Consumer complaint received 2017-08-10
Company: American Financial Resources, Inc.
State: OR
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
After making regular payments for approximately a year on my mortgage with AFR they suddenly started placing notes on my account that my payment was not due. I noted this during my online payments for a couple of months and then received a more obvious note on my web portal that showed that my account had a positive balance. I called AFR and asked them to explain. I was told that when I made my first mortgage payment it was a month early and subsequent payments had also been early. The interest savings and escrow schedule had been moved back which accommodated approximately a {$1000.00} ( or about 2 full payments ). Since my account was a full two months ahead, per the recommendations of the AFR agent I spoke with I stopped making mortgage payments for 2 months. After a month and a half I started receiving collections phone calls suddenly and when I looked at my account it was badly past due, much more than the two payments I had skipped. I called AFR and after many subsequent calls and nearly 10 hours of hold and wait time they told me that another borrower had been making payments by mistake to my account. They told me there were approximately {$3500.00} of payments made to my account over the last 8 months. These payments were then removed at the exact same time I stopped paying because my account was ahead, despite the review that was done prior to stopping payments. The numbers I was given did not add up and the account ledger still does not add up. My escrow account was also adjusted and the money was removed from it reduced it to more than {$600.00} below what I had paid into it. When I brought this up with AFR they told me it was not my money that had been placed in the account, however, if you add up my payments and simplify their incredibly complicated account ledger it is easy to see that hundreds of my dollars are now missing. I also tried to explain this to AFR, however, they continue to point me back to my overly complicated account ledger and explain that it is correct despite the hard facts. In order to avoid foreclosure I borrowed money from another institution and paid off all of the bad debt on my account and brought it up to current. My escrow account deficiency was added to my monthly payments for the remainder of the year and caused my payment to rise by more than {$50.00}. AFR continues to threaten me with action against me even though my account is current. They also have assessed payment fees ( NOT LATE FEES ) that are being applied to my payment every time I make one. This has effectively raised my payment by more than 10 %. This is fraud. This company has been impossible to work with and has intentionally attempted to sabotage my mortgage using false claims that another lender was making payments to my account. I believe they have pre-screened mortgages that have more than 100 % equity and are " Rocking the boat '' to see if they can get some to sink and make money for themselves. I also believe they have intentionally overcomplicated their account ledgers to confuse borrowers and hide their fraudulent activities. My account is very simple. Every payment I make has principal, interest and Escrow. This is not how the ledger reads. Additionally no presentation of the escrow account has ever been made to me to show that the funds are being held accountable and applied in accordance to my mortgage terms. Please investigate this organization, they are ruthless and incredibly shady. Thank you!

Company public response: Company believes complaint is the result of an isolated error
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation