Consumer complaint received 2018-08-27
Product: Mortgage — FHA mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage — 
Company: CARRINGTON MORTGAGE SERVICES, LLC (CO)

During the housing market crash I went through a divorce and fell behind on my mortgage. After a lengthy process, including a 6-month trial period of paying what would be my modified mortgage payment on time, I was able to qualify for a loan modification under the Federal Housing Administrations Home Affordable Modification Program ( FHA-HAMP ) with my original home loan servicer XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ). 
As evident by Home Loan Modification Documents ( see attachment ) this loan modification went into effect on XX/XX/XXXX. The first check to cover this first payment ( {$1900.00} ) was sent on XX/XX/XXXX ( attachment First Payment XXXX ). Two things happened to this payment. First, it arrived at XXXX BEFORE the modification went into effect. Because of this ( according to XXXX ) the check could not be applied to the loan modification. The refund check was drafted by XXXX XXXX XXXX and a check in the same amount reissued on XX/XX/XXXX ( XXXX  XXXX XXXX, XXXX. # XXXX ) through the US Postal Service ( Affidavit for Arrest attachment ). This check was stolen from the mailbox at my current residence by my ex-husband, signatures were forged on the check, and the check was unlawfully deposited by my ex-husband into his bank account on XX/XX/XXXX ( see Affidavit for Arrest and Forged Check and Signature Card attachments ). 
From the outset of the loan modification the FIRST payment was obviously missing, a case of theft, my next payment in XXXX of XXXX and EVERY payment since has been on time for both XXXX  ( thru XX/XX/XXXX ) and for Carrington Home Mortgages ( who assumed the loan in XX/XX/XXXX ). 
The initial issues with this loan arose with XXXX XXXX XXXX when the first missing payment began showing as an overdue payment on my monthly statements in late XXXX/earlyXXXX. I did not know at this time of the theft of the first payment check. Then the phone calls started ( several a week ) warning of foreclosure if I didnt come current on my payments. Then the monthly letters started also warning of foreclosure if I didnt come current on my payments. Then my credit was ruined with running 30 day late assessed to my credit history since late XXXX. According to my bank records every payment had been cashed by XXXX so the question was how was I missing a payment? I then spent tens of hours on the phone with multiple different with XXXX representatives over the next year and a half asking a simple question. What payment is missing? Every time I would explain my bank statements showed everything went through. Every time I would have the representative investigate my file and say something along the lines of I cant really tell from here that theres anything wrong, you just need to pay to get current. This was not an answer to my question and I wasnt going to pay nearly {$1900.00} for a missing payment that wasnt missing. Occasionally these conversations would get bumped up to supervisor, same results, no answers, just pay the money or face the consequences. 
Because of the running 30-day delinquency on my credit history I was also unable to refinance my house when interest rates first dropped in the mid XXXX. Refinancing would have not only saved me thousands of dollars but I had to do it by court mandate in order to get my ex-husbands name off of the mortgage. 
It was not until XXXX/XXXX/XXXX that someone finally said Send us ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) your checking statements and we will investigate it ( XXXX Customer Service XXXX attachment ). I sent the same bank statements that are attached to this complaint to XXXX  XXXX XXXX showing every payment on this account being accounted for. Thirty days for our research department to investigate this I was told. Never got a response, and when I did inquire to XXXX  by phone about 60 days later the representative could tell me nothing. No notes in her computer, no verification of the documents Id sent, nothing. 
Then, in late XXXX a XXXX representative, who apparently was much brighter than the dozen I had talked with over the last 2 years, was looking though my files and noted that Your first payment was returned to you because we ( XXXX ) had received it prior to you loan modification being finalized. It took 2 YEARS for someone at XXXX to tell me my first payment never happened and why it never was applied to my mortgage. Once I had this critical piece of information I went back, pulled the check, realized what had happened and filed a criminal complaint. I also notified XXXX  what I suspected had happened, sent in the preliminary arrest affidavit, and was told well fix things once the case is settled. I first attempted to reclaim the {$1900.00} directly from my ex-husband without involving the court system. This lasted about 12 months with no resolution. I then turned the case over to local law enforcement around XX/XX/XXXX. From the time of the initial discovery of the theft until final prosecution was approximately 18 months ( attachments Affidavit for Arrest, DA letter, FinaXXXX Sentencing, forged check signature card ). 
At some point in XXXX my monthly statements changed again. Now it was behind by TWO payments ( attachment XXXX  statement XXXX ). Another series of phone calls to XXXX, tens of wasted hours asking multiple representatives and supervisors the question What payment is missing? again resulted in the same responses Were not sure.but you have to pay or were going to foreclose. 
In XXXX of XXXX I was notified that my loan was being purchased by and would be serviced by Carrington Home Mortgage ( CHM ) effective XX/XX/XXXX. In XX/XX/XXXX I called CHM to explain both the status of the theft case and my disputing of a second missing payment on my account to. I was told to 1 ) submit a theft affidavit ( see attached ) and to call back in one month since we dont have your entire file from XXXX and they have xx days to get it to us. 
When it was clear the case was going to be successful I made two payments to CHM in XX/XX/XXXX. One payment on XX/XX/XXXX for {$2000.00} was to cover the first ( stolen ) payment ( including late fees ) of this loan. I did this 3 months ahead of the actual restitution payment as a show of good faith to CHM. The second payment of {$1900.00} on XX/XX/XXXX was my regular monthly payment to XXXX. At this point I was still behind one payment, CHM still could not account for it, and I still had a running 30 day late on my credit report. 
At this point I should have been 1 ) Fully current on my modified loan and 2 ) Should have had all the running 30 day late payments from XXXX on my credit history expunged. But since XXXX added a 2nd missing payment to my account, again with no explanation as to what payment was missing even in the face of bank records to show otherwise, this saga continued. 
Much as I had done with XXXX, in XXXX of XXXX ( Carrington Research XXXX ) I forwarded the same documents attached to this letter to the research department of CHM. The response to this inquiry was CHM only looking at the loan for the past 3 months since they assumed it and claiming they had not yet received the full file from XXXX. Same process repeated in XXXX of XXXX. Talked to a CHM representative early XX/XX/XXXX, was told that she would look into it, got a fax number, heard nothing, tried to contact via fax ( Carrington Letter XXXX ), no response. Resent the documents from this letter to CHM research department ( Carrington Document Receipt XXXX ). Again, no response. 

Ive have gone to great lengths to resolve this issue of a bogus delinquent payment and still am unable to have an adequate resolution. XXXX is primarily responsible for this issue. My bank records show my only missed payment was my first payment and that was due to a theft case. XXXX was made aware of the theft, was kept up to date on the status of the case, still added a 2nd mystery missing payment to my account. Carrington Home Mortgages has inherited this mess but has proven equally incompetent in resolving this situation despite receiving adequate documentation on multiple occasions. 
I am tired of receiving multiple calls per week for 5 years over a bogus missing payment. Im tired of receiving monthly notices of threatened foreclosure over a bogus missing payment. I have been prevented from attempting to refinancing my house multiple times at a significantly lower rate over the past 4 years and still have my ex-husband listed on mortgage over a missing bogus payment. My credit has been wrecked for 5 years with running 30/60 day late payments over a bogus missing payment ( s ). I have wasted literally days on the phone explaining a complicated issue to dozens of representatives from XXXX  and CHM, been escalated to managers, faxed reams of supporting paperwork to research departments and still I suffer over a bogus missing payment.