Consumer complaint received 2023-11-27
Company: Specialized Loan Servicing Holdings LLC
State: CA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process
Sub-issue: Trying to communicate with the company to fix an issue while managing or servicing your loan

Complaint:
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXX/XX/XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX ) owned a condominium through their trust. That condominium was ( and remains ) subject to a deed of trust securing a mortgage loan serviced by Specialized Loan Servicing ( Specialized ). In about XXXX XXXX, I called Specialized and informed it of my fathers ( and his wifes ) death, and that I am the successor trustee of the trust. On XX/XX/XXXX, Specialized sent me an email acknowledging that call, indicating it was processing a Borrower Deceased Notification ( Case ID XXXX ) see Attachment XXXX. Specialized then sent a letter ( dated XX/XX/XXXX ) addressed to my father at the address of his last residence ( an assisted care facility ) see Attachment XXXX. I received that letter on or about XX/XX/XXXX. 
Specializeds XX/XX/XXXX letter sought certain information and documentation, and said to call XXXX with any questions. I responded by sending Specialized a letter, dated XX/XX/XXXX, enclosing the following : ( 1 ) Certified Death Certificate pertaining to my father ; ( 2 ) my fathers trust ; ( 3 ) the First Amendment to my fathers trust ; and ( 4 ) the Second Amendment to my fathers trust. ( See Attachment 3 with unsigned copy of the letter I signed an sent ) Up until XX/XX/XXXX, the monthly payment to Specialized was made by auto-bill pay Specialized deducted the payment from my fathers account at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ). Upon my verbal notice in XX/XX/XXXX that my father had passed away, Specialized apparently halted the auto-bill pay the XXXX account had adequate funds to make the monthly payment. I received no paper bill despite Specialized failing to conduct the standard auto-bill pay deduction. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an automated call from Specialized ( at number ) requesting I call it regarding the account. That automated call was repeated on XX/XX/XXXX, at which time I called Specialized at the number provided ( XXXX ) and was told by the representative that she could not speak with me regarding the account because I am not an authorized person on the account. I next heard from Specialized when I received a Mortgage Payment Reminder Notice in the mail, addressed to Estate of [ my father ] at my home address. ( See Attachment 4 ). This means Specialized clearly received my XX/XX/XXXX letter with the certified death certificate. Otherwise, the Mortgage Payment Reminder Notice would have been sent to my father ( not his estate ) at his last known address ( not my home address ). The Mortgage Payment Reminder Notice purported to apply a {$22.00} late charge for the XX/XX/XXXX loan payment. 
When I called Specialized to seek an explanation as to why a late charge was being applied when Specialized itself created the circumstances leading to the missed payment, I was told by the representative that she could not speak with me regarding the account because I am not an authorized person on the account. She also indicated she could not allow me to speak to a supervisor because I am not an authorized person on the account. The one thing she could do, was transfer me to the payment department in order to make the XX/XX/XXXX payment which would be subject to a {$12.00} additional fee. 
In summary, after my father passed away and it was notified of his death, Specialized halted the auto-bill pay on his loan, failed to send a paper invoice for the XX/XX/XXXX payment, refused to discuss the account with my fathers successor trustee ( me ) despite receipt of a copy of the trust and trust amendment specifically naming me the successor trustee, and refused to allow me to speak to a supervisor to try and resolve the stalemate created by Specialized. At the same time, It added a late fee and a {$12.00} additional fee when I tried to make the XX/XX/XXXX loan payment. 
I can not begin to express my outrage regarding these actions by Specialized, taken in the immediate shadow of my fathers death.

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