Consumer complaint received 2023-08-11
Company: PLANET HOME LENDING, LLC
State: KY
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: FHA mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
When I first began making mortgage payments to Planet Home Lending ( PLH ). I made biweekly payments. My payday frequency changed to bimonthly, and I began making payments bimonthly as it helped me budget my finances, and a customer service rep. from PLH had told me I could pay like that. They explained that the partial payment would be held until the second half was made and then the payment would be applied. I thought I was paying my mortgage payments two weeks ahead. I began to receive calls from PLH in early XXXX. I spoke to a customer service representative at one point. I thought he was telling me my payment was being paid on the XXXX of the month, causing me to be charged a late fee. I thought that was possibly correct since I had changed my payments from biweekly to bimonthly. Due to working 60+ hours a week and caring for a father with XXXX, I did not immediately review my mortgage payments since they were being made within the month due. My mortgage payment was reported as 30 days late for the month of XX/XX/XXXX. This dropped my credit score by XXXX points. I could not understand how that was possible when I consistently made half of a mortgage payment twice a month. 
I reviewed my bank statements all the way back to XX/XX/XXXX and could see I paid every month. I then reviewed all the payment history for my mortgage account with PLH and found a discrepancy in XX/XX/XXXX. I contacted PLH customer service and spoke to XXXX, whom I was disconnected from. I called back and spoke to XXXX. We were on the phone for quite a while and went through every payment made and applied. She saw that on XX/XX/XXXX, my partial payment of {$540.00} that should have been held in reserve until the other half of the payment was received was applied to principal. Those misapplied funds resulted in my payments being applied late. 
After verifying that I have actually made all payments and none were 30 days late, I requested to have the 30-day late payment removed from my credit reports. XXXX put me on hold to speak to a manager, and then told me I had to file a dispute with each credit bureau. XXXX said if I disputed it, PLH would remove it when notified of the dispute from the bureaus. I did as instructed and each credit bureau replied saying that PLH verified the late payment and it would not be removed from my credit report. 
I contacted PLH customer service again. I spoke to XXXX and she said there was no record of me ever speaking to XXXX. I have no idea how I could spend well over an hour on the phone with one of your reps and you have no record of it. I have record of the call in my phone records. I then asked to speak to a manager. I had to start all over. I spoke to XXXX, who was very nice and patient and went through every payment on my account with me. She saw that I have made payments twice a month consistently, and that funds were misapplied in XX/XX/XXXX, which has caused all payments from there on to be applied later than they should. XXXX instructed me to write a letter to PHL and ask that the payment reported as 30 days late be removed from my credit report with all 3 bureaus. I submitted the letter to PHL as XXXX told me to do and I received a response saying they would not be correcting my credit report. I tried to contact XXXX at PLH again but the representative I spoke to said she could not locate XXXX. I requested to speak to someone in the department that would have reviewed my letter and account but was told they do not take inbound calls. The representative did say she saw the note in their system from XXXX that said she reviewed my account with me, and my payments were made in a timely manner and were never 30 days late. Originally, I requested the misapplied funds be applied appropriately, which would have my account paid in advance. I was told they can not do that because the payment was made in XXXX and that is a different tax year. My financial institution told me that is not true and that they make adjustments like that all the time. All I want is for the 30 day late to be removed from my credit report and I don't really care how that happens. 

Thank you for your attention to this matter,

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation