Consumer complaint received 2023-08-22
Company: Freedom Mortgage Company
State: CA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: FHA mortgage
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Sub-issue: Problem with personal statement of dispute

Complaint:
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX CA XXXX Acct # XXXX To whom it may concern We are disputing the Credit Reporting displayed XXXX XXXX, XXXX, with Freedom Mortgage Lender. We have attempted to resolve the matter directly with this creditor, but they are unwilling to correct the error. 

Included is our payment history with the creditor since XXXX of XXXX. As is reflected, we have been paying on our home mortgage in the amount of {$1700.00} since XXXX of XXXX. Our standard form of payment was from our checking account. We used the online bill pay payment via our bank account via XXXX XXXX XXXX At the time we began payments to Freedom Mortgage their physical payment address was Freedom Mortgage at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, OH XXXX. The payments during the period from XXXX, XXXX to XXXX, XXXX were all made electronically, and there were no issues with the payments being received. 

In XXXX of XXXX, for an unspecified reason, Freedom Mortgage changed their payment address to XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, NJ XXXX and began requesting paper checks from our banking institution instead of electronic payments. When electronic payments were being made, they were completed in approximately XXXX hours. With the paper check system, payments were received by Freedom Mortgage within XXXX business days, and taking an additional week to be processed. Payments in the form of paper checks were sent on XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XXXX XXXX. All checks were received approximately 5 days later. 

We had made an additional payment on XX/XX/XXXX, to the address in XXXX XXXX, and the expected delivery date was XXXX XXXX. We were contacted in XXXX about our payment being late for the month of XXXX, as Freedom Mortgage claimed they had not received or processed any payments since XX/XX/XXXX. We provided Freedom Mortgage, via email, a verification of our sent payments via XXXX XXXX bank showing two payments for the month of XXXX, and one payment for the month of XXXX, indicating the payments were received on XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX respectively. On XX/XX/XXXX, Freedom Mortgage admitted they had located the payment received XX/XX/XXXX, and were applying it to our account, but did not make any mention of the payments sent in XXXX ( see attached letter ). 

After some additional correspondence, a call was made to Freedom Mortgage on XX/XX/XXXX. In that hour long conversation with an account specialist with Freedom Mortgage, it was agreed by the Specialist that payments had been sent and received on XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX. The XXXX located the check received on XX/XX/XXXX and stated they would be processing that within the next XXXX hours. As for the second check for XXXX showing it was received on XX/XX/XXXX, this one had not been located. But, as we had previously sent verification that this payment was made and sent, in good faith, Freedom Mortgage would honor this payment. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, we reached out to Freedom Mortgage, via email, to inform them that the check sent on XX/XX/XXXX and received by Freedom Mortgage on XX/XX/XXXX had been stopped by XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX had remained uncashed for over 120 days. We informed Freedom Mortgage that once the funds were returned to our account, we would resubmit the payment via direct electronic payment on the Freedom Mortgage website. We attached proof that the check payment had been stopped, and asked if the check was located, to please have it destroyed. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, we began receiving several phone calls throughout the day from the same number, ( XXXX ) XXXX, but no messages were left. On XX/XX/XXXX, we discovered that the number belonged to Freedom Mortgage, and we reached out to inquire what the issue was. We were informed that our account was showing that owe were extremely delinquent, and that Freedom Mortgage had last received a payment from us on XX/XX/XXXX, which they applied to our account for our XX/XX/XXXX, payment. We informed them of our phone conversation with a Freedom Mortgage representative on XX/XX/XXXX, and the issues with our payments getting lost at their office. After reviewing our past correspondence and a summary of our last phone conversation, Freedom Mortgages representative then got on a 3 way call with another representative within Freedom Mortgage. It was clarified that they never found the check received on XX/XX/XXXX, and additionally, Freedom Mortgage could not find the payment made on XX/XX/XXXX, which was received by Freedom Mortgage on XX/XX/XXXX. 

After much discussion, it was agreed that the payment made on XX/XX/XXXX be cancelled, and then be re submitted directly via the Freedom Mortgage website. We informed Freedom Mortgage, as we have attempted to pay our mortgage every XXXX weeks, with some exceptions. We told them that we would make a payment in the next few days, via the Freedom Mortgage website, and once the funds from the cancelled checks from the payments made on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX were returned to our account, we would be paying those funds as well. The representatives from Freedom Mortgage found this acceptable. In addition, we were told that Freedom Mortgages physical payment address had changed to Freedom Mortgage XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX, XXXX, CA XXXX. We were informed that we would not be charged any late fees and our credit would not be affected as long as we abided by our part of the agreement. 

We did so, making a payment of {$1600.00} on XX/XX/XXXX, and an additional payment of {$120.00} to make up for the extra payments we make to help pay down our principle balance on XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX We made an additional payment of {$1500.00} on XX/XX/XXXX which would have then made our next payment due XX/XX/XXXX. We did notice that on our XXXX statement there is a payment reversal in the amount of {$1500.00} made on XX/XX/XXXX, but it is unclear what this means. Per XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX have not received any payment reversal/adjustment from Freedom Mortgage, and there is no deposit in the amount of {$1500.00} made to our account. 

In mid XXXX, we were notified by all three credit reporting agencies that our credit score had dropped significantly. When we reviewed our history, we saw that Freedom Mortgage had reported that we were over 30 days late on our XXXX payment. We attempted to reach out to Freedom Mortgage to clarify why they were reporting the late payment and we were told that they were required by law to report the late payment, as technically they had never gotten any funds for our payment for XXXX until a month later ( see letter attached by Freedom Mortgage ). 

We are not bankers nor are we expertly educated in finance, but we do make our payments on time, usually early. As our bank statement shows, we have consistently made our payments to Freedom Mortgage in good faith, and due to internal errors and mismanagement, Freedom Mortgage lost or failed to process our payments. When Freedom Mortgage attempted to reach out to resolve our payments, we actively worked with Freedom Mortgage to resolve the issue, although much of the issue appeared to be on their end, and not ours. 

It now appears that the matter has been resolved, but there is the minor concern of the notation of a payment reversal in the amount of {$1500.00} and the disappearance of these funds. We make our payments every four weeks as an attempt to pay our loan off at a faster rate, thus paying less in interest over time. We worry that this accounting shuffle is an attempt to display that we are not getting ahead of our loan, and that we will be expected to pay our full term of the loan, and all of the projected interest. 

As far as we can tell, this has not affected our payment history, and our next payment is still due on XX/XX/XXXX. In your investigation, please resolve/confirm this as well. 

Thank you, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation