These pages are now at www.theletfreedomringamendment.com
As I kept digging, I followed the paper trail—not just the policies and press releases, but the audits, complaints, and government data. What I found is a simple, ugly pattern: taxpayer money was used to rescue VA-guaranteed mortgages during COVID, and servicers—including Freedom Mortgage—often captured that public cash flow while steering veterans into costlier outcomes that generated even more revenue. And it wasn’t just Freedom Mortgage; other VA servicers showed the same playbook.
Summary
Congress and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) built a rescue pipeline so veterans could pause payments and then resume affordably—ideally through deferment with no added fees or interest (VA Circulars Archive). At the same time, VA launched programs like COVID-VAPCP and later VASP to transfer federal funds to loan holders and servicers in order to stabilize mortgages (GAO Overview; CFPB Servicing Metrics).
Yet veteran accounts, supervisory audits, and Ginnie Mae data reveal that servicers frequently pushed high-interest modifications, slow-rolled reviews, and issued default notices—monetizing both public relief and borrower hardship. Freedom Mortgage appears again and again in complaints—but so do PennyMac, Mr. Cooper, and PHH Mortgage.
What the Relief Was Supposed to Do
Defer, don’t punish. VA told servicers to move missed payments to the back of the loan—no extra interest or fees—so veterans could simply resume normal payments. Use the waterfall. Servicers were required to consider every affordable option and choose the least-cost, sustainable path for the borrower. Stop foreclosures. VA’s pandemic programs were meant to prevent foreclosure altogether, not create new financial traps.
Follow the Money: Where Taxpayer Dollars Flowed
Congressional funding: VA received about $36.7 billion in supplemental COVID relief through CARES, FFCRA, and ARPA (GAO Report). COVID-VAPCP → VASP: These programs allowed VA to purchase arrears or full loans from servicers to bring them current—direct infusions of federal cash into private institutions.
Policy timeline: VA’s foreclosure moratorium and VASP program changed repeatedly in 2024–2025. Congress then passed the VA Home Loan Program Reform Act (signed July 30 2025; White House), giving VA new partial-claim authority and codifying the loss-mitigation “waterfall.”
The Ginnie Mae Flow That Nobody’s Talking About
Public Ginnie Mae loan-level disclosures show that, during the pandemic, tens of thousands of VA-guaranteed mortgages were pooled into Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities—and then those same loans exited the pools in mass numbers.
These synchronized entries and exits happened alongside the explosion of post-forbearance modifications. Under Ginnie Mae rules, such removals and re-entries must be documented and, for VA loans, reported to VA. The public data strongly suggest that many VA loans were modified or restructured without proper VA oversight.
If that’s true, taxpayers financed both sides: the public guarantee backing Ginnie Mae securities and the private modifications that later generated new revenue for servicers like Freedom Mortgage. To date, no VA audit or congressional inquiry has explained who authorized these mass movements—or how many veterans were affected.
What Veterans Say Really Happened
“Pay it all now or take a bad mod.” Veterans say servicers demanded lump-sum repayments or forced them into higher-rate modifications—the exact opposite of deferment. Paperwork purgatory & pressure. Borrowers describe endless document cycles and even foreclosure notices while still “under review.”
Freedom Mortgage wasn’t alone. Complaints also name PennyMac, Mr. Cooper, and PHH. See the CFPB complaint database and BBB records.
Parallel litigation: The class action Cyrus v. PennyMac (D. Conn.) alleges similar “bait-and-switch” tactics once deferment options expired.
What Auditors and Supervisors Found
The CFPB Pandemic Metrics Report (2021) exposed serious servicing deficiencies. CFPB Supervisory Highlights (2021–2023) documented misapplied payments and repeated failures to follow hardship rules. HUD OIG found that many servicer websites gave veterans incomplete CARES Act information, fostering confusion. GAO warned that VA’s internal data systems made oversight nearly impossible.
Together, these findings show a relief system that stabilized servicers more than borrowers.
The Profit Mechanics
Rate Spread. Turning deferments into new, high-rate modifications added decades of extra interest. Servicing Fees. Lengthy “review” processes produced more late fees and capitalization opportunities. Foreclosure Pressure. Even automated default notices pushed borrowers toward unfavorable deals. Public Money → Private Profit. Servicers were paid with taxpayer funds to “help” veterans—then profited again from modified loans.
What Still Isn’t Transparent
No public breakdown shows how much each servicer received under VA COVID programs. No detailed accounting explains the mass Ginnie Mae pool entries and exits for VA loans between 2020 and 2023. No automatic retroactive fix exists for veterans harmed before the 2025 Reform Act.
That’s why we must push the Let Freedom Ring Amendment—to demand full transparency and compensation where VA policy was violated.
Veteran Action Checklist: Audit Your Loan
Request your full servicing file: payment ledger, call logs, escrow analysis, and all loss-mitigation notes. Verify that you were evaluated for deferment before modification. Flag any lump-sum repayment demand—it wasn’t required under VA rules. Ask whether your loan was pooled into Ginnie Mae and later removed or modified. Send a RESPA §2605 information request citing specific VA Circulars.
File a CFPB complaint to document your case. Contact a VA loan technician and a consumer-side mortgage attorney.
Conclusion
Taxpayers paid to protect veterans. But the system allowed servicers—Freedom Mortgage among them—to pocket federal relief funds and then profit again from borrowers. Until VA and Ginnie Mae publish servicer-level data and conduct a full retroactive review, the only way forward is to follow the money—and demand accountability.
Sources & References
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. (2021). Mortgage Servicing COVID-19 Pandemic Response Metrics Report. Link
Ginnie Mae. (2022). MBS Single-Family Loan-Level Disclosure Data Dictionary v1.8. Link
Government Accountability Office. (2021). COVID-19 Housing Protections: Mortgage Forbearance and Other Relief. GAO-21-554 Link
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. (2020–2025). VA Circulars and VALERI Updates. Link
White House. (2025, July 30). H.R. 1815 Signed into Law. Link
Congress.gov. (2025). H.R. 1815 – VA Home Loan Program Reform Act. Link
Bursor & Fisher, P.A. (2024). Cyrus v. PennyMac – Class Action Update. Link
Leave a comment