Consumer complaint received 2018-01-26
Company: M&T BANK CORPORATION
State: NC
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: FHA mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
Despite paying each installment of our loan over the past 2 years, M & T Bank states that we are in default. This is due to XXXX ( our previous mortgage holder who sold to M & T ) misplacing a payment at the end of XX/XX/XXXX We have been trying since XX/XX/XXXX to correct this issue. Unfortunately, XXXX sold our loan and informed the new mortgage holder that we were in default at the time of the sale. M & T, despite receiving proof of this error on multiple occasions has perpetuated XXXX error for 12 more months. This has grossly damaged our credit over the past year and has led to several thousand dollars of our money being given to M & T in extra payments and fees charged, all in an attempt to stave off problems until XXXX error could be corrected. The details of this case are included below and in more detail in the documents attached ( including a record of all payments to both companies and a detailed record of our interactions with both companies ). 

SUMMARY OF THE FACTS : Please find attached legal proof of payment for all transactions made over the course of our mortgage with XXXX ( the previous mortgage holder ) and then M & T Bank starting from the first payment to XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX and ending with the most recent payment to M & T Bank this month. All payments we made through Prearranged Payment and Deposit Entry which legally only requires a copy of our bank statement showing the removal of the funds and the name of the receiver of the funds. 
Also find attached a summary of all payments made to XXXX or M & T and the manner in which they were intended to be credited. You will note that XXXX has lost a payment which should have been credited to the XX/XX/XXXX installment. Thus began a 12-month process of trying to get credit for a payment we have already made. 
We first contacted XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX to address a letter we had received stating that they had not yet received our XX/XX/XXXX payment. We sent the attached proof of the payment to the fax number XXXX to the Attention of the Research Department, Payment Dispute. We never received any correspondence or response to this inquiry from XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX we received a letter informing us that M & T had purchased the loan. We contacted both XXXX and M & T and were told that we would have to wait to contact M & T in XX/XX/XXXX to dispute the payment history. We went ahead and made a payment to XXXX at that time because by our records, even though we had paid the disputed XX/XX/XXXX payment, the XX/XX/XXXX installment was due. This payment was subsequently forwarded to M & T by XXXX, apparently on XX/XX/XXXX. 
On or around XX/XX/XXXX we successfully spoke with a M & T representative for the first time and requested that the missing payment be researched. Following this, we received a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX from XXXX XXXX in the XXXX XXXX XXXX acknowledging the inquiry and stating that someone would contact us as soon as the research is complete. We never received any contact regarding the conclusion of that inquiry. We made multiple calls inquiring about the results but were always informed by representatives in the XXXX XXXX XXXX that it took time to process these types of requests and that we would hear from someone soon. We continued to pay the accelerated payments in an effort to keep our credit from being affected while the research took place. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, after we had already paid the disputed amount in full awaiting the inquiry resolution, we called in to again inquire about the resolution of the payment inquiry. We were informed that the missing payment had finally been located. For this reason, we were told we did not need to make one payment since we were one payment ahead. Unfortunately, we were then contacted regarding our late XX/XX/XXXX payment. We were told that the missing payment had never actually been located and we were therefore behind again. On XX/XX/XXXX we again requested that an inquiry be launched into the missing payment. 
To date, despite multiple calls spanning MONTHS ( from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX ) and requests to know the status of our inquiry, we never received any type of contact from a representative of the XXXX XXXX XXXX in the process of researching this payment or giving us a conclusion to the research. 
After finally contacting the Customer Service Department, we were told on Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX by XXXX, a supervisor in the Customer Service Department, that M & Ts research into the missing XX/XX/XXXX payment was concluded in XX/XX/XXXX and that it showed it was located by XXXX and transferred to M & T on or around XX/XX/XXXX. We believe this to be incorrect as the only payment forwarded to M & T by XXXX after the purchase was our XX/XX/XXXX payment, as reflected by our M & T statements. 
Respectfully, we have sent the proof of payment to XXXX once have presented M & T with this information on 4 occasions. Meanwhile, over the past year we have suffered negative effects to our credit, the stress of trying to keep current on a loan we for which we have actually been ahead and have been subject to late fees we did not deserve. We ask that you facilitate correcting this egregious error.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation