Consumer complaint received 2022-04-05
Company: Brightfunders, LLC
State: MD
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
On or around XX/XX/2022, I received a Notice of Servicing Transfer letter dated XX/XX/2022 from Homeside stating that effective XX/XX/2022 servicing of my mortgage was being transferred to Lower, XXXX. I believe the current loan servicer, Homeside, should've notified me 15 days before the effective date ( XX/XX/2022 ) of the loan transfer. 

The letter stated that the present servicer, Homeside Financial, will stop accepting payments from me on XX/XX/2022. The New Servicer, Lower, XXXX, will start accepting payments from me on XX/XX/2022. The letter provided the address of where I should send my payments to after XX/XX/2022. However, it did not provide me my new account number for Lower, XXXX. The letter also provided me Lower 's Customer Service Department, phone number and mailing address. 

On or around XX/XX/XXXX, I called Homeside to verify the Notice of Servicing Transfer was authentic because it was sent on a copy of Homeside letterhead. The Homeside representative verified the letter was legit and told me that after XX/XX/2022 I will no longer be able to make my mortgage payment with Homeside and that I must make them to Lower at the address on the letter. I explained that I had not heard from Lower or received my new account number. I was told to call Lower at the number noted in the letter after XX/XX/2022. 

On XX/XX/XXXX and XXXX, I call Lower, XXXX Customer Service Department at the number provided in the letter but I was not able to get through to talk to anyone. I left my number on a number of occasions for them to call me back but I never received a call back. 

Lower 's automated message tell you that if your loan has been transferred to Lower effective XX/XX/2022, to go to servicing.lower.com to register your account and pay your bill. However, when you go to this site, it initially ask you for your last name, SSN # and property zip code. Then it prompts you for your Loan Number and SSN #. My question is how can I use this site if Lower has not provided me with the new loan number? I tried using my loan number from Homeside and the site does not find a match. 

Because I do not want my mortgage to be late, on XX/XX/XXXX I sent a certified letter with my mortgage payment enclosed to Lower, XXXX at the address noted in the Notice of Servicing Transfer letter. 

Because I'm unable to get through to the Customer Service Department, on XX/XX/XXXX I decided to XXXX Lower.com and call a different number ( i.e. XXXX ) and pressed 1 to ask a question about an existing mortgage product. I talked to a representative ( XXXX XXXX ) and explained what was going on. She informed me that Lower and it's sister company, Homeside, are having issues with transferring loans and that the transfer is now effective on XX/XX/2022 and not XX/XX/2022. She then proceeds to tell me to make my payment to Homeside. I told her that the letter stated Homeside is no longer accepting payments after XX/XX/XXXX. I told her that I logged on to HomesidXXXX website today ( XX/XX/XXXX ) and it stated that I can no longer make payments from their site. I also explained to her that I've already sent my payment to Lower, XXXX via certified mail without knowing the account number and that I have not received any correspondence from Lower or Homesite about them changing the effective date of the transfer from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX nor have Lower sent me any information regarding my new account. She told me to stop my payment and send it to Homeside. I asked her if Lower was going to pay the stop payment fee. She said she would escalate this to her supervisor. She also said that she would send me an email regarding this botched servicing transfer which I've received on XX/XX/XXXX. 

Homeside and Lower servicing transfer issue is not of my issue. Therefore, I do not feel that I should be the one running around trying to figure out what is going on with my loan and paying the additional fee to stop payment due to an issue I have nothing to do with. I should have been properly notified of the servicing transfer, the issue with the servicing transfer and received my new loan information before the XX/XX/XXXX payment was due. 

I feel that once Lower receives my payment, they should send my payment to Homeside and Homeside should credit my account accordingly since they are sister companies. There should be no late fees, my payment receipt date should be the receipt date of the certified mail, principal, interest, and escrow should be adjusted accordingly and no negative credit inquiries should be sent to the credit bureaus. Once they resolve their transfer issue, borrowers should be notified in advance of the effective date according to law and be given the proper information so that they are able to make their payments on time. 

Issues such as what is going on with Homeside and Lower happen one to many times and minority borrowers like myself get hurt in the process and end of losing our home due to no fault of our own. Borrowers end up fighting the mortgage company trying to prove payment was sent on time but never credited to their account. Therefore, I'm putting this on record just in case I need to fight with Homeside and/or Lower regarding my mortgage and payment sent.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation