Consumer complaint received 2017-12-24
Company: AmeriHome Mortgage Company, LLC
State: CT
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
Dear Sir/Madam : I write to request your assistance in resolving a billing dispute that I am having with my mortgage servicer, Amerihome Mortgage. My previous phone and written attempts ( which included documentation of the harm they caused me ) to resolve this dispute with them have been unsuccessful. I feel like they are stonewalling me because they think they can get away with it. 

The facts of this matter are as follows. On XXXX XXXX, XXXX, I used Amerihomes automated payment system to pay my XXXX bill with a payment from my credit union account where I had sufficient funds to pay the bill. I received a confirmation number from Amerihomes system indicating that the payment had gone through. I found out later that Amerihome incorrectly billed my XXXX XXXX account, even though I had put in the routing number and account number for my personal credit union account. Not only that but Amerihome billed the incorrect account not once but twice without telling me it had done so. That caused me to sustain late fees and a bad check fee of {$20.00} from Amerihome on XXXX XXXX due to their billing error. I also sustained two NSF charges from the bank where I have my XXXX XXXX  account totaling {$66.00}. 

I called Amerihomes customer service department to try to resolve this on XXXX XXXX, XXXX and the first representative was unable to help me. I then asked to speak to a supervisor and was passed on to a XXXX named XXXX, who also identified himself as an XXXX XXXX. I told him that I had made a payment to their automated payment system on XXXX XXXX to be made from my personal credit union checking account had received a confirmation number and later found out that his company had billed the wrong account. I told him that it appeared to me to be a systemic problem at his end. He then made the breathtaking claim to me that their billing system can not save bank account numbers. I have found that statement to be not true. Indeed, what occurred in XXXX and XXXX appears to have happened because Amerihomes system defaulted to the financial institution that I had made payment from the prior month - that which XXXX falsely said was not possible. This same thing also happened with the XXXX incident less than six months later. He also told me that his companys records showed that my payment was billed to my XXXX XXXX account which is the problem since I had specifically designated payment to come from my personal credit union account. I asked him in light of the error by his company to waive all of the late fees and notify the credit agencies that this late payment was due to his companys error. XXXX refused to do so. I then asked to speak to someone else in management. He told me that someone would call me back within 24 hours. No one from Amerihome ever called me back on this matter. So, I felt even back then like Amerihome was stonewalling on this issue because they did not want to accept financial responsibility for their billing error. I sustained hard financial damages of {$220.00} from the XXXX billing error that was caused by Amerihome and damage to my credit rating. 

This same problem repeated itself in the XXXX timeframe. As a result I called Amerihome on XXXX XXXX, XXXX and spoke to a XXXX XXXX about this second instance of incorrect billing by her company. At that time she admitted to me that Amerihome had charged the wrong account for my twin payments on XXXX XXXX and again on XXXX XXXX. She agreed that Amerihome would credit back all of the late fees I was assessed for this error. I sent her a letter on XXXX XXXX, XXXX listing all of the late fees I was assessed by my bank and credit union for their errors. A copy of that letter is attached. I sustained {$230.00} in financial damages from the XXXX billing error by Amerihome and damage to my credit rating. At this same time one of my credit cards sharply cut my credit limit. I believe this was due to Amerihome wrongly reporting me as a month late on my mortgage due to their billing error. 

In response to my XXXX XXXX letter I received a computer generated form letter from Amerihome dated XXXX XXXX, XXXX, but postmarked XXXX XXXX that only said they had reported to the credit reporting agencies that my XXXX payment was not late. It did not mention my XXXX payment or even address the damages that I had documented in my XXXX XXXX letter that their error had caused me. In other words, they took an approach evasion and stonewalling. 

I wrote back to Amerihome on XXXX XXXX telling them that they had substantially not solved this problem to my satisfaction. A copy of that letter is attached. 

On XXXX XXXX, XXXX a XXXX XXXX of XXXX wrote to me. She falsely claimed that, the dispute did not contain details about late fees and other charges applied to the account. This is despite the fact that the XXXX XXXX letter I sent to Amerihome, as you can can see from the attachment did have such details. The original letter also had documentation of the expenses I had incurred due to their billing errors. 

XXXX XXXX in her letter to me said that she had forwarded ( your ) request to the appropriate department for further review. In the three months since XXXX XXXX wrote to me I have received no further communication from her or from the appropriate department regarding my claims concerning the XXXX wrong billing incident or for reimbursement of the expenses I incurred from my bank and credit union due to their billing errors. It clearly appears that Amerihome is stonewalling me to hope that I give up and they dont have to reimburse me for the cost to me of their billing errors in XXXX and XXXX XXXX. 

I am writing for your help to convince Amerihome to do the right thing and implement the following remedies for the consequences of their billing errors : 1. Amerihome to pay me of {$450.00}, plus interest for actual financial damages I sustained from Amerihome 's two mortgage billing errors where they attempted to draw funds from the wrong accounts concerning my XXXX and XXXX mortgage payements. Details of how this was calculated are included in my XXXX XXXX letter to Amerihome. 
2. Amerihome to provide me with clear documentary proof that they notified all of the national credit reporting agencies that my XXXX and XXXX payments were not late. 
3. Amerihome to provide a letter each to my credit union ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ) and my XXXX XXXX bank ( XXXX XXXX ) with copies to me that the overdrafts and bad check events resulted from their billing errors. 
XXXX. That Amerihome provide proof that they have a realistic corrective action plan being implemented to prevent these billing mistakes from occurring to anyone else in the future. 

Sincerely, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. 
XXXX, CT XXXX XXXX : XXXXXXXXXXXX XXXX : XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation