Consumer complaint received 2019-11-12
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: Onity Group Inc. (OH)

I have the funds to pay my mortgage payment and want to pay it, but PHH Mortgage is blocking me from paying my mortgage payment in every way possible ( online, auto draft, and with a check by mail ). I was on the auto debit program for a long time. It worked well for me and my payment always posted on the first of the month. On XX/XX/2019, PHH sent me a letter stating that my mortgage was near payoff and that direct debit had been automatically cancelled for my account. This is an error. I have 12 years left to pay on my mortgage, with a balance of over {$36000.00}. I called PHH and reported the error. The agent said the issue would be investigated. After that, I never heard anything about the issue from PHH. 
The same agent said that, if I signed up for electronic statements, I would be able to pay my monthly mortgage payment online. I signed up for electronic statements in late XXXX, but when I try to pay online, the PHH online portal states : You can not make payments at this time. Please call XXXX. 
In late XXXX, I signed up for direct debit again. PHH sent me a letter stating that my monthly payment would be direct debited from my bank account beginning XX/XX/2019. However, PHH created a new online account portal in early XXXX. In the new portal, my bank account information has deleted from my account, and I am no longer signed up for direct debit. 
On XX/XX/2019, I mailed my XXXX mortgage payment to PHH from the U.S. Post Office in XXXX, Ohio. The check was for the total amount due for XXXX ( {$570.00} ). PHH will not cash this check, and as of XX/XX/2019, the funds have not been deducted from my bank account. I spoke to a PHH agent on XX/XX/2019. He stated that the check that I sent was in the amount of {$1.00}, and therefore my XXXX payment has not been paid. This is incorrect. Because PHH will not cash my check, my XXXX payment is now 11 days past due. Further, I am not able to see a copy of my check to verify the check amount, since PHH will not cash the check. If PHH would cash the check, I would be able to see a copy of the check in my online banking account. 
On XX/XX/2019, the PHH agent said that PHH was not deliberately blocking me from paying my mortgage. However, I do not think it is probable or likely that a mortgage company would inadvertently block someone from paying their mortgage payment in every way possible. I believe the probability of this happening is very small. Since it is not possible for me to pay my XXXX mortgage payment, even though I have been trying very hard to pay by auto debit, online and by mail, I believe that PHH is  purposefully preventing me from paying my mortgage in an effort to collect late fees and additional interest. If the problem were to persist, I would enter into pre-foreclosure. 
If my XXXX payment had been paid on XX/XX/XXXX, as it should have been since I was supposed to be enrolled in the direct debit program, I would have accrued less interest for the month of XX/XX/2019. Since it is now XX/XX/2019, and my mortgage payment has not been posted ( and I am not optimistic that it will be posted in a timely fashion ), I have accrued additional interest for the month of XX/XX/2019. 
Finally, if the blocking of payments is a concerted effort on the part of PHH, I am concerned that this may be happening to other PHH customers, putting them in danger of foreclosure.