Due to financial hardship I was 30 days behind on my mortgage payment when the loan was first reported by a new sub-servicer, PHH Mortgage, in July of 2013. At the end of that month, to my great relief, I was put into a HAMP trial.
The trial period offer prescribed four reduced payments starting in September of that year. Under that offer, no payment was prescribed for July or August, and indeed any early or extra payments would have jeopardized the trial. The servicer specifically instructed me (verbally) not to make any payments until after September 1st.
I made the reduced payments exactly according to schedule starting in September, but since there was no payment scheduled for August the account was reported as 60 days late for that month. Since the trial payments did not satisfy the original monthly payment amount the loan was escalated to 90 days late in September. It was reported as 90 days late for the months of October through December as well, until a permanent modification thankfully went into effect in January 2014.
I have no issue with the servicer's reporting of the loan as 30 days late in July 2013; it is a fact that I missed the June payment.
I have attempted to challenge the servicer's escalation to 60- and 90-day late status for the later months, insofar as I made all subsequent payments precisely according to the trial period agreement and the servicer's instructions. I have filed multiple disputes with the various credit bureaus as well as a CFPB complaint on this matter but have made no headway.
So... is there any legal / procedural basis for my position? Have others had any relevant experiences, with PHH or other servicers?
And if anyone believes that my position may be correct, is there a recommended course of action?
