Consumer complaint received 2019-06-14 00:00:00
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem — Investigation took more than 30 days
Company: LoanCare, LLC
State: DC

Complaint narrative:
XX/XX/XXXX To : Consumer Financial Protection Bureau XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX. 
XXXX, DC XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX ( XXXX ) My mortgage payments were auto-drafted and paid regularly in the amount of {$1100.00} from XX/XX/XXXX-XX/XX/XXXX and in the amount of {$1100.00} from XX/XX/XXXX-XX/XX/XXXX. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, Loancare auto-drafted {$3200.00} from my bank account. I called Loancare on Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX regarding this auto-drafted and spoke to Ms. XXXX XXXX, who was a manager with Loancare at the time. Ms. XXXX understood the situation and requested a screenshot from my bank account to confirm that the amount of {$3200.00} was drafted from my account. Loancare sent me a check for {$1500.00}. Loancare kept {$1700.00} of my money, which is {$600.00} more than my regular monthly mortgage. I requested my XXXX monthly statement on XX/XX/XXXX that Ms. XXXX provided to me via email. Ms. XXXX explained that the Loancare escrow department will do an investigation on the reason that my county ( Washington DC ) was claiming that I owed {$8600.00} more than my estimated property tax. Because I was told this, I believed that Loancare will investigate and provide answers regarding the issue. In addition, I reached out directly to Washington DCs Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs ( DCRA ) and Office of Tax and Revenue. The Office of Tax and Revenue corrected their error and I thought everything was resolved. 
However, on Wednesday, XX/XX/XXXX, I sent Ms. XXXX an email to ask her the reason why I was unable to login into the Loancare website to get my last mortgage statement in order for me to close on my next investment property. When I did not hear back from Ms. XXXX, I called Loancare. I spoke with Ms. XXXX XXXX, one of Loancares managers regarding my situation. She informed me that : ( 1 ) Ms. XXXX is no longer with the company, ( 2 ) no payment has been auto-drafted for XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX payments, and ( 3 ) my credit score has been affected for non-payments. 
I explained to Ms. XXXX, and in my several emails to Loancare Customer Service that I was never notified of non-payment and never requested for auto-payment to be discontinue. In addition, I need a letter explaining the issue of my recent low credit score to close on my next investment property. Ms. XXXX told me that no payment is expected and my credit will be suppressed until this situation gets cleared and I should receive the letter for my next investment property within a few ( 3 ) days. 
On Friday, XX/XX/XXXX, one of LoanCare Escrow Tax Specialist, XXXX XXXX, directly emailed me with a copy of the refund letter that LoanCare sent to Washington DC Department of Finance and Revenue ( attached ). On that day, I called and wrote several times about the fact that one of their managers told me that they will call me back, however, they never called back. I also documented the fact that I did not understand that even though LoanCare identified that they paid Washington DC the incorrect amount, that LoanCare was still holding me responsible to pay {$600.00} increase for each month. I also documented and sent an email to Loancare to inform them that their Managers refused to speak with me. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I spoke with XXXX id # XXXX, because I needed a status update on the promised letter that will clear my recent low credit score. XXXX told me that in order for me to get my requested promised letter that my account needed to be up-to-date and paid, which was mandatory for me to close on a new investment property in XXXX, I had to make a payment of {$5300.00}. This {$5300.00} payment for XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX meant that my monthly mortgage was {$1700.00} which is {$600.00} more than my regular monthly mortgage. XXXX told me that no payment was expected from me until this situation was cleared ; but if I want this letter, I had to make this {$5300.00} payment. XXXX told me that the good news is that I will get a refund on the overpayment once the situation was cleared. 
During the several months between XXXX and XXXX, I have spent several hours and spoken with several Loancare Managers including but not limited to XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX ext XXXX, XXXX ( sp? ), XXXX XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX and XXXX. 
I have documented and sent emails to Loancare requesting the status of the refund and asking the reason that I was consistently receiving automated phone calls about the non-payment ( which I did not receive in XXXX, XXXX, XXXX ) when I am told that no payment is expected from me. 
On Friday, XX/XX/XXXX, Washington DC Department of Finance and Revenue notified me that as of Friday, XX/XX/XXXX, Loancare has not requested the refund. I sent emails to Loancare Customer Service and XXXX XXXX to ask for the reason that the request letter that was sent to me on XX/XX/XXXX was not sent to Washington DC Department of Finance and Revenue. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX told me that she spoke with XXXX, who stated that the refund request has been processed and waiting for approval. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX informed me that LoanCare has received the refund check and she will request for a refund to be sent to me in the mail. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX told me that she had good news that I will receive a refund check of {$3200.00} in the mail within a few days and my new mortgage payment will be {$1200.00}. 
After waiting a few days, I sent several emails to Loancare letting them know that I have not received any refund check and that I need the refund check to make my payment for XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX. It wasnt until Friday, XX/XX/XXXX that I spoke with one of LoanCare collection Managers, XXXX XXXX, to be told that no {$3200.00} refund check will be coming in the mail. Instead, I could request in writing that my escrow refund of {$1500.00} be applied towards my outstanding balance. Once I made the payment, I can request in writing that I no longer wish for LoanCare to manage my escrow then I will receive the {$2100.00} escrow balance check. I also asked for a timeframe in which I would receive my {$2100.00} escrow balance check. I submitted this in writing on XX/XX/XXXX to both LoanCare Customer Service and XXXX XXXX. Instead of getting a direct answer, I only received the LoanCare Acknowledgement email. I sent this written communication to LoanCare over 10 times over 2 months and called and left voice messages with XXXX XXXX. Even though Ms. XXXX XXXX voice message claims that she will return messages within 48 hours. I never received a call back. On the week of XX/XX/XXXX, Ms. XXXX XXXX finally answered the phone. I spoke with her and she informed me that payment is expected of me even if LoanCare does not use my escrow refund of {$1500.00} towards my payment. I will not get any check from LoanCare until this was paid. I explained to LoanCare that the reason that I have a 30 years mortgage with LoanCare is because I do not have thousands of dollars to give. 
In XXXX, I received a letter from one of my major credit cards that my card has been cancelled due to my low credit score. My credit score was in the low 700 before XX/XX/XXXX. I believe that Loancare has brought my credit score to the mid-600s. Due to my recent low credit score, I was forced to put more money down on my next investment property. LoanCare has taken thousands of dollars from me, lowered my credit score, and put all of my investment and personal properties in jeopardy. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I made a payment for {$4800.00}. On Wednesday, XX/XX/XXXX, I called Loancare to confirm that they were removing the late fees, removing the report on my credit score, pay XXXX mortgage, check the status of removing escrow from them, and set up auto-payment. The Customer Service Representative, who I did not write down his name, told me that my late fees and removal of the report on my credit score will occur within 5-7 business days from XX/XX/XXXX. I had him to repeat for the recorded line and he said that he wrote notes to state this. He told me that the request to remove my escrow will be denied until my late fees and removal of the report on my credit score was  address. Lastly, he told me for him to accept a payment over the phone, I will be charged {$15.00}. I explained that I am unable to login online. He told me that he will transfer me to technical support. Once I spoke with the technical support representative, I asked her for the previous representatives name so that I can write his name for my notes. She told me that she can not provide his name and that the notes only provide the representatives initials. I asked for the representatives initials. She told me that she could not provide me with his initials due to company policy. I asked her to confirm that she saw in the notes that the previous representative wrote : my late fees and removal of the report on my credit score will occur within 5-7 business days from XX/XX/XXXX. She told me that she did not see this in her notes and only saw that my credit score was supposed to be suppressed 6 weeks from XX/XX/XXXX. I explained to her that I was never provided with the timeframe of 6 weeks and that the reason the issue was not cleared before 6 weeks is because LoanCare failed to provide refund request letter to Washington DC within a timely manner, and LoanCare did not send me the promised refund check of {$3200.00} on XX/XX/XXXX, so that I could have paid and taken care of the balance before XX/XX/XXXX, which would have met this 6 weeks timeframe that was never given to me until XX/XX/XXXX. I requested to speak with a Manager. She told me that she could only arrange for a call back from a Manager. I answered the phone when the Manager called me back to request that the Manager confirm what should be written in the notes. Since he did not agree, I requested that he reviewed the recorded phone call that I had with the representative an hour prior. The Manager told me that he would and that he would leave a detailed message when he calls back. I have not hear from the manager. 

On Friday, XX/XX/XXXX, I called to see that status of the Managers review of the recorded call. I was then told that Loancare has until XX/XX/XXXX to response. I told them that the timeline is too long that I need this resolved sooner. 

I explained to Loancare that : ( 1 ) their system should have flagged that property tax was ~ $ XXXX more than the estimated property tax, ( 2 ) the Loanservice company that I have a 30 years loan with felt comfortable with taking more that 2X a monthly payment out of someones bank account at one time, ( 3 ) failed to notify me that my XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX mortgage was not being paid, ( 4 ) took me off of auto-draft payment without my acknowledgment, ( 5 ) felt comfortable in effecting my credit score without one call or email to me, ( 6 ) after Washington DC provided Loancare the fault in paying the incorrect amount of {$8600.00}, Loancare held me responsible for the {$8600.00} until LoanCare was paid back from Washington DC for the overpayment, ( 7 ) Loancare Managers promise to return phone calls and messages, but fail to do so on many occasions. Out of the 20+ Loancare Managers , XXXX has been the only Loancare representative to return my call. ( 8 ) Loancare fail to answer my emails with a response that was different than their automated response ( Appendix ) ( 9 ) Loancare never provided exact reasonable dates to address issues ( 10 ) Loancare does not transfer callers to employees that is already aware of the situation ( 11 ) Loancare does not provide detail documentation to their customers because I believe that they do not want to be held accountable ( 12 ) If I did not have thousands of dollars available to resolve this issue, I believe Loancare will have  foreclosed on my $ XXXX valued property on a loan that I owe $ XXXX ( 13 ) LoanCare ruin my credit score when they assured me that my credit score will be suppressed.

I am requesting for Loancare to correct my credit score issue and waive any fees on my XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX payment. And to allow for me to handle my escrow from this point forward, where they will send me my {$2100.00} escrow balance check within a reasonable timeframe. Please let me know what documentation will be helpful for me to provide. As I mentioned, LoanCare failed to provide any detail documentation to me. 






















Appendix : Automated Response Dear ME, Thank you for contacting your loan servicing team! 
We have received your inquiry and are assigning it to the appropriate department where your request will be thoroughly reviewed and handled. Please utilize the ticket number provided which begins with the letters XXXX  for any further communication relating to your recently submitted email request.

Please note : duplicate inquiries may prolong your time for resolution. 
Your reference/ticket number is XXXX.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation