Consumer complaint received 2021-08-11
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: CARDINAL FINANCIAL COMPANY, LIMITED PARTNERSHIP (VA)

XX/XX/XXXX Dear CFPB, I would like to share my experience regarding my home mortgage that I recently refinanced. I hope by sharing my story, I will be able to help prevent mortgage lenders, mortgage service companies and title companies from continuing to take advantage of its customers. 
Based on how many errors and omissions I uncovered, all of which would have resulted in these companies keeping money that was not theirs, I feel very confident this is common practice of these institutions. They prey on hard working people who simply would not know their money was taken from them because these companies make the process so cumbersome, its extremely hard to find. 
I refinanced my mortgage XX/XX/XXXX. Prior to XX/XX/XXXX my mortgage servicer was XXXX XXXX. I refinanced with Cardinal Financial and the title company was XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX My first mortgage payment due with Cardinal was XX/XX/XXXX. I set up my online account and recurring auto payments in XXXX with Cardinal. I received a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX from XXXX now XXXX advising me they were becoming my loan servicer effective XX/XX/XXXX. I followed the instructions on the letter and set up my account and paid my XXXX mortgage payment. I had also logged into my Cardinal account to make sure the account was updated. I tried to enter into my recurring payment set up to cancel however the information was not there so I assumed it had been turned off on Cardinals end. 
On XXXX I was drafted by both Cardinal and XXXX for my XX/XX/XXXX mortgage payment. The same day I noticed this duplicate charge, I received a letter from Cardinal dated XX/XX/XXXX that stated they had transferred my loan effective XX/XX/XXXX. My first call was to Cardinal who told me XXXX should not have started billing me on XXXX. So I called XXXX who told me Cardinal should not have collected my XXXX payment. I was passed back and forth about 8 times. Never receiving a resolution. I was told many different things mostly by Cardinal financial. They kept telling me my loan hadnt yet fully been transferred. Yet when I would speak to XXXX they said they received my loan on XX/XX/XXXX. 
After more hours of advocating for myself than I can count, I finally received an email correspondence from Cardinal on XX/XX/XXXX that stated they would be transferring the payment they received XXXX to XXXX who would apply it as my XXXX mortgage payment. 
There have been moments in my life that having had my mortgage come out of my banking account twice would have been devastating. I am so thankful that unlike many out there I am not currently living paycheck to paycheck. 
If this event had not occurred, I might never have realized I had not received thousands of dollars owed back to me after the refinance. I had paid {$3700.00} to the settlement company at closing because real estate taxes were due XXXX and I needed to have that money in my escrow account for them to pay it. I looked up my tax records and the bill was paid but it was only for {$3100.00}. I checked my escrow account and the remaining money ( {$520.00} ) wasnt reflected in either Cardinal or XXXX data. I was told by Cardinal customer service to contact my loan officer. My loan officer told me I needed to contact Cardinal Customer service. Cardinal Customer service told me to contact my settlement agent. Luckily that day ( XX/XX/XXXX ) which was one of the many days I spent trying to sort this out a representative from XXXX called Cardinal on my behalf. He was able to track down the settlement agent who told him they would be cutting a check that day and mail it to me. I did check this check. I found it suspicious the XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX employee backdated the check to XX/XX/XXXX. Had I not started looking at every line item on my disclosure documents and researched these items, I feel 100 % confident the title company would have kept that money and I also feel very confident this must be common practice. 
During this discovery I decided to look at my original home mortgage servicer XXXX  to see what had become of my escrow account with them. My online account history showed an escrow account with {$3500.00}. Somebody had logged on XX/XX/XXXX that the escrow account was dispersed to mortgagor. I had never received this money. When I called XXXX, the representative put me on hold one second too short only to come back and say they would stop payment on the check from XX/XX/XXXX and reissue. This call took place on between XXXX and XXXX. I called back no XX/XX/XXXX to ask if the check had been sent and was told it was sent on XX/XX/XXXX. I asked what the check numbers were for the check that they stopped payment for and the new check. The rep told me the only check ever dispersed was on XX/XX/XXXX an there was no check on XX/XX/XXXX. There unfolds another very concerning event. Looking back at my closing documents, it is not clearly disclosed anywhere that escrow accounts do not transfer when you refinance. I can only imagine how many people out there have escrow accounts they never got back. 
After all this, Cardinal transferred more funds into my new escrow account at XXXX that I dont know where they came from. I guess I should be happy they did that, but whats disturbing is I cant find the paper trail. I believe they did it because they realized this whole transfer was now a possible red flag and most likely had other small line items within the settlement disclosure that had me pay excess closing costs and they wanted to wipe their hands of the skimming.

This is the 4th time Ive refinanced a property. I wish I knew then what I know now because I can only imagine how much money was taken from me the other 3 times either from the original loan servicer, the new mortgage company or the title company. Im aware tighter regulations have been enforced but so much work is needed to be done. 
Lastly, Cardinal Financial and/or XXXX now XXXX  should be held accountable for its negligence and misconduct in the handling of the sale transfer of my mortgage loan. At least when refinancing, closing documents exist for the borrower ( however misleading or confusing they might be ). I had nothing in writing and nobody to help me while two mortgage companies pointed fingers at each other while my money was taken in error. It was very scary and overwhelming. 
All 4 companies named in this complaint should answer for their actions ( Cardinal Financial, XXXX now XXXX, XXXX XXXX  and XXXX XXXX XXXX , XXXX . 

Sincerely, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, VA XXXX XXXX XXXX