Consumer complaint received 2020-09-08
Product: Mortgage — VA mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: TIDEWATER MORTGAGE SERVICES (VA)

Tidewater Mortgage financed my new home on XX/XX/XXXX. Almost immediately after my closing, I was notified that my mortgage was sold to XXXX, but my first payment of {$2800.00} was due to Tidewater Mortgage on XX/XX/XXXX. I sent a {$10000.00} check that arrived to Tidewater Mortgage on XX/XX/XXXX. After about a week, I noticed the check did not clear, so I called to inquire about the status. A lady answered the phone and essentially told me there was a pile of mail she needed to sort through to confirm she had the check. So, while I was on the phone, the lady riffled through her pile of mail, found my envelope and opened it while I was on the phone and exclaimed, " Wow! XXXX XXXX dollars! '' On XX/XX/XXXX, the check finally cleared my bank account ( ten days after it was due ). No correspondence or communication of any kind occurred to inform me the extra payment would be a challenge. 

My next mortgage payment was to XXXX. I sent another large check ( {$20000.00} ) to them on XX/XX/XXXX that cleared and was applied to my mortgage balance with absolutely no problem. At my new online XXXX account, I looked at the XXXX payment and only the minimum amount was applied ( {$2800.00} ). 

I reached out to my loan officer at Tidewater Mortgage ( XXXX XXXX ) to get a point of contact to address this concern from Tidewater Mortgage 's end. Tidewater Mortgage informed me that my overage was sent to XXXX one week before XX/XX/XXXX. At the same time, I tried to start a conversation with XXXX utilizing their Message Center feature on their site. I have been less than impressed with XXXX 's response to my concerns. They do not seem able to address my specific concerns in their customer service message center, but offer broad advice like " keep checking your account for when the payment posts. '' It's really frustrating to have over {$7100.00} in limbo that should be working to take a chunk of the principal early into this amortized loan to maximize my savings on the interest. 

After I brought up my frustration in XXXX, I was told the {$7100.00} check sent from Tidewater Mortgage to XXXX did not get clear and it was going to be cancelled and communication would occur between Tidewater Mortgage and XXXX  to straighten out the confusion and get the money to XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I got an email from a Tidewater Mortgage representative I have been communicating with ( XXXX XXXX ) that said the {$7100.00} was wired the week before. So, I tracked down a phone number for XXXX customer service ( XXXX ), went through the convoluted phone tree and finally got a human being named " XXXX. '' Brie told me that Tidewater Mortgage representatives and XXXX representatives were communicating and figuring out how to get the money to XXXX, but as of XX/XX/XXXX, no money had been received. 

So, Tidewater Mortgage said they wired the money a week before ( no specific date given, but XX/XX/XXXX was a Wednesday ). XXXX said they didn't get the money. I'm not getting information from either unless I ask for information. Again, it would seem that if an overpayment of mortgage is impossible to handle, it would seem I would be engaged by Tidewater Mortgage with some kind of communication explaining the complication. Nothing was mentioned. I had to check my mortgage with this other lender and see all my money was not being applied. XXXX 's Message Center feature on their site seemed to only be manned by a bot or someone who just copied and pasted generic responses to my concerns without addressing my specific concern. They suggested I keep checking the site for the payment to post ... well, it's been over two months and the payment hasn't posted. 

My concerns are : ( 1 ) Where is my {$7100.00}?

( 2 ) Is it unreasonable to insist this money is retroactively applied to my balance on XX/XX/XXXX? 
( 3 ) Minimal communication is happening without prompting and the information is very vague and generic, " The check was sent last week ... we wired the money last week .... '' No specific dates or insight into conversations that were had to figure out how to get money from Tidewater Mortgage to XXXX. It's perplexing how this could be so complicated. 

My loan number with Tidewater Mortgage was : # XXXX.