Consumer complaint received 2020-09-01
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: Specialized Loan Servicing Holdings LLC (PA)

XX/XX/2020 Re : SLS -Specialized Loan Servicing XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX, CO XXXX Dear Sir or Madam, On XX/XX/2020, my mortgage servicing company, SLS, deducted a mortgage payment of {$1900.00} from my XXXX bank account, as authorized through automatic payments I previously scheduled on their website. This brought my mortgage payment status " up-to-date '' and my next payment was due on XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/2020, unknown to me and not previously authorized by me, SLS deducted an additional {$1900.00}. 

On Thursday, XX/XX/XXXX, I received my bank statement and saw the error. Luckily, I had enough in the account that I was not faced with terrible problems due to insufficient funds. I immediately called SLS at XXXX. 

The first five minutes ( I timed it ) of the call involved pressing buttons to move through the tree. When I finally got to select the option to speak to a representative, I was put on hold. Then I was told that the hold time was 30 minutes, and, would you like a call back? Yes. I waited 45 minutes, phone in hand, and a rep called me back. The rep put me through more verifications and then proceeded to put me on hold again while she researched it ; then she had to ask a question ; then she had to look at it some more, etc. ( They recorded this exchange so, if necessary, it should be available to review. ) After 25 minutes of this useless exercise in time-wasting, it was clear that the rep had no idea why it happened, did not have the skills to figure out how it happened, and had no authority to ensure it would not happen again. I asked to speak to a supervisor. I was met with resistance and chastised with, Youre not listening, and, You requested this in XXXX. All untrue. I reminded her that I had been on the phone with her, listening, for 25 minutes and she was unable to resolve any of my concerns, and therefore I needed to escalate the call to a Supervisor. I was told that the Supervisor would call me back in 24-48 hours. I had no choice. I could not force anyone in SLS to resolve this in a timely fashion. I was at their mercy and fearful of financial retribution since it seems they have the power to hit my account at will. I logged in to my SLS account online to remove the payment information, but since my mortgage rate is tied to the auto deduct option, I was not allowed to remove it or change it. That requires another phone call. But I did note that the " Next Payment Due '' date on my statement showed " XX/XX/2020. '' They had applied the double payment to XX/XX/2020 without my knowledge and without my direction. 

Monday, XX/XX/2020 : The supervisor finally called me back. I was at an appointment and could not take the call. The return number she gave me was the main number that I called the week before. I was led through the exact same torture with phone trees, maniacal hold music, hold times, and, finally, I was allowed to place a call-back request. The woman who called me back was not a supervisor. And, Ill give you one guess : yes, thats right, a supervisor was not available and would call me back in 24-48 hours. I protested, and expressed my outrage at the abuse of the consumer, the disrespect given to someones money and bank account, and my anger at SLS making such a grievous and potentially harmful mistake and not making it their number one priority to straighten it out, ASAP. I made a little progress with this person and she said that the Supervisor, XXXX, would call me back by the end of the day. So here I am, back at the beginning, hoping that when she calls I will be able to pick up the phone or I will have a good enough signal to connect the call. 

This is outrageous. This has to be reformed. SLS needs to hire more Supervisors as they obviously do not have staff available on a reasonable, timely basis to address the needs of their customers. Returning a call within 48 hours is absurd when a customers money has been improperly deducted from her account. My availability to answer that call should not need to depend on the luck of the moment, and to leave a call-back number that the Supervisor knows will just put you back in the eternal loop, is particularly nasty and disgraceful. Everyone knows whats going on here : systemic abuse of the consumer under the pretense of phone trees, customer reps, Supervisors, and call-backs, but with a Soviet-style attention to bureaucracy, an Orwellian maze of procedures that leaves you without answers or help, and no honest interest in helping the consumer at all. And since this is a company with power over a mortgage payment, access to bank accounts and personal consumer information, and the ability to perpetrate real financial harm to the consumer due to their negligence, sloppiness, under-staffing, and disregard, they should be required to staff their business properly, respond to the phone call promptly, and at least attempt to resolve the consumers concern in one phone call. I will get this resolved, but I feel most sorry for the inexperienced young, the sick, and the elderly who are at their mercy and may not have the tenacity, time or confidence to confront this problem. 

Thank you for your help in this very important matter. As I said to the rep, I am not the only one. This is obviously the way they have designed their phone system and designed their customer service platform and designed their Supervisor response. It is morally callous and disrespectful to the consumer. And they know we have no choice but to sit there and hope that someone will help us and call us back. 

I hope you are able to effect real change with SLS. I am still waiting. XXXX, never called me back. 

Yours truly, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, PA XXXX XXXX XXXX