Retention Advocacy Group

Response to complaint submitted on 7/17/and assigned an ID of [redacted] We are not a scamWe have not received a dollar from this person for him to make such claimsThere is no proof that we even accepted this clientThis person was denied and we were not able to bring him on boardHe was very rude through out the process and would cut off every agent on the phone to repeatedly ask how much this process would costWe cannot give a quote especially when someone does not even qualifyWhen finally getting near the end of the process, there was a quote given IF we were able to provide our services which was eventually rejected due to not qualifyingWe do not force anyone to move forward with our processThere was not even a contract sent to this individual for us to allow him to proceedThis is another case of someone who was highly emotional and upset deciding to write a nasty review towards our company when we have not even granted to accept his case IF we had accepted his money, worked on his file and not deliveredthat would be a valid reason to put a negative review

Hello [redacted] /Revdex.com, Please find our response below in regards to complaint ID [redacted] All clients that qualify for the modification program receive an agreement or contract from RAGThis is for our protection which clearly states that Nothing is GuaranteedAfter the client signs this contract then decides to move forward, they cannot hold RAG accountableThis does not assume RAG will not go above and beyond for any or all clientsThe reason as to why the contract states 'no guarantee' is also for the protection of the homeownerFor example, IF a client does not follow through to provide the requested documents that their lender is requesting...we cannot provide or complete the serviceIF the client loses their source of income during the modification process, they will fall out of the modification as steady income is required to complete the review processDue to these types of circumstances, we must state nothing is guaranteed for protection of both partiesWe strive for the absolute best offer we can obtain from their lender and investor based off of their current financial debt to income ratio as well as their hardship details 1) In regards to the balloon payment, the homeowner can get a refinance to once again modify the termsThat payment does not adjust/increase until (3) three years from nowThat is plenty of time to take advantage of the reduced mortgage payments obtained and to plan out when to get a refinance resolving the balloon rate 2) The lender and RAG cannot provide anything in writing in regard to new payments as the investor on the loan has the power to change the payments at any given timeThe investor is the actual owner of the loanThis would cause potential problems for the lender if they did provide anything in writing before the trial payments were completedOnce again, the investors on all mortgage loans control the terms and even have the power to override terms or sell the note/loan to another lender 3) In most cases, the lender notifies our Processing Department with approvals before the homeownersVery few lenders will send the approval through the mail to the client instead of sending it to us firstRegardless, we request a copy of the approval for our records to go over the details with the clientFor her to see the terms before we were able to explain to her first is understandable as to her frustrationWe completely understand some clients may get confused if their lender/investor provides them with a specific term or rate that they did not have beforeThere are cases when a client gets approved with a payment reduction far greater than we expected as the investor made the final decisionNonetheless, when signing the contract regarding the 'no guarantee' the client is in no position to hold RAG accountable, consider us harmful or hurt our reputation as the client was well aware from the beginning nothing is guaranteedIt is not fair to accuse RAG of lying or giving promises as we do NOT bring any clients on board if they do not sign the contractRAG ALWAYS sets transparent expectations for all clients before starting the modification 4) For the client to state the modification was "horrible" after the following was accomplished...her definition of "horrible" is quite far from what many others would consider a blessingShe came to us being (8) eight months behind with a past due amount of $12,to her lender Select Portfolio Services (SPS)She was very fortunate to have been living in the property after not making mortgage payments for so longAfter the modification was completed, she owed $18,which was put on the back end of the loanThis most likely is the reason as to why the investor gave her a balloon rate to be fair and to pay the debt back butthree years laterHer mortgage payments reduced from $1,to $1,even after being so far behindThere are homeowners who end up having their mortgage payments increased after they go directly through their own lender for a modificationOn so many levels the modification granted was successfulWe do not think it is fair to make such claims against RAGPotential harm to our reputation can and will cause innocent homeowners who are in desperate need for help assume we are not legitimateThis is not what we work so hard for On page of of the Retainer Agreement on Section 16, it states the following (4) four sentences from the beginning of this section which pertains to the client: DISCLAIMER - "CLIENT(s) understands that achieving a loan mitigation solution is not a guaranteeCLIENT(s) understand that RAG does not know the identity of the individual investor at the beginning of the representationSuch information is ascertained, if at all, after RAG has been retained by CLIENT(s) and the negotiations commenceRAG cannot guarantee where the individual investor has not participated in any government programs; achieving a positive result may not be possible without the need for ligation." If you or the client would like a copy of the Retainer Agreement, we would be more than happy to provide itFeel free to email or call me if you have additional questions or concerns, thank you [redacted] /Revdex.com

Response to complaint submitted on 5/16/and assigned an ID of ***. We do not provide refinance optionsHARP is related to a refinance program in which the borrower would not quality for as the property was months delinquent coming to usFor a refinance option, you
cannot be behind on your mortgage payments as the HARP program is credit based not hardship basedRefinance was never offered to this client nor any other client as we do not provide that serviceWe offered the modification program which the borrower qualified forWe never ask or inform borrowers to "pay us" the "mortgage payment"To obtain the modification for the borrower there is a servicing cost for the processing department to work on the client's fileThis means working with the borrower throughout the various stages of the process by coordinating and requesting required actions and documentsWe submitted the file to the lender's Underwriting department, uploaded all conditions, reviewed the income documents and complying with the federal and state guideline rules and regulationsThe main concern with this client's file was that the borrower of the mortgage was not able to provide his documentsThe program itself depends on numerous documents that the bank needs in order to successfully provide the modificationAll borrowers are informed before moving forward with us, the importance of documents as the program depends on them such as: Proof of Income, Tax Returns, Bank Statements, Utility Bills (to prove homeowner occupancy), Homeowners Insurance proof, Hardship letter, I.D, etc. The borrowers on the loan are: *** *** & *** Sorge*** is the father in which the client was not able to provide his documentsThe reason being is due to a specific event that had occurred in the past resulting in the family wanting nothing to do with ***Unfortunately, this is an issue as the bank requires documents from *** as he is a signer on the loanThe fact that the client does not want to speak to *** nor willing to help provide the documents required...does not make it our faultFrom the beginning of the process all clients are informed once again the process is highly dependent on documentsIf providing documents is going to be an issue, we do not recommend moving forward at allThe client is responsible for providing documents to obtain a modificationWithout documents, the file will fall out of review and no assistance will be provided per the bank. We have done everything in our power to help this clientIf the bank is asking for documents from *** and the client cannot provide that, we are not responsible

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below
separate e-mails containing a total of documents
Regards,
*** ***

Tell us why here
Response to complaint submitted on 5/16/and assigned an ID of ***
Revdex.com: The person responding to this complaint is not a processorThe processor is solely responsible for obtaining the required documents and information to submit to the lenderThe attached information the client has attached shows proof that the lender is very difficultAs you can read the borrower is aware of this
The installments that we charge the borrower go towards the assigned senior processor who works on the file for months or longerIn this case, we had used (3) three different senior processors to help the borrower find out why the lender was making consistent excuses for ***We have never done this for any clientWe did not charge the client for (two) additional processors who assisted with the fileThose additional senior processors because they genuinely were concerned about this file had offered to help for FREEIf we did not care about the client our own staff would have never volunteered to help free of chargeWe understand the client is upset as we genuinely are as wellThe lender treated the file unfairly and took advantage of the fact that the borrower does not speak with the other signer on the loan.
It is not our responsibility to go back and forth with borrowers that do not speak to each otherWe went above and beyond and did that as a favor and in the end the borrower *** was no longer responding to us and the lender was asking for more and more documentationWe have exceeded our services and provided far more than a helping hand and in return it is not fair for us to be blamedWe did not have to offer additional senior processors to help as the main issue was between the signers of the loan as you can read on the attachmentsInstead we still offered our help which would have costed the client +$6,
Our company treats all of our clients like our own family members with respect and integrityWe never give up on the client however we have hit a wall with *** as well as the lenderIt is not fair to point fingers at us when we were the ones helping the client the entire time without charging additional fees

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.We can only assume that the person who responded to this is our new Sron our caseShe was the last of people to be part of this processRetention Advocacy has spoken with my father, but has also directly received emails and information from himOur new Jr and Sr on our case, had not even taken the time to read our fileI have over and over throughout this process provided everything requestedOur situation with my father was known from the beginning and they knew they had to contact him directlyWe have documented everything from the beginning of this process, the changes in people, how many times we have turned in documentation, how many times Retention has changed our contact, even an email directly from our Senior stating she supposedly got Freedom to go ahead without *** documentation in April I have voicemails, emails and documents that, due to approved space, I can't provide but will if necessaryThey I have the start information and apologize if my understanding of the government programs are not the greatestThat is why we decided to work with Retention to begin withThe program,we started working with Retention on was called Making Homes Affordable actOur contacted when we started provides that. Retention Advocacy has put my family and I through a situation that was unnecessary and should have been done a year and a half agoWe are going to continue to fight this and will be willing to escalate to other options to go after this company for what they have done and could do to others. Please let me know if you need additional paperwork and I will be more than happy to provide
Regards,
*** ***

Please find our response below in regards to complaint ID ***If you can forward this response to *** *** as I do not have her contact information, thank you. On October 7th 2016, we received an approval for a trial modification for the *** residentsThe first trial
payment was due on November 1st Please read the details provided from *** *** from the Loss Mitigation Department of Select Portfolio ServicingOur service was delivered successfully as we helped save the home from foreclosure and a sales dateThe delinquency amount of $18,that she owed was put on the rear of her loan so she did not have to pay that upfront to her lenderShe also had received a payment reduction of $even though she had not paid her mortgage for consecutive monthsPlease review the breakdown of the modification that was provided to herShe was upset that her term was a balloon rateUnfortunately, that was not in our control as her lender SPS has the final decision on the actual terms of her loanShe was upset and was not understanding that we cannot overpower that kind of adjustmentWe never ignore any clients nor do we have any reason toAs you can see clearly we have plenty of positive feedback from our clients on our Revdex.com profilePlease find the attachments onto this email proving that we not only delivered with the trial plan, but the actual approval letter was received after she successfully completed all three trial paymentsOur organization resubmits files for re-review if a client is unsatisfied with their original offer; however we did not receive any feedback other than a complaint that arrived almost two months after the modification was acceptedShe did not call us back to request a resubmission of her fileWe also have no records of her contacting the representative *** *** who is highly respected and is not trained to hang up on any clients no matter what the reason. Update by *** *** @ Loss Mitigation Approval Mailed out to Mailing AddressWhen was the modification approved? (Date) 10/07/16When is the first payment due? 11/01/16What kind of modification is it? In houseWhat was the previous interest rate? 3% What is the new interest rate? 2.5% What is the new payment? $1,522.63What was the previous payment? $1720.75Does it include taxes and insurance? YesWhat is the amount to bring the account current at this time? (Past due balance) 18,076.25How many payments were due at the time of the approval? Payments With Warmest Regards, *** ***SrUnderwriting ManagerPhone:

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
- As I stated in 1st complaint, Retention Advocacy Group (RAG) was disingenuous and lied about my final monthly mortgage payments and terms of modification. During the trial payments, I was told by [redacted] via email (see attachment), that there would be a reduction in monthly mortgage payment after we fulfilled 3 trial payments of $1522.20. [redacted] also stated that my monthly mortgage payments would be in the range of $1100-1300/month. I requested something in writing serveral times, and was told that my mortgage company could not provide anything in writing and [redacted] would not provide anything in writing either.- After my 3 trial payments were received by lender and loan modification was approved, I received loan modification documents in the mail. RAG "DID NOT" communicate, prepare me, nor discuss the terms that were negotiated with my mortgage company: 1) A Balloon payment was included, 2) Mortgage Payment stayed the same as "trial payments" and were not reduced, 3) Interest rate + monthly mortgage payments would increase after 3 years, and every year thereafter. I called [redacted] to discuss, but he refused to discuss terms with me, so I called back several times to see if I could discuss with someone else, but all of a sudden, everyone had gone out to lunch.- Even though the lender has the final decision, it is the responsibility of Retention Advocacy Group to have discussed the Final Terms with me and my husband before the loan modification was finalized on paper. We were given terms that said "Take it or leave it" that were not in our best interest.- I did not wait 2 months to get in touch with RAG to discuss terms of modification as they so conveniently lied about. Feedback was attempted via several calls the next day to dispute the terms of this "horrible" modification and resubmit our file, but Retention Advocacy Group (RAG) refused to answer my calls! I spoke with [redacted] who was disrespectful and hung up on me after I requested to speak to a manager. I left voice messages for [redacted] and [redacted] and tried calling the main number of which all of my calls were ignored throughout the day, and never received a call back from any of the associates! AND THIS IS WHY I COMPLAINED TO THE Revdex.com.- Receipt of Modification Documents (February 13, 2017)- Attempted Calls to discuss modification (8x's on February 14, 2017)- 1st Payment Due (March 1, 2017)Retention Advocacy Group did not represent, communicate, nor negotiate in our best interest and did not disclose, nor discuss terms of the modification with us before we received finalized paperwork.     This service WAS NOT delivered successfully no matter how many positive feedbacks were received by other customers   
Regards,
[redacted]

Response to Complaint from [redacted]:
 
We had spoken to the client and advised her through out the process that guidelines have changed. The contract signed was dated on 9/2/2016. Starting on 1/1/2017, the guidelines changed as the Trump Administation is now in office. We explained...

thoroughly how the guidelines have changed the outcome of her file and the client was understanding. The person in charge of her file had spoken to her numerous times as it was escalated to the Quality Control Department. Later, as her lender [redacted] was not willing to work things out with the client or us, the only option left was to file for a bankruptcy. This option was explained to the client and she fully understood that it would save her property from foreclosure as well as a sale date. We had provided the proper information as a courtesy to help steer her in the right direction so she would complete the bankruptcy on time. The Trump Administation is something we do not have control over hence why the outcome had changed with her lender. The guidelines that are new for this year are not geared as strongly towards the homeowner's best interest as they were previously with the Obama Administration. Any new files that are brought on board, are reviewed per the new guidelines now so that this does not occur to any other clients. The contract that must be signed per any client(s), explains that anything may occur during the process and to proceed the client must fully understand from time to time things beyond our control may occur changing the outcome of their file. This had nothing to do with our services being non complaint, dishonest, or any other matter. The new president overpowering the guidelines for mortgage assistance cannot be overruled. We ended the conversation on a good note with Mrs. [redacted] so receiving this review is a bit of a surprise especially after catering to her questions and concerns. The refund option was available however, she was not interested until now. The refund would have been granted respectfully however, now that the homeowner has tarnished our reputation on the Revdex.com...it is unlikely a refund would be granted as the work was already completed and the file was already closed out.

Revdex.com:We have reviewed the response made by the consumer in reference to complaint ID [redacted]. The attached document labeled "[redacted]" Line 16 on the bottom of the page attached from the client proves our claim as there is a disclaimer on the contract. Before bringing the client on board or receiving any funds at all, the client fully read and understood the contact as well as the conditions. The very reason why the contact includes Line 16 are for events such as these. We never force any client by any means to move forward with our process. The contact includes as all contracts do, a disclaimer that there is no guarantee. This being understood and signed, releases liability on the third party (us) as we verbally and in writing mentioned this.
The client also was informed due to the circumstances on her file, there is still a bankrupcty option to save the property and pay off the delinquency at the same time. The bankruptcy actually works in her favor as the amount she owes gets reduced. Credit is also not going to be a factor as her credit was already damaged coming to us with her delinquency. With a doctors office or law firm, if you sign a contract that states there are no guarentees and the consumer decides to move forward...the option of appealing is voided. Hence why the contract in writing exists.
We escalated her file to utilitze other possible options however, her lender was not giving us any. This is very rare as most lenders have to provide other means of assistance. This being the case, we did not give up. We located a third party paralegal that is affordable to make sure she is in the right hands. When the client reached out to him, the paralegal was booked and we advised her to do the best to find local attorneys or paralegals to help with the bankruptcy. The bankruptcy option is also temporary until she gets in a better position with her mortgage. Every possible option was utilized even though the client signed a contract understanding there are no guarentees. This is to prove we really are here to look after the client's best interest and we do not like to see these outcomes that can occur from time to time.
 A similiar example is paying for an attorney who fights for your case and there is a 50/50 chance of winning. If the case happens to lose, there are no refunds. We do not like to look at it this way as our success rate is 85%. We do not take on any cases that clearly will not obtain any positive result. This file happened to be at a sensitive time where president [redacted] left office. He created the programs to help save homeowners. [redacted] however, does not have the same vision and as we can see the homeowners are already suffering.  
We deeply apologize for the particular outcome of her situation and if it was in our control, we would have done something for her in an instant.

Response to complaint submitted on 7/17/2017 and assigned an ID of [redacted].
 
We are not a scam. We have not received a dollar from this person for him to make such claims. There is no proof that we even accepted this client. This person was denied and we were not able to...

bring him on board. He was very rude through out the process and would cut off every agent on the phone to repeatedly ask how much this process would cost. We cannot give a quote especially when someone does not even qualify. When finally getting near the end of the process, there was a quote given IF we were able to provide our services which was eventually rejected due to not qualifying. We do not force anyone to move forward with our process. There was not even a contract sent to this individual for us to allow him to proceed. This is another case of someone who was highly emotional and upset deciding to write a nasty review towards our company when we have not even granted to accept his case.
IF we had accepted his money, worked on his file and not delivered... that would be a valid reason to put a negative review.

Hello [redacted]/Revdex.com,
 
Please find our response below in regards to complaint ID [redacted].
 
All clients that qualify for the modification program receive an agreement or contract from RAG. This is for our protection which clearly states that Nothing is Guaranteed. After the client signs this contract then decides to move forward, they cannot hold RAG accountable. This does not assume RAG will not go above and beyond for any or all clients. The reason as to why the contract states 'no guarantee' is also for the protection of the homeowner. For example, IF a client does not follow through to provide the requested documents that their lender is requesting...we cannot provide or complete the service. IF the client loses their source of income during the modification process, they will fall out of the modification as steady income is required to complete the review process. Due to these types of circumstances, we must state nothing is guaranteed for protection of both parties. We strive for the absolute best offer we can obtain from their lender and investor based off of their current financial debt to income ratio as well as their hardship details.
1) In regards to the balloon payment, the homeowner can get a refinance to once again modify the terms. That payment does not adjust/increase until (3) three years from now. That is plenty of time to take advantage of the reduced mortgage payments obtained and to plan out when to get a refinance resolving the balloon rate.
2) The lender and RAG cannot provide anything in writing in regard to new payments as the investor on the loan has the power to change the payments at any given time. The investor is the actual owner of the loan. This would cause potential problems for the lender if they did provide anything in writing before the trial payments were completed. Once again, the investors on all mortgage loans control the terms and even have the power to override terms or sell the note/loan to another lender. 
3) In most cases, the lender notifies our Processing Department with approvals before the homeowners. Very few lenders will send the approval through the mail to the client instead of sending it to us first. Regardless, we request a copy of the approval for our records to go over the details with the client. For her to see the terms before we were able to explain to her first is understandable as to her frustration. We completely understand some clients may get confused if their lender/investor provides them with a specific term or rate that they did not have before. There are cases when a client gets approved with a payment reduction far greater than we expected as the investor made the final decision. Nonetheless, when signing the contract regarding the 'no guarantee' the client is in no position to hold RAG accountable, consider us harmful or hurt our reputation as the client was well aware from the beginning nothing is guaranteed. It is not fair to accuse RAG of lying or giving false promises as we do NOT bring any clients on board if they do not sign the contract. RAG ALWAYS sets transparent expectations for all clients before starting the modification.
4) For the client to state the modification was "horrible" after the following was accomplished...her definition of "horrible" is quite far from what many others would consider a blessing. She came to us being (8) eight months behind with a past due amount of $12,916 to her lender Select Portfolio Services (SPS). She was very fortunate to have been living in the property after not making mortgage payments for so long. After the modification was completed, she owed $18,076.25 which was put on the back end of the loan. This most likely is the reason as to why the investor gave her a balloon rate to be fair and to pay the debt back but... three years later. Her mortgage payments reduced from $1,720.75 to $1,522.63 even after being so far behind. There are homeowners who end up having their mortgage payments increased after they go directly through their own lender for a modification. On so many levels the modification granted was successful. We do not think it is fair to make such claims against RAG. Potential harm to our reputation can and will cause innocent homeowners who are in desperate need for help assume we are not legitimate. This is not what we work so hard for.
On page 3 of 7 of the Retainer Agreement on Section 16, it states the following (4) four sentences from the beginning of this section which pertains to the client:
16. DISCLAIMER - "CLIENT(s) understands that achieving a loan mitigation solution is not a guarantee. CLIENT(s) understand that RAG does not know the identity of the individual investor at the beginning of the representation. Such information is ascertained, if at all, after RAG has been retained by CLIENT(s) and the negotiations commence. RAG cannot guarantee where the individual investor has not participated in any government programs; achieving a positive result may not be possible without the need for ligation."
If you or the client would like a copy of the Retainer Agreement, we would be more than happy to provide it. Feel free to email or call me if you have additional questions or concerns, thank you [redacted]/Revdex.com.