Consumer complaint received 2024-08-21
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — Loan sold or transferred to another company
Company: Valon Technologies, Inc. (MD)

On XX/XX/XXXX, I requested a payoff notice for my loan with XXXX XXXX the company that had serviced my loan since purchase in XXXX XXXX. The payoff quote, dated XX/XX/XXXX, had a good through date of XXXX XXXX. Amid the process of submitting my final loan payment to XXXX, I received correspondence ( dated XX/XX/XXXX ; received to my mailbox XX/XX/XXXX ) that my loan was being transferred to Valon for servicing beginning XX/XX/XXXX -- directing that all payments beginning XX/XX/XXXX be sent to Valon. As directed by the XXXX goodbye letter, I did not send final payment to XXXX and awaited correspondence from Valon.

I received emails from Valon re : upcoming transfer and how to establish the online client portal. I created my online portal, requested paper statements be sent by mail, and screenshot the partially listed loan information. In addition to being incompletely listed, the payment amount total showed incorrect allocations of principal and interest totals. Because I had yet to see a Valon statement by mail or uploaded to my online client portal, On XX/XX/XXXX, I wrote by email to the customer service information provided : " Good afternoon, I received notice from my former loan servicer, XXXX XXXX, on XX/XX/XXXX that my loan was being transferred to Valon and that payments beginning XXXX XXXX will be managed by Valon. I've yet to receive a paper statement by mail as I've requested and online account details have been uploaded slowly ( e.g., XXXX account statement was seen uploaded today w/a date of XX/XX/XXXX despite the " statement '' tab not showing any information when I checked yesterday ). Please advise : XXXX ) when I will receive XX/XX/XXXX statement by mail, XXXX ) where the amortization schedule can be accessed ( the online portal only shows a bar graph but no full schedule ), and XXXX ) when monthly statements can be expected to arrive by standard mail. 

It was quite disappointing to receive notice of this transfer with only a week notice of my needing to send monthly payments to a new loan service company and still not to have received a statement from said new servicer. While I submitted electronic payment today, my preference is to have received the statement by mail with enough notice that I am able to submit a paper check, should I choose, by the first of the month. I look forward to hearing from you regarding a resolution. Thank you. '' My experiences with Valon have been poor, which began with the response from customer service that Valon would not generate a statement for XXXX because my XXXX statement was sufficient, and continued with other questionable responses ( e.g., stating that I would have mortgage penalties when I requested clarification about their calculations and practices -- despite all Valon documentation reflecting that my loan is in a XXXX transfer period w/no late fees or negative credit reporting until XXXX XXXX, XXXX ). Additionally, I have consistently experienced incomplete, conflicting, or no responses to the questions I have posed regarding escrow practices, receiving an amortization schedule since XXXX is not public on their client portal, loan information discrepancies, and other concerns. 

After multiple requests to escalate my concerns to or provide information for the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  ( name and signature reflected at the bottom of my welcome letter ), I received an amortization schedule ( that was poorly prepared -- e.g., inconsistent fonts across value fields ) and a payoff statement that seems odd. 

Despite being told the payoff quote would be emailed to me within XXXX days, no email was sent and I had to find the generated quote uploaded to my client portal. Most immediately concerning is that my principal balance with Valon at the time the payoff quote was provided on XX/XX/XXXX ( {$49000.00} ) is LESS following my XXXX payment of $ XXXX ( with all additional going to principal ), but the interest they have calculated due is MORE ( {$330.00} ) than that reflected in the XXXX Payoff Quote which has a higher remaining principal balance ( Principal {$56000.00} ; Interest at 3.375 % : {$250.00} ). I am also confused why the Valon statement has a " reconveyance fee '' when the XXXX quote did not. Also reflected in the Valon payoff statement is a discrepancy regarding my Property Tax payment. Despite my request that my property tax bill be paid in full in XXXX ( as was my request to XXXX which was honored without any issue ), and that action being confirmed by a customer service rep, this payoff statement includes a Property Tax disbursement that is below the total taxes due. 

Given the poor customer service and conflicting responses received whenever information was provided, on XX/XX/XXXX, I wrote to customer service XXXX sentence : " Good evening, Please send me the contact information for your XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. Thank you. '' Because I had received no response, on XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, I wrote : " Good evening, I have yet to receive contact information for XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX I look forward to receiving by XXXX XXXX tomorrow XXXX, XXXX, XXXX : XXXX ) Requested contact information, XXXX ) New amortization schedule that reflects XX/XX/XXXX payment, XXXX ) New Payoff Statement with accurately reflected values ( e.g., remaining principal, interest calculation, property tax disbursement ), and XXXX ) Confirmation that the property tax payment in full of {$5100.00} will be paid by XXXX XXXX, XXXX. '' The following correspondence was received from Customer Service : XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Valon XXXX Hello XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Thank you for your patience. 

Your concern regarding your account was escalated to Valon Mortgage XXXX for review. We would like to ensure that all of your concerns have been addressed to your satisfaction. Please allow us up to XXXX business hours to review your account and upon completion of our review, we will follow up with you. 

In the meantime, should you have additional questions, please feel free to respond back to this email and we will be more than happy to address any concerns that you may have.

Thank you, Valon Servicing Team Hours of Operation : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, We appreciate your extended patience. 

Your request is taking longer than expected but we are working diligently to resolve your concern as soon as possible. We have connected with the necessary departments to assist us with resolving this matter and will follow up with you as soon as we have an update. 

Thank you again for your time and patience. 
Thank you, Valon Servicing Team Hours of Operation : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  Hi XXXX, We wanted to check in and let you know that were still working on your request. Well update you as soon as we have more information to share. 

In the meantime, thank you for being patient and let us know if theres anything more we can assist with! You can also view our help center online at XXXX anytime, day or night. 
Thank you, Valon Servicing Team Hours of Operation : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Hello XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, We appreciate your patience while we worked to resolve this matter. 

My name is XXXX and I am XXXX of the Managers here at Valon Mortgage, and I understand that you requested the information for our XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. While I understand that you would like to receive the contact information for our XXXX, we are prohibited from releasing such information. However, I would like to ensure that we have addressed all of your concerns, and if at that time you remain unsatisfied, I will be more than happy to forward your concerns through the proper channels. 

After a thorough review of your account, I was able to verify that you had some concerns regarding the principal and interest in the provided amortization schedule, which differs from the amortization schedule generated by XXXX XXXX. You are requesting a new amortization schedule that reflects the XX/XX/XXXX payment, a new Payoff Statement with accurately reflected values ( e.g., remaining principal, interest calculation, property tax disbursement ), and confirmation that the property tax payment of {$5100.00} will be paid by XX/XX/XXXX. 

I would first like to address your request for an amortization schedule. The previously provided amortization schedule was completed using the loan 's outstanding principal balance of {$49000.00} and did not include the payment of {$8000.00} for the month of XXXX. We have since completed a new amortization schedule that includes the payment of {$8000.00} for you which is attached to this email. Please see the attachment. 

With regard to the payment for the property taxes, we have confirmed with the XXXX XXXX that the payment for the property taxes is due by XX/XX/XXXX and the confirmed amount due is {$5100.00}. Rest assured that the payment for your property taxes will be paid on or before this date and we have updated your account to reflect the updated information. 

Additionally, we have successfully completed a payoff statement that includes the correct amount of {$5100.00} that is due for the property taxes. The good through date for this payoff statement is XX/XX/XXXX and is also attached to this email for your records. Please see the attachment for additional information. 

We understand the importance of ensuring that your account reflects true and accurate information and would like to assure you that the information reflected in your account is correct. We appreciate your diligence and hope that we were able to resolve your concerns. If you should have additional questions, please feel free to respond back to this email at your convenience and we will be more than happy to address any concerns that you may have.

Thank you, Valon Servicing Team Hours of Operation : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Because Valon systems do not grant clients direct access to their loan terms and other information like amortization schedules, XXXX question I posed at the outset of the transfer to Valon was how I could access an amortization schedule after each payment. The responding customer service rep stated " Please be advised, that we can provide an amortization schedule now, however, this does not change on a month-to-monthly basis. " and " In the meantime, if you would like to have an amortization schedule generated, please advise if you will be including a reoccurring curtailment or one-time curtailment and we can have an amortization schedule generated. '' I clarified that the principal and interest values WILL change monthly based on how much is paid toward the principal each month and requested that amortization schedules be sent to me following each payment since I can not access this information on my own though the client portal. The first amortization schedule that I was told would be emailed to my, I found on my own attached to my client portal. The second amortization schedule ( and payoff letter ) I requested directly following my XX/XX/XXXX payment of {$8000.00} ( designating additional go toward the principal ) ; those documents were not provided to me until XXXX  days later. 

Please advise what recourse is available to XXXX ) verify that the terms of my loan and amounts reflected in Valon correspondence are correct when Valon representatives are evasive and their payment systems lack transparency, XXXX ) alert governing bodies of practices that may be unethical/illegal and XXXX ) understand the available options to see that my financial relationship with Valon is resolved immediately and that other customers who may be experiencing similar difficulties are protected. 

Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX