I am writing to ask for assistance resolving an issue related to the disbursement of insurance…read morefunds necessary to repair my primary residence in Daytona Beach, FL - a property for which your bank holds the mortgage. The residence has been uninhabitable since flooding sustained during Hurricane Ian in 2022. My insurance company delivered to you a check for $78,000 to cover repairs, but bureaucracy at your bank has made it impossible for me to access those funds to pay for the necessary repairs.
A week before Hurricane Ian was scheduled to make landfall, I volunteered to work the first lockdown shift at the Halifax Hospital even though I knew my home was in a flood zone. While I was seeing patients in the hospital, my home and neighborhood were flooded with 15" of devastating rain. I lost nearly all of my personal possessions. Yearbooks, photos, furniture, momentos, my daughter's first college diploma were all left for me to muck through as the waters receded.
Unfortunately, 5/3 Bank (the company that should have the most vested interest in helping my family recover my property), has made this loss even more frustrating and time-consuming than either of my insurance companies or FEMA.
When I was trying to secure stable housing in October and November, a third-party verifier had to contact 5/3 Bank with me on the phone to confirm that my mortgage was being deferred. That third-party servicer and I spent three hours on hold for two consecutive days trying to get someone who could confirm that my loan was deferred. One 5/3 representative even told us that I did not have any loan with your Bank.
I received packets to complete every two weeks from different departments (such as the hardship department and the mortgage loan assistance department) to complete pages of duplicate documentation including uploading my divorce decree from 2015. I even completed an entire packet of document requests that were not even intended for me because another customer's information was stapled to my packet and accidentally mailed to me.
To date, I have submitted 42 documents at 5/3's request and I can see that only 5 have been received or reviewed. I have been prompted to go to the 5/3.com website, the Loan Solution Center, the My Claim Funds site.
My primary point of contact, an agent named Marquis, constantly provides incomplete or incorrect information. I have asked to speak with a supervisor with no reply. I have called phone lines in the morning that should be open during business hours but the phone rings or hangs up. I have called numbers in the afternoon and spent so long on hold or being transferred that all of the departments closed at 5 pm. I have spoken to Hardship Specialists, Loan Specialists, Disbursement Specialists, Insurance Claims Specialists, Forbearance Specialists. The prevailing theme with almost all representatives is "Not my department. Not my problem."
When I finally received my insurance check in April to begin repairs, I thought I was finally going to begin rebuilding my home. What I did not know was that I would be entering a new phase of bureaucracy and tedious processes where I have now given 5/3 Bank an insurance check for $78,000 but cannot access the funds. I am in yet another endless loop where I cannot get a signed contract for a remodeler until I give them a deposit, but I cannot give them a deposit because 5/3 Bank will not release the funds for me to make the deposit for repairs.
I need someone who can help me access the insurance funds so I can repair my home and make it livable again which, as I stated, is also in your best interest.
I did not ask to be a 5/3 customer; your company purchased my mortgage. I did not ask to be the victim of a natural disaster. I just want to have my home livable and I need someone to help and not continue to pass the buck.
