Who Can You Register A Complaint With Regarding A Mortgage Company

A photo to accompany a story about filing complaints against mortgage lenders

Courtesy of Destiny Blackmon

Like millions of American homeowners, Destiny Blackmon and her family needed help with their mortgage payments afterwards facing COVID-related employment challenges.

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Like millions of American homeowners, Destiny Blackmon needed assistance with her mortgage payments afterward facing COVID-related employment challenges.

The Blackmon family unit worked out a forbearance programme with their loan servicer but establish the communication process difficult. It was a struggle to become consistent information, Blackmon told NextAdvisor. She was assigned a liaison, merely it felt like they were "never available," nor did they seem to accept the correct answers. It didn't seem similar the representatives documented each conversation either, said Blackmon. "I had to retell the story 60 times when speaking to other customer service representatives," she said

Eventually, Blackmon filed a complaint with the Consumer Fiscal Protection Bureau (CFPB), the agency responsible for collecting, monitoring, and responding to U.S. consumer complaints about financial services and products. After filing the complaint, the loan servicer's corporate office stepped in to give Blackmon more attention and to clarify. "Someone from the executive offices chosen with sympathetic business stating that they want to do everything they tin can to help us," said Blackmon.

The Blackmons' experience wasn't uncommon. Mortgage complaints hit their highest monthly number in three years in March of 2021— more than 3,400 in that month solitary, according to the 2021 CFPB Complaint Bulletin.

Abstinence-related complaints might be on the rise, just there are other reasons for mortgage lender complaints. Filing a complaint might help y'all get a faster response, obtain money that'south owed to you lot, and even influence broader policy and regulatory actions.

Permit's take a await at common complaints confronting mortgage lenders, and how to file a complaint confronting a mortgage company if you find yourself needing help.

Typical Complaints Against Mortgage Lenders

Many of the bug reported to the CFPB are related to advice, only others have to do with issues that directly affected customers' wallets, like over-collecting or misappropriating extra payments. These are nearly mutual mortgage lender complaints co-ordinate to the CFPB's Consumer Complaint Database:

Communication issues related to abstinence
Repayment options available at the terminate forbearance plans
Confusion related to mandatory account notices
Delays from the servicer with regard to loan modification
Over-collecting through accounts designed for taxes and insurance
Putting extra payments into an "unallocated funds" bucket rather than applying them to the loan principal

Where to File a Complaint

Ane of the best places to file a complaint is with the CFPB. The CFPB has been handling complaints since July of 2011 and was designed to provide regulatory support in a way that protects consumers from predatory practices by fiscal companies.

Pro Tip

Submitting a complaint through the CFPB's online form tin help you get it resolved faster.

When you make a complaint, the CFPB forrad that complaint to the company in question to get a response. On top of that, the agency shares data with other government organizations and reports to Congress. This process tin eventually pb to new regulations or prompt changes in the way fiscal transactions and companies operate.

The CFPB can as well impose fines against offending companies and create rules for how fiscal companies collaborate with consumers. Blackmon believes the CFPB complaint platform was an effective artery to help her achieve a resolution with her lender. She compared it to other complaint systems saying they were "cumbersome and outdated." The CFPB's complaint system, according to Blackmon, is "streamlined."

Why You lot Might Desire to File a Complaint

If you are not sure if you should file a complaint or not, know that the CFPB's history of helping consumers get answers is positive. The CFPB'due south 2021 annual written report states that in 2020, the bureau sent approximately 85% of its mortgage complaints to companies for review. 98% of the companies responded.

88% of the companies "closed with an explanation"
ii% "airtight with an administrative response"
iii% "closed with not-monetary relief"
4% "airtight with fiscal relief"

Here are some reasons you may want to file a complaint:

To Report Issues With Forbearance or Repayment Plans

Issues around forbearance were a common topic in CFPB 2021 Complaint Bulletin, many of them stemming from miscommunications and confusion.

Role of the rise in complaints may be due to unclear rules of forbearance programs, according to Casey Fleming, a mortgage advisor, author of "The Loan Guide: How to Go the Best Possible Mortgage," and founder of LoanGuide.com, an online mortgage banker.

Pointing to the CARES Act, Fleming says, "consumers heard about forbearance, and they didn't fully understand it. Information technology created confusion and a gap between consumer expectations and how mortgage lenders and servicers handled the state of affairs."

Many of the complaints nigh abstinence have to do with repayment plans every bit borrowers exit the forbearance program or the fact that consumers can't get a payment plan added to the back terminate of the mortgage to bring them up to date, Fleming pointed out. "The biggest issue was that [at first] the law said the coin could all be due at the terminate of the forbearance menses," Fleming says. "There's a big chunk of the money that'south supposed to come through, but the borrower tin can't pay it."

To Fill up Communication Gaps

Many complaints centered effectually the lack of communication almost end-of-program options and defoliation about dissimilar notices. Government-mandated forbearance requirements and deadlines changed a few times — causing defoliation between involved parties. Blackmon described her communication experience every bit "disorganized and inconsistent."

"Based on complaints and company responses, it appears consumers would benefit from clearer communication from servicers over the telephone and in writing," the CFPB Complaint Message states.

To Speed Up a Resolution

If y'all're concerned about how you've been treated by a mortgage servicer or lender, filing a complaint with the CFPB can help you get an caption, or possibly relief. Often, the bureau obtains a response from the company within 15 days. For Blackmon, it took approximately vii days to become a response from her mortgage service later on filing a complaint, she says.

To Become Money That You're Owed

There are other issues, though, that could result in receiving some money dorsum. For example, if your servicer has incorrectly applied a payment, is slowing down the paperwork for a mortgage payoff or refinance, or has violated RESPA in a way that costs you money, Fleming suggests filing a complaint to see if you tin can be compensated. This can be specially important if a mortgage lender is costing you money considering of their practices.

How the CFPB Mortgage Complaint Process Works

If you make up one's mind to file a complaint with the CFPB, you must first get to their website to submit a complaint. It tin all be done online. Here'south what you need to know about submitting a complaint confronting a mortgage lender:

Submit a complaint hither at the CFPB website . You'll demand to provide information about what happened. Include information nearly dates and amounts involved. Don't forget to provide the name of the visitor and upload any documentation that supports your complaint. Blackmon created a newspaper trail of her conversations with each representative. "It has helped when I needed to prove nosotros hadn't received certain documents or relay the inconsistencies reps told us about plan qualifications."
CFPB review. In one case you submit your complaint, the CFPB will review it. They will forrad the complaint to the visitor or to a unlike bureau that might exist able to improve assist you. You lot can get updates on the progress of your complaint by creating an account and logging in with a username and password.
Response from the mortgage lender. Side by side, the mortgage lender will respond. The CFPB claims that many companies respond within 15 days. Overall, the whole procedure can take most sixty days until the company offers a final response to the complaint.
CFPB publishes the complaint. Your complaint is included in the CFPB's complaint database. You can give permission to have more details included while your identity and personal information are obscured.
Your review. Finally, you review the company'due south final response. Yous can provide feedback on the company's response within lx days.