Consumer complaint received 2020-03-01
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: INVESTORS BANK (NJ)

A physical paper check for our XX/XX/2020 mortgage payment for {$3100.00} was mailed on XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I used the chat help desk to ask Investors Bank why check hadn't been deposited. They told me they haven't received the check, and advised me to wait longer before making an alternate payment, as I had a grace period until XX/XX/XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I called because the payment was still not processed. I was informed that the check had still not been received, but was advised that a new service for electronic payments was recently released, so I signed up so that we could submit our XXXX payment in time to avoid a late fee. We worked with the customer service person to make sure that if the lost check was found, that they wouldn't deposit it. I provided the date, amount, and check number. I called my credit union and paid {$10.00} for a stop payment on the check in case the check was stolen while in transit. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, Investors Bank located the paper check that was previously lost and attempted to deposit it. On XX/XX/XXXX, they reversed the payment and charged a {$30.00} bounced check fee. I called them yesterday to remind them that we already sorted this out, they said they'd call me back about providing a refund for the {$30.00}. 

In the meantime, we stopped sending paper checks and set up automatic online payments through their online payment service, our first auto-payment was scheduled for XX/XX/XXXX. They charged my checking account twice for our XX/XX/XXXX mortgage payment. I received two email confirmations, with two payment IDs, both for the amount of {$3100.00}. 

I called the customer service number provided on the online payment website and was told by a customer service rep " The online payment system is actually a third party so we can't help you. I don't have their number so I'll have to ask around and call you back with the correct number. '' I can't log in to the online payment system myself - it says my username/password combo is incorrect. When I try to reset my password, it says username doesn't exist. When I submitted a request for my username, it tells me that the username is the one that I just attempted. Because the customer service number they provided is incorrect, and no one at Investors Bank knows the correct phone number, I'm unable to log in to my account or speak to a representative to end the online payment service. 

While I had this customer service rep on the phone I asked her if there was a follow up on the {$30.00} reversed payment issue as I never received any additional information. She said that they rejected the request for the refund because although the customer service rep took down all of the necessary info, they would still try to deposit any check that they received, no matter what. This is problematic as we don't have the means to to float an additional mortgage payment if a lost check is suddenly found, I imagine that would be the case for most consumers. I don't believe that I should be charged a {$30.00} bounced check fee for a check that was lost by the mortgage company when I made alternative payment and explicitly provided details of the original check to prevent the check from being deposited. 

So 3 separate issues within the past 3 weeks - 1 ) a lost check that was attempted to be deposited when I made an alternative payment 2 ) Investors bank incorrectly processed my XXXX mortgage payment twice through their electronic payment service and 3 ) They have no customer service number for the online payment service which they claim is through a third party, even though it's branded as Investors Bank with Investors bank customer service contact info.