Consumer complaint received 2026-02-25 00:00:00
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — Payment process
Company: NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
State: PA

Complaint narrative:
Without authorization, disclosure, or notice, Navy Federal unilaterally suspended our automatic mortgage XXXX order to verify whether a {$7.00} escrow refund check had previously been cashed. At no pointprior to or after this actionwere we informed that questioning or cashing this check could result in the suspension of automatic payments. Had such information been provided, we would have immediately instructed Navy Federal to take no action, as the amount was negligible. More troubling is that no notification of any kind was provided when the payments were stopped. We received no phone call, no email, no mailed notice, and are act still shows we are enrolled in automatic payments. As consumers enrolled in automatic payments, we reasonably relied on those payments to function as represented. Despite the payment suspension : * Navy Federal failed to notify us that our account was becoming delinquent * Late fees were assessed * Funds were later withdrawn automatically from our savings account without resolving the underlying issue We were finally contacted the day after XXXX, after payment attempts failed. This call caused significant distress to our family during an already difficult time. My husband worked on XXXX Day in public service, and this situation unnecessarily compounded that stress. Our attempts to obtain clarity revealed alarming inconsistencies : * One manager vaguely blamed a few cents of escrow * A branch representative could not explain why payments stopped * Only after speaking with another manager were we told the escrow check triggered the suspensionand that the mortgage department representatives customers interact with would not have known this could happen This admission alone reflects a systemic failure. Customers can not make informed decisions when frontline departments are not trained or empowered to disclose material consequences. At no point were we warned of risk, provided timely notice, or given a consistent explanation. While we acknowledge that reviewing statements more closely may have revealed the issue sooner, it is both reasonable and industry-standard for consumers with automatic payments to rely on those payments continuing unless notified otherwise. Responsibility for notification, transparency, and proper internal controls rests squarely with Navy Federal. We asked to have this be pushed up to a higher supervisor, but was told that we could only send portal messages. Over the last few weeks weve been trying to get this issue resolved, but have been told various things through the portal. We understand how budget pay works, what we dont understand is why we didnt get a clear answer as why automatic payments were stopped and if it is indeed due to the escrow check ; why were we not initially informed that the reissue of the check could cause disruption?

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief