Consumer complaint received 2019-03-30
Company: Selene Finance LP
State: FL
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
To Whom It May Concern : I am writing to voice my dissatisfaction at a company that holds my family mortgage, Selene Finance. I feel this Houston-based company misleads its customers and employs unethical business practices to extort late/administrative fees from its customers. 


Initially, the property belonged to my parents, and I have been authorized/entrusted to handle their financial affairs including their property at :. This property was in XXXX XXXX XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, we remit a reinstatement payment of {$39000.00} to place this loan in Good Standing. We have since received correspondence from Selenes attorney, XXXX XXXX XXXX. 

I noticed on our first, newly reinstated statement on XX/XX/XXXX, that our monthly payment {$2100.00} was noticeably higher than our previous payments of {$810.00}. In addition, there was a past due amount in excess of {$2800.00}. I dont know why there was a past due amount if we sent Selene a reinstatement payment the month before. 
Contractually, our principal and interest comes to : {$540.00} and our tax/insurance typically came up to a few XXXX dollars more. I also noticed that Selene placed forced lender insurance on this property, when there was an existing policy in effect. This policy was active with our prior mortgage provider, XXXX after which Selene took over the loan. I faxed proof of this policy to Selene last year on XX/XX/XXXX. In addition, I had our insurance agent send Selene a copy of this policy as well on XX/XX/XXXX. My first reason why I implore you investigating this company is because I have a feeling that when calculating their reinstatement fee, Selene charged us for its forced placed insurance, when the property was covered. 


So not to be hit with a late fee, I sent two payments of {$1200.00} and {$1000.00} on XX/XX/XXXX to cover the XX/XX/XXXX Statement to : SELENE FINANCE, XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, PA XXXX. Since this was my first time sending a payment to Selene, I called multiple times to see if XXXX received these payments and was told Selene have not received them throughout XXXX. I called my bank ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) to see if the checks have cashed but they advised they were not cashed. My bank advised the checks were issued and should have bee received three days after being sent. I requested a stop payment on these checks fearing they were lost. On XX/XX/XXXX, I called Selene customer service number to advise I placed a stop payment on the checks I sent. I finally spoke to a  Selene customer service representative who advised that one of the checks that of {$1200.00} was in their system and received on XX/XX/XXXX. In addition, I was also advised that an escrow analysis was completed on XX/XX/XXXX and refunds were issued. I verified this based on Selene online system that these adjustments were indeed made on XX/XX/XXXX. 

Much to my dismay, I received my XX/XX/XXXX statement I was troubled for a few reasons. Firstly, the total amount due, {$2100.00} did not change from the previous month. It should have since : an escrow analysis was complete on XX/XX/XXXX, the forced placed was dropped and refunds were issued to the account. The results from this analysis should have been reflected on my XX/XX/XXXX statement since it was printed on XX/XX/XXXX. Secondly, my payments were not reflected on this statement, as a result of this, an exorbitant, late fee of {$120.00} was levied to this account. In my dealing with other lenders, reminders are made by phone if a payment is not received by the XXXX of the month. I called multiple times to find out if Selene received any of my payments. 

Consequently, Selenes lack of communication and slow data entry forces me to have to send Selene an overnight payment of {$2100.00} in which I have to pay extra to send. 
Consequently, the second reason why I feel Selene deals with unethical business practices is because they do not accept partial payments via mail/online. This is very important to a customer, like myself, that contests any unfair fees/charges on their statements. On the contrary, if Selene payment is not received in full, Selene Finance charges an exorbitant late fee of {$120.00}. With my past mortgage companies, payments that were short were held in suspense, until the more funds were received or any issues/discrepancies are reconciled. Basically, a mistake on Selenes part ( due to poor communication or slow processing ) has its customers having to pay hundredsif not thousands dollars more in unsolicited late fees. 


On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an amended statement for XX/XX/XXXX. The amount due was {$1000.00} was due XXXX XXXX. Full payment was made on XX/XX/XXXX to avoid a late. 


Yesterday, XX/XX/XXXX, I noticed yet another discrepancy on our XX/XX/XXXX XXXX. I noticed there is a {$120.00} late fee levied on this account, which I believe is a mistake. As previously mentioned, I paid the monthly statement balance in full in the amount of {$1000.00} ; no late fee was assessed. With this in mind, I have no idea why a {$120.00} late fee was assessed? On XXXX XXXX at XXXX, I called Selene customer service hotline, XXXX and spoke with XXXX XXXX # XXXX who advised me that she didnt know what the {$120.00} fee was for. She suggested that I notify Selene by writing to request what this fee was for. This is troublesome. She also advised me that if I send a check for the amount of {$1000.00}, these funds would be applied to our account. XXXX did not seem terribly confident of this. 

Thirdly, I feel this company deals in unethical business practices because levying fees without providing a customer with clear indication what the charge is for is unethical and in my case very time consuming. I feel for the thousands of Selene Finance customers that have accounts with this company are experiencing the same discrepancies on their monthly statements. I also wonder how many customers of are experiencing the same emotional/financial distress that is being imposed by Selene Finance and do not have the time to send lengthy correspondence to address any discrepancies on their statements. 

I implore you to thoroughly investigate this company and its unethical business practices, since they may be bilking thousands of its customers. In financial times like this, every dollar makes a difference to hard working people. Thank you for your help. Please contact me should you have any questions.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation