer Service Freedom Mortgage Corporation XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, NJ XXXX Their response was satisfactorily however they have not done anything yet to date. Please re open the investigation or force them to comply with their mediation agreement. With kindest regards, XXXX
Company Response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
State: LA
Zip: 700XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-07-17
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-07-16
Issue: Closing on a mortgage
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: I received a partial claim and the amount of XXXX XXXX is not adding up they also mixed my file up with another client also they have been reporting me late even tho I am in the haf program
Company Response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
State: OH
Zip: 432XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-07-16
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-07-16
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Subissue: Their investigation did not fix an error on your report
Consumer Complaint: I am in an active forbearance now due to the fact I was sold a house that doesn't meet VA loans approval at all in the last 2 months freedom mortgage has added XXXX and XXXX to my principle balance lowering my credit score by XXXX points under the cares act it not supposed to negatively affect me at all this needs to be rectified immediately!! they are giving me the run around and blaming everyone else other than them making the mistake i only owe XXXX not XXXX i bought the house for XXXX
Company Response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
State: TX
Zip: 76028
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-07-16
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-07-15
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: We went on covid forebearance with our mortgage company starting in XXXX of XXXX. Last XXXX ( XXXX ) we opted to do a loan modification to get back on track and start making payments again. Freedom Mortgage sent us an offer letter based on the current finance rate ( 3 % interest ) and we accepted the terms. After we accepted, they sent us loan documents the next month in XXXX ( XXXX ). On those loan documents, my last name was wrong. We contacted them immediately to let them know after our notary wouldnt let us sign them without my name corrected. Over the next few months, I reached out to Freedom Mortgage monthly and sometimes weekly, and sometimes several times a day to ask where our corrected documents were. I was getting nervous about the delay in getting our documents. I was told over and over that the delay in getting our new documents wouldnt affect the offer they sent us in XXXX & that we could still get the same interest rate in their original offer. That was a lie. They told me in XXXX ( XXXX ) to resume payments in XXXX in harmony with our XXXX loan offer, so we resumed payments on XXXX first & we have continued to make the payments we agreed to in their offer letter. Starting in XXXX, each time I called theyd wait a week or two then ask for something else from us. Ive sent my marriage license, drivers license, etc. So they have no reason not to know that my name is, indeed, incorrect on the loan documents they originally sent. To this day they still have not sent us corrected documents. Instead : As soon as the interest rates went up, they made us another offer based on the current rate. And heres the crazy part : they sent us loan documents with my name WRONG again. So I can not sign these new documents again even if I wanted to. I let them know immediately that the new documents were incorrect and I could not sign them. Freedom Mortgage has made no attempt to correct the loan documents. Instead : Freedom Mortgage just initiated foreclosure proceedings saying we havent been making payments, but we actually have been. We havent missed a payment since XXXX per their instructions. There was a tax increase that went into effect that I missed because we are not getting our normal statements, but I caught it in XXXX and made a payment to catch us up. Its insane to me that I could lose my house because of their mistake, especially when weve been making payments.
Company Response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
State: FL
Zip: 33801
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-07-15
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2022-07-14
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: Shortly after the start of the pandemic, approximately XXXX of XXXX, I started having difficulty making my loan payments to Freedom Mortgage. During this time, I approximately XXXX of XXXX, I applied for all the programs that was being offered to see what I was eligible for, and was approved for a lower rate, and payment. The default amount was supposed to have been moved to the back of the loan or XXXX XXXX which I was supposed to payoff upon sale of my home or future refinance. Contrary to me changing my name nearly a year prior, when they sent the docs for me to notatize, XXXX failed to appropriately update my name in all areas of their system resulting in me not being able to get the docs notarized, and I had to wait for new docs. During this time I was both directly and indirectly impacted with Covid and XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX lost time from work from XXXX until XX/XX/XXXX, yet I was still in constant contact with my mortgage servicing inquiring into when I would received docs, and each call was provided with different conflicting information, was even told do not make any payments until I received new docs, attempted to make payments online on Freedom Mortgages website and was blocked from doing so, had to schedule payments from my bank bill pay in order to continue to make payments, this went on for what seem like a year later I finally get the docs, each call was told something different, docs will be there end of this month/that month etc for months, then without warning or any notice or communication ( email, phone, call ) the documents arrived when I was out of town at a funeral. Upon return, I immediately reached out to Freedom Mortgage to provide update, that I received documents, and to accept the offer for the to schedule a notorary to come to my home the property. The notary unfortunately did not show up and did not call. I reached out to the mortgage company again to inform them of the incident. Once again Freedom Mortgage admitted ; that just as they had failed to update my legal name change, they also miscommunicated and did not follow procedure resulting in the notary failure to not show for appointment. On that call they explained the process of requesting a notary, could take upto a week, this was not communicated upon initially scheduling a notary to come out. They stated that according to notary request guidelines for their company, it was not even possible for a notary to come out with that short of a notice, although the company represenative that scheduled the appointment stated that I would receive a call and the notary would be here that Monday, that no one showed up. Due to the holiday and guidelines I was not able to get the documents notarized until Monday XX/XX/XXXX, that same day I returned the documents. I requested an extension to return documents at least 2 or more times, between receipt of documents, and awaiting a notary. I was assured I had nothing to worry about, and after getting documents notarized to return them as soon as possible, which I did the same day they were notarized. During this same period around the holidays, I received 4-duplicate letters from them same day dated XX/XX/XXXX, and received sometime during the week after of XX/XX/XXXX. The letter demand full payment of full default amount by XX/XX/XXXX, threaten foreclosure, acrual of fees, interest, court action, etc. In addition to this whole ordeal on more than one occasion Freedom Mortgage has also breached my protections under the agreement, by negatively reporting my loan as delinquent to the credit reporting agencies on at least 2-different occasions, sending an apology letter/update on correction as a result, just to turn around and report it in error again. I reached out to Freedom after review today thinking that the letter was likely sent in error, since I had returned docs notarized and was assured that I had not concerns. Upon calling I in to Freedom to confirm the letter simply was an overlap in them receiving notarized documents and that I had no concerns. I was told the exact opposite. I was told I had been kicked out of the program, had to reapply, and had no protections in place. My loan was indeed in default, apparently as of upon the date of the letter. My original docs my interest rate would have been 2.75 %, I was told if I reapplied for same program it would be 5.25 % which is more than my current rate. I feel as if I was mislead, was left under false pretenses, I feel as if this is an attempt for Freedom Mortgage take advantage of opportunity, capitalize on on the situation, and subsequently resulting me losing my home when I did everything I was supposed to do. This has caused mental distress, I am depressed can't sleep which is why I am up now XXXX am worried about my home.
Company Response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
State: VA
Zip: 23234
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2022-07-14
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A