Complaint Review: Fairbanks Capital Corp.

Our mortgage was signed on July 15, 1999 with both a 1st and 2nd mortgage loan from First Franklin Financial Corp. with the initial loan payments due on both loans on September 1, 1999 and on the first of each month thereafter for a term of thirty (30) years. Prior to the first payment we were informed that the servicer of the notes had been changed to a company called Option One where the first payments were mailed for September of 1999. As best I recall in November the servicer of the loans was again changed, this time to Nations Credit. All payments made through December of 2000 were, for the most part, made in a timely manner. There were a few late payments and one check that raw returned NSF and redeposited. That check cleared the bank when it was presented a second time. It had become my practice to make payments on both loans prior to the 15th of each month to avoid any late charges but in January of 2001 I was hospitalized with food poisoning and unable to work for about ten (10) days. I made the January payment for the second Mortgage payment on February 9, 2001 and the February payment on the 16th. It was at this time that my life and good credit and payment history took a drastic turn for the worst. On February 1, 2001 I had botched Lasik surgery that left me unable to work and maintain my income. I am self-employed and do not have any form of disability insurance. For a period of four months I had nearly no income and my payments were both late an irregular. Nations credit started calling twice daily (once for each loan)demanding payments. Despite my explaining the problem numerous times and asking what we could do to clear things up, the calls continued becoming more and more harassing. Eventually I found that if I agreed to Pay by a phone check the calls would stop for a couple of weeks. Even though I was aware that the funds might not be available when the checks would be presented in about a week anything was better than those daily calls. This pattern continued with both the first and second mortgages till December of 2001 when Nations Credit agreed defer three (3) months of the first mortgage payments. This allowed me to get caught up and have payments to that loan made in a timely manner. This also allowed me to make multiple payments during December and get caught up on the second mortgage. A late payment was made in January on that loan and also in February of 2002. The February payment, check #005072 was made over the phone with a representative of Nations Credit and was initially returned by my bank as Not Sufficient Funds. This in fact was due to a hold placed on my account from a deposit made after the check was issued. The check was again deposited by Nations Credit according to a stamp on the face of the check on 2/26/2002. My bank at that time honored the check and debited my account on March 1, 2002. The March payment for the second mortgage was made, as is my custom, by Check Free through Quicken software and issued for receipt no later than March 4, 2002. On or about March 1, 2002, I started getting daily calls from Nations Credit demanding the February payment. On or about March 4, 2002 I requested to speak with a supervisor. The woman identified her self to me as Melody Fields (a name I later found out was false) and we placed a three way call to my bank. The bank (United California Bank) confirmed to Ms. Fields that the check in question had indeed been honored. Ms. Fields gave me a FAX number and requested that I FAX a copy of both the front and back of the check when it was available to me. This FAX was sent on March 9, 2002 at 10:03am. At about this time I started getting daily calls again from Nations Credit demanding my March payment. It appears that the error regarding the February check was never corrected and the check dated March 4, 2002 had been applied to the February 1 due date. I repeatedly explained this to Nation Credit personnel yet they continued to call on an almost daily basis. In mid March I received a notice that the Second Mortgage Loan had again been assigned or sold to another company. This time Fairbanks Capital Corp. However the actual personnel at the servicing center seemed to be the same people. And Fairbanks started calling on a Daily basis. There calls however, were considerably more rude and demanding. In most instances I attempted to yet again explain what had happened and in some instances I just hung up the phone. The calls were placed by a computerized system and upon hearing the word Hello began a repeating phrase something like Please hold a moment for an important call. At some point thereafter the system would either hang up on me or a representative would pick up and begin by telling me this is an attempt to collect a debt. The daily calls were now starting to drive me crazy. On April 24th after living with this harassment for over six (6) weeks I spoke with a representative named Willeaner Bonner and yet again explained the problem. She was able to research what I said in their computerized records and see that the person who identified herself to me as Melody Fields had indeed confirmed that the February check had been paid by my bank. I sent her a copy of the original FAX sent to Ms. Fields and she promised to personally take it up to Research as soon as we got off the phone. I spoke with Ms. Bonner again on May 10, 2002 and she seemed surprised that the error had not as yet been addressed and as she had retained a copy of the original FAX she again took it up to research. I had issued my April payment to Fairbanks Capital as requested for receipt on April 1, 2002 through Check Free as usual and did the same with the May payment for receipt by May 2. However as of the time of my second discussion with Ms. Bonner Fairbanks records indicated that they had never received the payment. I contacted my Bank who researched the matter and spoke with Mary at Fairbanks Capital who told them the check was never received. I placed a stop payment on the check #5096 and had Check Free send a replacement check # 5105 for receipt[t no later than May 16, 2002 as that was the soonest the system would allow. As of May 29th Fairbanks Capital again told my Bank that the second check had not been received. It became obvious to me by this time that Fairbanks was not accepting my checks and depositing them to my account. On the 30th of May I spoke yet again with the collection department, this time with a Samantha Jackson. She was able to verify my statements with their database but unable to explain why the problems had still not been corrected nor why neither of the payments Check Free sent for the account had been deposited. With the assistance of her supervisor, she was able to override her computer and take a single month Telephone check for the May payment. It appears that the system in use will not allow any payment less than the total it reflects as due. The payment sent as a replacement for the May one was finally deposited on the 30th hence I had now Double Paid May. Since I had also issued the phone payment, this second payment was returned by my bank, as there were not sufficient funds available that day to pay the amount twice. I called the bank and had a stop payment placed on check #5108 that had been mailed for the June 1, 2002 payment. Check #5105 was redeposited by Fairbanks Capital and paid by my bank on the 5th of June and as such satisfies my June payment obligation. During the month of May I had numerous phone conversations with a Mr. Jeff Myer, of Fairbanks Capital in regards to this ongoing problem. There was lots of follow up correspondance including my sending copies of 3 months worth of canceled checks six separate times but at no time was any action taken to clear up the problem over the February payment. When I attempted to make the July payment on the mortgage, I was told that I would need to make both the May and June payments at the same time. I again explained that the payments had already been made and was informed that no additional payments would be accepted from me unless this arrearage was cleared and that the payment would have to be made by certified funds. I also received mail from Fairbanks stating this. So while I kept in communications with Fairbanks about the problems they proceeded to file for Foreclosure on August 5, 2002. This foreclosure notice made any attempt to obtain a new loan via traditional means impossible. I attempted to do so from several lenders yet the foreclosure notice had dropped my FICO score from over 700 to 535. This was way too low for any lender I could find even through I would have over 33% equity in the house and the mortgage Market had interest rates at all time lows. I eventually closed on an interest only loan at 11% with five points to avoid sale of the property just a few days prior to the 90 day foreclosure limit. William Los Angeles, California
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