1.6K views
10 comments

Here's a hilarious complaint from an educated, current-on-his-payments homeowner. I rarely write reviews, but this company is special.

In December, my mortgage is sold from Flagstar Bank to Greentree Servicing. Greentree would begin ownership on January 1, 2014. My worries begin after trying to navigate Greentree's joke of a mortgage servicing portal. I try to set up automatic payments online, only to be told an initial one-time payment must be made first. I try to make a one-time payment online and over the phone, only to be met with a $12 (???) convenience fee. Instead, I mail a check in mid-January for the normal payment amount that was due January 1. Keep in mind I was not even able to log into my account until January 15.

January 16, I start receiving calls about my debt being past due. My initial loan amount was ~$300k and originated in April 2012. The outstanding principal at this point is ~$120k (less than two years later). I think I have good payment history. I tell Greentree that they've just purchased my loan, and the letter you sent me states due to the transfer, all payments will be backdated to reflect payment on January 1 with no late fees assessed. I even call to confirm the amount of time I have to make the initial payment. One person tells me two months; the other tells me three months. Hmm.

Backtracking a bit. On January 6, I call to investigate getting PMI removed from my loan, since our LTV ratio is well below 80%. I'm told that a form will be mailed to me with instructions on how to proceed. I never receive the form (waited for two weeks). I tell them to mail the form again, as well as fax it. I receive the fax but to this day have not received the requested form via mail. The form simply states I have to send a written request asking for PMI to be removed. Uh, ok; not sure why you couldn't tell me this on the phone. I mail and fax this request to the escrow department, and also ask that they confirm receipt by faxing me back. No response.

I wait another week, and begin calling to find out what the *** is going on. I'm told they received two requests to have PMI removed (guess they got the fax) but now they need a written request from me authorizing Greentree to have an appraisal performed on my house at my expense. (I guess maybe they thought my house declined 50% in value in a booming city.) That's fine, I expected to have to have the appraisal done; why did no one tell me this on the phone? Why was this not stated on the form??

I oblige and mail/fax the authorization, against requesting receipt confirmation. None gotten. Two weeks later, after numerous phone calls, I receive a letter from Greentree stating my PMI removal request has been denied due to the following: "There are aging requirements for this account. This aging will be completed in April 2017." Can't for the life of me figure out where that date came from. Of course I am familiar with the Homeowners Protection Act, and "aging requirements" is not an actual thing. Maybe Greentree thinks this is an FHA loan? (It's not; it's conventional.) I call Greentree and ask what this letter means. The first three people I speak to have never heard of this denial before, and according to them there's no record of this letter ever being sent to me. One guy gave me a ridiculous explanation of "it's because you didn't put down 10%" (???). I'm furious and baffled at this point. I call back one more time and speak to an older lady. She finds the letter that was mailed to me and tells me it doesn't read April 2017, but instead reads August 2015. This date I could believe based on the initial loan amortization schedule (to reach an LTV of 78%), but who knows if they understand it.

I ask the lady to fax and mail me the denial notice with that date. She also says that the appraisal would cost $450. Another person I spoke to previously says it would cost anywhere up to $350. Hmm. I received the fax, but oh no! It has the same April 2017 date. I fax them back the same notice with an angry message telling them to explain what "aging requirements" are. No response received. I call one last time a few days later inquiring, and I'm told the appraisal is in process and someone would be reaching out to me. Hmm.

We're well into February now. A guy comes out and performs the appraisal on February 24. I call him the day after and he's already sent over the completed package to Greentree. I call Greentree today (February 28) to make sure that they received the package, and they have. I'm told the package is being reviewed. I come home from work to find a letter from Greentree stating "PMI on the above-referenced loan has been terminated and is no longer on your account". THIS LETTER IS DATED FEBRUARY 20, FOUR DAYS BEFORE THE APPRAISAL WAS DONE. I call Greentree just minutes ago and ask if they have a time machine. A lady tells me that, again, there is no record of this letter being sent to me and was probably mailed in error. BUT, my appraisal and PMI removal request is being reviewed.

I guess we'll see next month if PMI is removed or not. What a disaster of a company.

Location: Houston, Texas

Do You Have Something To Say ?
Write a review

Comments

chat-icon

Please avoid publishing any personal information and promotional content

You will be automatically registered on our site. Username and password will be sent to you via email.
Post Comment
Guest

Hi there,

If you were at 78% LTV then you should not have had to pay for an appraisal according to the Home Owner's Protection Act. You might want to re-visit this issue.

To others reading and who had a Hamp Modification and are confused when PMI will terminate, I suggest you read this: http://bankingfinancelawdaily.blogspot.com/2015/09/pmi-deadline-set-by-original-price-not.html

Guest

I'm going into the same situation. The did aprecial on my property and now I'm reached 20% of my loan amount, now the reject with the condition I have to reach 25% to remove the PMI.

Don't know where the 25% came from.. I sent 3rd disputes today.

Thinking of consult with attorney and filling litigation against them. Any suggestions

Guest

I have Ditech now as well - what are the terms for qualifying to get it removed. Is it the outstanding principal divided by the current appraisal equal 20% or more?

Guest

I have a success story (finally) about Green Tree (now Ditech) removing PMI from off my mortgage. It only took 6 months, but found out today that it has been removed.

Guest

Original poster here. Figured I would update for anyone having the same issues.

I eventually was able to get Greentree to remove the PMI by expressing my anger with them over the phone every two days or so. Always ask to speak to a manager. The first level of support doesn't really have a clue, so it's best not to waste any time with them. I don't remember specifics, but I believe PMI was removed sometime in April after initiating the process in January.

I did receive one check for $130 (the monthly amount of PMI) from Greentree with no explanation.

The home appraisal cost $395. With no explanation, again, Greentree decided to spread that payment over 10 months, so I spent a lot of time trying to figure out where this new $39.50 additional charge came from.

I'd recommend getting rid of your escrow account and handle payment of taxes and insurance yourself, taking as much out of Greentree's hands as possible.

Fight through it, guys and gals. You can beat Greentree.

Guest

I have almost the exact same experience trying to remove PMI. It sounds like their policy is to just say no and deny PMI removal requests hoping you don't know how the loans work and they can keep charging it.

They gave me the same account seasoning issue, which is true. But in my case, they claim they denied it because I asked to remove PMI 17 days before my account hit the 2 year seasoning mark. Even though it takes them a minimum of 30 "business days" to do reply to anything. The guy I spoke with kept telling me that I couldn't remove PMI until the loan hit the 78% mark based on when the original loan was established.

Either they're really ***, or they just play dumb to not have to do any work.

I'm realizing that this is their MO and that it would be helpful for others trying to remove PMI with Green Tree to know what they're in for and the best way to move forward. http://spend-wisely.com/remove-pmi/

Guest

Please update me on the status of your account. I have numerous clients with this company as their account holder and I'm in the process of escalating their illegal activities.

I'm not sure if you realize this, but there are tons of third parties that have purchased loans from major corporations that have been sued for millions over the last year. Thank you for you post (especially since you don't write reviews on a regular basis) You are very educated in this matter and your description and timeline of events is almost humorous. (laughing at them of course) Please help me to help others.

Thank you.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-817462

Please help me! Everytime I look up something to do with Green Tree I feel like I'm going to be sick.

My mortgage was sold to Green Tree by CitiMortgage & they took over in September 2014. Of course it was sold! I had just received the "hardship" packaged Fed Ex-ed to me on a Monday. It wasn't until September 5, 2014 that Citi sent me a letter saying that they sold my mortgage - 3 days after I received the Fed Ex package. I skipped over several issues I was having with Citi as well, but an important fact is that the day after the government gave Citi several more millions - or billions - in another "bail out" in June 2014, I called them & told them I expected to have my mortgage reviewed because it's so far underwater. Well, I guess they sold me because I found out their "secret" which was this extra bail out was supposed to go to helping those of us with underwater mortgages.

Well Citi & Green Tree both sent me letters acknowledging my mortgage was sold. This was when I googled Gree Tree & started popping ulcer meds again. In the letter I received from Citi it clearly stated that all my terms would stay the same - including my payment.

OK. I figure now I'll have to start pestering them about my underwater mortgage after 100's of hours of calls & letters to Citi. I thought that was going to be my biggest headache.

lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol

I get my first statement from Green Tree & it's BLANK. Amount due, taxes, insurance, balance, PMI, all completely blank. However, there is one category. It's labeled "accrual incentive balance". I didn't know what it meant so I googled it. Imagine that. It's not even a "recognizable term". But in that column there is an amount. I'm ASSUMING that this is what imaginary term they use for "amount due". Well, my mortgage payment (IF that's what it is went up by 44.5%!!! That's FORTY FOUR & A HALF PERCENT!!! I've called & called. The only thing I get is the old "I'm gonna pretend not to hear you" on their end. Finally I called & instead of me repeating "hello hello hello" I instead said "go ahead & hang up again because I've got my attorney on this call". Well imagine that !?! They could suddenly hear me! The only response I got was to be disconnected again after I asked to speak with a supervisor. Now I'm late on my payment. I had no warning about an increase of 44.5%; actually I was told it would all stay the same. My insurance & tax escrow has more than enough & I actually had a refund earlier in the year because I was over paying. Now I'm having even more problems with an insurance claim from last winter. My chimney imploded & my furnace exploded. I've been living in soot since April waiting to get an insurance check to have the duct work cleaned & the rest of the soot cleaned up. But Citi sent my insurance check to Green Tree & of course they are holding it hostage. That check was supposed to come back to me to hire the cleaners & get a dumpster & so on. Now Green Tree expects me to shell out 10's of 1000's of dollars & they'll "reimburse me". lol. Sure they will!!! So here I sit, breathing in all the cancer causing carsinogines (sp?) - which btw killed my cat, nearly killed me & both my 100+ pound dogs. I'm constantly sick - fevers, headaches, vomiting, & the list goes on. The worst part is having to watch my dogs *** every single time the heat kicks on & I'm in central Minnesota so this is dozens of times a day. So here I sit, in a house that is literally killing me, an underwater mortgage that just went up by 44.5%. Please tell me how to sue the SOB's.

Guest

Run don't walk from this company. They have screwed up more of my monthly payments in one year than any other mortgage company we have had in the past thirty years

Tanishka Bix

You promised hilarity. This was depressing and gave me a headache (not as bad as yours I'm sure) :sigh

The time machine line was good though.

Just curious, how did she answer that question??

Are you gonna try to get your appraisal money back?

Greentree Servicing Reviews

  1. 60 reviews
  2. 7 reviews
  3. 1 review
  4. 1 review
  5. 1 review
Greentree Servicing reviews