I signed my mortgage agreement with GMAC Mortgage in May. I have not received a statement from them in the last three years. I have contacted them requesting statements, but never hear back from them. So, I pay them using my online bank account.
First GMAC Mortgage added over $200 to my monthly payment in June. The claimed that they had underestimated my home owners insurance for the last two years. They had failed to notify me or raise my payments until two years later!
I could understand if they missed one year, b/c I know they do escrow analysis in April of every year. If they did the analysis, then my insurance company raised their rates in June, GMAC may not have noticed the increase until the next April. However, two years passed before they informed me that my homeowner's insurance (also through GMAC - Homesite Insurance) had been increased drastically two years ago and they had forgotten to increase my escrow.
I had to pay this higher mortgage payment for over a year, which was a financial burden. Had I been informed of the increase, I surely would have changed insurance companies. Also, since I wasn't receiving statements, I wasn't aware that my payment had increased, so GMAC was charging me late fees every month.
I was exhausted from going back and forth on the phone trying to straighten this out (as you know, it can be a full time job!), so I cut my losses and continued to pay the new, higher amount. Everything was going smoothly until I received a letter from GMAC telling me that they were going to foreclose on my loan if I did not bring it current in 20 days. (don't you get 30 days to cure?) In 20 days I was served with a summons to foreclose on my home.
I have since contacted GMAC Customer Service and loss mitigation department. They say I am not entitled to copies of my statements since my loan is in foreclosure now, and that they may not even have copies of my past statements. They did tell me that they could order an account history and fax it to me within 24 hours. I never received it, and when I called them back, one rep told me that a rep named George had faxed it to me on a specific date. Two other reps told me that there was no record of me ever requesting it. I requested it again and asked that it be mailed to me. I am still waiting for it.
Upon receiving the foreclosure papers, I immediately contacted GMAC's attorney. The attorney does not speak to anyone except her "clients" I was told, and I was referred to her administrative assistant who never returned any of my phone calls. After calling again and again, I was finally able to get the message to them that I wanted a reinstatement amount. They emailed it to me, and they wanted over $3000 in attorney fees. I had paid them the amount they wanted to make my account current and then some, so the account was paid ahead. However, I spoke to an attorney who said it costs them about 6 or 700.00 to file the papers, and that if they asked for more than $2000 in attorney fees, not only were they being unreasonable, but they were being unethical!
The reason my account was not current, I finally found out, was because GMAC had applied many of my excess payments to principal instead of applying it to future payments. It explicity states on my mortgage note that if the Borrower wants to prepay on the principal, a note to the lender must be attached to the payment designating that payment as a prepayment toward interest.
I never sent such a note to GMAC Mortgage with my payments. My contract also states that any excess money from a payment will be held in an unapplied funds account and applied to future payments when enough money to make a full payment accumulated. The other option was that GMAC could send the money back to the borrower. They did neither. They applied to to interest (although they did apply three months worth of it to future payments - very inconsistent).
My lawyer says it would cost me more to pay his fees than it would cost me to just pay the legal fees and get the loan reinstated. He recommended that I explain to the GMAC attorneys what happened, and ask if they will accept a lesser amount of money for their legal fees. I have sent the note and will be waiting to here from them.
The Loss Mitigation Department was rude and belittling to me. They refused to put a supervisor on the phone and appeared to be purposely trying to get "riled up." Many phone calls to GMAC, and no return calls. Supposedly, they have put in an emergency request for a supervisor to contact me asap. I am still waiting (2 days.) What can you do if you cannot get to a human being who has the authority to take action?
It's very frustrating, and as soon as my loan is reinstated I will be refinancing my mortgage loan with someone else. What a nightmare. Who can really sue a company like GM and win? It doesn't matter who is right - The loss mitigation rep even had the audacity to tell me that it was my responsibility to keep track of my money, and that it was basically my "fault" that I didn't catch GMAC's mistake, so they should not be held responsible. I guess it is okay to breach a contract as long as you don't get caught in a timely manner? I would gladly join any class action suit or speak out to anyone concerning this.
Vicky
Dayton, Ohio
U.S.A.
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