Consumer complaint received 2017-05-10
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: Dovenmuehle Mortgage, Inc. (CA)

My mortgage lender is   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   also known as   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX  . My mortgage was initiated on   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   and was originally serviced through  Dovenmuehle Servicing t o who I had been making payments to through an online portal without issue. However in   XXXX   XXXX   I was informed that the servicer of my loan had changed from Dovenmuehle Servicing  to Dovenmuehle Mortgage ( re ferred to hereafter as Dovenmuehle ). In  XXXX  I logged in to the online portal to pay the mortgage only to find it was not accepting my login credentials. I called the servicing department and was informed that I would no longer be able to make payments through the online portal, this would need to be done with a cashiers check by mail or through  XXXX   XXXX , which would incur a cost to me. Worried that the payment would be late I was told that I could make  XXXX  and  XXXX  payment as  XXXX  cashiers check in the amount of {$6000.00}, which I  did ( see Exhibit A ).  As requested this was sent to  XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX ,  XXXX   XXXX ,  IL  XXXX .     In  XXXX  I was notified by  Dovenmuehle  that  XXXX  payment had not been received. I called to confirm the mailing address and discovered that the cashiers check had in fact been received, but had not yet been applied to my account. I was told that the reason for this was due to the cashiers check being made payable to the wrong servicer, however it turned out this was not the case and upon confirmation this was my payment, I was told this would be applied to my account.     Believing this issue had been resolved I made  XXXX  payment in the same manner. However in  XXXX  I was once again informed that  XXXX  payment had not been received. After calling the servicing department it became clear that there was an issue with the servicer applying payments to my account. After explaining that this was the same issue I had experienced the month prior, I was told this would be applied to my account. As I no longer had access to an online portal I was unable to confirm this myself, I was left to trust the word of Dovenmuehle customer service.     In early  XXXX  I noticed negative reporting on my credit report (  XXXX   &  XXXX  )  by   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX  , initiated I assume by Dovenmuehle. Shocked at seeing this it became clear that  Dovenmuehle  were not applying funds to my account. Later in  XXXX  I received a returned cashiers check for  XXXX  and  XXXX  payment ( {$6000.00} ) stating that this was being returned as the amount of the check was not enough to cover the outstanding balance ( See Exhibit B ). It should be noted the amount  Dovenmuehle cites is different than the that stated in the returned check. Clearly this check was not in fact applied by Dovenmuehle  in  XXXX  as I was explicitly told by their customer service representative. At this point I had not yet received returned checks for the months of  XXXX  and  XXXX . As I understood it, Dovenmuehle were still holding these checks, but had not applied these to my account. This now meant that the subsequent monthly mortgage payments would not be applied due to an account being reported as in arrears with a requirement to put this current.     Upon reviewing my credit reports I noticed that a mortgage lender by the name  XXXX   XXXX  was being reported to my  XXXX  credit report with the same delinquent payment history as with   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   and with the same address as  XXXX ,  XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX ,  XXXX   XXXX , IL  XXXX    (  see Exhibit C ). I have never had a financial relationship with  XXXX   XXXX . Upon further investigation it turns out that  XXXX   XXXX  is another client that is serviced by  Dovenmuehle. I called Dovenmuehle to ascertain if our mortgage note had been purchased, but they refu sed to give me that information over the phone. I then called   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   who confirmed they were still the holders of my mortgage note. To this day it is still unclear why  XXXX   XXXX  appears on my credit report and  Dovenmuehle h ave refused to provide and explanation.     With Dovenmuehle refusing to answer questions about my account unless it was brought current, something I was unable to do as they were not applying any of the funds I sent, I reached out directly to   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX  . Upon recapping the history of events I was assigned a consumer advocate who was much friendlier and cooperative promising to resolve the issue. The advocate contacted  Dovenmuehle  and confirmed with them that they had indeed received the above referenced payments and was also informed these had been returned to me, although to this date I have only received  XXXX  check for the months of  XXXX  and  XXXX   (  see Exhibit B ). There was no explanation as to why payments were not being applied leaving me in no better position to correct the issue. I explained to the advocate that the payments I sent were, as requested by the servicer, in the form of cashiers checks. In order for me to reissue payment I would need to put a stop payment on these checks, which could take up to  XXXX  days before the funds could be made available to me again. However in the meantime with the account being reported in arrears any subsequent monthly payments could and would not be applied.     Without the funds available to cover  XXXX  months and bring the account current I would need to wait until I either, received the returned checks from Dovernmuhle, or, the stop payments went through and I could reissue the funds. As an interim solution I proposed to   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   that they put temporary paid markers in the  XXXX  months that  Dovenmuehle  had so failed to apply the payments to. This would allow me to continue to make and have applied my monthly mortgage payment for which   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   agreed. Again as there is no online portal to view account statements I had no way of verifying this. However, later in  XXXX  I was supplied with a letter that confirmed the above situation ( see Exhibit D ).     In  XXXX  I was alarmed to receive a call from someone identifying themselves as a consumer mortgage advocate notifying me that a notice of default was filed and my home was now in foreclosure proceedings. It was also in  XXXX  when we started to receive correspondence from the   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX    stating they were representing   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   in the collection of the past due balance associated with our account. I had title pulled for my home showing that   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX    had substituted the   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   in as trustee. Then on an additional recorded document it noted that the   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX    was the entity for which future payments needed to be made to in order to bring the account current ( see Exhibi t E ).  In the meantime I was still receiving correspondence from  Dovenmuehle  to collect mortgage payments and charging me late fees.     On the advice of   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   I had continued to pay my monthly mortgage to  Dovenmuehle by  cashiers check. With no way of checking online I called the   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   advocate to confirm these payments were being received and applied to my account, which I was told they were. However each month I continue to receive correspondence from  Dovenmuehle  stating not only are they the servicer of my loan, but that my account past due balance continues to grow. Surprisingly in these statements Dovenmuehle are requesting payments to be sent to a  PO BOX in   XXXX , which is different from the original  XXXX   XXXX  address listed in the servicer 's request and the letter attempting to collect the debt ( see Exhibit B ). Notably these statements do not reflect any of the temporary paid markers that   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   had agreed to apply, nor any of the payments that I had continued to m ake ( s ee Exhibit F ).     At this point I felt utterly lost and abandoned by both my mortgage lender and mortgage servicer. Not only were Dovenmuehle not applying the cashiers checks I sent to my account, but I am yet to receive all the checks they state they have returned leaving me out of pockets many thousands of dollars. I am being told my mortgage is in default, my home is in foreclosure. I am still not sure who the servicer of my loan is with Dovenmuehle giving conflicting payment addresses and I continue to receive correspondence from the   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX    stating they are now the ones collecting on the mortgage. To make matters even more confusing I recently received on  XXXX   XXXX , a letter from Dovenmuehle stating that as of  XXXX   XXXX  they are no longer going to be responsible for servicing my mortgage. The new mortgage servicer would be   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   and I am to contact them for further information ( see Exhibit G ). However at this point  Dovenmuehle  are reporting the account over {$28000.00} in arrears and still have possession of multiple cashiers checks.     In summary, since the change in servicer, my account appears to have been grossly mis-managed resulting in a chain reaction of events with dire consequences. It is clear that the checks being received by the servicer, however not only are they not being applied to my account but these are being held by the servicer leaving me out of pocket. With each month that the servicer fails to apply funds against my mortgage the balance has grown, a paradoxical situation where I can not win? The result is the servicer reporting the account as delinquent and taking further steps to file notices of default and initiate foreclosure proceedings.     The servicer also appears to have at some point mixed up my account and perhaps even linked it to a different lender in  XXXX   XXXX , who I have never had any contact with but now appears on my credit as a delinquent account. In order to work to resolve the erroneous credit reporting I have had to enroll and pay for real-time credit monitoring services at my own expense. These erroneous reports have also resulted in me being turned down credit applications and in once instance having my credit limit reduced. This has meant that important home projects and vacations have had to be cancelled and put on hold while I desperately try to resolve this.     As a consequence of notice of default and foreclosure filings I am being contacted daily, by phone, email and mail by individuals and companies offering services to help me avoid foreclosure. Additionally m y Solar pane l provider,  XXXX , sent me a letter explaining they had been informed by the   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   that the home was in foreclosure. Under the terms and conditions of the Solar contract,  XXXX  can come to the home and remove these panels believing their assets are at risk. They have also suggested that they would pursue legal action against me to protect their assets.     This is all very distressing indeed with me needing to take time off work to try to resolve this and it is starting to take a toll on my health leaving me very  XXXX . I have had to seek medical intervention and   XXXX   as I struggle to come to terms with the situation. Despite spending many hours trying to resolve this with all the parties involved, I fear this has gotten out of control and I am requesting that the CFPB investigate this matter and  Dovenmuehles  servicing practices as a whole.