Consumer complaint received 2020-02-06
Company: Specialized Loan Servicing Holdings LLC
State: CA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Home equity loan or line of credit (HELOC)
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX ( I'm based in XXXX XXXX ) sold my loan ( 2nd ) to Specialized Loan Servicing or SLS, a loan servicing company based out of Colorado. I was not notified. When I called XXXX to pay my monthly amount, they told me they could not take my payment and to call Specialized Loan Servicing, which I did. SLS could not find me in their system because it was too soon. They told me it takes a few months and I should receive a welcome packet. ( I never received a packet ) I told them I still wanted to pay my monthly bill as I don't want to fall behind or be late in any payments. I was instructed by XXXX to use my old account number, which I did. I gave SLS this account number and paid them. The amount was XXXX. 

I continued to call every month, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX and paid them this amount. It wasn't until XXXX they finally had me in their system and I received a bill. The bill was a mess because it listed me as late and I owed three months. 

I called, they told me that was an error, they see my payments and to pay again, then going forward pay on their website. I did all of this. The payment, however, had changed to XXXX which I paid. I expressed my concern regarding late payments as I'm diligent about never being late. They assured me I would not be noted as late as they had the payments, they just didn't know where to put them, so they " floated '' the money and eventually put it in my account. Also, it should be noted that when they did finally have an account set up they had raised the amount from XXXX to XXXX I was given no reason except they said, interest rates change. I continued to pay to this day the XXXX I am now trying to refinance my home as I want to get away from SLS and have the loan consolidated. My 1st mortgage company ( used to be XXXX, now XXXX XXXX ) sent the VOM verification of mortgage, showing no late payments. BoA also sent VOM no late payments. SLS sent their VOM showing TWO late payments, exactly the time period where they did not have an account set up for me. Despite my sending countless letters and emails, with attached bank statements showing they were paid every month, they insist I was late. 

This makes no sense given the money was taken out of my bank account every month, and in one instance twice in one month. ( These amounts to SLS are on the bank statements attached. The amounts are also on their website which I also attached. ) This organization I have come to learn is not accredited with the XXXX. They have over 500 complaints verified online and 75 % of them say pretty much the same thing. Despite paying, money taken out of the account, SLS charges late fees and/or says you were late. 

This is causing me so much emotional distress and money and time. I need to refinance my house, there is a chance I will have to sell it because this company is telling me in XXXX they will increase my interest rates to basically whatever they want making it impossible for me to afford my home. I have owned this home since XXXX. This is the first time I've dealt with something like this. I have an excellent record of making payments on time to all my creditors, home, 2nd, car, credit card. 

I have nowhere to turn. These people are predators and are hurting many people. They have the potential of forcing me out of my home. I have two children and am struggling to keep myself above ground financially. I can not afford to lose my home. I would literally have nowhere to go, with my now XXXXyear-old daughters. This is the only home they have known. This is simply outrageous that this company ( who has now taken over my loan for 7 months! ) is causing all this stress and pain. I've attached a letter I wrote to them detailing step by step all my payments, conversations, and also attached my bank statements where they took the money. 

I kindly ask and implore you to help me, and also do something about this predatory company. How they are allowed to operate is a mystery. There are so many complaints, lawsuits, and I believe they have been brought to your attention before in what I read. Thank you very much. I am at wit 's end. They are horribly rude on the phone ( when they answer ) and then just hang up. 

Thank you very much for your time and I look forward to hearing back from you and hopefully find a resolution to this situation so I can refinance and get away from them. 

Their VOM of showing 2 late payments is erroneous, needs to be changed to 0 late payments to I can move forward in my refinance. 

Again, I thank you so much, Please help me. 

All my best XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

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