Consumer complaint received 2020-08-03
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: Dovenmuehle Mortgage, Inc. (GA)

Our escrow funds are being mismanaged and there is a lack of customer service offered by our loan servicer ( Dovenmuehle Mortgage XXXX Inc. ) to support effective and timely resolution. 

We refinanced our mortgage with XXXX XXXX with a closing date in XX/XX/XXXX. 

Our homeowners insurance policy with XXXX has remained the same since the original purchase in XXXX and the XX/XX/XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX premium was included/paid as part of the refinance in XX/XX/XXXX. 

Our newly refinanced mortgage was transferred to be serviced from XXXX Mortgage to Dovenmuehle Mortgage , Inc., however, XXXX still holds the mortgage. 

We received a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX that XXXX XXXX records showed our Homeowners ( Hazard ) insurnace expired and they did not have evidence that we had obtained new coverage. The letter instructed us to provide evidence ASAP otherwise they would procure supplemental coverage that we would be responsible to pay. 

I called XXXX immediately who indicated that the policy was still in place and was paid in XX/XX/XXXX through to XX/XX/XXXX. Through collaboration with the XXXX representative, we were able to figure out that despite XXXX being listed and all evidence being provided ... that when XXXX transfered our loan to be serviced by Dovenmuehle that the loan number was changed. So XXXX offered to fax a copy of the Policy Declarations page again, but this time with the new loan number as a reference item to ensure the mortgage company had the support they needed. 

Upon receiving the evidence from XXXX 's fax ( which was NOT a bill, indicated as such on the document ), the mortgage servicer ( Dovenmuehle Mortgage , Inc. ) paid XXXX {$1800.00} on XX/XX/XXXX ( the CY insurance premium ) which was a duplicate premium payment. 

I have tried calling multiple times during Dovenmuehle 's limited customer service hours of operations, waited on hold to be asked by a resource to leave a message. When I ask to just wait on hold, I'm told I will be sent to the end of the line/enter the queue as a new caller and will likely be picked up by them again to leave a message. I explained my situation, and they offered to escalate to a supervisor. The supervisor I talked with was unable to provide resolution other than an attempt to stop payment on their check but they have no process nor take any responsibility to ensure that the mismanaged escrow funds were returned timely to the account to ensure adequate funds coverage for upcoming property tax payments as well as the escrow analysis which would result in an increased monthly payment that was not really needed ... all due to their mismanagement of our insurance policy documentation and payments. 

Ultimately the supervisor proceeded to talk over me, offered no resolution other than a stop check payment on something paid weeks ago ( i.e., would not be effective ), pointed the issue to me as the homeowner to figure out ... she also made an attempt to say it was an issue on XXXX XXXX part and not Dovenmuehle as the loan servicer. When trying to interject her tirade about who was to blame instead of solving the issue at hand, she abruptly switched me over to an automated feedback survey that did not allow me to return to the customer service queue. I attempted to call back in but due to the limited customer service hours, it was then past their hours of operations so I'll have to try back again another day. 

This is unacceptable and there is no accountability on their part to ensure they are taking care of their customers that are actually paying ( NOT in forbearance ). 

I now must spend my time running this down, the stop check option that was the only resolution offered would've caused XXXX to incur a charge that they would've passed along to me ( per my discussion with them this evening ). XXXX did not recommend this option as it would cost me money in the end. 

To reiterate ... this harms the borrower ( me ) by requiring me to spend hours on calls between XXXX and Dovenmuehle Mortgage , Inc. due to the loan servicer 's mistake ( opportunity cost of my time )  as well as the time value of money for any additional payments required to cover property tax payments ( due to insufficient escrow fund balance ) and the likely increased monthly payment that will occur as a result of the escrow analysis that won't take into account the duplicate payment if not resolved timely. 

This also harms XXXX as the homeowners insurance provider as they must now utilize their resources to support multiple phone calls from me as well as process the second payment and eventually issue a refund at some point in time once this is able to be resolved.