I have had the worst customer service experience I have ever encountered dealing with SLS recently. The current issue is the lack of clarity, concern, care, efficiency my husband and I have experienced with SLS processes and procedures during our recent short sale request. I have provided a detailed account of our experience below however I like to highlight early on several themes customers should be aware of.

 1) SLS’s customer service representatives do not give the same information regarding their processes.  Just about every time you call you will get a different answer to a variety of different questions about the short sale process and their procedures. 2)  SLS refuses to let customers speak to anyone of authority. The customer service reps play the transfer game until customers give up or become irate. 3) Once customers reach their “boiling point” the customer service reps only offer canned responses and do not seem to have any empathy to customers who are victims of their inefficient and questionable practices. 4) SLS are not timely and will offer false information. As indicated in issue #1, customers should not trust SLS customer service reps. When they tell you they have received everything they need they will come back with requests for little things already submitted to them. It is critical to follow-up repeatedly.

My husband and I had two loans, a primary with Bank of America (BOA) and a line of credit that BOA sold to SLS in 2012. We had been trying to sell the property for years however with the current housing market and our financial situation, we were forced to apply for a short sale.  I contacted SLS Customer Service in June to inquire about their short sale process. I was told that if the short sale was approved the primary lien holder, BOA had to initiate contact with SLS to negotiate the amount SLS would receive when my husband and I sold the property.  We received short sale approval by BOA in the beginning of July. At that time, we had no reason to doubt what SLS told us so we waited patiently for a buyer to purchase the property and figured BOA and SLS would work amongst themselves when it was time.  

By the end of August we received an offer on the property but still had not heard anything from SLS or BOA about the two firms working together to negotiate the final terms with SLS. We called BOA and were informed that the process explained to us by SLS was incorrect. We called SLS Customer Service on 3 different occasions to inquire again about the short sale process and were told 3 different answers. We finally demanded to speak with someone that could offer us a clear and consistent answer.  We were elevated to the Customer Resolutions Department.  We were told that we had to follow a similar short sale process as with BOA. We were asked to submit the package we submitted to BOA and conduct a phone interview. During the conversation with the Customer Resolutions Representative our real estate agent and I expressed our frustration with the miscommunication with the process.  We further expressed our concern with SLS holding up the closing scheduled October 11. We were told the short sale process was straightforward, our case would be flagged as urgent, and the process should not take longer than 30 days especially considering that BOA, as the primary lien holder, had already approved the short sale. The rep even stated that she expected the outcome in less than 30 days.

Fast forward to mid September we still had not received approval.  My husband and I began calling SLS every few days or so to check the status and ensure things were moving in the right direction. The automated message stated that all documentation had been received and the agent was reviewing the files. When speaking to a live customer service rep, we were given the same message.  On September 27 our real estate agent was informed by SLS that the Broker’s Professional Opinion was scheduled to be performed soon and a final answer should occur about 5 days of after that.

On September 30, my husband called to double-check the status and was told that underwriter, Angela, did not have all the information she needed after all.  We submitted the documentation that same day only to be told days later SLS still had not received the documentation because their email service takes 2-3 days to upload documents.

On October 4, I called again to check the status and at a minimum find out if the documentation we submitted was sufficient – we were running out of time to submit more documentation and wait the 2-3 days for uploading. I was told that the person working our file was out of office and no one was sure when she would return. I demanded to speak with the supervisor of the person working our file. After 50 minutes of dialogue and waiting with the Customer Resolutions Supervisor, Daynard, I believe, told me that he was unable to physically locate the supervisor but would create an elevated ticket explaining the circumstance.  He told me that Angela’s supervisor would call me Monday, October 7 in the afternoon and if she had not contacted me by 2, I should call and ask for her specifically.

I did not think it was possible to be more frustrated until the fiasco I experienced when I called the afternoon of Monday, October 7. I demanded to speak with Angela’s supervisor and was passed to 3 different customer service reps instead – each of which required me to go over my account details which included verifying phone numbers, email addresses, property address, etc.   It took 30 minutes before I was able to speak with a Customer Resolutions Supervisor named Toby, I believe.

Toby was rude and short with me. I demanded to speak with Angela’s supervisor however he refused to transfer me. He also stated that he would transfer me directly to Angela but she was not at work. He offered a generic apology and the same offer of an elevated ticket that Daynard processed that prior Friday. My voice was trembling and was very angry. It was obvious how upset I was. I explained again that we were scheduled to close in less than a week however we had no progress on the short sale request and seemed that Angela was not around to work the file. I explained that I wasn’t even sure if we had submitted the right documentation. I went over the entire story – the call was well over one hour.  Toby did not care. He, just like all the other representatives, seemed to be num to the stress and chaos SLS causes their customers because of their shoddy tactics.

I called on October 8 and spoke with yet another Customer Resolutions Supervisor named Anthony. Anthony informed me that he was unable to elevate my concern to Angela’s supervisor because Angela was still compliant with SLS’s 5 day response protocol– which was very different than the information  I was given by the 2 previous supervisors who both claimed they elevated the concern already.

As of October 8, I am no closer to the status of our short sale request than I was when we were finally told the real process at the end of August. We have to cancel our closing and the buyers may withdraw their offer. I am in utter disbelief that this is happening. No company has ever made my husband and I feel so vulnerable and powerless.  My story is not unique. There are pages and pages of similar complaints listed on the Better Business Bureau, on other websites, and their facebook page.