In December I received a letter informing me that my mortgage had been sold to America's Servicing Company and all future payments were to be submitted to them. Per the instructions in the letter, I mailed my December payment to them at the address indicated in the letter. On January 7, I received a statement from America's Servicing Company informing me that my regular monthly payment of $944 had been increased to an astonishing amount of $2005. I immediately phoned the Customer Service Department and demanded an explanation as to why the payment had increased by such an appalling amount.
I was told by the customer service rep that the additional charges were due to a so-called "escrow shortage" on my loan balance. I immediately disputed the fact that there was an escrow shortage on my account and subsequently faxed proof of such to them. My loan (prior to being sold) was current and there were NO pending escrow charges... Period! I later received a letter acknowledging my correspondance and "thanking me for my continued patience" while they researched the problem. Meanwhile, I sent in my regular scheduled payment of $944 for the month of January.
In February I received another monthly statement showing an amount past due of $3939.31 plus a current payment due of $1933.53 plus a late fee of $43.62 which came to a total amount due of $5916.46. Naturally, I freaked! I again called the Customer Service Department and vehemently denied that I owed ANY of these additional charges and referred them to the fax I had sent in January.in addition, I sent an official letter of dispute via certified mail and asked that the matter be researched and corrected. Do you think they addressed the matter and corrected it? Of course they didn't!
I continued to dispute this matter for the next 6 months (while still continuing to send in my regular monthly payment of $944) and subsequently mailed another official letter of dispute on April along with PROOF that no such charges were due and owing on my account.By now, I was receiving calls daily (sometimes as many as five times a day) from the collections department threatening me with foreclosure, reporting to credit bureaus, etc., if I did not immediately remit the monies they say were due. No one would listen to me OR address the issue and try to correct the problem. This went on until July.
At this time, America's Servicing Company returned my July payment along with a letter stating that they would no longer accept "partial payments" against my loan. They then foreclosed on my home.By now I was absolutely livid! I had spent the past 7 months trying to get the problem corrected and had proven, beyond any shadow of any doubt, that I DID NOT OWE the additional charges. All the while I had continued to make my regular scheduled monthly mortgage payment ON TIME.
At this point, I had no choice but to hire an attorney to defend me in this matter. The threatening calls continued even after the company had been notified that I was represented by an attorney and all future correspondance regarding this matter was to be directed to him (the attorney even sent a letter to them stating this). They, of course, ignored this also and the collection department continued to call me at home and threaten me (as many as 10 times a day). I eventually had to change my phone number so they would be forced to contact my attorney and stop harrassing me.
So, here we are... Over one year later and this matter is still not resolved. Although my attorney asked (back in August of last year) for a full accounting of my loan to try and assess how they arrived at the monies that they claim I owe, we did not receive a statement of account until 3 days ago. What we received (after one whole year of waiting and demanding) was a computer printout of charges applied to my loan with absolutely NO explanation as to what the charges were for. What it did show was that America's Servicing Company had been accepting my regular mortgage payments and placing the money in a "suspense account" and were not applying the payments toward the loan balance.
Subsequently, they showed all the payments I had sent in in the past 7 months as being "late" (even though the money had been paid), therefore making my loan appear to be in default. This is why they proceeded with foreclosure. It wasn't that I was not making the payments, but rather the way they were accounting for the money. HOW DO THEY GET AWAY WITH THIS?!
They have tried to extort money from me that I DO NOT OWE, foreclosed on my house and forced me to pay even more money to defend myself, threatened me, ruined my credit, and made my life a living hell! America's Servicing Company is now trying to force me to sell my home in order to pay them off or else they will "force through" a summary judgment to go ahead and foreclose on my home. They still want me to pay the additional escrow charges plus interest and penalties (even though I never owed them in the first place), back payments (that they refused to accept) plus interest, late charges, and penalties, and want me to pay THEIR legal fees as well. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: HOW DO THEY GET AWAY WITH THIS?!
As if all this weren't enough... in August of last year, Hurricane Charley blew through Orlando and I had extensive damage to my home. I filed an insurance claim, and because my home was in foreclosure, the insurance checks were forwarded to guess who... America's Servicing Company. I have also been battling with them to get my insurance money released. They want to take the insurance checks and apply them against my loan balance. Surprise... Surprise! Meanwhile, it has been 1 year and 13 days and I still have not been able to do ANY repairs to my home because they refuse to release the insurance money to me. I am now having to go back to the insurance company for additional monies to repair celings and walls where the roof is leaking. My guess is that money will just go to America's Servicing Company as well. My lawyer is "working on it". Gee, where have I heard that before?
I have spent the better part of a year writing letters of dispute (and complaint) to various state and federal agencies, credit bureaus, etc., and it looks like I will continue to have to do this for some time yet to come. The FL Attorney General's Office has informed me that America's Servicing Company does not even have a license in the state of FL and hasn't since 1996. They also tell me that the state of FL has no authority to regulate this company because they are operating under the umbrella of Wells Fargo Bank, which is federally regulated. My next stop is going to be the FTC. Hopefully, they can help.
The battle is on-going. I REFUSE to give up and let them take my home. This is not a matter of debits and credits, it's a matter of right and wrong. If what this company is doing isn't criminal, it should be. I fully intend to "fight the good fight" and see this through to the end. I ask for all of your prayers to help see me through. I will be praying for all of you as well.
Ding, Ding... Round 3!
Sandy
Orlando, Florida
U.S.A.
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