Hey there - I feel for you...I'm in a bad bad mother of all evil loans for my car, didn't read the fine print before I drove off
Anyway, was never late, paid more than the amount; then the bank was bought by Chase "Custom Finance" - horrible, will never do business with them again. Anyway reader's digest version is last fall I hadn't worked so I got real close to the 30 day late but wasn't, they called me you better believe it...and nobody except a special number for the stupid "Custom Finance" line would talk to me about my loan...this happened for two months; then nothing as I again neared the 30 day late.
Well...in Dec. last year I went on the Chase website, accessed my account and made online payment for both Nov & Dec. (Keep in mind now that these past few months they were calling me all the time...and I'd update them on the status...) I did this because it cost only $10 vs. $15 and was immediately credited to my account.
Guess what - they did NOT take the money, NOR did they call to hound me - if you are still following, this would mean I was one month late and on my way to being 2 months late...I sniffed a "repo in the making" so when it hit 10 days later and they still had NOT taken my money, I called them...I asked what was going on, why were they refusing to take the money - they said "oh, your bank returned the payment NSF". I was floored and told the guy my money has been sitting in the account for the past 10 days and I said I'd check with my bank and call back. My bank had NO trace of Chase EVER trying to get the money - yes, I checked the routing, etc. and it was accurate...called back, they wouldn't talk to me, told me I had to call the "custom" number, for idiots like me...spoke to the same jerk I had talked to previous months and he said, first let's get your payment, I said I am NOT paying you a dime, I authorized the payment and you are refusing....this went on, I jumped through hoops to get the payment to them, now I only pay through my bank's bill pay so I have an electronic tracking...
long end of the story - I wrote (5) state AG offices; the Office of the Comptroller of Currency, filed a complaint with the FTC; and thanks to my State's AG office; it was resolved 5 months later. A different office kept responding each time; but I had all my documentation and kept insisting they weren't proving anything; and in this day of electronics they either have the proof or they don't.
Don't give up - document every call and name; and use your AG office and especially the Office of Comptroller of Currency - I wasn't really getting far just through the AG office; and hadn't heard back from the Comptroller office so I sent them copies of all the latest correspondence, asked what was happening, that's when it all finally came to a close.
I learned a very expensive lesson; never owned a home yet but am trying, just have to get one more thing corrected on my report (have court tomorrow) and I'll go from there. I do NOT want to land in a bad mortgage and I truly feel for you, but it sounds like you are on the right track - DO NOT give up!