Does Chase owe me anything? (mortgage screw up)

Factual Questions
1

A few years ago I bought a house. The whole mortgage thing made me nervous, and I looked into the feasibility of an all cash purchase, but both Dopers and my accountant pointed out the tax advantages of having a mortgage. So I bought the house with a decent down payment. From day one I’ve been uncomfortable with the bank being the true owner of my place, so I always pay extra each month toward the principal. As things are going, my 30 year mortgage will be paid off during year 5 (yippee!!).

Early in the course of things, Chase bought my mortgage. A few days ago they sent me notice that my last payment was no good, and I owe a late fee. The account I used has plenty of money, so I freaked about the possibility of ID theft :eek: . I called Chase, and the arrogant, sanctimonious prick who handled the call told me that since the check was no good, it was up to me to contact the bank and figure things out.

When the bank opened the next day, I was there. Turns out the check was returned because Chase failed to endorse it!!! And the bank sent the check back to Chase with a clear explanation of the problem (I have a copy of the check and note). So, I called Chase and they tell me they don’t see how that is possible, but they will investigate and get back to me in a week or so.

So, I’m pissed. Other than reversing the late fee should I expect anything else from Chase? Is there any banking regulatory folks that would take my grievance and in any way scold Chase? I lost two nights sleep and a morning’s work to handle their screw up. :frowning:

2

Next time you call Chase, ask to speak to a supervisor. You need to kick this up the food chain.

3

Will do that.

4

Agreed - don’t let them take their time to look into this and get back to you. Call and with a civil but clearly unhappy demeanor insist on immediate attention. If you are brushed off, escalate to the person’s supervisor.

Make it clear that you view this as a very serious matter that must be resolved promptly. Call as often as necessary until it’s dealt with.

5

In my experience, the regulatory thing sucks. I tried. I requested the county re-evaluate my homes worth, and they decreased it, thus decreasing my taxes immensely. I called them and let them know of the new tax rate and faxed them stuff. Next bill, I was waiting to see my P.I.T.I. go down, and it went up! They refused to listen to reason, so I contacted the regulatory dude. Who preferred to not listen to a thing I said, and sided with the dullards at the Mortgage Co.

Two years later, another Mortgage Co. bought my mortgage, and immediately saw the problem without any prompting from me. Then sent me a check for over $1,200.

Assholes.

6

Well, after spending 35 minutes on hold, I courteously requested to speak to a supervisor who apologized “if we did anything wrong”. WTF? I have copies of everything the bank sent them. There is no question that they fucked up.

So, then she suggested that she get the $ from my checking account electronically, which I didn’t feel comfortable doing. I asked why they couldn’t just endorse the check that they already have. Turns out they cannot locate the actual check.

So, she wants me to place a stop payment order on that check (doesn’t that cost money?) and then send them another check. GRRRRRRRRR.

7

I’ve been lucky, but I have seen some unbelievably FU’d stuff pulled by two mortgage companies. Here is my advice to anyone having trouble with thier mortgage company:

  1. If it is not in writing, it may as well have never been said. Insist on written documentation of everything they tell you.

  2. Keep making your mortgage payments NO MATTER WHAT. Regardless of how badly the mortgager is trying to screw you over, as long as you kept making your payments, it will eventually work out in your favor.

  3. In order to make the last part of step 2 happen, you will probably need to hire a lawyer at some point. It is worth trying to straighten it out on your own first, though, as this shows that you really needed the lawyer, and you may be more likely to be able to recover the fees.
    I generally hate lawyers, and think they are over used, so the fact that I would make the third point is significant. In the experience of two different friends, if you are having any sort of serious problems with your mortgage company, it will only get worse until you get a lawyer involved. In neither case did it end up in court, but in both cases, the mortgage companies ended up paying the lawyer’s fee. (and in one case accounting fees the CPA mortgage holder requested)

Interestingly, in both of these cases, it wasn’t the mortgage company so much as one particular employee. In one case the employee was trying to cover up incompetence (problem started with failure to endorse a cheque, then snowballed). In the second case the employee was trying to cover embezzelment.

8

I think you may be okay sending them another check. If they can’t find the one you sent, it won’t be cashed. If they do find it and cash it, you’ll be ahead on your mortgage.

Unless you can’t afford to have an extra mortgage payment floating around. Do NOT give them access to your account electronically. If they can’t even process a paper check properly, who the hell knows what fuckage they can to do your bank account electronically.

You may be able to stop the payment on the check at no cost, if Chase is willing to give you something in writing that “Oops, we lost the check, please do not charge vetbridge any penalties for our screw-up.”

9

Yes, a stop-payment will cost money. Ask them to reimburse you for that since it’s their mistake. Or go with another option if you’re worried that they won’t reimburse you (which sounds likely…).

10

Those were my (nearly) exact words to the person I spoke with. They now admit that this was their error. After I stop payment on the check that they now say they have lost, I have to fax them proof of what it cost me and they will send me a check for that amount. Also, I asked what it would cost to pay off the remaining mortgage. They usually charge a fee for that info (!?!) but they will waive the fee.

11

Kevbo is right. When you’re dealing w/ a problem like this do it in writing, not email, but an actuall letter sent via snail mail and insist on responses by mail.
In this case I would send them a brief letter, explaining their error and include another copy of the documentation. Explain that you tried to solve the problem through their customer service line and found the response totally unacceptable. State that you will accept nothing less than a complete resolution of their error w/ no cost to you and no negative effect on your credit history. Tell them you expect the situation to be resolved within ten working days, or you will have to contact your state banking authority and a personal attorney.
I’d suggest that you start using an online bill payer service, your bank should have one, rather than allowing anyone access to your acct. This accomplishes the same thing w/o giving up controll of your checking acct.

12

Do not do anything until you have something in writing from them, agreeing to cover your stop check charges and the balance fee.

13

OK, I’m waiting to get a document in writing from them.

While that is happening, let me just remind anyone looking to do business with a mortgage company, that the morons responsible for screwing up my life is
CHASE

14

[Paranoid mode]

Hang on: they’ve screwed up and are charging you for the privelege? And are now refusing to rectify the matter? I wonder if this is happenning to other customers? Isn’t this therefore now fraud? It could be a nice little earner for them.

[/Paranoid]

Can I suggest a letter written to someone on the Board or the Executive Committee? Addressed by name rather than by position.

From the Executive Committee, David B. Lowman and Scott E. Powell seem the best choices, or possibly Martha J. Gallo.

15

Well, I am sure this is gonna have a happy ending. I have gotten everything in writing, and I have been a persistent pain in the ass. Since this began, I have been calling the CSR folks (customer service reps) once a day. Every day. On their dime (it is an 800 number). I have done this during my free time and have enjoyed it!

I realized at some point that the CSR folks are forced to be polite. I have matched their politeness step by step. So I’ve kept them on the phone (hey, they’re being paid) for as long as possible each day. I keep track of who I talk with each day.

Example:

CSR: Hello, this is Kiera, how can I help you?

Me: Hi Kiera! This is Mark, I spoke with you Monday. I’m the guy whose mortgage CHASE screwed up.

CSR: OK, could I please have the account number and your address?

Me: Oh wow, you mean there are a bunch of other people who CHASE has screwed up?

CSR: Well, the information will help me pull up the necessary information.

Me: OK, Here is the info: **********. By the way Kiera, I am impressed by the quality of care you CSRs have been giving me. Hopefully, this is just a stepping stone for you. Blah, blah, blah…

And so on. Chase has FedExed me a check to cover the cost of the stop payment order. They are currently “looking into” my demand that the replacement check I sent be posted on the date that the original check was received. Until all is settled, they have an “open work order” on my account.

I will continue my daily, friendly calls until things are satisfactorily resolved.

16

I don’t work for ING, but love their service. My recommendation –

open a free checking acct with them
have them automatically send an electronic payment to chase on the date you set every month

If you want to go one step further, open a free savings acct with them, put your $ in there to earn reasonable interest (better than any brick & mortar bank), then let’s say you tell your checking acct to send a payment on the 1st of each month? Just have the system automatically xfer the required amt from your ING checking to savings account 2-3 days beforehand, just to be safe.

You make 5% interest on the money, the payment gets sent automatically each month, chase has nothing to do with the auto payments and can’t screw it up.

ING is a great online bank… will save you hassles. I’m a very happy customer.

17

Which ING account still pays 5%? My ING Orange account has dropped to 4.2 percent over the last six months, matching the drop in the interest rates by the Fed.

18

While ING is an option in general for the future, as soon as CHASE clears up their fuckup, I’m paying off my mortgage. Screw the tax advantages, I hate the whole idea.

19

Does your mortgage include a hard prepayment penalty?

20

Prepayment penalties were one of my biggest concerns going into the mortgage. I have been paying extra every month toward the principle (sp?).