Consumer complaint received 2019-10-28
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage — 
Company: Onity Group Inc. (PA)

In XX/XX/2019 I started a loan modification with PHH Mortgage. Their terms are 3 trial payments at an amount similar to what the modification amount may be, then a permanent monthly payment is established after the terms are accepted by both parties. I made the 3 trial payments and called on XX/XX/2019 to make a payment for XX/XX/XXXX, but had not received the final modification paperwork. I was told by the representative that I did not owe a payment for XX/XX/2019 as the modification had not been completed yet.

I received a letter on XX/XX/19, dated XX/XX/19 that the modification was approved and that I now owed a XX/XX/XXXX payment of {$780.00}, as I was preparing to make a XX/XX/XXXX payment. I did not have the funds to make that payment and a XX/XX/XXXX payment so I paid {$780.00} for XX/XX/XXXX, and was immediately behind on the XX/XX/XXXX payment as I could not pay another {$780.00} immediately. I phoned to make a payment arrangement for that amount due to the short notice and was denied. 

In the meantime, I was receiving monthly statements indicating that the monthly mortgage payment due was {$910.00}, not the {$780.00} that was agreed upon in the modification. I have 16 documented calls to PHH Mortgage from XX/XX/2019 to today, but made many others, regarding this matter. Apparently, less than 30 days after the modification was approved PHH did an Escrow Analysis on the mortgage. I've not ever seen this document, nor have I received it after asking 3 time to have it sent to me. This is to be included in the Loan Modification as indicated in Item 3, Page 3 of the Modification document I signed. Each  representative I spoke with stated that the online amount just had not been updated by the Modification Department and that they could see that my monthly payment was modified to {$780.00}. I continued to make that payment and had the mortgage what I believed to be current by XX/XX/XXXX. 

In the meantime, my mortgage is reported as late to the credit bureaus, my credit score has dropped 120 points and I am no longer eligible for a conventional mortgage. I was intending to move shortly and have been diligently working on my credit rating, which is why I modified the mortgage. To date, the mortgage is still reporting as past due. 

On XX/XX/19 I finally spoke with a Representative ( ID : XXXX ) in the Home Retention Department who stated that the Escrow Analysis done in XX/XX/2019 was done in error as it was included in the Modification. They do the analysis and spread those funds throughout the mortgage to arrive at the monthly payment. He stated he would correct the loan and my payment would return to the agreed amount of {$780.00} beginning with the XX/XX/19 payment. I logged on to make that payment, and it is now showing a monthly payment of {$790.00} I am not going to make an issue out of a $ XXXX/month increase in the payment, however my most recent statement is the first I'm seeing this figure. 

The reason for this complaint is that the mortgage now shows monthly past due charges for XX/XX/XXXX-XX/XX/2019 and a past due amount of {$340.00}. This amount came to be due to the mortgage payment owed ballooning to $ XXXX/month and me paying {$780.00}, leaving an unpaid amount monthly of {$120.00}. PHH Mortgage has been applying my payments to the oldest unpaid amount and hold the remainder in a suspense account until the full mortgage payment is funded, then they apply it. I currently have {$480.00} in my suspense account from my last payment. Today I phoned and was advised that regardless of this being an error made by PHH Mortgage, there is no solution to bring this account current unless I pay the past due amount of {$340.00} plus the new mortgage amount of {$790.00} by XX/XX/19. If the reason I'm in this position is as a result of PHH Mortgage 's error, then how is it that I still owe past due funds? Had the error not been made, I would have been underpaying monthly by {$6.00} ( agreed amount {$780.00} minus the new amount of {$790.00} ) and would have corrected that immediately. I was advised that my only options are to pay the past due amount or re-modify the loan so they can roll those funds into the new amount owed. I was also advised that no further changes will be made now that the error has been corrected. They state they are very sorry for the error but nothing can be done about the past due amount nor the credit reporting. I am literally being held hostage by this error - I do not have the funds available to pay the past due amount I never actually owed, I can not refinance, obtain a mortgage on a new home, nor refinance anything else due to the drop in my credit score. " We're sorry '' isn't fixing this issue. 

Any assistance you can offer would be greatly appreciated. I do not feel as though I should be enduring additional financial hardship as a result of trying to make the loan more affordable and their obvious and admitted error. I've done my due diligence in making payments on time and trying to correct errors. Their research department averages 45 days to respond to " research '' issues which added to the length of this issue exponentially.