Consumer complaint received 2018-04-23
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: Ditech Financial LLC (WA)

XX/XX/XXXX XXXX County reduced my property taxes as I now qualify as a senior citizen. My taxes were reduced from {$7200.00} / year to {$3900.00} / year in XX/XX/XXXX. 

Ditech collects escrow to pay property taxes and home insurance. I continue to pay existing mortgage of {$2400.00} till the end of XX/XX/XXXX and into XX/XX/XXXX. This is well above and beyond what I need to pay to keep escrow funded. 


XX/XX/XXXX Ditech fails to confirm the tax amount due and sends a payment of {$3900.00} to XXXX County. This amounts to an overpayment of {$3900.00} which was refunded to me by XXXX County later that year. ( see Ditech XX/XX/XXXX Tax Payment attached ). 


XX/XX/XXXX Living out of state at the time ; did not receive XX/XX/XXXX's bill so made an electronic payment of {$2400.00} to Ditech. This is the same amount I had been paying for entire XX/XX/XXXXknowing I continue to pay too much. 

XX/XX/XXXX Received a bill for {$2500.00} plus {$87.00} late fee. It appeared Ditech thought I had under paid XX/XX/XXXX's bill by {$40.00}. 

I am contesting the {$87.00} late fee. This is entrapment! Here 's why : 1.Why wasn't I notified about the alleged {$40.00} short? There was no attempt to contact me to rectify the problem. It should also be noted I have NEVER been late the entire time I've been in this house ( 16 years ). 
2.On XX/XX/XXXX Ditech knew they were overpaying property taxes when they sent in the 2nd half of my property taxes. XXXX County assured me Ditech is informed of the new rate. I am notified immediately if my escrow account comes up short for one reason or another. Why am I not notified when the converse is true? 
3.In XX/XX/XXXX, Ditech adjusted my mortgage payment and had another opportunity to correct escrow by verifying property taxes and insurance. They did not and seems would rather me continue to overpay as that oversight is in Ditech 's favor. 
4.May XX/XX/XXXX's payment is {$2100.00} ( shown attached, it took that long to get a correct statement ). That means I overpaid {$340.00} in every month since my last tax bill was paid. That includes XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX : I WASN'T {$40.00} SHORT, I WAS {$1300.00} OVER!!!!!!! And I get fined???? 

In an effort to resolve this issue I have been in touch with customer service on a number of occasions. 

Call # 1 : XX/XX/XXXX XXXX told me she would put in a request to have the late fee withdrawn and my escrow corrected. Nothing happened. 

Call # 2 : XX/XX/XXXX XXXX told me they were sending me a new statement. Was obvious nothing was going happen. 

Call # 3 : XX/XX/XXXX - XXXX put me in touch with the tax department where I talked with XXXX who attempted to fix the problem. I later received a bill for {$5100.00}. Huh???? 

Call # 4 : XX/XX/XXXX XXXX spoke with XXXX and XXXX who then fixed the problem. FINALLY!!! 

From the above exchange, it becomes obvious Ditech 's operations are inefficient and prone to errors. Which brings me back to the {$87.00} late fee PLEASE REMOVE IT. Playing dumb is no excuse for overcharging. 

p.s. I can not find a single positive review, among thousands, about Ditech on the internet. If I was Ditech, I'd make customer service my # 1 priority as it is adversely affecting the bottom line.