Consumer complaint received 2019-12-07
Company: Flagstar Bank, N.A.
State: NC
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: FHA mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
Our mortgage is almost $ 1000/mo and is due on the XXXX  of every month ; we usually make our payment a day or two prior. The following transactions were made, via XXXX XXXX XXXX : XX/XX/XXXX for XX/XX/XXXX payment XX/XX/XXXX for XX/XX/XXXX payment XX/XX/XXXX for XX/XX/XXXX payment XX/XX/XXXX for XX/XX/XXXX payment After TWO payments were mistakenly paid at the end of XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX ), we were incredibly upset and contacted both XXXX  XXXX XXXX and Flagstar Bank. After explaining the mistake, XXXX said they couldn't do anything because Flagstar already had both payments and they couldn't force them to return the payments. Flagstar Bank told us they couldn't give a refund without sending in a formal written request ( containin payment dates, refund amount, bank account and routing information, etc. ) and it would take up to two weeks to fully process and refund. We decided not to take this route, as it would take too much time. At this time, we were paid for XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. 


On XX/XX/XXXX, Flagstar Bank drafted another mortgage payment from our bank account. At this point, our Flagstar account showed we did not owe another payment until XX/XX/XXXX because we were still ahead. On XX/XX/XXXX, a formal request was sent to Flagstar Bank requesting a full and expedited refund of the XX/XX/XXXX payment. Bank account, including account number and routing numbers, were given to Flagstar to facilitate this refund. When requesting this refund, we assumed that we would be caught up and owe our XX/XX/XXXX payment, considering the two XXXX payments covered both the XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX payments and our Flagstar account summary showed the next payment was due XXXX XXXX, XXXX. Flagstar sent an automated reply to this email, then on XX/XX/XXXX sent an email with instructions for a wire transfer ( which we had already done two days prior ). We never received any other correspondence from Flagstar regarding the refund we formally requested. We contacted Flagstar later via telephone and requested information about the refund, to which they claimed that they had processed. They claimed they sent the refund to the XXXX  account, which never showed up. XXXX  XXXX XXXX was contacted ( as Flagstar directed, blaming XXXX  for the hold up ) and they advised they never received any funds wired into our account, and none were scheduled to clear. XXXX  XXXX XXXX filed a claim and refunded us the full amount of the XXXX payment and advised they would contact Flagstar directly and handle the matter. We never heard back from Flagstar, but on XX/XX/XXXX, a letter was received from XXXX stating they permanently credited us the claim. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, we logged into our Flagstar account to make our XXXX XXXX payment. The payment was made via Flagstar 's online payment portal. However, afterwards it was noticed that Flagstar flagged our account delinquent for our XX/XX/XXXX payment, and that we owed a late payment charge! Recall that we made TWO payments and were ahead a month -- XX/XX/XXXX for XXXX XXXX payment, XX/XX/XXXX for XXXX XXXX payment. We were on track once we requested a refund from Flagstar for the XXXX XXXX payment. I sent a lengthy email to Flagstar ( XXXX as directed by a phone representative ) requesting our account to be updated, explaining the scheduled/cleared payments, and advising that we had never heard back about a refund from them. Other than an automated reply, Flagstar NEVER contacted us back in regards to this email or our account standing. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, we received a letter from Flagstar advising us that a payment was returned our bank. No information was given about what payment date was refunded, and we NEVER saw a refund in our bank account from Flagstar -- only via XXXX. We received our monthly statement this date as well -- printed on XXXX XXXX, XXXX. This statement said our account was delinquent and that we owed almost {$2000.00} dollars!!!!! We immediately called Flagstar, and an agent told us we didn't owe that much -- but that we were behind on our XX/XX/XXXX payment. The most recent mortgage payment was scheduled XXXX XXXX via Flagstar 's payment portal, and it cleared XXXX  on the XX/XX/XXXX -- - the initial payment was scheduled on time, but it didn't clear until two days past due date. We are fine with the late charge due to this -- however, we are NOT behind a payment! The agent then told us Flagstar gave TWO refunds, allegedly on XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. Only ONE payment was requested to be refunded, which was the payment paid on XXXX XXXX. Even though Flagstar once again claimed to had issued a refund, now they claimed to have refunded us TWICE. These alleged refunds were NEVER credited back to our bank account ( other than the one granted by XXXX  in our initial claim we filed and they remedied ). So now, Flagstar is telling us we are behind on our mortgage and that they have refunded us ( once at our formal request, and another without our formal request ) almost {$2000.00} even though that money was never actually returned. We've printed off all bank statements from XXXX, our transaction history with Flagstar, and all correspondence.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation