Consumer complaint received 2017-05-24
Product: Mortgage — Home equity loan or line of credit (HELOC)
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: TCF NATIONAL BANK (CA)

My HELOC with TCF National Bank was initiated on  XXXX   XXXX   XXXX . TCF Bank managed the servicing of this and the loan/account number provided was  XXXX .     I had been making payments through the designated online portal until  XXXX   XXXX  when my access to this appeared to be blocked. I was presented with an error message stating my login details were invalid. Believing this was a website issue I gave it a day or two before trying again, but was met with the same error message. I attempted to re-register the account online, however when I entered my account number and last four digits of my social security number the system said it was unable to locate an account.     I called TCF customer care and explained issue and inquired if my note had been sold and/or if it was now being serviced by someone else. The customer care representative stated the note had not been sold, that TCF were still the servicers and while they had no answer as to why the portal was not working they suggested I mail payment instead. Thinking this would be a one off payment I went into my bank and got a cashiers check  ( at my own expense ) and sent this to the address listed the my TCF  payment envelope supplied with the statements.      XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX , MN,  XXXX  Through the month of  XXXX  I made several attempts to login to the TCF payment portal to see if the access issue had been resolved, but was still getting the same error message. Not wishing to miss a payment I decided to initiate paying my monthly loan payment via the  XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX  (  XXXX  ) bill payment system. I set this up to automatically send out a bill payment check on the  XXXX  of each month, to the above listed address. The last attempt I made to access the online payment portal was in late  XXXX  and it was still denying me access ( see Exhibit A ).     On or around the  XXXX  of  XXXX  I received via mail, a servicing transfer letter stating my note had indeed been sold to  XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX  (  XXXX   )  effective  XXXX   XXXX ,  XXXX . In this letter it stated that while the note had been transferred, that  XXXX  does not itself service the loan. The servicer was to remain TCF Bank and I was provided a new address below for all correspondence ( see Exhibit B ) : TCF Mail Code  XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX , MN  XXXX  As per the new instructions I made  XXXX  payment via the  XXXX   bill payment system to above TCF address. It is worth noting that by the time I was informed of this  change I had already made  XXXX  and  XXXX  payments. However I had not received any correspondence stating there were issues with the manner in which these payments had been made.     In  XXXX , out of the blue, I received a letter from TCF Bank explaining that as per my request they would no longer be contacting me using automated phone messaging services ( see Exhibit C ). I had made no such request and thought this to be highly irregular. I called  TCF  customer service and re-confirmed the contact details of my account and at no point during this call was informed of any issue with the account.      XXXX  's payment was sent the same way as  XXXX  and having not heard anything different I believed all was well with the account.     In  XXXX  upon receiving and reviewing the statement I saw the payments for  XXXX ,  XXXX  and  XXXX  had not been applied to my account. Shocked to see this I called TCF customer service and was told the reason for this was due to an account number discrepancy as a consequence of the loan transfer. More specifically, and contrary to what was referenced in the transfer letter, the representative indicated that  XXXX  had its own account numbers. The customer service representative assured me that they would be able to apply the payments and correct this issue on their end, but at that time was not able to provide me with an alternative account number.     Prior to sending  XXXX  payment I once again called  TCF  to inquire as to what my new account number was. I was told the only account number on file was  XXXX  ; the same account number listed on the TCF statement and the same one I have had all along. Not wanting to be late with a payment I sent  XXXX  check in the same manner as before hoping that the issue would be rectified on the servicers end.     In  XXXX , as feared, the statement revealed that this issue had not been resolved. I called up TCF customer service and explained how serious of an issue this was and asked to speak to a supervisor. I was told there was no one available at that time to take my call. Feeling desperate and that I could not leave the issue unresolved for any longer, I called the main telephone number to TCFs corporate office and explained the issue to the operator who then transferred me to the customer advocacy department.     I was assigned a customer advocate by the name of  XXXX  who I was told would become my point of contact.  XXXX  explained that her role was to ; audit previous payments on my account ; rectify the current non-application of payments to this and to monitor the account moving forward to ensure this was fully resolved.  XXXX  also explained that the reason the payments were not being applied was that the loan number used by the new note holder is different from the loan number originally issued when TCF Bank originated your loan. I asked for this alternative account number but  XXXX  was unable to provide me with this.     I had also noticed that TCF were now reporting  XXXX ,  XXXX  and  XXXX  payments as unpaid to the credit bureaus. This angered me as I had been told by customer service representatives that my check payments had been received, but not applied to due a supposed account number discrepancy and therefore this was not an issue of non-payment.     I spoke to  XXXX  and explained the situation and asked for this to be corrected and be provided with a letter confirming this so I  may  use to reverse this on my credit report. I was provided a letter that stated that TCF was in possession of my payments for the months of  XXXX ,  XXXX  and  XXXX  but these could not be applied due to a different loan number being noted in the check memo line ( see Exhibit D ).     However it is worth pointing out that the transfer letter I received from  XXXX  referenced the same loan number I was originally provided by TCF ( see Exhibit B ), which is the same account number cited in my monthly statements.     Believing that from here the customer advocate would work diligently to resolve the issue I gave  XXXX  some time to do some research. We touched base a few times through the months of  XXXX  and  XXXX  where I was told that she was working with the servicing department and  XXXX  to fix the problem.     In  XXXX  I received a new statement still showing a growing past due balance indicating that TCF had still not resolved this issue ( see Exhibit  XXXX  ). I also received a letter from  XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX  notifying me that they had filed a notice of default. In this letter they cite the name of the creditor as  XXXX , the servicer as TCF and the loan number as  XXXX  ( see Exhibit F ).     As of  XXXX  my credit report shows that TCF is reporting  XXXX ,  XXXX ,  XXXX ,  XXXX  and  XXXX  as unpaid, but  XXXX  as paid ( see Exhibit G ). This is not what is reflected in the account statements sent by   TCF. It appears that in addition to not applying payments received and withholding my checks, that TCF is not accurately reporting to the credit bureaus.
To this day I am yet to receive any correspondence from TCF or   XXXX   regards any new account number to cite when making payments. I hold both TCF and   XXXX   responsible for why my payments are not being applied. It is clear I have made all reasonable attempts not only to pay my monthly loan payment to TCF, but also in contacting TCF to try and resolve this issue. Please find attached as Exhibit H copies of all the checks sent to TCF   for  XXXX   XXXX  to  XXXX   XXXX .     This left me feeling helpless as without being provided the correct account number my payments are not being applied and if I do not send the payments I would be defaulting on the loan ; it is a no win situation. Adding to this misery is the fact that these bill payment checks are cleared funds, so I am still out of pocket the loan payments.     This issue has had an enormous negative impact on my life. As a consequence of notice of default I am being contacted daily, by phone, email and mail by individuals and companies offering services to help me avoid foreclosure. Additionally my  XXXX    XXXX    provider,  XXXX , sent me a letter stating that under the terms and conditions of the  XXXX  contract,  XXXX  can come to the home and remove these panels believing their assets are at risk. They have also suggested that they would pursue legal action against me to protect their assets.     This is all very   XXXX   indeed with me needing to take time off work to try to resolve this and it is starting to take a toll on my health leaving me very anxious. I have had to seek medical intervention and counseling as I struggle to come to terms with the situation. Despite spending many hours trying to resolve this with TCF, I fear this has gotten out of control and I am requesting that the CFPB investigate TCFs servicing practices.