Consumer complaint received 2017-03-08
Company: Dovenmuehle Mortgage, Inc.
State: CA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional fixed mortgage
Issue: Loan servicing, payments, escrow account

Complaint:
This is a follow up complaint regarding DovenMuehle Mortgage. The original issue has not been resolved. 
My issue with Dovenmuehle Mortgage Company ( DMC ) began in XX/XX/XXXX ; they still have {$10000.00} as of today, XX/XX/XXXX. 
Short background : I am the trustee for my best friend 's estate. When she died I sent documents to DMC asking to transfer the mortgage into the trust. I received a letter in XX/XX/XXXX stating " We are pleased to inform you that the issue in your correspondence has been addressed ''. 
As trustee I had to manage the financial and logistical issues surrounding damage to the home she owned. That home holds a mortgage with DMC. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received XXXX checks totaling {$15000.00} from the homeowners insurance for repairs to the mortgaged property from a flood. Since the checks listed DMC and my name ( as trustee of the Trust ) as co-payees, I submitted that check to DMC with a letter asking them cosign and return to me. Heard nothing for over a month. I called and they said that the checks would be forthcoming. Two weeks later on XX/XX/XXXX, they sent me the same checks that I had sent them, asking for me to cosign and return them to them ; which I did on XX/XX/XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, they cashed the checks and put the money in escrow and released {$5200.00}, in a check made payable to the estate. Since there was no estate, just the Trust - of which I am the trustee, I had difficulty depositing that check. The bank relented but said that they would not make that exception again. That check came with a lien waiver but no explanation. I called and asked them why they kept the money ( and made the check payable to the wrong payee ). They said that they needed the contactor to sign a lien waver to release the funds. Since the work was not done and the contractor not paid, I had to find funds from other sources to complete the work, pay the contractor so that he would sign the lien waver. 

I submitted that lien waver to DMC on XX/XX/XXXX with a letter indicating that the work was complete and DMC should issue the remaining funds. Due to the lack of communication, the length of time, the terrible customer service and the withholding of funds due to me, I filed the above listed complaint ( Case number : XXXX ) with the CFPB. DMC responded to that complaint with a lengthy letter enumerating what they had done to resolve this situation. More than 90 % of the items they listed, they had not performed and the 2 checks for the remaining funds were issued. 

Two checks arrive on XX/XX/XXXX. One in the amount of {$10000.00} and one for {$35.00} presumably for interest, though there was no accompanying documentation. Problem solved? 

No ... the checks were both made payable to the Estate. The bank, not surprisingly would n't cash the checks, saying that I could only do so if I opened a separate account, in the name of the estate - but I could only do that if the estate was probated, which is one of the reasons trusts are in place. 

There is no estate ; there never was. There is a trust. I hired an estate lawyer ; I was advised that an Affidavit of Small Estate should be sent to DMC. I complied and sent that with other documentation and the unredeemed checks back to be reissued on XX/XX/XXXX. Weeks go by and once again the XXXX hole that is DMC did not respond On XX/XX/XXXX, I called XXXX ( XXXX ) in DMC-Loss Draft and left a message. Three days later she returned my call and said that there was nothing DMC could do. Her supervisor ( XXXX ) said the same thing. According to them, I had reached the end of XXXX road - no resolution. I asked what I could to do resolve this problem and they simply repeated that they could n't help me. 

I asked for the name of someone in a legal division or estates. My call was directed to a customer service line, which ke

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation