Consumer complaint received 2021-06-08
Company: Mr. Cooper Group Inc.
State: MI
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
Here is a timeline summary of events thus far in our experience with Mr. Cooper as our mortgage loan servicer : XX/XX/2021 : We refinance our mortgage through XXXX and our mortgage servicing is transferred to XXXX XXXX XXXX. Our next regular mortgage payment is due XX/XX/2021. 

XX/XX/XXXX : We make an extra principal payment to XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX. 

XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX XXXX XXXX sends us a notice that, effective XX/XX/XXXX, the servicing of our loan will be transferred to Nationstar Mortgage LLC d/b/a Mr. Cooper. This notice includes our new loan number : XXXX. We are informed that any payment due after XX/XX/XXXX should be sent directly to Mr. Cooper this includes our regularly scheduled XX/XX/XXXX payment. 

XX/XX/XXXX : We make an additional principal payment to The XXXX XXXX. 

XX/XX/XXXX : We aren't yet able to set up an online account with Mr. Cooper, so I mail our regular XX/XX/XXXX payment as check # XXXX in the amount of our monthly payment due plus {$120.00} of additional principal to the Mr. Cooper address indicated on our new customer notice. I write the account number provided above by XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX in the memo line on the face of the check. 

XX/XX/XXXX : According to my XXXX XXXX checking account, Mr. Cooper cashes check # XXXX. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I am able to establish an online account with Mr. Cooper. When I do so, I find that the account number provided above by XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX is incorrect. The actual account number is XXXX. I immediately send Mr. Cooper a note using Mr. Cooper 's " Message Center '' about the payment made on check # XXXX, indicating that the wrong account number was provided, and including this note : " Please ensure that the payment is instead applied as my XX/XX/XXXX payment for this loan, '' in reference to our new account number of XXXX. I receive an immediate response in the Message Center assigning a ticket number ( XXXX ). I send a follow-up note less than an hour later addressing the XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX payments above that have not yet posted to our account, indicating that both the XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX payments were principal payments that reduced the outstanding principal and indicating what should be the outstanding principal amount prior to our XX/XX/XXXX payment. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I use the Chat feature on the Mr. Cooper website to address these issues with a live agent. She is very helpful in confirming that the additional principal payments made to XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX may take some time to post but that we needn't worry about them ; they will be posted as principal payments in due time. She informs me that the issue with our XX/XX/XXXX payment ( check # XXXX XXXX will need to be resolved by the Research Team and she forwards on our request. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I receive a template response in the Message Center indicating that additional research is needed. The Message Center response asks for 7 business days to resolve the inquiry, and informs me that I will receive a " letter of resolution '' within 7-10 days after your review of my account. This message includes an e-mail address for follow-up communications ( XXXX ). 

Unknown date in XXXX prior to XX/XX/XXXX : the additional principal payments made to XXXX XXXX XXXX  on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX post to our account, correctly reducing the principal balance. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I log in to our Mr. Cooper account to see that our XX/XX/XXXX payment is " late. '' As noted above, our XX/XX/XXXX payment was received and cashed by Mr. Cooper on XX/XX/XXXX. I send an e-mail to the XXXX account regarding this payment and once again explaining the account number issue. I become increasingly concerned that Mr. Cooper 's inability to locate the payment that they previously cashed will impact our credit. 

XX/XX/XXXX : A statement is posted in our Mr. Cooper online portal with a response to research reference XXXX. This letter indicates that ( i ) Mr. Cooper received our inquiry on XX/XX/2021, and ( ii ) a response will be provided within 30 business days of our inquiry unless Mr. Cooper notifies us of a 15 day extension prior to the expiration of that 30 day period, although responses are generally provided in less than 10 days from receipt of the correspondence. As noted above, I did not send an inquiry on XX/XX/XXXX ; I sent an inquiry on XX/XX/XXXX. 

XX/XX/XXXX : We receive a letter from XXXX XXXX XXXX dated XX/XX/XXXX indicating that the Notice of Servicing Transfer dated XX/XX/XXXX contained the incorrect loan number and should be disregarded. This timing is not helpful. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Having received no response from Mr. Cooper, I follow-up on my XX/XX/XXXX e-mail. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I log in to my Mr. Cooper account to see that our XX/XX/XXXX principal payment has been unilaterally recharacterized by Mr. Cooper as a regular monthly payment. Mr. Cooper took this action without our consent and against the factual reality of how the payments were made. Our XX/XX/XXXX payment ( check # XXXX ) remains unaccounted for in the Mr. Cooper portal. I send Mr. Cooper the detail provided above in both an e-mail and as a paper letter via US mail to the requested address. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I engage in a final chat with Mr. Cooper to determine what steps have been taken to rectify the situation. The agent informs me that the Research Team last left a note on XX/XX/XXXX that they were still looking for the payment made on check # XXXX. I have not been contacted by Mr. Cooper since. 

Prior to XX/XX/XXXX, this has been an extremely frustrating process with Mr. Cooper 's inability to complete what should be a very simple task. Mr. Cooper cashed our XX/XX/XXXX payment 41 days ago, yet the payment has not been posted to our account nor do we have any indication that Mr. Cooper even knows where this money is. This is a staggering failure for a mortgage loan servicer. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, however, it became unethical and illegal. Mr. Cooper was not our mortgage servicer prior to XX/XX/XXXX and, thus, Mr. Cooper has no authority to recharacterize any earlier payment ( namely, the XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX principal payments ). 

Despite our immense frustration with everything mentioned above, resolving this issue should still be remarkably easy for Mr. Cooper : Properly account for our XX/XX/XXXX payment as an additional principal payment Properly account for our XX/XX/XXXX payment as an additional principal payment Find our XX/XX/XXXX payment and apply it as our timely-received XX/XX/XXXX regular payment of {$1600.00} plus an additional principal payment of {$120.00} I have reached out to Mr. Cooper six times about these issues between the XX/XX/XXXX message above, the XX/XX/XXXX chat, the XX/XX/XXXX e-mail, the XX/XX/XXXX follow-up e-mail, the XX/XX/XXXX e-mail/letter, and the XX/XX/XXXX chat, all to no avail. 

I am now deeply concerned that Mr. Cooper 's ineptitude will create meaningful financial damage to my family and me.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation