Consumer complaint received 2021-06-25
Company: HOPE BANCORP, INC.
State: CA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
Below is the recent email I have sent to Bank of Hope. I am having difficulty resolving issues. They have recently switched to a servicer/collection agency ( XXXX XX/XX/XXXXXXXX ) which makes me nervous and worried. It also makes me believe others are having similar issues. Also COVID probably did not help. They have also recently sent me letters saying I may lose my home. 

Please read below, I have summarized the issues I have had. I have attached supporting documents. 

I am trying to refinance, so hopefully I do not have to deal with this bank again, but I wish I could find a bank that would guarantee that they do not sell my loan. 
__________________________________ I have had late fees over the past 1.5 yrs ( XX/XX/XXXX ), and have had the loan with Bank of Hope for just over that amount, since XX/XX/XXXX. I purchased my home in XX/XX/XXXX I thought I had taken care of the issue last XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ) and made an additional payment for late fees. ( You can see this extra payment on the payment activity summary that I have attached. ) I just made the payment to hopefully get my account straightened out and not have any hassles. 
My payments should have gone down in XXXX as my taxes went down, but instead my payments increased. I had called and this was to have been cleared up and was told it would be. The purchase price of my home was less than what the county was charging taxes for. I even received a refund check from the county for overpayment.

I have continued to make my usual monthly payments every month. I received bills in XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX with {$0.00} due. I do not know why I would receive bills with {$0.00} due and I believe this is part of the problem. 
Then again in XX/XX/XXXX I was assessed late fees which have continued since. The entire time I have continued to pay every month, through autopay, the amount of {$3200.00}. 

I got a statement on XX/XX/XXXX that was an escrow activity summary. It stated that I had an escrow balance surplus of {$470.00}, escrow payments past due of {$390.00} and that my regular payments were decreased by about {$65.00} dollars, from {$3200.00} to $ XXXXmonth.

The following month I received a refund check for the amount of {$470.00}. For what reason I do not know? If I owe {$390.00} why send me a refund check for {$470.00}? 

For the entire time I have been with Bank of Hope I have continued to pay {$3200.00} monthly on autopay. Unfortunately I am not given a true online account with Bank of Hope and my payments are just through a payment website. There is no way for me to stay on top of my charges and pay off due balances, I rely only on you all for applying charges correctly. 

On my most recent statement for XXXX I have an overdue amount of {$500.00}, late fees of {$25.00}. Even though I am paying monthly more than that is due. 

Also recently received letters that I have been sent to collections and that now Bank of Hope is not servicing my loan any more. But Bank of Hope is still the owner of the loan. 

Yesterday ( XX/XX/XXXX ) I had a frustrating conversation with a Bank of Hope representative, XXXX who basically just kept on repeating to me that Bank of Hope is not servicing my loan and that I have to call XXXX XX/XX/XXXXXXXX. 

-I am beyond frustrated. 
-I never asked for my bank to change to Bank of Hope -I have called multiple times, tried to explain that I should not be behind on my payments and have asked for a supervisor. I have been told that the issue will be looked into and I will receive a call back, but no one has yet to call me back. 
-I now have complaints to the credit bureaus that I have been late on my mortgage payments 3+ times. 
-As a physician I do not have much free time, but I have been forced to put in a lot of personal time for something that should have been a straightforward process. I should be compensated at my usual hourly rate of $ XXXX/hr for all the time I have spent on the phone, reviewing bills and trying to make sense of these errors. 

Please fix this and clear up my credit. 
__________________________________ Thank you for your time and thank you in advance for your assistance and service. 
So far I have spoken to XXXX, XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX ( manager ) in XX/XX/XXXX And recently to XXXX and XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX Sincerely XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXXI am also attaching my request for resolution as I would like this also published. 

What would be a fair resolution to this issue? 
-They get me a new loan with a different bank/mortgage company at today 's market rates. They need to do all the leg work after providing me with such bad service. Give me options of what banks will purchase my loan and what rates and terms. They do this when it is in their interest, but as you know this is a long process with fees and requires credit checks etc. If they are not able to do this need to send me documents that they shopped around and what offers they were given. If I am not happy, I will shop myself for a new loan. Basically provide me with top of the line customer service as should happen as me and others like me are providing them a salary and business. ( I get about 10 calls per day of mortgage companies wanting to refinance my loan so they can make quick money on fees ) -Restore my credit and remove late notices -refund my late fees that they have charged me. -pay me for my time, why should I work for free for their mistakes and poor systems.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation