PHH Mortgage Services Corporation

2015-12-22

Newnan, GA

Loan servicing, payments, escrow account

Mortgage: Conventional fixed mortgage

Complaint: I have had a mortgage with PHH mortgage for a little over a year. Yesterday ( XXXX XXXX ) I received a call from the PHH stating that I had not paid my XXXX payment. As a result I had late fees and potential reporting against my credit bureau record. I insisted that I had paid my XXXX payment in XXXX and asked them to please verify. They did find my payment was received on XXXX XXXX ( 12 days before it was due ) and that it has been misapplied. I have spoken with their customer service and with their collection department and neither has taken the late fee off my account or removed the " overdue '' status from my account. PHH mortgage is not taking the appropriate steps to resolve this situation.
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Disputed: No Timely Response

2015-12-22

FL

Loan servicing, payments, escrow account

Mortgage: Conventional fixed mortgage

Complaint: XX/XX/XXXX I refinanced my loan on the property that I 've lived in since XX/XX/XXXX ( the refinance was to remove my exhusband ). At that time, I was told that flood ins was not necessary and was provided a XXXX stating flood zone XXXX. ( I have never been required to purchase flood ins since owning the property beginning in XX/XX/XXXX. ) Now my mortgage co, PHH Mortgage, has stated that I 'm in XXXX XXXX and do have to purchase ; they purchased on my behalf and have begun to escrow to my acct. As the FEMA flood zone mapping has not changed since XX/XX/XXXX, I do not understand why this has changed and I 'm now required to purchase. Upon questioning this, I was told that it is because of a very, very small portion of the SE corner of my house as in the XXXX XXXX, however this is where my septic drainfield is located and is elevated due to this. The base elevation of my floor is XXXX ft XXXX in which is XXXX more feet about the XXXX ft 100 year flood standard. My house is on a concrete pad so there is no basement or crawl space that can flood. I would only have damage if the water gets over XXXX feet. Also I know that my neighbors directly north of me were told by their bank that they did n't need a floor elevation on the survey since none of their property is in a flood zone, and my floor is XXXX in higher than theirs.
Company Response: Closed

Disputed: No Timely Response

2015-12-21

Mercer, PA

Settlement process and costs

Mortgage: Conventional fixed mortgage

Complaint: The night before closing XXXX/XXXX/15 at XXXX we received a phone call from our real estate agent stating we had to bring additional money to closing. We initially thought we were going to make a cash profit on top of our XXXX percent down payment from the home that we were selling. We got this information from the closing disclosure we signed on XXXX XXXX and that total was {$52000.00}. In the beginning of obtaining the mortgage on XXXX XXXX, 2015 we were given an estimated closing disclosure but we were continuously told that it would change. On the night before closing, our agent called to tell us that the FINAL disclosure was incorrect and we were to actually pay the estimated amount on the closing disclosure {$55000.00}. This was all conducted over the phone and no one from the mortgage company or Coldwell banker provided us with any information via email until XXXX. I do not understand how an official document that we signed can be altered less than 24 hours prior to closing. It was very unprofessional and we felt as if we were being taken advantage of or that we were being scammed by our agent/ mortgage company. Essentially we were responsible for paying for their mistake.
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Disputed: No Timely Response

2015-12-18

Saint Paul, MN

Loan servicing, payments, escrow account

Mortgage: FHA mortgage

Complaint: I have been dealing with numerous issues with this company, and since my last complaint when the messed up on my escrow and accidently cut me an overage check ..the agreement with XXXX a supervisor whom I spoke with on XXXX XXXX 2015, Phh had cut me an overage check for my escrow which should not have been dispersed to me because their system thought my home insurance was paid for XXXX 2015 but it had not been that 's why the check was cut to me, which caused my to have an underage in my escrow..When I spoke with XXXX we agreed to take the escrow overage and break it into 24months, so my house payment would be XXXX and some change so I rounded up to XXXX. On XXXX XXXX my bank account was charged XXXX causing my bank account to go negative XXXX, and that caused a XXXX over draft fee, so PHH charged me an amount we did not agree upon, and caused my banking account to go negative total of XXXX. I have had nothing but problems with this company, I never receive my supervisor call backs when I request them.
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Disputed: No Timely Response

2015-12-18

Finksburg, MD

Application, originator, mortgage broker

Mortgage: Conventional fixed mortgage

Company Response: Closed

Disputed: No Timely Response

2015-12-18

Roxbury, NY

Other

Mortgage: Other mortgage

Company Response: Closed with explanation

Disputed: No Timely Response

2015-12-17

Nyc, NY

Loan modification,collection,foreclosure

Mortgage: FHA mortgage

Company Response: Closed with explanation

Disputed: No Timely Response

2015-12-16

Groton, MA

Loan modification,collection,foreclosure

Mortgage: Conventional adjustable mortgage (ARM)

Complaint: Phh mortgage has made it very difficult for me once I fell behind on payments. Once a month they have a property preservation person come and say the house is vacant. I have called at least 12 times or more to tell them it is not vacant. All utilities are on and the lawn is cut or driveway plowed. I have now added a security system with signs on the lawn to keep them away. In XXXX XXXX XXXX of the property preservation people came and saw us cutting the hedges. In XXXX XXXX lawn equipment was stolen from the property including an expensive ladder, rake, and broom. The cast iron lawn furniture was dragged down the driveway to be stolen too. The front of my house has beautiful lilacs that overhang a flower bed on the side of the walkway and porch area. They were hacked and butchered into sharp raw stalks. XXXX ferns were stomped and broken. In the backyard the same sharp hatchet was used to cut wildflowers. The patch cut was just the same size as a cell phone camera lens. The preservation person must have said they mowed my acre of lawn and took a photo of the cutting to be paid for the work. I filed a police report which states the damage, but does not include the stolen items and the value of the damage is incorrect. The damage was so unusual I was frightened for my safety and my XXXX year old. The police officer stated that in 10 years on the force had he seen something like that. Under the advice of an attorney friend I was told to contact the bank to see if they might have done the damage. Phh confirmed they had been to the property the previous morning. I was told a supervisor would call back. It never happened. I called back the next day and Phh mortgage now said they could n't disclose such information. I again waited for a supervisor to call. In XXXX I called to try to make an {$8000.00} payment towards the {$11000.00} I owed. I was told that I should file again for a forbearance. The representative at Phh told me I pre-qualified for a forbearance and the {$11.00} could be paid at a later date also if I qualified. She sent out a packet and transferred me to a supervisor. The Supervisor noted I had called back in XXXX to complain about the damage and trespassing at my home. He said the XXXX phone calls were recorded but that even though every 3-5 weeks someone had been to the home that XXXX there was no record of someone being there. The documentation that proved they had been to my house suddenly vanished from the record. In XXXX the bank said I did not qualify for the forbearance because I was too many months behind and now an attorney debt collector was involved for forclosure. Now I had over {$1000.00} in attorney fees and {$480.00} in property preservation fees for the damage they did to my property. In XXXX I was told to not make a payment and to file a forbearance even though I could not qualify and as a result I had more fees added. In XXXX Phh mortgage cancelled my homeowners insurance again stating I had abandoned the home and it was vacant. This was the same time I was trying to obtain a forbearance and then was working with their attorney to try to settle the back payments. On XXXX 27 days before i had to become current I had my attorney become involved. He tried to work with phh mortgage 's attorney. We requested {$1500.00} for the damages, trespassing, and emotional suffering and another {$540.00} for the preservation fee and the property inspection fee which i had been told was from before XXXX. As part of HAMP the fee was supposed to be removed. On XXXX XXXX, XXXX a check was delivered for the full amount owed on the mortgage because both the phh and the their attorney did not return my attorney 's repeated messages. On the receipt the receptionist hand wrote {$14000.00} instead of the XXXX. Where is the missing money. It was never returned to me.
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Disputed: No Timely Response

2015-12-15

Fleming, GA

Loan modification,collection,foreclosure

Mortgage: Other mortgage

Company Response: Closed with explanation

Disputed: No Untimely Response

2015-12-15

Asheville, NC

Loan modification,collection,foreclosure

Mortgage: VA mortgage

Company Response: Closed with explanation

Disputed: No Timely Response

2015-12-15

Ontario, CA

Loan modification,collection,foreclosure

Mortgage: Other mortgage

Company Response: Closed with explanation

Disputed: No Timely Response

2015-12-14

Branchburg, NJ

Loan modification,collection,foreclosure

Mortgage: Other mortgage

Company Response: Closed with explanation

Disputed: No Timely Response

2015-12-14

Manteno, IL

Loan servicing, payments, escrow account

Mortgage: Conventional fixed mortgage

Company Response: Closed with explanation

Disputed: No Timely Response

2015-12-14

San Francisco, CA

Loan servicing, payments, escrow account

Mortgage: Other mortgage

Complaint: I requested and received a mortgage payoff statement from Merrill Lynch. The instructions on the payoff letter noted payment could be made by cashier 's check or wire transfer from a bank. My bank ( Bank of America, which owns Merrill Lynch ) allows me to make wire transfers directly, using Bank of America 's website -- I am attaching the online wire transfer form I used, for reference. I transferred the full loan repayment amount to the account indicated in the payoff letter ( a XXXX XXXX account ) before the payment deadline. Merrill Lynch/XXXX XXXX held those funds for 13 days and then reversed the transfer, returning the funds to my bank account. No reason was given as to why the monies were returned. In the interval between their receipt of the loan payoff funds and their returning those funds, Merrill Lynch charged me an additional month 's interest. I spoke with a representative of Merrill Lynch 's mortgage division and also with her supervisor ( XXXX XXXX, who is based in the Merrill Lynch 's home branch in New Jersey ) and they could n't explain why my loan payment was reversed except to say that the " wire transfer '' mechanism indicated in the payoff letter was different from the " wire transfer '' mechanism ( so-called by Bank of America ) that I used. Merrill Lynch is part of the Bank of America Corporation. From a consumer perspective, I have no way of distinguishing why XXXX divisions of my own bank would define " wire transfer '' differently -- nor can I understand why I would be expected to distinguish between their evidently disparate uses of this term. Ultimately, I paid off my loan according to the instructions in the payoff letter and now I 'm being charged an additional 6 weeks of interest for no reason.
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Disputed: No Timely Response

2015-12-10

Dallas, TX

Loan servicing, payments, escrow account

Mortgage: Home equity loan or line of credit

Complaint: I have been making regular payments to Merrill Lynch since the inception of my loan back in XXXX. In the XXXX - XXXX time period Merrill Lynch voluntarily paid my ad valorem taxes. The first time this took place I simply paid in a lump sum of over {$21000.00} to pay them back. The second time they began to charge me escrow payments of approximately $ XXXX/month which was fine with me. However they misapplied the phone several times. There were times when they told me a payment was not due and they would return funds to me. This confusion cause them to miss appropriate payments in such a way that they turned me and to the credit bureau for making late payments, however I followed their instructions the entire time. For example in XXXX of XXXX I made XXXX payments in one month at their request. In XXXX I also made XXXX payments at their request so I should 've been " ahead ''. Additionally in XXXX I made them a payment of {$21000.00} to pay for the taxes they had paid. Also during XXXX they applied a payment into a suspense account rather than as a XXXX payment. I spoke with them in XXXX and made XXXX more payments. They told me I forgot to make a XXXX payment and at first I assumed perhaps they were correct until I went back and checked my records. I had made XXXX payments in XXXX and they applied XXXX to a suspense account - perhaps because the XXXX payment was not technically do yet I am not sure. I sent them detailed information explaining that their error in reporting to the credit bureau has caused my credit score to be reduced to a point that I can not refinance my home. I received a brief letter saying that they had done their research and felt like they were correct. This is causing me a major problem. Nobody will refinance my house with this credit score of XXXX. I have been told by a credit consultants that the Merrill Lynch blemish is causing my score to be reduced by XXXX to XXXX points. what is the most frustrating part, is nobody will explain exactly where they think I have missed a payment. They simply asked me to produce a copy of my credit report and information on why it needed to be corrected.
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Disputed: Yes Timely Response

2015-12-10

Crowley Lake, CA

Loan servicing, payments, escrow account

Mortgage: Other mortgage

Company Response: Closed with explanation

Disputed: No Timely Response

2015-12-09

Old Tappan, NJ

Loan modification,collection,foreclosure

Mortgage: Other mortgage

Company Response: Closed with explanation

Disputed: No Timely Response

2015-12-07

Bakersfield, CA

Loan modification,collection,foreclosure

Mortgage: Other mortgage

Company Response: Closed with explanation

Disputed: No Timely Response

2015-12-04

Bakersfield, CA

Loan modification,collection,foreclosure

Mortgage: Other mortgage

Complaint: A modification package was submitted to the servicer on XXXX XXXX. Confirmation of the document was received via email, please see attachment. On XXXX XXXX the file was opened, please see attachment. A letter was generated XXXX stating that the financial package was received, please see attachment. On XXXX XXXX an email was sent to the servicer requesting an update on the file as well as an update on the sale date. Later on in the day a message was received via email stating the file was denied the previous day from a different party within the institution. See attachment. The package was sent in 9 days before the sale date yet the servicer is now refusing to review the file per the letter. The file was already in review per the letter that was sent out acknowledging the documents.Per the servicer portal website, work was still being done in the file as of XXXX, Please see attachment. On the XXXX " Servicer '' has confirmed the above mentioned borrower and location is currently " Under Review '' for any/all loan modifications in accordance with but not limited to HAMP Tier One, HAMP Tier Two, or any available " In House '' modifications. HAMP Handbook XXXX Chapter V Protections Against Unnecessary Foreclosure states the following : XXXX Suspension of Referral to Foreclosure-A servicer may not refer any loan to foreclosure or conduct a scheduled foreclosure sale ( except as provided under Section XXXX ) unless and until the servicer has resolved the Escalated Case in accordance with Section XXXX. It is very apparent the servicer would rather foreclose on the home then move forward with the review to retain the home. The events described are just a sample of the practices that are taking place at PHH. PHH is more interested in foreclosing and selling homes at auction to make a profit. It appears that PHH 's lack of participation in a meaningful modification review of the file indicates a preference to profit directly from the homeowners hardships. Furthermore, the numerous times the homeowner has spoken to the PHH should extinguish any opportunity to excuse PHH 's behavior. At this time we are demanding a postponement of the sale date or the homeowners will assert their legal right and name PHH and XXXX XXXX as defendants in Civil Court.
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Disputed: No Timely Response

2015-12-04

IN

Loan modification,collection,foreclosure

Mortgage: FHA mortgage

Complaint: Lost my job in XX/XX/XXXX. I 've been trying to get my payments back on track since XX/XX/XXXX. I 've had 3 monthly payments returned to me. I applied for a loan modification and was denied. I appealed the decision for a loan modification and during the appeal and decision time was able to come up with the total amount due. I was given a due date to appeal by XXXX XXXX 2015, I sent a check to mortgage company for total amount due to bring my account current. I called mortgage company on XX/XX/XXXX to see if my check for total amount due had been received to find out my appeal had been denied and my mortgage was submitted to foreclosure on XXXX XXXX 2015 without written notification, or the chance to bring account current. I have been trying repeatedly to work with PHH Mortgage to get my account current. Seems as though they want me to lose my home. Very disappointed, and aggravated at this point.
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Disputed: No Timely Response

2015-12-02

Lena, OH

Settlement process and costs

Mortgage: VA mortgage

Complaint: My mortgage refinancing closed on XX/XX/XXXX. A check for approximately {$5600.00} for the amount of funds in the old escrow account with PHH MORTGAGE was supposed to be mailed to us within 2 weeks from XX/XX/XXXX ( the closing was actually on XX/XX/XXXX but we were told it took 7 days to officially close out ). Since this is a large sum of cash we have been following up since XX/XX/XXXX as to the status and whereabouts of the check. To sum it up we have been following up weekly since then and have been given numerous explanations and conflicting stories regarding the date the check was sent, the dates we should receive the check, and when the " receive by '' dates have lapsed we have been told to wait another week. We were told last Monday that if we had n't received the check by this Monday ( yesterday ), they would overnight the check by today. Today when we spoke with them they said they actually ca n't do that, and if they ever do agree to do that, then it would take 10 days to accomplish it. At the end of the discussion with PHH tonight we were again told that they would continue to look into it and see what they could do. Once again, More than 45 days from the original closing date, they could not give us a definitive answer as to the whereabouts of the check they say was processed and sent out on XX/XX/XXXX. What warrants concern to us is the sheer amount of seemingly unending excuses and lack of a definitive resolution timeframe this company has demonstrated, a behavior that we have never experienced with a bank. We were told today that if they cancel the check, they have 10 days to " process '' it before they even mail it out. And then they said it takes 21 days in the mail without receiving it before they get concerned. I find this strange since in reality the US mail is very reliable and seldom does it take longer than 5 business days to receive something from anywhere in the country, let alone XXXX to XXXX. Our primary issues are : - Multiple claims about the date the escrow check was sent- The check never arrives by the date they say it should- They are unwilling to overnight the check today as they promised last Monday- We were told they canceled the check tonight, but now have to investigate whether the check was cashed before they resend another ( they ca n't quickly determine that? ) - When we asked if there is a date when they finally reach a point where they simply set their normal process aside and overnight our money to us, they state there is n't one- As of now, there is no definitive date that we may count on to have the {$5600.00} received that is owed to us. Our final concern is that in talking with the " always polite '' individuals at PHH Mortgage, there is an air of dishonesty surrounding the whereabouts of our escrow money. The absolute inability to resolve the issue coupled with a never ending runaround on how we have to wait, wait, and wait even longer calls into question the legal operation of this banking institution and whether it has issues with where it keeps escrow funds, how it uses them while it is supposed to be safeguarding them, and whether or not our escrow funds are even available to PHH, if they are even in their " possession '' at this time. I fear in the worst case PHH may be misappropriating escrow funds they are charged with safeguarding for proper disbursement.
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Disputed: No Timely Response

2015-12-01

Barnsboro, NJ

Loan modification,collection,foreclosure

Mortgage: Other mortgage

Company Response: Closed with explanation

Disputed: No Timely Response

2015-12-01

Arvada, CO

Loan servicing, payments, escrow account

Mortgage: Conventional fixed mortgage

Complaint: My name is XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX. I have a mortgage with PHH Mortgage, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX. My complaint is that when I send my mortgage payment that includes prepayment of principal, the prepayment is first credited to the Escrow account, and not as a prepayment of principal. Additionally, PHH Mortgage is servicing my account from a foreign location XXXX. I do not want my non public information being shared with XXXX.
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Disputed: No Untimely Response

2015-11-30

Coventry, RI

Loan modification,collection,foreclosure

Mortgage: FHA mortgage

Company Response: Closed with explanation

Disputed: Yes Timely Response

2015-11-30

Brookside, NJ

Credit decision / Underwriting

Mortgage: Conventional fixed mortgage

Company Response: Closed with explanation

Disputed: Yes Timely Response