Consumer complaint received 2024-04-08
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — Paying off the loan
Company: Selene Holdings LLC (NC)

I closed on my mortgage refinance with XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX and a payoff check was mailed on XX/XX/XXXX to payoff Selene Finance. The payoff check was for {$270000.00} and their official mortgage payoff statement was for {$270000.00} good through XX/XX/XXXX ( {$190.00} overpayment plus our check arrived 4 days early meaning interest should have been even less. $ XXXX interest arriving 4 days early should add {$260.00} to the overpayment for a total overpayment of {$460.00} ). Selene acknowledged they received the check on XX/XX/XXXX but said the check wasnt enough to payoff the loan. I found this out because on XX/XX/XXXX Selene called me saying I was late on my payment and they charged me a {$87.00} late fee. So, now Selene is trying generate a new payoff adding in {$2000.00} extra to the payoff + interest from XX/XX/XXXX through at least today XX/XX/XXXX at $ XXXX ( $ XXXX days so far = {$1500.00} ) + {$87.00} late fee. When I asked them why their official payoff was wrong they were not sure. I had to call in three different times to get an answer since each time the customer service person told me they would research this and call me back ( I was never called back ). I researched this company and online reviews are FULL of people saying the same thing happened to them. I feel as if this was a scam of a company holding my mortgage and they are trying to generate extra interest and fees. I feel powerless to do anything about it. My options only seem to payoff the balance for over {$3000.00} more than their payoff good through XX/XX/XXXX or hire an attorney. Can CFPB help me resolve this matter? 

Since Selene Finance acknowledged receiving XXXX 's payoff check of {$270000.00} on XX/XX/XXXX then interest should have been stopped this day and I should receive the {$460.00} overpayment back in a check from Selene on top of the {$400.00} they are holding in my escrow account. 

Here is the timeline of events. 
XX/XX/XXXX Closed on my refinance. 
XX/XX/XXXX - Check was mailed out for {$270000.00} XX/XX/XXXX Selene Finance received the payoff which was {$190.00} more than their XX/XX/XXXX official payoff. 4 days of interest should be added to the {$190.00}. {$190.00} overpayment + ( XXXX {$250.00} ) = {$450.00} overpayment. Selene said they returned the check to my house but I never received it. Selene also said they attempted to reach me by email which I never received a email and Selene could not produce a email from that day saying they contacted me. 
XX/XX/XXXX I receive a phone call from Selene saying Im past due. The customer service agent said they had no evidence of a payoff check coming in. I told them I would research and call back. 
XX/XX/XXXX I called XXXX and found the XXXX  XXXX package number and amount of the check. I called back and told them a Selene finance employee signed off receiving the check on XX/XX/XXXX at the front desk. Customer service at Selene then acknowledged they got the check but said it was about {$2000.00} short of the payoff. I asked them to subtract the payoff check from {$270000.00} from the official payoff letter of {$270000.00} and the customer service acted like maybe they made a mistake and told me they would call me back in 24hrs. 
XX/XX/XXXX 4 days later I have not received a call back so I called Selene Finance and talked to XXXX ( they won't give last names or employee numbers ). I explained the entire scenario and she seemed on my side thinking Selene made a mistake and said she would call me back in 48hrs. 
XX/XX/XXXX After 48hrs of no call back I called Selene Finance and spent 2hrs on the phone with XXXX. He had to research the whole situation and kept putting me on hold while he researched. His conclusion was on XX/XX/XXXX when Selene received the check they had to generate a new payoff and that day the payoff was about {$2000.00} more than their official 30 day payoff they had sent XXXX. He couldnt explain why the {$2000.00} discrepancy. My assumption is on XX/XX/XXXX someone generated a new payoff and the payoff was {$2000.00} more because $ XXXX interest X 30 days = {$1900.00}. The payoff should have been for XX/XX/XXXX not generate it on XX/XX/XXXX for 30 more days. I asked why the didnt apply the {$270000.00} SECU check leaving only a small balance and he said because it didnt cover the full balance ( although the check more than paid off what their official payoff statement said ). I asked can you not make principal payments and he said yes you can but thats not what the check was for. I question them again about why myself or XXXX wasnt contacted on XX/XX/XXXX when the check wasnt for their payoff so it could be resolved ASAP and he said they sent me a email about it which I never received and they can not produce evidence of this email ( i have asked multiple times for copies of this email and they are still " researching it '' ). They showed no remorse for the late fee, interest accruing, or obvious payoff mistake if it was a mistake and continue to charge late fees and interest. 
XX/XX/XXXX - Selene calls me asking for my XXXX payment and I told them the situation again. The employee acknowledge they held the XXXX check through XX/XX/XXXX for {$270000.00} ( this story changed from their earlier response that the mailed it back to me on XX/XX/XXXX ) and now need the {$2300.00} mortgage payment. The Selene employee XXXX XXXX said he would research the situation and call me back in a few hours. 
XX/XX/XXXX - After 3 days of no call back I called Selene Finance again. They said XXXX was busy and that he would call me back when free. 

It has been 28 days since they received the XXXX payoff check and Selene finance never applied the check to my balance and no phone calls or emails were ever given back to me for them trying to resolve the matter. It seems like this is intentional to generate fees and interest. Please help me. ( I included a screenshot of the reviews online. 45 reviews of people detailing what happened to me happened to them ).