Consumer complaint received 2021-04-28
Company: AmeriHome Mortgage Company, LLC
State: TN
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
We refinanced our home in XXXX of XXXX and our mortgage was sold to AmeriHome Mortgage. We have been paying our monthly statements and including overage to go toward principle each month. We had no issues when the overages were relatively small, up to {$7000.00}. 
In XXXX of XXXX the mortgage company stopped endorsing the back of our checks when they deposited them. However, our bank was still honoring the check. Not ideal but we weren't experiencing any issues. 
For our statement due on XX/XX/XXXX we received 2 statements in the mail, one on XX/XX/XXXX and one on XX/XX/XXXX. Payment was sent for the statement with overage toward principle. Check was not endorsed but cleared the bank and all was still fine. For our XX/XX/XXXX statement we again received duplicates on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. We paid the statement with a more significant overage, the check was endorsed by AmeriHome, and drafted from our account on XX/XX/XXXX which is well before the XX/XX/XXXX due date. On XX/XX/XXXX a letter was written by AmeriHome stating our account was delinquent. This was impossible as we were not only paying on time but were paying more toward principle. Due to what I assume is a Covid-related issue we didn't receive the letter until after XX/XX/XXXX. I called AmeriHome on XX/XX/XXXX to fix the issue and reverse the late fee issued on our next statement. The Customer Service process with AmeriHome is abyssmal to say the least. The representatives keep you waiting on hold endlessly if you can even get through to talk to a rep at all. Then, if they can't resolve the issue ( which they rarely can ) they have to submit a ticket for a manager to call you back in 48 hours. This is not acceptable when dealing with collections and credit issues which they themselves have caused by keeping poor records or improperly handling your payments-more on that to come. 
The statement for our XX/XX/XXXX payment came and we paid it with overage, it wasn't endorsed but cleared the bank. Our XX/XX/XXXX statement came, we paid it with another significant overage toward principle and it wasn't endorsed then was returned by the bank. Because AmeriHome is taking a long time to process payments by the time I saw it was returned and found out why ( by calling my bank then calling AmeriHome ) I was close to being late in paying. I ended up paying online which is not my preferred method to avoid a late fee. The next month the EXACT same thing happened. We sent a large check to cover the monthly statement with the rest to go toward principle. When AmeriHome processed the check they didn't endorse it and my bank returned it. I called again and had the same conversation with multiple more representatives. A manager never returned my call and I had to continue to try to track them down to avoid a late fee that they were potentially responsible for causing by not endorsing the check. 
For the XX/XX/XXXX statement I was again sent multiple copies on the following dates : XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX. Needless to say with all the problems I am having with this company it gets even more confusing when they are sending out multiple requests for the same loan payment. 
For the XX/XX/XXXX statement I sent our payment with significant overage ALONG with the loan statement coupon as I always do. The check was endorsed and drafted on XX/XX/XXXX. Then the AmeriHome Collections department began calling me on XX/XX/XXXX stating my account was delinquent again. Believing this to be impossible I called back only to find that they mismanaged my payment once again applying the full amount toward principle only, with none going toward the monthly statement which was enclosed with the check. I have now been on the phone with them for multiple hours and am resolves to the idea that this company is purposely mishandling funds in order to collect fraudulent late fees. Because we have been diligently paying our mortgage and the overage we are on target to pay it off more than 10 years before the amortization date. I believe AmeriHome has realized that this will affect their interest earnings and is attempting to recoup some of the " lost '' money with these fraudulent fees.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation