Consumer complaint received 2022-02-23
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: Onity Group Inc. (CT)

PHH Mortgage ( PHH ) acquired my loan from AmeriHome Mortgage ( AmeriHome ) on XX/XX/2021. 

AmeriHome, the prior servicer, failed to notify me of the transfer of the loan until XXXX days after my habitual payment date of the XXXX of each month. 

Upon receipt of introductory communications from PHH, I contacted the company to inform them of the late notice and ensure that PHH was aware that it would need to obtain the XXXX payment from AemriHome.

PHH did not receive the XXXX payment from AmeriHome due to errors in AmeriHomes accounting and began attempting to charge me for an additional payment, above and beyond the payments agreed to in the amortization schedule when I took out the loan. PHH has also attempted to change late fees to me for the failure of their business partner, AmeriHome, to transfer the XX/XX/2021 payment as presumably required by the agreement between the two companies.

I communicated with PHHs escalation department regarding these payment issues. However, the PHH escalation department abruptly ceased responding to my calls or messages without ever communicating to me any determination of the source of PHHs issues with receiving the XXXX payment. 

As I informed the company by letter on XX/XX/2021 : In addition, I have received multiple letters ( three of which are dated XX/XX/2021 ; XX/XX/2021 ; and XX/XX/2021 ) indicating that Our escalation department is trying to contact you. However, I have not received any recent phone calls, nor does my mobile account indicate any recent missed calls from PHH. I have responded more than once by calling the phone number indicated ( XXXX extension XXXX ), but no one has been available to receive my call. I have left detailed messages on each attempt to call the number provided. I have not yet received a reply to my attempts to respond to those letters beyond the receipt of additional nearly identical letters. 

PHH Mortgage requested proof of payment, so I asked my bank to send directly to PHH a letter indicating the date and received status of every payment due and payable on my loan. That letter clearly indicated that no payments were late, nor had any payments been returned. 

PHH responded with a request that I Please provide a copy of the cashed check front and back in order for PHH to initiate an investigation. Perhaps this was boilerplate language, but the company had already been clearly informed on multiple occasions that all of my payments had been made via ACH transfer. Thus, no copy of a cashed check could be provided. However, they were in receipt of the letter from my bank showing the status of all payments. 

The latest substantive response by letter from PHH states that We have applied all the payments received on the account in accordance with all applicable federal and state laws and as outlined in the original Note, consolidated modification agreement and any agreed upon amendments thereto.

It appears as though PHH Mortgage, although clearly aware that all payments have been made in accordance with the latest information communicated to the borrower, is intent upon forcing me, the borrower, to correct issues that are clearly the fault of AmeriHome, the company with which PHH decided to do business.

I was not a party to PHH Mortgages negotiations with AmeriHome Mortgage. It is not within my power to correct issues between those two companies. PHH will need to sort out those issues with their chosen business partner, as any ethically run company would do. PHHs attempt to force a mortgage holder to make an additional payment, effectively unilaterally altering the terms of the mortgage agreement, is unconscionable and should be met with harsh penalties by the regulatory authorities.