Consumer complaint received 2019-06-22
Company: PHH Mortgage Services Corporation
State: CA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Other type of mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
Our home had severe fire damage from the XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX in  XXXX County. We received funds from our insurance company to cover the structural damage to our home in the amount of {$150000.00}. The check was made to my wife and myself and XXXX who serviced our loan at that time. Our claim funds are being handled by XXXX XXXX XXXX  ( XXXX ) on behalf of our mortgage servicer. I was led to believe that we would receive {$40000.00} back right away to start the work. We were not told that from the {$40000.00} would be subtracted funds previously dispersed more than 1-year earlier to repair other fire damage. We were sent a total of {$170.00} to begin the work. To begin the process they require a number of documents from each contractor ( signed contract, W9, lien release, contractors license ). The number of documents can add up when there are several contractors involved. Every " t '' must be crossed and " i '' dotted or the document is rejected. Their web site does not explain why a document is rejected and that information is nearly impossible to obtain by talking with a customer service representative. Also, I have submitted many documents several times and I continue to be told that i have submitted them. Getting all required documents submitted and accepted is a long and arduous process. I have been working on this for over 2-months and still not complete. Based on the understanding we would have {$40000.00} to start the work we scheduled our 5 contractors ( roofing, painting, HVAC, fencing and paving ) and began the work.As soon as we received the check for {$170.00} I began the process of requesting a 50 % inspection so we could receive a 50 % disbursement and make timely payments to our contractors. When I called customer service to request the inspection and discuss timing I was told that it would take 2-3 business days to make the request to the inspection company, 2-3 business days for the inspection results to be transmitted and posted to our file and 2-3 business days for a check to be sent overnight ( we paid for overnight mailing for disbursement checks ). They could not give a time frame for when the inspection company would conduct the inspection after receiving the inspection order. On Friday, XX/XX/XXXX, after many phone calls and several hours, I made contact with the local inspector. She conducted the inspection at about XXXX XXXX on Monday, XX/XX/XXXX, completed and file a report the same day indicating 70 % completion. Based on the time frames given we expected a check to arrive in 5 to 7 business days from XX/XX/XXXX. As of XX/XX/XXXX we have not received the anticipated payment and have no anticipated timeline for when we will receive funds. On Monday, XX/XX/XXXX I called to follow-up on the payment and found out that our mortgage services and our insurance claim had been transferred to PHH and the XXXX XXXX XXXX website was shut down for the week as part of the transfer. When I was finally able to talk with someone I was told that a 50 % disbarment would not be sent to my wife and myself instead checks made payable to each contractor, my wife and I, would be send. In the mean time I had made two payments out of pocket to our roofing contractoXXXX totaling {$19000.00}. When XXXX found this out they cancelled the check request for the roofing contractor and required him to submit proof of my payment to him ; documents that they have rejected twice so far. They then processed a payment for our painter in the amount of {$75000.00} for a {$38000.00} contract. When they realized their mistake they cancelled this payment ( about a week ago ) and have failed to process and send a correct disbursement check. I am still working unsuccessfully to get the required documents for the other 3 contractors accepted so their payments can be processed. Since beginning this process back on XX/XX/XXXX, I have been continually lied to regarding nearly every aspect of the claim process, including the documents required, the disbursement process, the amounts, how checks would be made out, how to request inspections and payments, and the timing for all the steps of the process. Since the last week of XXXX I have made over 30 calls to XXXX and spent more than 20 phone hours trying to get our money to make the repairs to our home. Even though our claim has been assigned to a specific person on the XXXX complaint team there is not easy or direct way to contact them ; they have no email address or direct phone number. They continually promise to call me at a specific time on a specific day and do not. When I call and ask to speak to my assigned person ( the 3rd one in 2-weeks ) I am told I can not speak to them. I was promised a call yesterday between XXXX and XXXX XXXX. pacific time from XXXX XXXX, the person on the Complaint Team who has been assigned our claim. I never received her call. I began calling for her about XXXX XXXX   After 5 calls and nearly 2 hours of hold time I find out that XXXX is not working yesterday. This is a typical experience. Every time I call I speak to a different customer service person who must acquaint themselves with our file. This is time consuming and frustrating. No one understands or can explain their process. Dates and information in our website file are incorrect. Many of the documents I send in are lost. They give no explanation as to why they reject documents. When I call in and am able to speak with a representative they continually review documents that have previously been accepted looking for ways to now reject them. No one I have spoken with has the actual authority to do anything to move the process along and I am not allowed to speak with anyone who does. When I ask to speak with the person having authority to do something I am told that person does not exist. The entire system is set up to prevent success and to not release funds that do not belong to them. We never would have started the work if we had known XXXX would do everything they can not to release our money. We are now nearly complete with the repair work to our home and facing potential leans from our contractors who we can not pay.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation