Consumer complaint received 2016-12-30
Company: Midwest Loan Services, Inc.
State: CA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional fixed mortgage
Issue: Loan servicing, payments, escrow account

Complaint:
Mortgage service provider send me a letter in XX/XX/2016 bringing to my attention that my mortgage loan has outstanding late fees. This is after over 20 months of them charging me a late fee every month. As soon as I was made aware of the late fees, I made the necessary change to prevent further late fees from being incurred. I should have been notified right away, after the first month the late fee was charged. Just because I signed up for e-statements DOES NOT mean I gave my approval for ALL correspondence to be electronic. To my knowledge, there was no other letter sent to me. By the time Midwest sent me the letter, the outstanding balance of late fees was over {$1400.00} dollars. 
COMPLAINT # 1 : Midwest did not provide me, the mortgagor, with a clear explanation regarding scope of what paperless consent entailed when I signed up for e-statements. Per my discussions with them, they seem to indicate that since I signed up for e-statement, they were under no obligation to send me a letter about the late fees. 
Midwest Loan Services failed to provide me clear indication of the scope ( which documents, transactions, types of transactions or categories of records ) of the consent. I interpreted my consent to be limited to monthly statements. Why would I be expected to ASSUME that the consent to e-delivery also applies to other types of transactions, like the assessment of late fees? NEVER did I knowingly consent to online delivery of ALL COMMUNICATIONS from Midwest Loan Services. Midwest SHOULD NOT ASSUME that by consenting to online delivery of statements the mortgagee is waiving the right to written communication on all types of correspondence. 
There is a very good article written by the Director of Consumer Affairs, Federal Reserve Bank of XXXX, and XXXX, Senior Consumer Affairs Examiner, Federal Reserve Bank of XXXX which lays out in simple terms the E-SIGN ACT COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS. 
Among the requirements : ... a financial institution must inform the consumer in a clear and conspicuous statement whether consent relates to a particular transaction only or whether consent relates to broader categories of information. 
WHAT SHOULD BE DONE? Midwest Loan Services should rescind the late fees charged after the first one, as I would have rectified the situation by changing my auto payment date upon written notification, as I did when I was notified in XX/XX/2016. 
************************************ COMPLAINT # 2 Midwest Loan Services did not provide me with sufficient or timely notice of the assessment of late fees. It appears that failure to take proper steps to notify borrower of late fees is part of a intentional methodology designed to maximize late fees that could have been avoided with a simple written communication. 
WHAT SHOULD BE DONE? Midwest should update their website to make it clear to consumers what kinds of communications they are agreeing to receive electronically only when they are signing up for e-statements. I have attached examples from creditors that do so. 
************************************ COMPLAINT # 3 - Midwest Loan Services website is difficult to navigate and substandard. It lacks a lot of functionality that would be beneficial to mortgagors, like : 1 ) when selecting payment date for auto payment, there is no indication of due date or that the due date they are selecting will result in late fees. 
2 ) it is unclear on the website how to opt out of e-statements once you 've enrolled. I had to call customer service to help me un-enroll WHAT SHOULD BE DONE? 
Midwest should update their website so 1 ) consumers are made aware of their payment due date when they are signing up for auto pay and selecting a date. I have attached of examples from other creditors that do this. 
2 ) It is clear how to un-enroll in e-statements once you have enrolled

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief