Consumer complaint received 2019-04-16
Company: Dovenmuehle Mortgage, Inc.
State: TX
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
In or about XX/XX/XXXX, I signed up with Dovenmuehle Mortgage as the loan server on my home mortgage. Ever since, nothing but problems have ensued. I believe that Dovenmuehle is intent on repossessing my home by forcing a foreclosure, thereby allowing the mortgage company to keep all the money invested in the home thus far, as well as taking repossession of the home.

The first problem occurred about a year into the loan. Dovenmuehle increased my mortgage payments between {$100.00} and {$200.00} to allegedly receive payback for what they claimed was a shortage in escrow payments on my part. Please bear in mind that they were the ones who calculated the escrow payments initially. Therefore, they should have borne at least some of the responsibility for this error. However, they simply increased my mortgage payments, making it very difficult for me to keep abreast of these payments. Eventually, I started getting behind, as I was unable to make the required payments on time. 

When I attempted to negotiate with the company regarding my difficult situation, they only made the situation more difficult by asking for letters and paperwork to support my request for a loan modification -- or another solution to avoid bankruptcy. They were never satisfied with the information I provided, demanding more each time. As time passed, I requested to make payments, but they refused to accept payments that would not fulfill t he entire loan obligation.They were also extremely difficult to reach, extremely rude, and extremely unwilling to help in any way. In the meantime, the foreclosure date was set, and it was quickly advancing. 

I had no choice but to file for bankruptcy, putting me in a very disadvantageous financial situation, which I am certain Dovenmuehle was clearly aware would be the result of the bankruptcy. In essence, they forced the bankruptcy upon me.

A few months into the bankruptcy, Dovenmuehle claimed that they had done a sight inspection of my home, and had determined that it was unoccupied. They did not bother to check with the utility companies or speak to my neighbors. I believe they may have made this determination based on a couple of weeds growing in the front yard. They failed to contact the bankruptcy lawyers, which they had a legal obligation to do, and made little effort to speak with me directly. Instead, they sent a couple of individuals who broke into my home, allegedly under legal authority, to determine whether I lived at the home or not. They changed the locks, allowing me to enter the home only through one door. Upon determinin

g that I was, in fact, living in the home, they simply left a letter of apology for any inconvenience their actions may have caused. They then offered to change the locks back, but were unable to do so because the original locks, doorknobs, had been damaged.

In the process of this " investigation, '' the home insurance company, XXXX XXXX, was somehow notified that the home was vacant. ( I believe this was an intentional action of the part of Dovenmuehle because of what was about to happen next. ) XXXX XXXX XXXX dropped me. I was unaware of this action, particularly the reason why they had dropped me. Dovenmuehle failed to tell XXXX XXXX XXXX that they had verified that someone was, in fact, occupying the home. Dovenmuehle has been attempting to impose their own insurance on me ever since. They informed me that XXXX XXXX XXXX had released me in XX/XX/XXXX, but XXXX XXXX informed me that they had actually released me in XX/XX/XXXX. Dovenmuehle never gave me an explanation why XXXX XXXX had dropped me. I had to investigate the matter myself ; that's how I discovered that Dovenmuehle never told XXXX XXXX that I was indeed occupying my residence -- the home in question.

The insurance that Dovenmuehle is currently trying to impose on me, which would increase my current mortgage payment under the bankruptcy agreement by about {$130.00} more, is about twice the cost of standard homeowner 's insurance for my state. XXXX XXXX told me that they could give me the same reasonable rate I had -- about half the price of the insurance that Dovenmuehle is trying to impose on me -- and even go back in time to account for the " uninsured '' period, but that Dovenmuehle would have to write them a letter of confirmation that I live at the residence, and I would have to provide utility bills for about the last six months. Dovenmuehle has refused to write the letter to XXXX XXXX by ignoring the problem altogether. In traditional fashion, they take forever to answer the phone, ask for the same information over and over again, transfer me to the collections department, then presumably transfer me to my loan processor. They have given me the wrong extensions for my loan processor -- whom they say is the only person who can handle the matter -- or sent me to the wrong loan processor altogether. They say they can not give me the name of the loan processor. Basically, it seems like they're evading the problem, while more time is passing by. This may mean that XXXX XXXX will refuse to work with me retroactively on the insurance because too much time has passed by.

In addition, XXXX XXXX is only able to offer me insurance on a vacated property, which is double the price of the standard homeowner 's insurance in the meantime. Since it is about the same cost as the insurance that Dovenmuehle is trying to impose on me, this has led me to believe that Dovenmuehle is still claiming that the property is vacated, simply through sheer will on their part. In fact, on one occasion when I explained the problem to a collections department representative, the representative began to ask that I provide documentation that I actually live at my residence -- even after they broke in themselves to confirm this and never consulted the utility companies or my neighbors to determine whether or not I live at my residence, the home whose mortgage they're handling!

I am asking that you please help me get Dovenmuehle to write the letter to my insurance company while there may still be time. I have never been able to adequately, or even inadequately, communicate with them. Please help.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation