Consumer complaint received 2022-10-12
Product: Mortgage — VA mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: Dovenmuehle Mortgage, Inc. (VA)

BACKGROUND : By letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, Dovenhuehle Mortgage Inc., ( my former mortgage servicer ) notified me that it was holding unclaimed property ( check number XXXX dated XX/XX/XXXX, in the amount of {$1300.00} that was due me and my wife. The funds were due us after we refinanced our XXXX  loan with a new lender and paid it off in full in XXXX. The letter further advised that we needed to sign and return the letter ( attached ) to Dovenmuehle by 10 business days before XX/XX/XXXX, or the funds would be submitted to the XXXX of Virginia, and we would have to claim them from the state. The letter advised in all capital letters, " A NEW CHECK WILL BE ISSUED AND MAILED WITHING 10 BUSINESS DAYS OF RECEIPT OF THIS PROPERLY SIGNED ACKNOWLEDGMENT. '' We signed the letter on XXXX and attempted to email it to Dovenmuehle as directed by the letter, however we did not receive a confirmation email of receipt and contacted Customer service several times in an attempt to obtain confirmation of receipt. Customer service indicated that we should receive a confirmation email and advised that the funds were due us as the balance of our escrow account following the loan pay-off. On XX/XX/XXXX a customer service representative confirmed verbally that they had received my claim letter. However, despite, the bold written notice that Dovenmuehle would issue and mail an new check within 10 business days, I was advised and warned by everyone of the several customer service representatives and " supervisors '' I spoke with on XX/XX/XXXX, and XXXX XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX that it would take from 30 to 60 days to process the claim and issue and mail a new check. When I asked why it was taking so much longer after the company had our funds for over five years, I was informed that they had a lot of unclaimed funds actions to process and they were doing the best they could to process them. I was stunned by that response because if suggested that this was a business practice rather than an administrative oversight. I requested to be placed in communication with the office that actually was processing my claim and was advised that they did not have that number. After pointing out to the customer service reps/supervisors that I appeared to be getting the run around and that the responses were being provided off a script, I did get a " supervisor '' named XXXX who said she would email the department that process claims and ask for the status and see if she could get it " expedited '' I have yet to receive a promised response from her on the result of her email. 

COMPLAINT : Until receipt of the unclaimed property letter from Dovenmuehl, we had not received a check, a notice that a check was expiring, or any other communication concerning our escrow funds. At all times Dovenmuehle had our mailing address, phone numbers ( work and home ) and email addresses. Prior to loan payoff, and during their period of servicing this loan Dovenmuehle timely communicated with including acknowledging receipt of payments, providing monthly bills and account statements. Additionally, Dovenmuehle was in possession of our electronic banking information as our payments were made to Dovenmuehle electronically. 

This seems to me that this process might be by design. If so Dovenmuehle is placing the burden of refunding these funds on the customer by requiring a " claim '' and not communicating with the customer until a claim is made, or just prior to submitting the funds to the state at the expiration of the statutory period. If so, that practice would seem problematic as it seems like Dovenmuele as the escrow account holder would have duty to actually issue a customers escrow funds to the customer as soon as due.. By delaying and retaining these funds beyond the date they are due to the customer, they are preventing the customer from earning interest on those funds. On the other hand Dovenmuehle is retaining those funds in its accounts, where they may be generating interest income for the company.. Further, Dovenmuehle employees stated that 60 days is needed to process these claims because of the high volume of claims in process. 

Although I acknowledge that I was not aware of funds due us for over five years and that looks like I neglected to inquire. However, as these refinancing loans are complex and involve hundreds of documents and complex statements and payoff amounts it is easier than one might think to miss this. We did miss this, but I expected that in dealing with a regulated mortgage servicer that it would comply with any fiduciary and legal requirements and refund any funds when due... 

When I queried the complaint database on this website I located numerous similar complaints about Dovenmuehle and treatment of escrow accounts.