Consumer complaint received 2018-04-09
Company: Ditech Financial LLC
State: UT
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
I have been trying, without success, since XX/XX/XXXX, to remove the PMI from our mortgage loan. Ditech has acted unprofessionally and has mishandled every effort to remove the PMI in the manner I was told to go about having it removed. In my own ( amateur ) investigation of Ditech, I believe that they have dealt dishonestly with me and with others trying to remove the PMI from their account. A more thorough investigation will reveal, I believe, plenty of evidence that they are falsifying home values using their appraisers and are also not removing the PMI off once the loan is qualified for it in a timely manner. It is also incredibly frustrating to wait on hold for an hour or more just to talk to someone on their customer service line. And even when you DO reach somebody, you will get a different answer every time you ask about the policy. I worked in XXXX XXXX XXXX for many years, so it is excruciatingly painful to see such horrible customer service. Although they have given me false information that has caused a lot of problems, they will never admit blame in any way and have done NOTHING to try to pacify me or apologize. 

Here is a timeline of events/calls/information for my case : XX/XX/XXXX : My loan had recently been sold to Ditech and I called regarding cancellation of the PMI. My former servicing company had given me the run around when I had tried to cancel through them. First they told me to get my own appraisal. Next they told me I had to go through them to get an appraisal ordered and the cost would be {$350.00}. Next they told me it would be {$450.00}. Then they told me that once I paid {$450.00} to them, they had up to 6 months to schedule the appraisal and an additional 6 months to apply the PMI cancellation. I was relieved when Ditech told me that I could get my own appraisal and that it would be applied fairly soon ( on a first come first served basis, but likely no more than 60 days from the time they received my appraisal proving the appropriate LTV ). When I was told to get my own appraisal, I really questioned this after all the runaround and misinformation with my previous loan servicer. The agent put me on hold to verify with his supervisor that I could get my own appraisal and send it in. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I hired an appraiser and paid him {$350.00} ( invoice1 attached showing payment in this amount ). The house value went from original purchase price value of {$230000.00} to {$330000.00}. This is more than the appropriate LTV to have the PMI cancelled. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Ditech called me to let me know that my appraisal had been denied because it was more than 90 days old at the time it was received. I hung up the phone in tears. Money was tight and {$350.00} was too much to spend all in vain! I talked to my husband who asked me to have the appraisal redone. We needed to get the PMI removed. Note : I am fairly certain that I faxed the report in about a month earlier than Ditech claims to have received it. It was, however, over 90 days past the date of the appraisal. It was NOT 120 days past the date of the appraisal as Ditech claims in a later email. The fax copy should have time stamped the date on there and in my own memory it was sometime in XXXX and not in XXXX. I do not have any documentation of the day I sent it in by fax. At no time during the phone call was it mentioned that I could no longer schedule my own appraisal. Also, I searched online and NOWHERE did it say that appraisals must be received within 90 days to be valid. I was never told this before sending in my appraisal. I obtained a second appraisal with full confidence that it would be valid if received within 90 days of being done. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Paid for and obtained a second appraisal ( value increased to {$370000.00} from the XXXX value of {$330000.00} -- clearly the values are increasing with time and the appropriate LTV amounts are being met. ) I mailed the appraisal in to Ditech within 2 days of receiving it so as not to have any problems. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Ditech shows record that they rejected the second appraisal because they no longer accept appraisals scheduled by the homeowner and it needs to go through Ditech. ***I was NEVER notified by email, phone or mail that the second appraisal had been rejected. The only reason I found this out is because I realized in XX/XX/XXXX that I had never heard anything and that the PMI was still being charged to my account every month. 

XX/XX/XXXX : When I realized that the PMI was still being charged I called Ditech. I held for around an hour before getting somebody from customer service who has zero authority to help me with an exception. I asked to speak to a supervisor. I was placed on hold for about 10 full minutes. The guy came back and told me that no supervisors were available to talk to me but he would have his supervisor call me back. This was on a Friday and it was around XXXX XXXX. I asked WHEN I would hear back and was told I should hear back by Monday end of day. I never heard anything back by Monday end of day. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I talked to customer service agent XXXX in detail about everything. XXXX has been with Ditech since the beginning of XX/XX/XXXX and NEVER at any time to her knowledge has Ditech allowed homeowners to obtain their own appraisal. It has ALWAYS been a policy to go through Ditech to schedule the appraisal ( they use THEIR appraisers ). I was never told this. The guy I spoke with on XX/XX/XXXX who put me on hold to VERIFY WITH A SUPERVISOR that I could get my own appraisal gave me incorrect information. XXXX put through a request for the supervisor of that guy to listen to the call dated XX/XX/XXXX. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I received a text alert AND an email ( doc1 attached ) during my church services informing me that we have completed our research and have resolved the issue ( s ). I was never informed what the resolved issues were regarding or what the research showed. I was expecting a call on Monday with more information, but alas, no call ever came ( not a great shock considering Ditechs poor track record for follow up ) The many mistakes have cost me {$650.00} in appraisals and {$98.00} a month in PMI payments since XXXX ( or even XXXX since I am pretty certain the original appraisal was faxed in the month of XXXX and not in XXXX ). If the appraisal was received in XXXX ( and the fax shows a timestamp ), and nowhere was it ever publicized that my appraisal had to be 90 days or newer, the PMI should have been removed effective XX/XX/XXXX. I have paid {$980.00} in PMI that should not have been collected. And I have paid {$300.00} EXTRA in an appraisal I should not have had to pay for. I request to be CREDITED for one full month of my mortgage payments ( in the amount of {$1200.00} ) and I also request that the PMI payments in the amount of {$98.00} be removed going forward and the PMI be cancelled. Honestly, the amount overpaid is {$1500.00}. My husband has been unemployed for 3 months now. With an honorable mortgage company, I would call in to work something out due to distressful times. But with Ditech, I can not wait on hold for 1 or more hours to talk to them about an issue that they will NOT be compassionate about in any way. I read report after report of hurricane victims complaining on their website that they would not work with them. Most companies gave a 3 month waiver for making any kind of mortgage payments for homes that were totally destroyed under a mortgage loan. Ditech gave a 3 month waiver BUT in the fourth month they charged 4 months worth of payments plus a late fee. This is the kind of company that my mortgage got transferred to. They have no compassion and NO INTEGRITY in the wake of disaster. 

I also want to say that when I finally got a call back from Ditech after several months, I informed them that I was going to be recording the call. I have had TOO MANY instances of being given incorrect information over the phone and I dont trust them to stand by what I am told over the phone. I was told that they would not be able to continue the call if I was recording it. How is that ok??? They record EVERY call I make into them. But they wont give me a copy of the calls to prove that things they say were said on the call WERE NOT. 

Here are some details on each of the documents that are attached to this complaint : Doc1 - the mysterious notification that the research has been concluded and the issues have been resolved ( how were the issues resolved and what was the outcome more specifically of the research??? ) Doc2page1 -- Copy of the email complaint I sent in on Wednesday, XX/XX/XXXX ( later they document that they received my complaint on XX/XX/XXXX??? ) Doc2page2 -- email complaint continued ( PDF files attached showing both invoices for the appraisals I got and also a copy of the appraisals showing rising values on both ) Doc2page3 -- this page shows the automated response I got -- it will be 3-5 business days to respond ( that is utterly ridiculous!! When I was in customer service, my ABSOLUTE MAX to respond to a complaint was 24 hours. My personal response average was 3 hours but I have always given amazing customer service and I was totally dismayed to be given a 3-5 business day response time expectation. ) The response I got in 3 business days told me they were looking into my request and that I would hear back by US mail. No time frame was given for when I would hear back. 
Doc2page4 -- On Friday, XX/XX/XXXX ( a full month after sending my original complaint ) I sent an email response indicating that I STILL had heard nothing by US mail. This was also the day that I finally got a phone call only to be told they would not continue it if I was going to record the call. I asked them to respond within 48 hours with a copy of the most recent mail sent. I had posted a complaint on the Ditech XXXX page where they told me that they had sent a response by mail on XX/XX/XXXX but nothing was received. I dont believe they mailed anything on XX/XX/XXXX. It wouldnt take more than a week to receive. 

Doc3 -- a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX but not received until XXXX ( is this the one they claim they sent out on the XX/XX/XXXX?? ). This is the correspondence that erroneously claims they received my complaint on XX/XX/XXXX ( the one I emailed on XX/XX/XXXX above ). They just told me they were researching it. They told me to expect a written response within 30 days from the date they received my correspondence. I guess they mean 30 days from when they said they received it ( the complaint that was timestamped on XX/XX/XXXX but not received somehow until XX/XX/XXXX?? ) Doc4 -- another copy of the response to my original emailed complaint telling me I will hear back in 3-5 business days. Yikes!!! 

Doc5page1 -- they sent a sharefile ( that would expire that very day ) with a response to my complaints. I cant access the sharefile any longer, but thankfully they DID send a copy of the response several weeks later by US mail. 
Doc5page2 -- shows my rebuttal of their response/rejection. They provided a lot of erroneous information in their rejection letter. Just to reiterate, I was NEVER at any time told on XX/XX/XXXX that the appraisal had to be 90 days old or less at time of receipt to be valid. They insist that they listened to the call and I was told that but they REFUSE to share a copy of said monitored call with me claiming it is proprietary and not shared with public. 
Doc5page3 -- continued Doc5page4 -- continued Doc6 -- I sent in an email through a form on their site sometime around XX/XX/XXXX asking them to send me a copy of the mail they had supposedly mailed to me on XX/XX/XXXX. I received a response telling me that they can not help me since the information I provided can not be verified. LOL Doc7 -- a copy of the sharefile mailed out and received the middle of XXXX rejecting all of my requests to cancel the PMI. On XX/XX/XXXX you contacted our office to discuss the process for removal of private mortgage insurance ( PMI ). The Ditech agent advised you that you can submit your own appraisal but the appraisal could not be more than 90 days old. The agent NEVER at any time told me this. And they will not allow me to listen to the call. They are falsifying information about what was discussed on the call. In order to qualify for PMI removal, you must authorize Ditech to order the appraisal and charge the cost to your account or you can reduce your principal balance, or wait until the PMI will automatically terminate in XX/XX/XXXX I have been told that my PMI would automatically terminate in 12 months ( by reaching the LTV balance needed ). This was in XXXX. But now they are saying XX/XX/XXXX. Unfortunately I dont have evidence of what was told to me over the phone ( story of my life with Ditech ) and I am pretty sure they will be unable to find the evidence if they listen to the call ( so crazy how that works ) but I would be willing to testify under oath that I was told it would be approximately 12 months and the PMI would automatically be cancelled. So they change their story a lot. 

Doc8 -- I received yet another letter in the mail dated XX/XX/XXXX in which I was told that Ditech is in the process of reviewing my written request. Our research has not concluded. The purpose of this letter is to notify you of our ongoing investigation in an effort to provide you with a resolution. This after they sent the final decision and rejection. I think that letting them know that they had falsified information discussed on the call and that I was going to take further action got them a little worried. My guess is I will NEVER hear anything back to say that my PMI is being cancelled. I have done MORE than my due diligence to cancel the PMI. I have spent countless hours and dollars getting them to do what they should do by cancelling the PMI. 

Doc9 -- email confirmation of payment on my XXXX payment including the PMI payment in the amount of {$98.00}. In doc3 it says, We have also ceased all collection activities on your account until our investigation is complete. I have NEVER been delinquent in any of my payments. But as you can see they are still collecting funds including the disputed PMI payments. This seems dishonest. 

Doc10 -- copy of a monthly statement showing full amount owed for my mortgage payments. 

I have also included copies of complaints from XXXX, the ditech XXXX page, and online that I feel show that Ditech is dealing dishonestly in the case of mortgage insurance cancellations. A more detailed investigation will reveal discrepancies between values of homes by Ditechs appraisers and another appraiser and I believe will show a pattern of fraud where PMI is concerned on the part of Ditech. 

There was also a record of a complaint posted on the XXXX  page by XXXX XXXX. She paid to have an appraisal scheduled by Ditech in XX/XX/XXXX. The value came in at a low price, too low to remove the PMI. Two weeks later she refinanced through a different lender and the appraisal came back {$28000.00} higher than ditechs. I believe that Ditech has appraisers in their pocket who are falsifying values so that Ditech doesnt have to cancel the PMI. I also believe that they are not terminating the PMI in a timely manner when the LTV reaches the right point ( as insinuated by the changing dates of when my PMI will be eligible to come off the loan ) Ditech is so hard to get through to when there is a problem and so slow to come to a decision. I think they are just hoping I will drop it. But I will not. If I dont get the resolution I desire, I will continue to make a stink and take further action as needed.

Company public response: Company believes complaint represents an opportunity for improvement to better serve consumers
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation