Consumer complaint received 2020-01-16
Product: Mortgage — Reverse mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: Onity Group Inc. (CA)

During a period beginning in approximately XX/XX/2019, my reverse mortgage was transferred, refinanced, transferred again and finally acquired by PHH Mortgage. 

1. PHH Mortgage nor their serving company ( XXXX ) have a website and thus, I am unable to check my balance, review the status of my loan, monitor payments, credits or debits or anything else without calling the customer service number provided, which ultimately goes back to XXXX ) as I understand it. 

2. The Customer Service Representatives answer questions verbally but do not provide email backup or confirmation of calls or of the information they provide. When there is a dispute or question about my account, there is therefore, no way for me to confirm the validity of what the CSR says, or to hold the company liable for mis-information or incorrect information. 

3. When I called to say that I wanted to make a payment via wire transfer on my account to reduce or avoid interest charges, I was told by the CSR that I would have to write to the company via U.S. Mail or the like, to request information on how to make the wire transfer. 
When I objected and said that I would be calling my congressional representative and/or attorney to investigate the validity of this policy, I was put on hold for a considerable period. 
I was eventually told that a Supervisor would email me the information when they got around to it. 
a. The information provided was vague and difficult to follow, I had to call the bank and request special assistance to get through the process of sending the wire transfer. 
b. By having to use a wire transfer I had to pay {$30.00} to send the payment, if I am required to do that on a regular basis, I will be spending hundreds of dollars per year to make timely payments on my loan, this is essentially a pre-payment penalty. 
This is not only unfair, it seems or should be illegal in this day and age that I can not simply make an online payment that is credited immediately at no additional cost. 

4. Both the CSR 's that I spoke to, as well as the written information that I received encourages borrowers to make payments via mail. 
a. By using the mail or my banks Bill Pay, my payment is delayed by several days as it is in transit, and then another day or two after it is received by PHH to get credited to my account. This is unfair to borrowers because I am paying interest on the money everyday and thus losing money that I would not owe if payments were accepted over the phone or online. 
b. This requirement to pay by mail, bank check or Bill Pay, is equivalent to a hidden charge or interest, or pre-payment penalty because the lenders are racking up interest while the funds are in transit and/or the check is being process. 
Given the hundreds of thousands of people impacted by this policy, it amounts to tens of millions of dollars lost by borrowers and earned by mortgage lenders and the serving company. 

5. Further, when I called to request information regarding the specifics of two separate wire transfers made to my account, I was told that I would need to speak to the Accounting department to get those details. When I asked to be transferred to the Accounting Department, I was told that they do not accept calls and that I would have to submit my questions in writing via mail and they would contact me. 

This policy is CLEARLY discriminatory against any borrower who does not have the ability to write or communicate clearly, and furthermore, this policy enriches the mortgage lenders and the servicing company at the expense of the borrower, borrowers who are elderly and who may not fully understand what questions to ask or how to purse getting answers to their questions are being ripped off. 

Further, the lenders " Credit Disclosure Statement '' states that an issue will NOT be addressed unless the issue or complaint is received within 60 days of the error or issue. This is RIDICULOUS, it essentially encourages the lender and the servicing company to  ignore issues, to restrict access to information and data, and ultimately to profit from the misfortunes of elderly borrowers. If there is an accounting mistake, that would be an error on the part of the loan service company or the lender, why should they benefit because the borrower didn't find a mistake, ESPECIALLY when access to account information is restricted, discouraged and delayed and written statements are only provided on a monthly basis? 
These policies are discriminatory, costly to borrowers, and enriching mortgage lenders and the servicing company. It is EXACTLY this kind of unfair policy and essentially fraud that caused the CFPB to be established.