They claim they didn't receive our check by due date
Complaint
Maureen Gustafs
Country: United States
Last year our mortgage was sold to America's Servicing Company. Our first payment in 2007 was due on January 22. We sent the payment 5 business days in advance (we always do so). However, America's Servicing Company claims that they didn't receive the check by the due date, and hit us with additional fees because of "the late payment".
I've been shouted at and treated with absolute disregard. Every representative was rude to me, and didn't want to take the time and look into the problem. It's obvious that this delay was not my fault - I have proof from my bank that the payment was sent out well before the due date. However, this all doesn't matter, they just want my money.
I've been shouted at and treated with absolute disregard. Every representative was rude to me, and didn't want to take the time and look into the problem. It's obvious that this delay was not my fault - I have proof from my bank that the payment was sent out well before the due date. However, this all doesn't matter, they just want my money.
Comments
Ameica's Servicing Company appears to be playing the same games as Fairbanks Capital was before they were nailed by FTC. If this is who Wells Fargo uses, you should take this into account the next time you refinance, should you somehow have good enough credit again to do so.
Basically, failing to credit payments timely so they can add on late fees, force placing overpriced "insurance" when policies are already in place and they have already been sent a copy, applying payments first to their bogus fees, then claiming late fees on top of that since the normal payment is now short, claiming escrow accounts are underfunded, promising but failing to investigate when anything is brought to their attention to keep the fees running, and generally doing anything they think they can get away with to rake in more money than what they would get thru normal loan payments.
The mortgage owner may get the interest and principal, but the servicer may be getting a big share of the fees, even if they have to make them up.
Read up on RESPA dispute rights, and send all payments by Certified U.S. Mail so you can track their receipt with plenty of time before they are late. Do NOT use any intermediary to pay them, such as having your bank send them payment, where you cannot prove they got it, or where they can claim they don't have to credit your account on receipt. You may have to go after them and be able to show and prove a pattern of fraud.
Get an attorney, preferably one who has already dealt with them.
thanks
the bank believed them because the escrow account was concealed
Mortgage statements should reflect payment made on the date of arrival, at most delayed to the next business day if you allow for delivery to a P.O. Box after their pick-up, regardless of how many days they take to process payments.
Legitimate mortgage processors will get mail on each business day and track when a batch of payments was picked up to correctly credit the account. If it takes several days to post, late fees should still be determined by when it was at the P.O. Box for their pick-up, even if they processed it after the "late date".
Phony "late charges" created by sitting on checks to falsely claim they were late (or "lost") is a fraudulent scheme using the U.S. Mail, otherwise known as mail fraud.
Start piling up proof based on Post Office certified delivery compared to their account posting date and your bank checking account clearing date in support of a mail fraud complaint. If you find a consistent pattern of fraudulent late charges, you would of course file a RESPA complaint, but also file complaints with the U.S. Postal Inspector, FTC, and the U.S. Attorney.
In 2003, Fairbanks Capital reached a settlement with HUD and FTC to refund more than $40 million to consumers as part of a settlement of federal charges that it failed to post consumers' mortgage payments promptly and illegally imposed late fees and other charges on its customers.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news03/fairbanks_settles.html
Providian's credit card operation was also accused of sitting on or destroying payments to increase late fees, on top of charges of telemarketing fraud and unauthorized charges and fees for "credit protection". It ultimately settled with the San Francisco DA, the California Attorney General, and the OCC, for hundreds of millions of dollars in restitution to consumers, ending up being bought out by WAMU.
http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfranci ... 30/daily23.html
Asc receives this check,but didn't inform me.They received it on Dec.12TH and by January,2007 (my very first payment written to ASC)I also get a letter that I am now in DEFAULT!My payment had doubled.I call ASC and a lady tells me she's sorry and to only pay less than half of my payment with NO LATE FEES!
Next month double payments AGAIN plus late fees!This was my second payment
I call and again was told "SORRY" just send us your normal amount by a certain date and no LATE FEES!Guess what? "LATE FEES",but even worse I had
sent my payment through my post office to insure it arrived there on time.
I receive another call from ASC stating OOPS,your payment was LATE!
I tell her NOWAY!I tell her I sent it through my post office and she finally sees this was true from the envelope.Then has the nerve to tell me my post office was at FAULT!!! She was still going to have to count it as LATE!It's still February mind you,but she takes my payment and posted in MARCH!She skips February's payment altogether!ASC,sends me a forebearance
plan from HELL!
Immediately,I try to refinance away from them.I'm told I could by someone at ASC.She recorded me giving a pay off date."April,30,2007." Never happened they wouldn't fax or send my pay history,they did all they could
to STOP ME!The next month I was told to GET OUT of my house!
I not only lost my home,but my BUSINESS!I lost everything to someone I never even met.I lost it from the GET GO!This to me is FINANCIAL TERRORISM!
HELLO?The BANK and ASC owe me and countless others RESTITUTION.They must be stopped and held RESPONSIBLE NOW! I lost around $300,000 once my loan changed hands."HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF." Sincerely,Jenzy
Fax a letter to your Attorney General.Send all your info to show a pattern.
I know after dealing with ASC that something there is not right.Just look at the complaints?If you type in EX EMPLOYEES at America's Servicing Company I believe it's dated May,3,2007 you must read what that little guy has to say to the homeowners.This is ASC! "IF YOU DO NOTHING then NOTHING EVER GETS DONE!" YOU CAN DO IT!Jenzy
"United States of America, (For the Federal Trade Commission) Plaintiff, v. Select Portfolio Servicing, Inc. a Utah Corporation, SPS Holding Corp. (formerly Fairbanks Capital Holding Corp.), a Delaware Corporation, and Thomas D. Basmajian, Defendants.
(United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts)"
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2007/08/sps.shtm
"For Release: August 2, 2007
FTC, Subprime Mortgage Servicer Agree to Modified Settlement
Agreement With Former Fairbanks Capital Provides Additional Consumer Benefits
The Federal Trade Commission today announced that it has reached an agreement with a major subprime mortgage servicer to modify certain terms of a 2003 court settlement, providing substantial benefits to consumers beyond those in the original settlement, including account adjustments and reimbursements or refunds of fees paid in certain circumstances.
In November 2003, Fairbanks Capital Corp. and Fairbanks Capital Holding Corp. agreed to pay $40 million to settle with the FTC and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which charged them with engaging in a number of unfair, deceptive, and illegal practices in the servicing of subprime mortgage loans. The Commission distributed the $40 million as redress to affected consumers. The settlement also imposed a number of specific limitations on Fairbanks’s ability to charge fees and engage in certain practices when servicing mortgage loans. In early 2004, the defendants changed their names to Select Portfolio Servicing, Inc. and SPS Holding Corp.
The FTC conducted a review of Select Portfolio Servicing’s compliance with certain aspects of the 2003 settlement. The FTC and Select Portfolio Servicing negotiated and agreed to several modifications of the settlement. HUD has also agreed to these changes, which include:
A five-year prohibition on marketing optional products, which are products or services that are not required by the consumer’s loan (such as home warranties).
Refunds of optional product fees paid by consumers in certain circumstances.
Revised limitations on charging attorney fees in a foreclosure or bankruptcy to ensure that consumers receive full disclosures, including the actual amount due if they receive an estimated fee. Select Portfolio Servicing also will conduct reconciliations after payoff or foreclosure and reimburse consumers who may have paid for services that were not actually performed.
Refunds for consumers who may have paid foreclosure attorney fees for services that were not actually performed since November 2003.
A permanent requirement that consumers be provided with monthly mortgage statements containing important information about their loans.
A requirement that Select Portfolio Servicing revise its monthly mortgage statements based on consumer testing performed by a qualified, independent third party (which the company has already done).
A requirement that Select Portfolio Servicing continue to use a qualified, independent third party to perform annual audits of its compliance with key settlement provisions until 2013. The results of these audits will be subject to review by the FTC.
Revision of specific provisions to permit Select Portfolio Servicing to engage in certain practices that were prohibited by the original settlement. For example, the modified settlement allows the company to hold or reject a payment that is more than $25 short of the consumer’s monthly principal and interest payment so long as the consumer receives prompt notice of the action. The settlement continues to prohibit the company from applying such payments to fees before principal and interest.
..."
The fake late fees adds nearly $200 each month. Add them up and its grand larceny
what should we all do?
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