Due to federal regulations, when we filed a repair claim with our insurance company our mortgage company was also listed as a payee on the check. Apparently this is common practice. However, once we completed the repairs, in June, and a final inspection was performed our mortgage company, Countrywide, lost our inspection report. After we had the repair work re-inspected, in August, they said to wait two to four weeks and we would receive payment.
When no payment showed up we called and Countrywide claimed they did not have two forms from us that were needed to proceed; these forms were signed and faxed on June 21st and I still have the confirmations. I re-faxed the forms, in September, and left a message for our representative to call and tell me when we would be receiving the check. At this time we used our own savings to pay the contractor to avoid any late charges or legal actions for late payments.
We received no call so I called and spoke with customer service who said that they receive one of the forms but not the other and could we please send it to them again. It was faxed, in October, to Countrywide. Two weeks later we still had not received the check so I called again. Once again I was told that they did not have either of the forms in our file and they would not send a check until they received them. So, on Novenber 24th I faxed from two seperate machines the first form and on November 29th I faxed from two seperate machines the second form. Keep in mind I have the confirmations for all of these faxes.
Two weeks later I called and left a message for our "Representative" in the Property Claims Division to call back and let us know when to expect the check. I called every Monday and Wednesday morning at 11am E.S.T. (they open at 8am P.S.T.) and left a message for our representative asking her to call us. On January 11th I called and asked to speak with a supervisor in Customer Service hoping that they could deal with this problem. I was told that the division that issues the checks did not have a "Request for a Check" on file and no notation was made on our account that any messages had been received. Needless to say I was VERY UPSET, but was assured that she had instructed the person from Property Claims to request a check that day and it would take 5 to 10 business days to reach us.
Once again, two weeks later, January 24th, when we had received no check I called again. Once again I spoke with a supervisor in customer service, Michelle was her name, and she told me that there was no notation on the account that I had requested the check. At this time I made it perfectly clear that I was not going to continue this charade any longer, I told her to contact Property Claims and inform them to send a check over night and that I was insisting on receiving a phone call from a supervisor in Property Claims that day to discuss the serious inability of the company to return my money to me.
As you would expect, I received no phone call that day, or that week! I called back on Monday and by passed the customer service dept. And actually contacted a person in the Property Claims Division. Really! I told them everything you have just read and received a very nice apology, and then was told that because it was January 31st they could not issue a check request that day or on any of the last two days of a months unless they wanted to undergo a federal audit. So, I'm thinking bring it on, right! No. She insisted that she would request the check first thing the next day, marked it for overnight mailing and asked that I call to verify that it had been done the following morning.
Well, I called the following morning and it had been requested but I had to insist that it be sent out next day and had to explain my request to another supervisor. I was assured that it would be sent UPS on Wednesday and I would receive it Thursday. That Wed. Afternoon I called and received a UPS tracking number and was assured that all packages were picked up at 4pm P.S.T. And I would receive it the following day. Guess what!
At 1pm E.S.T. The next day when no UPS package had arrived I called and insisted on speaking directly to a supervisor. Her name was Fran, and she told me that because they received such an overwhelming number of check requests they did not get them all printed and packaged before UPS came for their daily pick-up. Yeah, that's what I thought too! I was given her personal assurance that the package would be picked up that evening and delivered no later than 10:30 am E.S.T. Friday morning.
That evening I check to see if the package had been picked up by UPS, it finally registered as picked up aroung 11pm E.S.T. (8pm P.S.T.), about 4 hours later than it should have. Finally, on Friday morning at about 9:20am a UPS delivery truck showed up at my door with a package from Countrywide, and yes, it did contain a check for the correct amount. It only took seve and a half months to get this issue taken care of.
And that's not all, we are still waiting for the research department to find out what happened to the mortgage payment we sent in October which was cashed but not applied to our account.in addition to that, the payment we sent for February was applied to my parents mortgage through Countrywide instead of mine even though my account number was clearly written on the check as requested by Countrywide! It's a joint account with myself and my parents so they just typed in the first name on the check and applied it to the account that matched the address on the check. To top it off, my mother had to call and request the payment be applied to the correct account. How mortifying!
Needless to say, I most definitely do not recommend that anyone apply for a mortgage or refinance with Countrywide Home Loans.
Jenny
Columbia, Maryland
U.S.A.
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