Consumer complaint received 2017-10-20
Company: Ditech Financial LLC
State: TX
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
Ditech Financial, my mortgage servicer, offered " assistance '' for people affected by XXXX XXXX. I had called in because I was concerned about cash flow in my small business because, although I was not directly impacted by the storm, I live in the storm area. I was told Ditech was forgoing late fees and all negative reporting to credit bureaus for XXXX days for people in the affected area. I asked them to stop my auto-pay for XXXX. I was told I could just go online and make a payment and re-start Auto-Pay whenever I wanted. 
Just a few days later, I received a collection letter stating that my account was late. I immediately made a payment, still within the usual grace period, and called Ditech. They assured me that they were foregoing negative reporting, but I insisted on having something in writing. They refused. They said they " could not '' give me anything in writing. I fought up the chain of supervisors and finally got some statement in an email. Shortly thereafter, I got a form letter laying out their storm policy. 
The next month, I went online to make my mortgage payment and re-start Auto-Pay. I was given an error message that said my account was " ineligible for Auto-Pay. '' Again, I spent quite some time on the phone with customer service and was told they would have to re-set my account for me to be able to enroll in Auto-Pay. Today, about XXXX weeks later, I received a XXXX letter from Ditech laying out the reasons they dis-enroll from Auto-Pay. The problem is n't that I was disenrolled. The problem is that I was told I could re-enroll whenever I wanted and that was simply not true. I had to spend valuable time fighting with them on the phone, never received an adequate answer, and now, finally, today, was able to re-enroll. 

Right before XXXX XXXX, I made some changes to my home insurance policies, which are paid through my mortgage servicer. Shortly after XXXX, I received a refund of flood premium check. I verified with my insurer and deposited the check. Then, I received another refund check, for home-owners. I verified with my insurer that this check was okay and not some error, was advised it was good and deposited it. A couple days later, Ditech stopped payment on their check to my insurer, causing my insurer to stop payment on their check to me. I and my insurer both incurred bank fees due to Ditech 's actions. My fees were {$12.00}, my insurer 's {$30.00}. I have spent hours on the phone trying to get Ditech to credit this {$12.00} to my account. It is a matter of principle! If they found an error they should have handled it a different way - i.e., asking for funds to be deposited to the escrow account. They should not have simply stopped payment on a check and caused all the headaches down the road. 

My overarching concern is that Ditech is going to harm people in my community by their offer of " help '' on mortgage payments. Getting a collection letter that my account was late was terrifying and stressful - I have NEVER made a late payment in nearly XXXX  years!! I think it is horrendous that people severely affected by the storm may have gotten such letters, too. Ditech rep, XXXX, with customer service 's response when I called in was, " Sorry you are inconvenienced by having to throw a letter away! '' THIS IS NOT RIGHT! 
I also simply do n't trust them now - are they really foregoing reporting and late fees? Are people going to encounter problems when they do try to pay, problems caused by Ditech, and then be penalized for that? I want someone to check them out and make sure they are not harming people under the guise of " helping '' them!

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation