CHARLESTON — A young widow is suing Freedom Mortgage Corp. for the alleged wrongful scheduled foreclosure sale of her home.
Kelsey Nichole Smith is the sole heir of her deceased husband, Tanner Aliff, according to a complaint filed in Kanawha Circuit Court.
Smith claims Aliff purchased their home on Oct. 3, 2016, and the couple were married on Sept. 21, 2019. On March 26, 2020, Aliff died from a sudden cardiac arrest and Smith became the sole heir of Aliff's estate.
In July 2020, Smith lost her job as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and by July 2021, Smith fell approximately three months behind on her monthly payments and on July 26, 2021, Smith wrote to RoundPoint and requested that it confirm, in writing, that it was treating her as the successor in interest and further that it provided her with a forbearance under the CARES Act, according to the suit.
RoundPoint confirmed she was the successor in interest and further provided her with a forbearance agreement. Sometime in 2022 before the forbearance expired, the servicing of the mortgage loan was assigned to Freedom and in the fall of 2022, Smith contacted Freedom to inquire about a loan modification or other loss mitigation that would permit her to resume payments on the mortgage and deal with the arrears that accrued during the forbearance period, according to the suit.
Smith claims Freedom refused to recognize her as the successor in interest, accept her payments or process her application for loss mitigation.
Despite being aware of Aliff's death and that Smith was his surviving spouse, sole heir and was living in the property, Freedom refused to recognize Smih as the successor in interest and in January 2023, Freedom referred the account to a foreclosure trustee, according to the suit.
Smith claims she has suffered significant worry, stress and fear that she would lose the home her deceased husband left her as a result of Freedom's conduct and inaction.
Smith is seeking actual damages. She is represented by Sarah K. Brown and Bren J. Pomponio of Mountain State Justice in Charleston.
The case is assigned to Circuit Judge Joanna Tabit.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 23-C-503