Mr. Cooper Is Kicking Hurricane Helene Victims In The Gut By Reneging On Forbearance Agreements

Hurricane Helene victims in Florida are trying to rebuild their homes. However, they must fight their new mortgage company while picking up the pieces of their shattered lives. Mortgage servicer, Mr. Cooper is now threatening to take their homes away.

Mr. Cooper bought the servicing rights to hundreds of loans of homeowners facing damage from Hurricane Helene.

Woody Faircloth was one of those homeowners. He told Fox13 in Tampa:

“It’s troubling mentally, it’s stressing emotionally, it’s deflating. As a husband and a father, it’s mortifying because I have a family that depends on me.” 

“They told us, ‘Don’t make your mortgage payments for the next four months. Work on your house. Then, when your insurance check comes in, pull the money out of there and catch your payments up.”

Mr. Cooper bought Faircloth’s mortgage when the forbearance period ended.

When Faircloth attempted to resume payments, he learned Mr. Cooper had already placed his home in foreclosure. Mr. Cooper said it was because he was four months behind on his mortgage.

Homeowner like Faircloth informed Mr. Cooper that they had forbearance agreements in place with the previous servicer. Mr. Cooper refused to honor them which by law they have to. 

Now, Mr. Cooper is threatening homeowners with sale dates if the outstanding balances are not paid immediately.

This isn’t the first time Nationstar Mortgage, the parent company of Mr. Cooper, has tried to do this. Nationstar has faced multiple lawsuits for failing to honor the terms of mortgages transferred from other companies. 

All 50 state attorneys general have sued the company twice. As a result, the company has had to shell out millions of dollars to homeowners. 

The CFPB secured a $91 million settlement from the company after alleging the company failed to handle transferred mortgages properly.

What You Should In A Situation Like This

First, do not to pay companies in a panic. Especially, if they are verbally threatening you with foreclosure. Florida is a judicial foreclosure state. That means lenders must file a lawsuit against you and win a judgment before they can take your house. 

Threats like this trigger a host of collection violations. These threats also violate both federal and state unfair and deceptive practice laws. Mortgage servicers do it all the time to scare a borrower into making a quick repayment.

Faircloth has filed a police report with the St. Petersburg Police Department. However, there is little the police can do as it’s a civil matter. He has also submitted a complaint to the Florida Attorney General’s Office.

Read More About Mr. Cooper On MFI-Miami.com.