Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/04/2024

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I sent him 5 cashier checks for ******* to get the modification and he kept saying send me the checks payable so I can forwarded to chase bank so they know you can continue making the payment and the modification will be completed but he never sent any of those payments. If he doesnt reimburse me soon he will speak with ************************** and will be send to my trustee , please resolve this asap.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/19/2024

  We have received the complaint from Mrs. ******** We are currently researching the file to provide a thorough response to the complaint. Additional time is needed to respond to her complaint.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/06/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  UnresolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Fresh Start Mortgage Assistance owner Chris ******* at 610 Uptown Blvd suite **** Cedar Hill, Texas *****.Chris ******* advertise himself as being knowledgeable in the mortgage modification business. He charged and collected from me 2,036 in September to assist in getting my mortgage modification approved. He said that I would need to pay $2,036 each month until the modification was approved. The money is for attorney fees, closing cost and his fees. After communicating with the mortgage company about September 25th, I was advised for modification approval there no modification package required nor confirmation of income. Attorney fees and closing costs are not required up front, these fees are part of the modification when approved, therefore money Chris ******* collected and continue to attempt to collect was fraudulent. The representative at the mortgage company advise me that there was new laws with the FHA that did not require homeowners to submit a modification package, nor income confirmation, the client just merely needs to advise the mortgage company that they want to enter into a modification. When I advised Chris ******* of the process and asked why he continued to collect money from me his explanation continue to be for attorney fees and closing costs. Even after I advise him these funds were not required. He said that if I did not pay him for the October 2,036.00 he would file a lien against my property. Of course I refuse to pay any more funds and he advised that either I pay the $2,036 for October or he would file a $10,000 lien against my property. He could not explain how he determined a 10,000 lien. This is bullying and harassment that needs to cease.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/06/2023

  I am requesting a refund from Fresh Start Mortgage Assistance, ***** Chris ******* of 2,036.00

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/07/2023

  On or about October 1st, I requested my mortgage co to cease communication with Chris *******, I also sent an email to Chris ******* as he requested, that I no longer needed his assistance. After receiving the email he emailed me advising he was going to move forward with a lien against my property. I telephoned him and spoke with him personally regarding his actions, and he stated he would move forward with the lien against my property. On October 27th. Chris ******* noticed a one-star review from me and sent an email once again. Threatening and bullying me for funds and that he was going to move forward with the lien since I submitted a one-star review. Chris ******* attempted to support his actions by recounting previous conversations regarding my financial situation in the email and that I'd rather pay off my car than give him his money. Chris ******* has personal information about me i.e property address, telephone numbers, email, social security numbers. I feel threatened by him. Not only am I asking for a refund but I'm asking for his tactics to cease.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/20/2023

  In response to the complaint by ******* *****. We have found ***** to be one of the most unscrupulous persons we have done business with. We have attached a copy of the contract signed by *****. ***** contacted us after she told us she attempted to get additional assistance from her mortgage company but was denied. We did our preliminary review of her case but was reluctant to take her case because of the information we gathered after our research. We determined ***** was a serial bankruptcy filer (2017, 2018, 2020, 2021) which is a violation of BAPCA. She took advantage of the pandemic to further enrich herself under the CARES ACT forbearance. She suspended payment on her FHA insured loan, moved out of her home and rented it to a tenant while collecting rent on the property while she moved in an apartment downtown. Additioanlly she had the missed payments put at the end of her loan in a zero percent interest balloon loan provided by HUD. The issue is FHA requires that you occupy the property as your primary residence before you can receive assistance. After she exhausted all the forbearance benefits she moved back into the property. She told us she was saving $1,000.00 per pay period because she expected to lose her home and wanted to have money saved to move. I asked ***** to get a payoff on her loan and reinstatement quote on her loan to determine if there was additional assistance that was available. Although though we determined that she was more than $94.196.00 in unpaid mortgage payments we took her case. We advised her that she needed to suspend the $1,000.00 bi-weekly deductions because her approval would mean her payments would be higher. We also determined that ***** had not filed her homestead exemption. We prepared it for her and sent it to her to lower her property taxes to reduce her escrow to lower her mortgage payment. After a follow up review with her mortgage company we were notified that we did not need to send supporting documents because of recent changes in their guidelines. We sent ***** an email requesting additional documents from her lender plus her monthly deposit toward her closing costs on Oct. 4. We called and left several messages but she did not respond. We did a follow up call with the lender to learn she had canceled our authorization. On Oct. 10 we received an email saying she couldn't afford our fees. We knew that wasn't true because she just stopped $1,000.00 per bi-weekly deductions to her 401K. We only take clients that fit our program because we can't collect fees until we get approval. Knowing *****'s history we wanted to make sure that she made monthly deposits to cover her closing costs which is less than what her monthly mortgage payment was. Once we determined she was approved we contacted ***** to settle the account and she continued to avoid our calls. We sent ***** a notice of suit. She then called complaining that we were seeking a judgement against her. We advised her she agreed in writing to pay us for our services. She told us instead of paying us she took $7,000.00 to pay off her car so she could afford her higher payments. We offered to settle the account for a much lower amount but she refused. According to our FEE SCHEDULE ***** agreed to pay a fee not to exceed 3% of the new loan amount fully amortized. We rarely go after the fully amortized amount but based on the payoff and reinstatement provided by ***** $356,000.00 our fee is $10,680.00. We will file our lawsuit at time to be determined. ***** continuously looks for opportunites to abuse systems to skirt accountability and act as she is the victim. You can clearly see from our BBB reporting that although the BBB has been reporting on my company for almost 30 years and we  have not had any complaints in many years. We hope that the BBB will see this complaint as malicious in its intent and remove it because our reputation is paramount to us and our company and pray that frivilous attempts to malign our company by ***** will be disregarded. We have attached the supporting documents of the communication we had with *****.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/20/2023

  I am rejecting this response because:   Chris ******* allegations of me continue to be harassment, bullying and attacks of my character based on his actions to continue to get me to pay for service he did not perform. Chris ******* threatened to file a lien against my property in the amount of 10,000 because I would not pay him 2,036.00 for service he did not perform in October 2023. Chris ******* could not explain why he was threatening a lien for 10,000, he merely said "because". The personal information and attacks regarding my finances in trying to maintain my home in the past and future that Chris ******* has submitted is pure attacks in how Chris is trying to justify his fraudulent tactics. ***** Mortgage advised Chris ******* of the new FHA guidelines as he attempted to submit documents. The guidelines are processes that someone in his field should be current on. I asked Chris ******* before and during the process what were the fees being used for, each time he stated Attorney Fees and Closing Cost. When I advised Chris ******* of the Modification Rules per my the mortgage co and that these fees were not part of the modification approval he became combative. My modification was not approved by any work that Chris ******* did. Chris ******* is lying about the timeframe of the approval which clearly indicates his fraudulent actions. My previous bankruptcy (s) filings were clearly under the direction of legal counsel. Therefore, nothing to do with Chris *******, this is merely another tactic of not being accountable for his actions and lack of knowledge in the mortgage modification industry. No I was not going to be bullied into giving this person another 2,036. For Chris to use my decision to payoff future debt in an attempt to maintain my homestead, again is a harsh unjustified tactic against me and he not taking accountability of his lack of knowledge and yet moving forward with taking funds from me that could not be accountable for i.e Fees not warranted for loan modification. 2,036.00 each month non refundable. Attorney Fees, Closing Cost, Percentage of new loan, when non of these fees are part of the mortgage company loan process. But again, when I questioned Chris ******* and sent him written notification that I was ceasing business with him, that's when he became combative and threatened lien process. He also sent me an email advising his actions to move forward with lien because I gave a 1 star rating review. Again, these are my reasons for filing a justifiable BBB report. I need the bullying to cease. I am requesting a refund. Because of his retaliations and unjustifiably response to my complaint I am fearful of other actions he may be  capable of. Chris ******* has personal contact information about me i.e residence, phone numbers making my life uncomfortable. Again things he has noted in his response has no impact on his lack of knowledge, continuing to harass me for 2,036/10,000 lien against my property for service not done. Please note, I filed for homestead and was educated on the process by the Tax Ofc as many homeowners are. Again, this has no value to Chris ******* negligent and lack of current mortgage modification knowledge nor continued efforts to harass me and my homestead. I've never been harassed nor bullied by a business owner. I am requesting a refund and the harassment to end. Chris ******* advised me he was in the process of filing a lien against another client for ceasing business and non payment, perhaps clients are becoming wise.Thank You,

  ******* * *****

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/20/2023

  To add, Chris ******* reference of covid 19 and leasing my property through legal guidance, again is a bullying tactic.I would like Chris ******* to advise why he continued to seek funds of 2,036 month and advise of filing a 10,000 lien against my property after he was informed by ***** Mortgage that a mortgage modification application nor fees were not required and after I informed him as well. His actions would only leave me or anyone in more financial strain. Attacking me for filing a one Star review along  with other things is severely stressful. I have the right and an obligation to file a BBB Complaint. I have a right to file a justifiable  social media rating without being unjustifiably attacked. Thank you, ******* ***** 

  Business Response

  Date: 12/27/2023

  We see nothing from the original complaint that requires further explanation. We will pursue our claim in court for remedy.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/27/2023

  I submitted additional correspondence that I continue to receive soliciting me from Fresh Start Mortgage Assistance to Ms. ****** **** of the BBB on December 20, 2023 as requested.

  I am requesting that my complaint and case remain open, and a legitimate complaint against Fresh Start Mortgage Assistance for not being knowledgeable of the mortgage modification laws and collecting unjustifiable funds from me remain against this company.

  Thank you,

  ******* *****