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tasheh

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August 29, 2012 11:45 am

Do away with coupon books. They allow for shoddy service and harmful practices.
For 30 months I used a coupon book to pay my mortgage with BoA. Consequently, I could not see how my payments were allocated and how the principal was affected. My new servicer, by contrast, sends a monthly statement that details payment allocation and principal balance as of previous statement.
To compare allocations between old & new servicer, I requested a payment history (10 months after the loan transferred) from the old servicer. Lo and behold, I discovered that BoA, did not account for $3700+ of my payment amounts over the 30-month preiod. Since February 2012 I have been trying to get an explanation. All I have gotten to date from bank representatives is: “Forget about the printed record; trust us,… more »

…payments were allocated correctly.”
Contacting the CFPB has been no help. As a sole complainant, it seems that I am not worth the bother. Yet, if this happened to me, conceivably it could happen to anyone who makes payment with a coupon book.
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August 29, 2012 6:45 pm

I am not tech savvy, but coupon books have static information and too little information. I would wish that all lenders were trustworthy; but they all are not. Prior to my requesting a payment history, I made payments religiously, in good faith, believing that the lender was so. Now I think differently because almost $4000 of the payments I made is unaccounted for and I do not know how to hold the institution accountable. They have been giving me the runaround for six months. Would anyone want to risk being in these shoes? Yet, with a coupon book and a trusting consumer, this is possible and probable. And, as I’ve said, being able to call and write to the lender/servicer requesting information is guarantee of nothing. I’ve been doing that since February – have even had intervention… more »

…from a local senator – have filed a complaint and dispute with CFPB , and I am still waiting. At this point, I expect nothing. I just wanted to alert other coupon book users not to be entirely trusting of their servicers. « less
August 29, 2012 6:50 pm

A rule is not a rule once you start making exceptions. Ultimately, entities for which the exception was not intended find a way to exploit it.

August 29, 2012 4:00 pm

Welcome to Regulation Room, tasheh and thanks for your comment. It sounds like many of the problems you have faced are being addressed in CFPB’s proposal concerning error claims. You can read about those proposed rules and tell us what you think of them here. As to the issue of coupon books, it sounds like you would favor a ban on the use of coupon books. What do you think about marcy’s comment that some borrowers like having a coupon book?

August 12, 2012 4:47 pm

The statement needs to include an escrow breakdown. There is plenty of space on this document to include it, and I don’t understand why this is not being addressed. This escrow breakdown should state what insurance information is on file for the property, the expiration date, & premium. It should also include a tax breakdown, PMI, and any other fees, along with an escrow balance. If a borrower has an escrow account open in their name, they have a right to know the balance & why. This is all very simple information for loan servicers to provide.

As for passing the costs on to consumers, I completely disagree. How about they take the costs out of the stimulus package they were given in 2009? How is it the consumer’s fault that the servicers didn’t keep their software… more »

…updated? If the current servicers can’t handle the financial burden, then maybe they need to sell their servicing portfolios to companies who ARE equipped to handle it. There are plenty of companies who can step up. I’m sorry, but it’s long been time we stopped babying these “too large to fail” institutions and let capitalism run its natural course. It’s called survival of the fittest.

As for the actual cost to these servicers to access this loan information? It’s minimal. They already have and store this historical information for a minimum of 6 months. It’s all built into the systems. Even if something needed to change, it wouldn’t be the servicer changing it. They don’t have the capability. It would be the Fidelity Powercell handling this change and/or providing training. « less

August 16, 2012 11:09 pm

Coupon books should only be for borrowers who request them, at their own peril I might add. If a small servicer wants to only provide coupon books, then they should at least OFFER online access as well so the borrower can track when payments were posted and if any fees are being tacked on. Personally I think coupn books are an outdated tool for the mortgage servicing industry. Why would anyone TRUST a servicer after all of this?!?!

August 12, 2012 5:00 pm

I don’t think there should be a small servicer exception. Large or small, mortgage servicing should remain the same. Why would we allow someone to not tell me how much money I owe just because they’re a smaller company? Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of the notification?

Look at a restaurant, for example. When I walk down the street, I can go to McDonald’s or a hole in the wall. My reasons for choosing one or the other are my own, but regardless of where I decide to eat, the transaction is the same. They present me with a menu, I give them my money, they give me a receipt. Why would mortgage service be any different than food service?

August 14, 2012 2:40 pm

Does a small, mom & pop restaurant get any leniency on health regulations simply because it’s not a chain? Would you want to eat there if they did?

Does an MD with a private practice get exceptions vs a hospital on the care he provides? Is malpractice defined by the size of the care provider?

Are the safety and manufacturing standards for a small start up automobile manufacturer different than they are for a company like Ford?

When a small college receives accreditation, are they allowed to provide less education or a degree for less credits based on the size of their faculty?

Why would the financial servicing industry suddenly be different? I’m not understanding.