Consumer complaint received 2020-09-03
Company: Dovenmuehle Mortgage, Inc.
State: CO
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
I have my mortgage through XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX, CO ) but the loan is serviced by Dovenmuehle. My complaint is against Dovenmuehle. On XX/XX/20, I submitted a {$2100.00} principle only payment through the XXXX  website. The next day, the payment showed as being applied as principle only. However, by XX/XX/20 Dovenmuehle had changed/adjusted the payment to a regular payment ( principle and interest ) and advanced my due date to XX/XX/20. I am in the process of refinancing my loan through XXXX and was given the option of not making my XXXX payment ( due XX/XX/20 ) due to the closing taking place on XX/XX/20 with the loan funding on XX/XX/20. This is why I made a principle only payment on XX/XX/20. I had numerous conversations with my loan officer on XX/XX/20 and XX/XX/20 trying to obtain a correct payoff and figure out how my payment was being applied. I contacted the credit union on XX/XX/20 due to the payment finally being displayed as principle and interest and my call was routed to Dovenmuehle. The representative proceeded to tell me that I was due for XX/XX/20 and that's why the payment was applied that way. I told the representative that was incorrect, I made a principle only payment on XX/XX/20 and Dovenmuehle changed the payment directive without consent. I asked to have it corrected and was told I would have to submit a request in writing and it could take 5 days to correct. I told them this was unacceptable since I was closing on XX/XX/20 and the payoff had already been held up due to their error. I was then told that the payment should have been applied as principle only since it was initiated before the due date. I asked why was it changed and was told they didn't know why. I asked for a supervisor since they couldn't give me a timeline on adjusting the payment. When speaking with the supervisor, they told me that the payment was misapplied most likely due to a system issue and that it could take a few days to correct. At this point I was simultaneously speaking to my loan officer and that the payoff figures needed to be submitted to the title company yesterday. I then requested that Dovenmuehle leave the payment as is since it had already screwed up the closing and payoff. I was forced to adjust my closing to XX/XX/20 due o their error. 

The fact that Dovenmuehle changed my payment directive is concerning. Also, they couldn't explain why it happened other than to attribute it to a system issue. How many other consumers has this happened to? I'm actually an examiner with the CFPB so to say I'm a savvy consumer would be an understatement. If someone without my background wasn't paying close attention to their statements, this type of error could be missed. This could be prevalent and other principle payments only payments could be misapplied. This is why I'm filing the complaint. I want Dovenmuehle to explain why this happened and to further investigate the misapplication of principle only payments for other consumers. This is a huge red flag. 

See attached screen-prints to show the misapplication of my payment. You can see on the attachment ( Payment Made on XXXX ) that the payment was submitted as principle only on XX/XX/20 and processed on XX/XX/20. The attachment ( Payment adjusted on XXXX ) should the online payment as other but on XX/XX/20 being adjusted to XXXX XXXX XXXX.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation