vees

Hi everybody, saw all the web traffic from the CA website and followed it back here. We'd be happy for the new community association members. Just be sure to tell everybody about our haunted house this month and remember our little neighborhood when you're in the market for a nice place to live.

I have a somewhat urgent need for advice after FedLoan Servicing conflated my mailing address with someone else's student loan just based off the fact that we share the same full name, and I wound up having some of it paid before realizing what happened. I want to be fully informed before I deal with them again on Monday. I posted it to the Student Loan forum but after reading some of the other posts there realized that the forum participants most able to advise about resolving screw-ups like this are mostly posting and reading over here. Sorry if this is a forum etiquette breach, but please see here for full details if you can help: http://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=446826

Below is redacted for the privacy of the actual debt holder: Several months ago I started to receive paperwork and billing statements from FedLoan Servicing about outstanding balances on two Stafford Loans. The papers were addressed to my full name including middle initial and my current postal address. The timing of these letters happened to coincide with about ten years since the end of my last college class and also with the announcements by the federal government that they would be directly taking over the balance of many outstanding student loans. My parents have been kind enough to help pay my outstanding student loans, even the ones that were taken out in my name. I verified with my father that he wanted to continue with this arrangement even though whatever loan this was had started being addressed to me personally. He agreed. As per our routine I scanned and e-mailed him every document that arrived with my name on it from FedLoan Servicing. The first payment of [redacted] was due on 8/1/2010. Prior to that date, my father attempted to set up an automatic payment by logging into the website at www.myfedloan.com with the account number listed on the customer statement and my social security number and date of birth. When neither of those worked he contacted me and said there was an issue with the account. I forgot about doing this until the next month when a statement dated 8/12/2010 with a due date of 9/1/2010 arrived. This was immediately followed by a dunning letter for the past due amount of [redacted] threatening to report missed payments to credit agencies. On 8/25/10 both my father and I tried to log into the website using my information and were again rejected. To protect my credit rating, my father sent a check for [redacted] to account number [redacted] on the morning of 8/27/10. On 8/27/10 at 8:25 am I called FedLoan Servicing at 800-699-2908 and spoke to [redacted] who asked me for my account number and date of birth. When I gave her my date of birth she told me that it did not match. I gave her my father's date of birth and my social security number in case there was some sort of confusion based on the origination of the loan. She said that none of them matched to any part of the birth date on file -- month day or year. [Redacted] concluded and informed me that FedLoan Servicing had incorrectly attached my mailing address to the account of another person with my name and instructed me to shred all documents I had received in relation to that outstanding loan balance. I told her that a check had already been sent in the amount of [redacted] against the outstanding balance for this account, and she said that I should immediately put a stop payment on this check. When I told her that might not be possible, she told me that it could take up to 30-60 days to return the balance of that money. This is where I left off with them. Questions: How badly did they screw up here by connecting my address to another account based just on name? Is this even legal? Is this a FDCPA violation? Is it something else? Assuming the stop payment doesn't work in time, what can I do or say to get the money back as quickly as possible? Is this worth contacting the ombudsman at the Department of Education about even if its resolved amicably? Do I have a legal or just an ethical responsibility to safely destroy the documents in my possession?

Not a penny. The payment hasn't shown up on the county web site yet, but the office assured me on the telephone that it was completely paid.

Yesterday (Sep. 24), American Home Mortgage made good with the county with certified funds and my semi-annual property taxes are paid.

September 20 will be two weeks since the American Home Mortgage CSR said "two weeks." On that day I will: - Pay my tax bill - Mail the letter to the financial regulators - Mail the letter to the attorney general - Call the main department to begin the process of closing my escrow account and PMI - Begin researching the details of how to sue them for the lost interest on that money, their failure to live up to the escrow agreement, and getting my escrow balance back Any advice?

Update from the Baltimore Sun: http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bal-b...0,4511686.story I wouldn't have guessed only 70, but I guess that's a fair spread for an industry where the largest player only has an 8% market share.

The Wall Street Journal has reported on my plight! Via d-9.net: Mortgage Lender's Bankruptcy May Threaten Thousands of Homeowners This sounds exactly like what happened to me. Thank goodness I have the funds available to double pay in the short term if I need to (although who knows if I will ever see that escrow money again), but I feel for all the people who are not so lucky. More updates on Friday for anyone who's watching.

The CSR (Alex) told me that the funds drawn to pay my taxes the last week of July were frozen for "a couple of days" and it may take a few weeks to resolve my issue because they have to review what was probably a large number of checks to the county and find out what the disposition of mine was. He was unable to expedite or finish the process any sooner than a few weeks from now, but again promised again that the company would be responsible for all of the interest and fees associated with the late payment of the tax bill. Obviously the answer isn't any consolation, and I will be typing, printing and mailing those three letters tomorrow with much of the information I have already posted in this thread and a few more dates and conversations from my notes.

I could have phrased that better. Since I'm already writing two letters tonight to the state, its really no extra bother to write a third one to the feds on the same topic.

I didn't, but thanks for this. Since I'm already going to be writing two letters tonight, what's a third?

On hold with AHM tax department CSR for 13 minutes, then hung up on. Things are not looking good for AHM.

The AG did refer me to the Maryland Division of Financial Regulation to file a concurrent complaint against the bank that issued the property tax check from my escrow account. They also said to file a consumer complaint against American Home Mortgage including supporting documentation and they would follow through even if the property tax bill was eventually paid. So I now hold in my hand a complaint form for the AG and CFR which will be mailed tomorrow immediately prior to my next phone conversation with the AHM tax department customer service. Thanks for the advice, everybody!

Is it possible that the bounce was because the funds were/are frozen due to the bankruptcy? Would escrow funds be frozen with all other assets? I will be calling AHM back tomorrow for a status update, after I investigate my options with Maryland AG today.

The CSR in the American Home Mortgage Tax Department I spoke to today promised to refer the matter up the chain to his supervisor, and put a note into the file to call me back when everything is resolved. He also assured me that all fees above the $806 early payment amount would be eaten by AHM. I'll be loading up my tax records on the county web site every day until I get that return call. .... Edited to clarify who's tax department I was talking to.