My Story with HSBC Mortgage Services - - - In 2001, I moved into my home here in McNairy County, Tennessee. Original, there were two mortgages on the home. The main loan was with this company called First Franklin. And then there was a second mortgage the real estate woman setup. The problem with the second mortgage is that it was suppose to balloon after a few years, so I knew I had to do something and quick. I received a letter in the mail about refinancing. Well the loan went through and eventually my mortgage account ended up in the hands of HSBC Mortgage Services. I had a flexible rate mortgage. As time went on, the payments kept crawling up, making it harder for me to make the payments. I am the bread winner of the household and it was hard for me make those payments. The payments went from like $399 to $530 and I had to maintain homeowners insurance.

I tried to get the loan restructured or refinanced, but no one would take me. I called HSBC many times to see if they would do a refi so the mortgage payment would be lowered and at a fixed rate. Each time I would try, they would tell me my credit score needed to be a little higher or I just didn’t qualify. Even though I struggled with the payments, they were always on time. I maintained everything for about seven years in the house. Well in 2008, I lost my job. I called HSBC about the situation and explained everything. They finally did a modify, they set the payments up at a low 4.25% rate. This brought the payments down to $247 a month. Now why could they have not done this in the beginning. The draw back with this is the payments would only be set up like that for six months and they were going to go back to the original setup. Well I panicked and moved because I didn’t know how I was going to keep this up. I wasn’t for sure if and when I would find another full time job. I felt I was just throwing money in the wind by staying.

The way they had the original payment plan setup as a flexible rate mortgage, I would have never paid for the home. I was paying interest only payments, hardly done of it were going toward the principle amount. They were ripping me off and getting away with it. Within a short few months after I moved out of my home, they found me at my new address. They wrote a letter stating what is in the contract and my obligations. I wrote them back and told them I realized they were ripping me off and how much money I had already been out with them. I just let them have it. They never wrote me back or called anymore. They let me be. I haven’t heard from them in two years. They haven’t foreclosed on the home nor have they kept up the taxes on it. The tax card was sent to me at my new address.

The house needs lots of repairs, in the state it is in now with no one living in it could almost classify as a condemned home. It is not worth no where near what is owed on the mortgage. This may be why I haven’t heard anything back from HSBC, because they have probably had someone come out to look at the property. Despite all of that, I would still like to have the house back because and spent so much time and money there.

In 2009 it took me three months to get the application for the Obama Administration's Home Affordability Modification Program, which I qualified for becasue our mortgage was purchased by Fannie Mae. After finally submitting it in July 2009 and been given the runaround for three months, I called in Sept 2009 and they told me they havent decided yet, but they questioned the fact i had $$$ ion the bank, whjich is not a reason to disqulaify someone for this program. I called in July 2010 and now they told me they never received the application..

HSBC sucks..do not use them...

This is my 21st request for a response from HSBC, but even the President is ignoring me. See letter below.

Written Response Requested

Vaughn Millard Williams
1420 West 87th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90047
July 9, 2008


HSBC Mortgage Services
Mr. Randall L. Raup – President
636 GRAND REGENCY BOULEVARD
BRANDON, FL 33510-3942 ...


RE: Account Number 0009927955 – 30 Day Late Mark- April 2008, - Courtesy Request Removal:

Dear HSBC Mortgage President (Customer Service),

First and foremost I would like to express my thanks to your company for underwriting and carrying my equity line of credit for property address 1420 West 87th Street Los Angeles, CA 90047. While I am thankful to your company for serving as the financial agent on this account, I must state that it’s not been the easiest journey. Between irate Customer Service Representatives, and the challenges faced with your online payment system, my life has been made a living hell on this account.

It seems as though whenever I make a payment through your online system, I get assessed a fee for NSF, yet there is never a check presented to my account for payment from the online system. (I am requesting that all those fees be reversed). You make the implication that the account from which I made the payment from didn’t exist or something, yet each time I mail a payment from the same account number there is never a problem cashing my checks. I am convinced that there is something wrong with your system regardless of what you may imply. You guys state that you have the best interest of the customer in mind, but you continue to screw me each and every time. Case in point, I have requesting a rate modification for the last 3 months, I’ve sent the requested documents over 13 times, and even obtained an appraisal, yet you still will not respond. I’ve returned all phone calls from ext. 43431, but the phone just rings and rings, there is never an answer. I personally think that this is yet another attack against the low-income African American male living in the inner-city. Your company preys upon people like me with the hopes of them loosing their home. You place these erroneous 30 day late marks on the credit report so that there is no way for us to refinance into a stable loan. This is a form of predatory lending, and it must stop.















Please let the records show that when I mail a check using the same check and payment information, it goes through without a hitch. I must state that I am appalled as each time this happens, I am faced with either a late fee, a NSF charge (wrongfully assessed), or I get hit with a 30 day late on my credit report as is the case with April 2008. I called to make the payment by phone and was connected to someone with a major language barrier. Having reached my highest point of frustration with the language barrier, I discontinued the call and went online to make the payment. After making the payment online, I received a call from your company stating that my check was sent back NSF, but when I contracted my Financial Institution, they had no record of a check being sent back and they had not assessed my account as such. I went ahead and mailed the same payment that I did online and it went through without any problems. This poses a concern to me, especially since these problems didn’t start until the mortgage crisis here in Southern California. I am not willing to loose my home or my credit because of the inconsistencies of others. Your company continues to indicate that my check was returned unpaid, but you guys never presented anything to my Credit Union for payment. What’s the logic behind that? Are you purposely trying to destroy me?

Today I appeal to your professional expertise to resolve the following issues:

1. Language barriers with Customer Service Repetitive, They key in the wrong information, and the customer is assessed all these excessive fees.

2. Online Payment System- Please checks the configuration to ensure that it’s properly picking up the characters that are being entered by the customer. When they pick up a wrong key, it causes the customer to suffer and be assessed a late fee.
3. 30 –day late. Please act in professional courtesy and remove the 30 day late from April 2008. Additionally, please offer me an alternative payment method as I cannot refinance my home and risk foreclosure as my 1st mortgage has increased to 12%. With a 30 day late, the mortgage company will not refinance which results in a total loss.
4. Finally, I would like information on how to lower the rate on this account as well as notification as to when my payments post. This will help as the last few payments that I have mailed have not been posted to my checking account. Such is the case of the payment of $630.00 that I mailed on May 1, 2008. This payment has yet to post to my account.
Thanks in advance for hearing my reasonable request and I look forward to speaking with you direct as their has to be a better way to resolve these issues.

Regards,

Mr. Vaughn Millard Williams
Borrower

My son put a contract on a house and property for sale by Caldwell banker agent representing HSBC the end of June, 2006. The contract was accepted and ernest money put down. My son paid the $400 for the appraisal and waited. Now, the end of October, he is still waiting. As it turned out, there were leans against the property when it was put up for sale...in essence, it was sold 2 times in one week. It was finally determined that the back taxes were owed and that the owner, HSBC, would pay the taxes. Now after the loan and appraisal have expired and cost my son more money, the back taxes have not been settled. We are told that the seller is now negotiating the penalties. My son loves the house, even though it will need costly repairs (more money in escrow for necessary repairs). We just want to be able to close on the house, so he can move and quit paying rent. He has passed up several really good buys waiting for this property. What can we do? This is very frustrating and my son is the one who is out money. Yes, he will get his ernest money back, but not all of the other fees which are adding up. HELP!