Consumer complaint received 2021-08-10
Company: FIFTH THIRD FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: NJ
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
Fifth Third Bank has either lost or misapplied a mortgage payment we made, they are misreporting our mortgage account status, and are attempting to collect additional fees incurred by errors made on their end. 

We have done everything possible to get clarification and resolution to this matter directly with the company, but they are vague and evasive in their responses, and maintain that we missed a payment, despite having proven otherwise to them. During this entire ordeal, we have encountered numerous contradictions and inaccuracies in our dealings with their representatives, both verbally and in writing. 

This began when we received a letter from Fifth Third dated XX/XX/XXXX ( attached ) stating that we were past due and they were seeking payment, assessing late charges, and threatening the loss of our home. 

This was impossible since we had just been discharged from a Chapter XXXX Bankruptcy and had received a Response to Notice of Final Cure Payment executed on XX/XX/XXXX ( see attached ) by Fifth Thirds attorneys ( XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX ) stating : - Creditor agrees that the debtors have paid in full the amount required to cure the prepetition default on the creditors claim. 

- Creditor states that the debtors are current with all postpetition payments consistent with 1322 ( b ) ( 5 ) of the Bankruptcy Code, including all fees, charges, expenses, and costs. 

Since their response indicated we were current and had not missed a payment during the bankruptcy, and we knew we had certainly not missed a payment between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, we thought this would be fairly easy to resolve. It was not, and continues not to be the case years later, despite our best efforts, which is why we seek the assistance of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 

For over a year from that point, between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, we spoke with various Fifth Third representatives trying to determine why and when they were claiming we missed a payment, and were never given a concrete answer. Throughout this period, their representatives contradicted each other as to when they thought the payment was missed, if they could even give me an answer at all. Many could not see when or where a payment was missed. ( See attached call log and notes. ) They never gave me a definitive answer during this time, nor were they able or willing to firmly assert when the missed payment occurred in writing. They basically just said you missed a payment and we cant see when or where that occurred, our system shows that, so it must be true. This is despite having proof of all payments made to, and cashed by, Fifth Third Bank. ( These bank statements can and will be supplied upon request, but it is a very large attachment in and of itself, so I am not attaching them unless specifically requested by CFPB. The bank has been sent this information already. ) I am also including three consecutive monthly statements from XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX ( see attached ) showing gross inaccuracies from month to month as to how much we owe, despite a regular monthly payment being made each of these months : - In XX/XX/XXXX they showed a past amount due as {$3600.00}. 
- In XX/XX/XXXX they showed a past amount due as {$28000.00}. 
- And in XX/XX/XXXX they showed a past amount due as {$2800.00}. 
There is no rhyme or reason to these, and this is just one sampling of three months of consecutive statements to show that their accounting is not accurate or trustable, and is evidence that it is highly likely they misapplied or lost the payment they allege was missed, or their accounting and records are inaccurate. 

Due to the fact that between XXXX of XXXX and XXXX of XXXX, nobody could pinpoint when or where a payment went missing, nor would they put it in writing, we insisted on Fifth Thirds Office of the President reviewing the matter. It took from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX for the Office of the President to review and finally determine when the payment was missed and put it definitively in writing. ( See attached correspondence ) To summarize their findings, they claim that we sent in a payment that was {$12.00} short each month for an entire year from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX. This caused them to put the initial short payment of {$2700.00} into a suspense account and draw {$12.00} from it each month to satisfy the next months payment. 

It took over a year for anyone in their organization to figure this out, and was attributed to a monthly payment shortage of {$12.00} from an increase in escrow which we were never notified of at that time. ( They claim they sent it, but have not provided proof of it being sent or received. Furthermore, their representative XXXX XXXX asserted that the change in escrow amount was sent to us at our home address. This was false because all correspondence during our Chapter XXXX was sent to our attorneys, not to our home address. Our attorney representing us during the Chapter XXXX reviewed the file and did not find record of it either. ) Regardless, despite the fact that their Response to Notice to Final Cure Payment precludes them from being able to go after it, we offered to pay the grand total of {$150.00} deficit so that they could apply it to the money presumably remaining in the suspense account and bring the account current, to simply resolve the issue. ( See attached correspondence dated XX/XX/XXXX ). They responded saying that would not suffice, because we had missed an entire payment. ( See attached correspondence dated XX/XX/XXXX. ) This is untrue and backed by bank statements we sent to Fifth Third. We made a payment every month. They may have been short {$12.00} during that time period, but an entire payment was never missed. And the payment they put in a suspense account can not be accounted for by them. It was never returned to us, and there should have been {$2600.00} sitting in a suspense account ... ( {$2700.00} was our monthly payment at the time, minus the total shortage of {$150.00} ). 

To this day, they cant account for that {$2600.00}. All they do is send an entirely indecipherable history of payments that took them over a year to assess, and tell us to find where that money went or was applied, all while maintaining we missed an entire payment, tacking on late fees, and harming our credit standing. 

Furthermore, and simply put, considering they claim the missing payment occurred between XXXX and XXXX, when we were in the middle of the XXXX XXXX Bankruptcy, they have no right to claim or go after the alleged missing payment. It is in violation of the bankruptcy code, and they signed off on the attached Response to Notice of Final Cure Payment as stated above. 

At this time we want our account brought current, and to dismiss all fees and penalties they are trying to apply, as we have not missed a payment since the Chapter XXXX Bankruptcy was approved by the court in XXXX. Furthermore, we want all applicable credit agencies to be notified that we have made payments to them without a missed payment since the beginning of the Chapter XXXX Bankruptcy was approved in XX/XX/XXXX. 

Thank you for your time and consideration, and we look forward to your response. Please let me know if you need any other information or supporting documentation.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation