Household Finance Reviews

Sure enough, after talking, we switched over our mortgage to them and also had another loan on the side after I lost my job. I swear, the day we entered that building was the day our lives changed for the worse. We became house poor overnight and all our payments to them monthly weren't even making a dent. But we stuck it out with them for 10 years but keeping up with the payment put us behind in land taxes. A couple of months ago, we started getting behind on payments and we were pretty deep in the hole on taxes by now, so we called to ask if they could put the balance on the back end of our loan. The agent said it wouldn't be a problem and he would contact us in a couple of days after we sent them a bunch of information.

A couple of days went by and no one called, so we called back. This time it was a different agent we talked to and explained what was going on. This agent told us that we could not get the balance put on the back end of our loan so we were totally confused. Next the phone calls began with people that must read off scripts and are just lifeless, "Can you make a payment today of the past due amount?" I said no and I told them I needed help. A pause and, "Can you make a payment today of the past due amount," and that's when you are red in the face and probably yell some sort of profanity at them and hang up. My wife and I talked to a total of 10 different agents in a month and every time it was always a different answer. Finally they sent it to an expert in their company so we were thinking okay, maybe something would get done finally.

We would call her and always it went to voice mail and she would never call back and she usually took about 5 days to respond. After the phone tag, we finally talked and we told her what was going on and she requested the same information we sent out already numerous times. We had 2 loans but every time they reviewed, they looked at the small loan and not the mortgage even though we wrote the number down and told them repeatedly what loan to look at. A couple of weeks went by and the expert sent us a letter saying they could not help us because we make too much money. Remember, I went almost 2 years without work so we managed to dig a pretty big hole with them. We couldn't catch up but we fought and fought and stayed afloat somehow.

As of today, I pay $1,300 a month for a home that is valued at around $110,000 and we are just throwing money away on interest for the back taxes. My wife and I sat down a couple of days ago and said, "That's it, we are done." I am handing the house over to them and we are moving on. A deed in lieu is what we are doing or other term "keys for cash". When we called HFC to tell them about this, the tone totally changed and then they started acting like they cared saying, "we can still help you." BS!

Now HFC is trying to get us to move before they do a title search and inspection of the home. Also they are telling us they will not come after us for the remaining balance. Word to the wise, get this in writing and do not go anywhere until everything is done. HFC also stated that they will give you money to relocate if you "qualify". So if this is a path you must take, keep the house in good shape; do not trash it and do not strip it down. The day my wife and I stepped foot into the HFC office was by far the worst day of my life, looking back. By the way, HFC can't even give loans out anymore due to their practices. Good luck to everyone who has had their lives ruined by the greed of this company.

After a few more years went by, we started getting statements with different amounts due. When I called to see why the changes they would say things like "taxes went up" or "insurance went up". Well, we don't even have our taxes included in our payments because we were told by HFC, that they don't do escrow accounts. So why would the payment go up I asked. This has gone on for a few years now. We finally got them to approve us for a temporary hardship due to my husband’s health problems. After 6 months of making each payment on time, we then had to apply for a permanent hardship. What a mess to go through! I had to keep faxing papers and info that they requested over and over; finally, got approved for the permanent hardship. The total payment was supposed to be $906.77 per month. Well, statement for May 2012 showed $1,304.77 due.

I called to ask why it went up so high if we are on a permanent hardship. I was told "We don't do permanent hardships". And we have a paper that was sent to us when we were approved for the permanent hardship and the amount of the payment $906.77 per month. I went ahead and paid for 4 months $1,304.77, starting May 2012 - August 2012. This should have gotten any past amounts due, paid up with extra left over. But not with HFC, they will keep playing games with you and try to ruin your life if they can. They won't accept a payment from us now unless it's $1,172.77. Why this amount? They can't say why. And we have to pay it no later than Nov. 14th or we will need to plan on either a short sale or deed in lieu, whatever that is. I asked the rep if we could pay on November 21st and she said no. If we go ahead and pay this amount on the date she says, then we will get a statement next month showing we didn't pay the correct amount or they will say the payment was late.

We are trying to refinance with a different company but with HFC showing on our credit reports that we are delinquent, we will not get a refinance easy or if we do, it will probably be at a high interest rate. So we are in a mess thanks to HFC, for calling me one evening, lying to me and making me really think we could trust them. If anyone even thinks of getting any kind of loan with this company, be prepared to go through the worst time of your life! HFC is no good! We are thinking about getting a lawyer to help us out. That will cost money but we need to get some help, and soon.

The first payment in October and all the rest to follow was for $100.00. Minimum payment required was between $97 and $99. This loan was marketed as "personal credit line account.” I had paid every month on time for 4 years and the principle balance hardly budged (maybe $100.00!). I called several times and asked about this and all they would say is to pay more every month. So, they were not applying any of my payments toward the principle. Being that HSF is more of a mortgage lender, I think they set this up more of a home-equity loan.

Two years ago, I was forced to move out of my affordable rental due to my landlord selling the house. Now, with higher rent and having to pay for utilities too, I'm now paying close to $300.00 more just to have a roof over my head. So, within a few months of moving here, I had to stop making the monthly payment to HFC. I figured they won't lower the interest rate and/or apply more of my payment to the balance - I'd be paying on this for years for only a $5000 loan!

So, of course, I got the letters and notices for being behind on payments, but I couldn't do anything about it. It wasn't like I didn't have any other bills to pay (that’s at least part of the payment brought down the principle!), so I was getting somewhere with those payments. A few days ago, I got a letter from Daniel Gordon P.C. from Eugene, OR stating they are considering a lawsuit against me. I am considering going through "pre-paid legal" to see if they can help with this issue.

We had asked HSBC Mortgage Services located in Brandon, FL, to lower the interest and payments and to add the delinquency to the life of the term. They said they couldn't do that. They offer these programs, but who qualifies? I see tons of complaints saying the same thing. The last certified letter said we have until July 9th to pay the delinquency in full or they will proceed.

We are both looking for other jobs so we can get caught up, but it's not easy. We have tried other programs and do not qualify. We have exhausted all avenues and hope you are able to help us. We are good people and had a rough patch. We need a break and we are pleading for your help so we can get back on the road to recovery. I am praying very hard that we can resolve this in a timely manner, before we lose our home. I appreciate your time and I hope to hear from you soon, Have a blessed day.

Long story short, I called the very week we made our year anniversary to get the ball rolling. They told me what documents I needed and I took them out to the office. While I was there, I told the guy who processed the original paperwork about the fact that my husband's work was slowing down and this was a good time to do the refinancing. They took the paperwork and I waited for 10 or 12 days or so. Nothing. I called and even went back out there. Nothing. Finally, I called the regional office and asked about the manager who never wanted to return my calls. He gave some sorry excuse about everyone being in meetings. I went back to the office to be told she was not there again, only to see her walk out of the office just before I left. Then I tried to process things through the corporate, you know, the 800 numbers. Every time I called, they rerouted my call back to the office that originally ignored me in the first place.

So at this point, I have turned in the paperwork twice, faxed it once and made 15 or so calls, drove out about 15 miles 3 times and no one has done anything with my request. Finally, I got a letter back saying I don't qualify for all types of programs because I'm trying to save my home and I'm putting in for anything they have to offer. Keep in mind, these are programs they have and are suggesting. I did manage to get through a few times and got my point across that I would have to leave the house because I could no longer afford it. I signed up for every program they had. Once, they actually called and said "you really got to sign up for this program, can't see any reason for you not to get this one". Flop. Nothing. Another letter. I ended up trying to sell it. I tried to rent it, nothing. I ended up leaving it in excellent condition. No refinance, no long term hardship, no lower interest rates, no nothing.

So guess what? I lost my home to a short sell/foreclosure. After begging them to lower the payments, telling them my husband's work was less, my son had gotten sick, They didn't care. What happened to the programs they said they would back up? Who does this ? Why are they allowed to do this to people? I did everything I was supposed to do and then some. We had to leave the house and we eventually filed for bankruptcy. This was a huge mess and no company should be allowed to do this to people. Oh yeah, can't imagine what figures were put on the underwriter's paperwork for this loan to get approved to include all credit cards. You see, this was never the original deal. We were only approved for the home itself. Go figure.

If you get a letter from HFC telling you that you qualify for a modification, it's a lie. They only send that letter to get you to call them.

Despite her counsel, I continue to comply with all the requests for duplicate information. It appears that there is no communication within the company. I have been told that the request is "in process" for over 14 weeks. I am being dunned for late mortgage payments even though I started this process over 3 months ago in the hope of avoiding late payments. I feel like I am being "stonewalled" in my attempts to learn the status of my loan modification request. My last letter from HFC dated December 6 indicated that if the missing information was not received by December 21, my application for loan modification would be cancelled.

But I was told he really couldn't do much, because somehow, I'd managed to be transferred to the wrong department. Nonetheless, he listened and transferred me to another customer service rep who was not so helpful. She told me that my debt had been sold to a collection agency, gave me the wrong number for the collection agency, and curtly hung up.

Altogether, this entire ordeal lasted almost 2 hours and resulted in no answers. The unprofessionalism, curt responses and obvious disbelief of my situation, mixed messaging, and general disinterest in providing any sort of customer service was incredible.

I went through two customer service reps, and then I asked to speak to a supervisor. The Supervisors name I spoke with was Emmanuel. He gave me three different stories. The first was my bank has not forwarded the money to pay for the bill (my bank did forward the money on December 24, 2010). The second was, I had not established a history with HSBC. The third was they had received my payment, but it is up to the discretion of HSBC as to whether they will credit my account back to the $300 limit, and that it would take 14 days. 14 days!

First, I have had the card for less than a month. I paid the annual fee of $74.00, to which they received more money from me, than the worth of the card. HSBC would not give me a definitive answer, as to why they hold a consumer's payment for 14 days. I told him the card is useless for anyone, especially at a $300 limit. My conclusion, a consumer uses the card, spends $300, makes a payment, and then has to wait two weeks before they can use it again. I want my $74.00 annual fee back from HSBC.

They are scamming consumers into signing an agreement with them, but not stating anywhere about a $74.00 annual fee, or that when a consumer makes a payment it will take 14 days to process. I told Emmanuel to cancel the card, as it is useless, and that I will be writing to you, the BBB, and the congress to inform as many consumers as possible, that HSBC is a scam. I am asking for your assistance to look into this credit card company for me.

I have been trying to work with HFC over the past several years to get my mortgage to where I can work with it (I have 3 jobs as it is). When I call, I constantly receive different reports on my account, told different stories about what is going on, told different excuses, and told to do different things to work on my account. Apparently they are not part of the government bail out program.

I have tried many other places for help, and I either do not get a response back, or I do not get much help. I tried CCCS/Money Management and they didn't help much (didn't do anything more that I was doing). Needless to say, this has caused great stress on me. As a result of my ex husband and this company, I have been diagnosed with mental depression and I suffer from mental and emotional abuse from my ex. I am not able to go forward with my life as I never know what HFC will do with my account. They call me about 3 to 4 times a day and never want to look at any notations on my account and/or ignore them.

We found out when we got the mortgage payment. They took $200 off the $1775 so now it is $1555. (Big deal.) HHF did not have the guts to call or write first to see if we would accept their deal. If they would’ve called or wrote, I would’ve told them no. That is still a lot to pay on a fixed income. I am not working. I was in the hospital on December 2008. I had a mild heart attack and a stroke while I was still in the hospital. Then in 2009, I lost a sister in January, in February, my daughter-in-law, a brother in May, and my son in September, both my son and his wife are deceased. We are now helping take care of our grandchildren.

I have been seeing a counselor and a psychiatrist due to all that has happened in 2009, losing my son and his wife and the others, and worrying about bills. I have been diagnosed with chronic depression and more. So I talked to HFC again and told them about this hardship we’re having now. They said they did it once and could not do it again. Everyone I talked to at HFC told me to put the house up for sale, or they would do a short sell for us. Really, I don't know what they consider a hardship. We do not want to lose our house, where would our grandchildren live. They don't care if you have to live on the streets. I think HHF should be investigated. Anyone reading this, please do not go to Household Finance for any thing, please! And if it does come to the point HHF not wanting to help us, I will leave the house set before I would sell it. Let them lose. We have worked all our lives, paid our bills on time, but it seems when you do need help, you’re invisible.

Well, you know when it involves money you worry. There is tension on everyone, not sleeping, depression, taking it out on everyone else (not fair), and nowhere to turn. We are not making enough money to pay that kind of payment. like they say you take from Peter to pay Paul.) If you get this message more than once, I am sorry. I thought I deleted the other 2. I want this one posted please! Thanks!

So they went on and did it anyhow, did the modification with out telling us, no calls or even asked us for our decision, not even telling us what the payment would be. We found out when we got the mortgage payment. They took $200 off the $1775. Now it is $1555. Big deal. HFC did not have the guts to call or write first, to see if we would accept their deal. If they had called or wrote, I would have told them no, that is still a lot to pay on a fixed income.

I was in the hospital Dec. 2008 I had a mild heart attack and a stroke while I was still in the hospital. Then in 2009, I lost a sister in Jan. Feb., my daughter in-law, a brother in May and my son in Sept. Both my son and his wife are deceased. We are now helping take care of our grand children. I have been seeing a counselor and a psychiatrist due to all that has happened in 2009, losing my son and his wife and the others, and worrying about bills. I have been diagnosed with chronic depression and more.

So I talked to HFC again and told them about this hardship we're having now. They said they did it once and could not do it again. Everyone I talked to at HFC told me to put the house up for sale or they would do a short sell for us. Really, I don't know what they consider a hard ship. We do not want to lose our house. Where would my grand children live? They don't care if you have to live on the streets. I think HFC should be investigated. Anyone reading, this please do not go to Household Finance for any thing please! And if it does come to the point them not wanting to helping us, I will leave the house set before I would sell it. Let them lose. We have worked all our life, paid our bills on time but it seems when you do need help, you're invisible.

So we got our payment and opened it, and it was $1,555. We did not pay that payment. We paid the $1,775. We did not get a call or anything, asking if we agreed to this modification. Only the payment which showed. They did a modification and we still were both working. That is why we ask them not to look into it until after husband retired. Then we had to start paying the $1,555 again without taxes and insurance.

On Dec. 2008, I was in the hospital. I had a mild heart attack and a mild stroke. I had open heart surgery in 1996. So I no longer work due to several illnesses. So I wrote to Household Finance and ask them why they did the modification then. When we ask HHF to wait, my husband's retirement pay is $2900. A month take $1,555 from that and there's not much left.

So they ask me for a hardship letter so sent one plus other papers they wanted. It came back denied! Then in 2010 Jan., I lost a sister. On Feb. my daughter in-law, May a brother, my son in Sept. and 4 more after that. My son and his wife are now both deceased, we are helping to raise my grand children. Then I started seeing a counselor and a psychiatrist. I was diagnosed with deep depression bypolar and OCD. I have been depressed most of my life, it is now progressed, due to my son and his wife's deaths. And I can not work.

So again I ask HHF to help us again or we are going to lose our house. All I heard from any one that I talked to at HHF is sell it or we can do a short sell. I told them I have my grand children to raise. They don't care if you have to live on the streets. They told me we modified it once we can not do it again. I don't know what they think a hardship is. I tried to explain to them the letter asking them not to do anything again till my husband retired. They knew what they were doing to us at that time.

I am so tired of worrying, we can not even pay for all the pills we both have to take. I take 10 and that adds up, so cut down on some of the one I have to take 3 times a day. I just don't know where to turn anymore. I think Household Finance should be investigated. We have worked hard all our life, paid bills on time, now when you need help, your invisible. Please if you read this, do not go to Household Finance for help, I have struggled with them, and no response.

It caused a late fee and my account to go over the limit affecting my credit rating and it hindered my credit score possibly causing an overall effect to my ability to attain proper credit.

In 2009, I applied for a credit card and was told credit is R9 bad credit when I requested a credit report. It showed December 2009, January 2010, February 2010, March 2010, April 2010, May 2010 as missed payments. So somehow they must have opened another load and never called or sent us a letter. Now, I am fighting to get this off my credit report. Never in my life would I every deal with this company. To make things worst, every time I call, they had a different manager and no one knows anything.

I had to close my checking account and open a new one to fix that mess. You think I would have learned but I didn't. Now this week again, they doubled the payment coming out. They thought they were smart by doing one under my name and one under my husband's name. However, my bank was smarter, they called me and said they felt there was something fraudulent done on my account, so I verified that I did not authorize for two payments and they stopped payment on the second one. I also incurred 8 overdraft fees at $36.00 each. How do they expect you to get caught up on payments when you keep getting farther behind due to late fees and overdraft fees. I called and made them aware that I will never again okay an automatic draft from my checking account.

I will send the payments to them. Some of the customer service people you talk to are very rude and nasty. One girl told me to stop paying all of my other bills, phone, light, taxes,etc. because they are considered a luxury and my primary obligation is to them (Household). I laughed and said I would tell the light company, phone company and tax collector that. I hung up on her. That was at 9:30pm after I was on the phone with her for over 15 minutes explaining I didn't have the money that week. She rudely asked me why? you make xx amount a week, what do you do with your money? I hung up on her. I am working on trying to keep all of my accounts caught up. I have just finally got back to work steady and am willing to work with them if they would. overdraft fees over $500.00 (that is half of a month's mortgage payment) constantly stressed worrying that they will be calling.

I asked him several times about checking their system, at which point you would think he would know the payment was made, but all he wanted to say was that I did not cooperate the day before. I know that the payment was updated in their system because when I called the number back to speak with a manager I was given my last payment information through their automation system that stated that a payment was made on 4/30/10 and the next one was due on 5/12/10. To have a harassing call about a payment that was 18 days past due and paid after a payment arrangement was made is not legal. Emotionally, it is stressing me thinking that this will happen again. I am worried about getting the calls at a time when the economy is bad and I am working through a temp agency to make ends meet. I am stressed about trying to get bills moved around in order to keep this from happening again and stressing about how I can pay the account off early.

Now, I have to figure out a way to afford monthly payments without ruining my credit. This should be against the law to increase someone's interest rate from 7.9 to 29.9. This increase is really making it hard for me to pay all my bills every month without ruining my credit.

This occurred in December, and then January 30, my husband unexpectedly passed away. One week after his funeral, my doorbell rang and it was a sheriff with foreclosure documents on my home. I was already shocked and grief stricken over the loss of my husband of 30 years when this horrible event happened. I had never received anything back from Household regarding the appeal from the hardship. I was beyond devastated. I became very angry and decided I would make sure I sold the house because there was no way they were getting the house that we worked so hard for. I got an offer that would cover what I owed Household and some tax.

When I called the foreclosure department to get the information, they gave me a hard time. I had to keep calling to get the payoff amount, etc. Before I sold the house, Household called me and offered to just take the house. I refused and brought up what had occurred with the hardship and "appeal" and that was ignored. While getting ready to settle on selling my home, they kept ignoring my questions about what was still owed. I spoke with the head manager of the foreclosure department multiple times and he told me there was an additional $12,000 in fees that occurred because of the foreclosure. I asked what these fees were and was told that he did not have to disclose them to me.

I asked and called repeatedly to find out what these "fees" were ($12,000) and was not given an answer. This went on up until the day I closed on the sale of the house. Before the settlement, I called the same manager again and we had a verbal battle regarding these "extra" fees. Finally, he stated that household had paid $3500 for taxes; my mortgage did not include taxes. Taxes were paid by my husband and me. So I asked him for the exact amount, the check number for this and when it was cashed. Surprise, he could not give me any of this data. So I contacted my tax office, explained the situation and the woman confirmed that they never received any money from Household Finance for any tax on the property. She was even kind enough to print out all the payment that my husband and I had made on the property.

When I called the foreclosure manager back and spoke with him regarding this, he got irate and said again they do not have to disclose what this money went to. I continued to stress I need a breakdown of the fees for closing when he said they also paid fees for "Homeland Security" on my property. I jokingly said, did they do drive bys and he said yes. I was beyond speechless when he said this. That same day, when I went to close on the sale of my home, the attorney asked me what this fee was for and I told her exactly what was said to me.

Everyone looked so shocked, and her comment was in 20 years of doing this for a living, she had never heard of this. I still had the paper work from the tax office also with me, but she said there was nothing they could do about it. I also just found out that they have a false loan on my credit report, a loan we never had with them. I don't even have a number to talk with anyone. The house loan was paid with the sale of our home. This other loan we never had, but it is on my credit report.

After one month, the appraisal was done. In the mean time HouseHold Finance called my wife to discuss how they would let us borrow $15000.00 and that would go back on the mortgage. My wife and I agreed to the term $15000.00, which they fail to tell us that the mortgage loan was not approved. The salesman informed my wife and I about other services that HouseHold Finance offers and we could try for (30) thirty days, which makes our loan over $15000.00 when he added thing such Joint Life Single Disability and single Unemployment.

Before the thirty days we cancel all the extra services that he offered. After canceling the extra service that would have the loan at $15000.0. Now after a year we have been paying on something that we cancel and HouseHold Finance fails to remove those charges. We have called HouseHold Finance many times to get this matter corrected.