Consumer complaint received 2018-08-21
Company: CARRINGTON MORTGAGE SERVICES, LLC
State: NY
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Sub-issue: Account status incorrect

Complaint:
In XXXX of this year, I received a notice that my mortgage payment was increasing by {$53.00} due to a forecasted escrow shortage effective XX/XX/18. My mortgage payment is set up to be paid automatically from my bank on the XXXX of the month which is the day that I get paid. My mortgage was sold to this company years ago and I have never had a late payment. I honestly forgot about the increase because I didn't look at the monthly statement and my regular payment of {$3200.00} was mailed and received by Carrington Mortgage Services on XX/XX/18. Around XX/XX/18 I received a call from the company saying that my payment was late and that I didn't make a payment. The representative I spoke with confirmed that they had indeed received the payment timely but that since it was short {$53.00} they posted it to 'unapplied ' instead of to the principal, interest and escrow. He said he was going to apply it and I told him I apologized and would mail the balance, including a {$65.00} late fee I didn't feel I should be responsible to pay. I received yet another call in XXXX on the XXXX saying I still hadn't paid my XXXX or XXXX payments which I explained to the woman on the phone I had paid both. I checked my account and the check for XXXX and XXXX as well as the additional amount that I owed all had cleared the bank. On Saturday XX/XX/XXXX I received 6 letters from the bank, 3 certified and 3 regular mail that my house was going to be foreclosed on for failure to make my required mortgage payments. All of this for {$53.00}???? I then received an alert that same day that my credit score went down 80 points because of a late payment to Carrington Mortgage Services. I was furious as not only had I made a timely payment of {$3200.00} albeit short {$53.00} they are treating me like a delinquent. I have been with this company ( not my choice ) for years and never made a late payment. I had 0 late  payments on my credit report and now I have this one and it has destroyed my credit. I can't get a new mortgage and I can not co-sign a loan for my son. This is horrendous. I sent an email and a letter to the research department at Carrington as instructed disputing the late payment and requested that they remove it and update my report. They responded yesterday saying that they will not fix my report and that it is what it is. I called them today and spoke with 3 different people in customer service and they each said that while it is an unfortunate situation they are only abiding by the law and can not remove the late payment as it would be fraudulent. How could it be fraudulent if it wasn't late? I am not denying that it was short {$53.00} dollars but it was just an honest oversight and I am being punished as if I am late on every payment I make. The customer service representatives would not allow me to speak with the research department as they said they do not have a recorded phone line so they instructed me to try and dispute it with the credit reporting agencies directly. I am filing a complaint asking for assistance in getting this late payment removed from my credit report because I have proof from them that they received the XXXX payment on XX/XX/XXXX yet are still saying it was late because they didn't post it until XXXX ... ..

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation