Consumer complaint received 2018-05-14
Product: Mortgage — FHA mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: AmeriHome Mortgage Company, LLC (FM)

We have a mortgage with Amerihome Mortgage Company , LLC. that has been in good standing since its inception date in XX/XX/XXXX. 

We logged into the online account on Sunday XX/XX/XXXX to pay mortgage on time in full ( {$1200.00} ). After logging in, we discovered that the payment had jumped to {$1400.00}! Now this is nearly {$200.00} more than what we have been paying! This may not seem horrible to some but we are on a tight budget and we had not received what would be considered proper prior notice : 30 days written notice in US Mail. Our notifications were supposed to be coming monthly in the US Mail. Even a phone call would have been better than nothing! 

Amerihomes online payment portal consists of an interface that allows you to make 1-9 payments of the required amount for that month. Before you can enter a manual amount, you must fulfill the obligation for that month. If the amount is disputed one must call into customer service. The hours are M-F XXXX XXXX-XXXX XXXX ET Saturday XXXX XXXX-XXXX XXXX ET. We decided to call in first thing on Monday XX/XX/XXXX to resolve the issue. 

We called on Monday XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX and we were told we needed to speak to a loan counselor. They put us on the callback list and assured us no problem our inquiry would be resolved as soon as possible, to wait on payment, and that any late fees would be waived. Somehow our account had gotten signed up for e-notices but something like a change of payment should have been sent in the mail. 

There was no callback on Tuesday XX/XX/XXXX so my wife wrote an email outlining the issue. 

There was no callback or response to the email on Wednesday XX/XX/XXXX so my wife got on the website and initiated an online chat. She was advised to call in to customer service and also found out that they had put a callback date of XX/XX/XXXX in the notes! Not exactly what we would consider prompt since we didnt want our payment to be late. 

I am the mortgagee so Amerihome will only speak to me over the phone. We have to go through some long and involved process to get my wife setup so she can talk to them over the phone. I was supposed to have been sent the paperwork for this but I have yet to see it. Then we must mail it in to submit it. 

I work during the week all different hours and so it is very difficult for me to call them up, wait on hold for long periods, then talk to someone new who has no idea what is going on as the notes are not being updated, and told to call back to a different department and start the process all over again. 

I was unable to call back until Saturday XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX. I spoke to a XXXX XXXX in the customer service department. After explaining the situation, she was very helpful and said the best thing for us to do would be to mail them a check of {$1300.00} XXXX which was the new payment amount minus the escrow shortage ) within the next week so they could process it before XXXX. She also said she was going to push the escrow shortage payments from XXXX to XXXX as first due date and rather than spreading the shortage over twelve months she was going to spread it over twenty-four months. Our new payment would be {$1300.00} monthly starting in XXXX. The late payment fee of {$32.00} was waived. She said after mailing the check they would take care of the rest and we should be good to make our new payment of {$1300.00} in XXXX on the online payment portal. 

The mortgage check {$1300.00} was written and put in the US mail at a USPS branch on XX/XX/XXXX. We awaited the payment update on their online portal so we could prep to pay XXXX when it came due. 

We heard nothing from XXXX until Friday XXXX. I was unable to pickup the line as I was working late. 

I called them on Monday XXXX at XXXX XXXX  and spoke with someone named XXXX. I was basically threatened by their collections department that there would be reports sent to the credit bureaus and action taken against my home as the mortgage had not been paid for XXXX and XXXX. I informed them that I had just been on the phone a few weeks before and had also mailed a check up to their Payment Processing P.O. Box in New Jersey. They claimed there was no arrangement as arrangements must be made a month in advance, there were no notes on the account, they wanted the full {$1400.00}, and they never received the check. So I told them the specifics of the check and where I mailed it to. I explained that I did not believe they had lost a check that had been mailed directly from a USPS branch to a USPS branch P.O. box. I voiced my concerns that they would force me to make a payment online and then suddenly find the check and cash it for another payment and bounce my account. So, they advised me that as they had lost the check I needed to put a stop payment on the check with my bank and assured me that if they found the check that they would NOT process it. I would then be free to make a payment for the full {$1400.00} online they would accept nothing less. 

I placed a stop payment on the check on XXXX and confirmed it with my bank. I was charged a {$10.00} fee to do this. I wisely decided to wait a day or two to make sure they did not process the check and bounce my account. Low and behold, on XXXX I checked my account on Amerihomes website in the afternoon and they had updated payment {$1300.00} received and accepted ( after telling me it wouldnt be ) and {$1300.00} due for XXXX. I had a stop payment on that check, however! I was not happy as I know they would try to charge me a bad check fee when it didnt go through so I called my bank to see if I could delete the stop payment request over the phone. They informed me I could only do it in person but the branches were closed for the evening. 

I went first thing in the morning on XX/XX/XXXX and deleted the stop payment order on the check. 

I had a very busy work week so I was unable to call nor did we hear anything more from Amerihome until XX/XX/XXXX. They reversed the payment posting back to XXXX and {$1400.00} plus a late fee of {$32.00} tacked on top of it. I had requested back in XXXX to shut off e-notices that I wanted phone calls and written notices by US Mail only but I seem to keep receiving these e-notices. I got a letter online stating that the bank had not accepted the check and that Amerihome would charge us any applicable fees as allowed by law. 

So, here it is XX/XX/XXXX and my XXXX mortgage payment has still not been received and my XXXX payment will be late in a few days. I have a demand letter from Amerihome that I furnish them the payments by XX/XX/XXXX or they are threatening legal action on my home. All over failed communication between their customer service and collections departments over an escrow shortage!!! I am incredibly frustrated over all the time, energy, and money this has wasted and I am concerned about the security of my mortgage and home.