Consumer complaint received 2021-07-14
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage — 
Company: Dovenmuehle Mortgage, Inc. (CA)

When COVID-19 hit we would never have dreamed that we would be out of work for longer than a couple of weeks. In XXXX it became a hard realization that we would not be working for a while. We are both self-employed XXXX. XXXX is also a XXXX  and we had just completed our XXXX attached to our home to rent for an XXXX. We are both on Social Security XXXX and as of XX/XX/XXXX we began running our new XXXX out of our home. 

In the beginning of Covid when everything shuttered we were very insecure about what would happen financially so we applied for unemployment and someone also told me that in response to these unprecedented times caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress and the President of the United States passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, H.R. 748 ( CARES Act ) on XX/XX/XXXX, to provide relief to Americans and American businesses suffering from the resulting health and economic crisis. 

I called Dovenmuehle and was able to obtain forbearance for three months for XXXX, XXXX and XXXX of XXXX. At the end of XXXX when I finally started collecting unemployment, my husband began to do more work and we got our first guest in our XXXX  so we decided that we would finish out our 90 day forbearance and resume paying our mortgage payments starting XX/XX/XXXX. We made our payments and have done so ON TIME since that day. 

When we resumed paying our mortgage I talked to an agent who referred me to lost mitigation at Dovenmuehle to begin the process of helping us file for a loan modification and partial claims for the missed 3 months of payment which was readily offered as an option. 

We felt confident in the government program as well as the help we initially received from Dovenmuehle Loan Servicing Company until they dropped the ball completely and proved to us over and over again these past 12 months that their business practices, mishandled paper work and break in their chain of communication are the worst weve ever experienced. It has taken a year to get through the loan modification process through their Loss Mitigation department. 

It took THREE TIMES just to apply as they continued to lose my documents, close out my application and denying me because of my supposed lack of getting documents to them fast enough. We sent many documents over and over again through the mail, e mail and uploading onto their document center only to find that they had not received them. This missing documents issue caused so much anguish during the worst time of my life during Covid-19. No work. No job. No unemployment money until late XXXX. They lost my application that I mailed in a packet with all the required documents the first time and then told me I sent in an incomplete application. YET, somehow they managed to have in their possession my tax returns, income statements and other certain private documents like social security forms. 

At the end of XXXX I was told that I was no longer in loss mitigation and they closed my file because I did not send my documents in a timely manner. YET, they certainly took their time12 months to give me answers and process my claim! According to a friend of mine who is a mortgage broker, I am allowed a certain amount of time to put my documents together. And in fact I sent them all the documents that they had asked for. ( see photos of computer timeline in evidence ) This company continued to lose documents even when I emailed them. I uploaded them onto their website on their docu-center and called well over 40 times during these last few months. In XXXX we decided to start fresh again and sent a completely new packet which was approved in XX/XX/XXXX. 


Gratefully I have documented every call and every person I have talked to since XX/XX/XXXX and a partial list starting in XX/XX/XXXX. 

One thing that was very upsetting is that every time I called I would get a different person. I was never appointed one supervisor or processor on my case. Each time I called I had to talk to a new person and catch them up on what was going on. I began to see a pattern and realize that these people really didnt know what was really going on internally in the big picture. They never officially gave me a point of contact except in their letters we got a name but they never returned our phone calls in the last 8 months! 

I called Loss Mitigation one day and spoke to someone about a missing document and she said she had it right there. A little while later I called back and talk to a different person who said she didnt have that particular document in her file. And then when I called a third time that same day another agent said that everything is in order and it looks like all your documents are here only to find out the next day that they were still missing documents. Simple documents like our award letters from Social Security that I sent at least four times including in the initial first packet I sent via USPS paying {$15.00} in postage. 

They also made unreasonable requests wanting monthly bank statements asking explaination for all the in-coming money {$500.00} or more in my account INCLUDING any deposits that equaled {$500.00}, so {$100.00} deposit from my Aunt for birthday, {$60.00} for sister who is on our phone plan etc ... all deposits adding up to {$500.00}. I had to give an explanation of where it came from. Im sure some of these practices are common but some of these requests seemed unreasonable and add having to send it again and again then told over and over again that they have not received the document, imagine the frustration! 

Another thing is their collection department called relentlessly, ocassionally two times in one day. I finally started documenting it and have it documented that I got a call XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX. How intrusive and completely inappropriate to do this while working on a loan modification! unrealistic as well! 

Finally, after 4 months of anguish, pain, suffering, XXXX XXXX XXXX, intense stress, worry and harassment while continually being asked for the SAME DOCUMENTS over and over again and daily calls from the debt collection department demanding payment of the 3 past due payments I was sent a letter that all of my documents were received and acknowledged on XX/XX/XXXX and that I would receive an answer within 30 days. ( see documents XXXX ) I was also finally able to get the phone calls stopped although they continued to send me letters in the mail demanding payment. Certified mail by the way. As per the letter I was awaiting my instructions well the 30 days ticked by. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I received a phone call from a woman who said she was from XXXX. She explained to me that there would be 30 days review and then I would be getting a new payment schedule for my mortgage and a three month trial pay period. After that I would I have a new lower payment! 
I was ecstatic. I asked so the loan modification went through? and she said yes this is happening! 
She explained how the loan modification worked, what was going to happen and to expect a packet from Dovenmuehle in a couple weeks. NO PACKAGE EVER CAME!! 

I have yet to get anything from them except for statements demanding payment, harassing letters, misinformation, and now a letter DECLINING our loan modification for no reason. Icing on the cake I received yet another letter thanking me for speaking with us about your mortgage and as we discussed youre approved for a payment deferral on my 3 month forbearance last year during Covid. As we discussed?? WE NEVER DISCUSSED THIS!! The letter arrived just three days after receiving a letter of DFENIAL dated XX/XX/XXXX. The deferral letter is dated XX/XX/XXXX and says I must sign these papers and send them by XX/XX/XXXX. The quirky thing about this letter is that I receive the letter XX/XX/XXXX and its postmarked XX/XX/XXXX yet theyre telling me to sign it and get it in by XX/XX/XXXX? Is this how they do business? Even if I did receive the letter that was dated XXXX XXXX what banking institution doing a mortgage deferral gives their customers 5 days to get something this important out to them? Again so unprofessional and very intimidating! 

I called them XX/XX/XXXX and spoke to another woman named XXXX and I asked her about the deferral letter and she claimed that Dovenmuehle sent deferral papers in the mail and also said theyre records showing that they talked to us on XX/XX/XXXX and we agreed to do this deferral. And according to my phone records I did speak to someone on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX. This was from a person in Loss Mitigation named XXXX. She told me that my case was still in review and that it was looking very positive. I told her I was concerned that maybe Dovenmuehle was dragging their feet about all of this and waiting until XXXX when the Cares Act is no longer in effect. She told me she didnt believe that anything like that would happen at this point. So according to XXXX, I was being offered a payment deferral and sent a letter of decline on XX/XX/XXXX but speaking to XXXX, yet another agent in the same department four days later on the XXXX is TELLING ME A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SCENARIO!! 

By the way, we never received deferral papers, spoke about deferral payment regarding our loan and I never agreed to anything. I would never agree to anything without talking it over with my husband and also I have saved every single document that they have sent to me and theres nothing in any document talking about a deferral. Nor in my email. XXXX claims that her team leader XXXX said these papers were sent to us in the mail and in email form. 

When XXXX Returned on the phone after speaking to their team leader XXXX she said that we were getting our loan modification and she described the difference between a deferral and a loan modification. She went on to tell me that all the paperwork that I received in the mail was simply backed up communication that was being sent in the wrong order of timeline and that they had documents on their end that were lost from their department. She also went on to tell me that I would be getting my loan modification and that the deferral would mean putting the money I owe on the back end of my loan. She said that those documents were going to be sent out today XX/XX/XXXX. We have not received these papers and when we spoke to XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX she stated that no papers have been sent out yet as our Modification is still in review. 

Meanwhile this company should not be allowed to operate the way that they are operating. It is absolutely despicable the way that we have been treated. As I said above all of the stress and strain of this process has worn me out. I went through a period of time when my XXXX XXXX was so out of control that I couldnt even take a stress test at the cardiologist!! I have medical documents to show that if you request it. 

I believe that the documents I am receiving from Dovenmuehle are sent to us to cause fear to pay instead of giving us a loan modification. I really dont know why this is happening from their end. I question whether or not employees are given incentives to collect money in lieu of getting loan modifications and what not.