Consumer complaint received 2018-06-19
Company: FIFTH THIRD FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: MO
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
My monthly mortgage payment is {$1100.00}. Starting in XX/XX/XXXX I established bi-weekly payments via my Mortgage Lender 's ( 5/3 Bank ) online payments portal in the amount of {$670.00}. This was done to pay down the principle more aggressively, thus decreasing the time period and balance on which the interest was accruing over the life of the loan. 

5/3 Bank called me in mid-XX/XX/XXXX regarding the bi-weekly payments and how I intended for those to be applied to my account. I explained to the representative on the phone that the bi-weekly payments of {$670.00} were to be applied to the principle first, followed by T & I and escrow. Based on this, I was over-paying my principal by ~ {$170.00} each month. The rep on the phone stated that he understood and would note the request on my account. 

From that point, I received monthly letters ( sometimes 2/month ) from 5/3 bank, indicating that they did not know how to apply my bi-weekly payments. The letter provided a fax number and stated that I should fax written instructions to the bank to explain how I would like my payments to be applied. Per the instructions, I faxed written instructions to 5/3 bank regarding my bi-weekly payments on XX/XX/XXXX. 

Since then, I have received 3 more letters and 2 more phone calls indicating that 5/3 did  not know how to apply my payments. During each of the calls I was told that I was late on my payments, which was never the case. 

Last Friday, XX/XX/XXXX, I called customer service to clear this all up. The first contact I spoke to, XXXX, hung up on me after I explained my issue. The second contact I spoke to informed me that the 5/3 bank mortgage servicing system CAN NOT accept bi-weekly payments and that payments received that are less than the amount sit in an 'un-applied funds ' account until additional payments, summing to the total amount due are received. So, 5/3 bank 's mortgage servicing system is preventing me from paying down my mortgage more aggressively, thus forcing me to pay the full interest amount over the life of the loan. Per the second customer service rep I spoke to, and her supervisor, 5/3 previously contracted a third party service provider who accepted bi-weekly payments, but due to that service contract 's termination, 5/3 bank mortgage customers CAN NOT submit bi-weekly payments. The supervisor went on to inform me that there is no way for the bank to manually apply payments on a bi-weekly basis. Thus I have no choice but to pay the entire foretasted interest amount over the life of the loan. The 5/3 bank reference number for the call is : XXXX The bank has continually harassed me with letters and phone calls regarding this. Furthermore, the letters are signed by " XXXX XXXX XXXX '' - Senior Vice President. Based on my research, XXXX XXXX has not been an employee of the bank for over 2 years. This letter is misleading and appears to put ownership of this department on a former employee, which may not be illegal, but it is certainly shady. Not sure how their IA department hasn't caught that one. 

As a former XXXX with extensive experience in CFPB regulations, specifically XXXX XXXX, this is appalling. The bank has harassed me, ignored my requests, and continued to service my account in a manner that is different than what has been instructed by me, the consumer. 

This must be corrected immediately. I can not imagine how many other consumers have been negatively impacted by this. 

Please do not hesitate to call or email me with regard to this issue.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation