Consumer complaint received 2021-06-23
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: Churchill Holdings, Inc. (VA)

I purchased a new home in XX/XX/2021. My mortgage was to be serviced by Churchill Mortgage Servicing Company. They had told me via mail that I would be able to create an online login to see everything related to my loan, make payments, etc. 

My first mortgage payment was due on XX/XX/XXXX. I called in XXXX when I noticed that their system was not allowing me to create a login. I called and they helped me through this problem. I also asked at this time about how I can apply for a semi-monthly payment. She instructed that I could do this through their online portal. On the call, I asked her where I could find that link to apply. She walked me through and then explained that they must have taken the option off the website and it can only be done via fax/email/mail. She sent me the forms to fill out and instructed me to submit them after I make my first mortgage payment in order for them to process. She said it does take some time to process, but it should be in play for my XXXX payment. 

I made my first mortgage payment on XX/XX/XXXX and I sent in the paperwork for semi-monthly payment plan to be processed on XX/XX/XXXX. I never heard back from them, so I called to make sure they had what they needed in XXXX to process the request. The representative told me that they received it, but that they needed a " wet '' signature - not a digital signature - for the paperwork to be processed and that they mailed me the forms to sign/send back in. Why they could not email me back to let me know this, I have no idea. 

I then waited for their letter to come and as soon as I received the letter in XXXX, I filled it out and sent it back. They did not process this " wet '' signature until XX/XX/XXXX and never contacted me to tell me it was received, being processed, or that it would take another 45 days for semi-monthly payments to occur. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I called again to ask if they received my paperwork and to ensure that starting on XX/XX/XXXX, my mortgage will be paid semi-monthly as I requested. The representative said that it was processed and that I should see it on my account online within XXXX hours - that I was " good to go '' for semi-monthly payments to start in XXXX. I waited to check my account again until today. It was still not showing on my account. I called Churchill Mortgage again and this time the representative told me that the paperwork was not on my account. After some debating and my explanation of what was going on, she looked into it further and said they received the paperwork but that the semi-monthly payments will not go into effect until XXXX. She also said that to have this processed, I needed to be ahead in my mortgage by 1 month and essentially needed to pre-pay to have this fully processed. I looked back at the form I filled out and it specifically states there are 2 options for 2 monthly payments. 1 ) Bi-monthly payments that includes pre-paying a month in advance and 2 ) semi-monthly drafted payments where no pre-payment was needed. I told her that I chose option 2 that did not need a pre-payment. She needed to " look into things further '' and later came back saying that I was correct and that nothing could be done for my request to start in XXXX, that it would not start until XXXX. She also told me that it will take them another month for my bank account to be set up for drafting. I told her that my account was already set up for automatic drafting, as that is how I paid the last two mortgage payments, and it shouldn't be an issue. She then " looked into that further '' and said that I was right. 

I let her know that I have worked with other mortgage servicing companies on this very request and it took less than 1 month for the entire process to be submitted and completed. I let her know that I started this process with Churchill Mortgage on XX/XX/XXXX and that it was unacceptable to take this long. The fact that they continuously over the last 2 months tell me that everything is in order for the next month, and then when the month arrives, say there is an issue and it won't start for another month is telling me that either they don't have a set process internally for servicing or that they are deliberately delaying the process to avoid being paid semi-monthly for mortgages. 

I was furloughed last year due to the COVID pandemic and we are still reeling financially to recover. Because of that, budgeting and cash flow are of the utmost importance to us and the fact that Churchill Mortgage is not willing to work with us within a reasonable amount of time, not willing to be transparent, or even properly alert us to their ambiguous processes is unacceptable. They should not be allowed to service mortgages if they do not have the ability to properly manage their internal processes or alert their customers to any changes.