I own a property in NC. It was my first property. After moving, I decided to hold onto the property as an investment and rent it out. I did so for 12 years with no problems until my mortgage was sold to Midland Mortgage in 2010.
From the very beginning, they messed up the automatic bank payments I had in place for over 12 years. Trying to fix the situation, I sent an extra payment in manually to Midland. I received a notice that I had not paid. I called and could not get a real person on the phone. Finally, after the payment was actually 30 days late, they started calling me almost hourly. Finally we got the issue worked out and payments were supposed to be back on track by auto debit from my account. They reported me to the credit bureau. I was not happy, but legally, what could I do?
The next month, same issue: the payment did not come out of my account (this time I checked daily), so I sent in a payment. Long story short, it took 4 months to get this fixed, and each time I called, I could not get a real person. They sent me almost daily notices, some saying my auto debit payment was not allowed because I had missed a payment (I did? When?), and others saying it was reinstated. They only call you AFTER the 30 days, at which point they have already reported you as delinquent and ruined your credit (again). By the way, to pay by phone, they charge you $20 each time.
Things were going "ok" until May, at which point I had to evict a tenant for non-payment after 6 months of the tenant not paying. I missed the May payment, and at this point decided to sell the property, only to find out, like many other folks, that it was underwater (after paying more than the minimum mortgage payment for 14 years!). When I realized I could not sell it, I started paying the mortgage payment on time every month from June to the present. Let me just tell you, even though I have paid each month, they have reported me each month for non-payment. My credit score has gone down over 100 points. I have 7 reports of payments being over 30 days late, however I only missed the May payment. They applied each new payment to the month prior, therefore justifying it being late. They will tell you legally they are "required to report this." Really, Midland Mortgage? Even though I paid you each month? How about just legally reporting me for May, when I actually missed the payment? Why do it every month after that?
I decided to look into the "many plans" available for people having a hard time making payments. I was hoping they could tack the missed May payment on the end of the mortgage so we could move forward. I sent in all the required documentation, only to find out, after doing all that, that I do not qualify because it is a rental. They could have told me this up front. Still, every month they call me daily, telling me about all these programs they have, but when I tell them it is a rental they say "oh..." and then "well, maybe we can still help?" No, Midland Mortgage, you cannot help. The only thing that will help me is if I walk away from this property. And why shouldn't I? Oh, you will ruin my credit, you say? Guess what? You already have! Why should I continue to pay you? Well, I do, because I am a good citizen and this is legally my responsibility, but you don't make it easy.
They send me HUD notices weekly. They call me almost daily. They send me nasty letters. Please keep in mind I only missed ONE PAYMENT, back in May. I have paid every month since, on time. As soon as I can sell this property without filing bankruptcy I will. As soon as I can make the May payment, I will. This company is by far the most horrible company I have ever worked with. They don't care about your situation and really don't care to work with you. They are impossible to get a hold of by phone and only contact you once you are 30 days late, at which point you have already lost 50-100 credit points, so what is the point of trying? Shame on you, Midland Mortgage. I would be embarrassed to work there, and ashamed to say I was an American company.
Here is the worst part. They will not read this, and they do not care. If they did, there would not be 228 other reports on here about this company. I just hope maybe I can save one person from working with this horrible company.
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