I wanted to write this piece to give the public a little insight into the corporate practices of one of our country’s larger mortgage companies. If there is a way to inform the public of the lending/collection practices of Green Tree Servicing LLC, I hope this is it. This is my personal account, and a summary of complaints found about the company on the internet.
My original lender was National City Mortgage, my mortgage was sold to Green Tree Servicing LLC. You may have heard of this company, they were in the news for harassing collection calls to a disabled man in Florida; they called right up until his death:
Florida man harassed to death by mortgage company.
Within one week of my mortgage being sold the harassment started. I began researching this new mortgage company online, and the stories I have read scared me.
I am not experiencing any hardship financially so to speak, I’ve never been in default or delinquent on my loan, yet this mortgage company, Green Tree Servicing LLC, insisted on treating me as if I am a habitual offender and a child, with threats and demeaning comments as to my ability to budget my money.
Green Tree Servicing called me repeatedly concerning my mortgage payment, a debt that has never been delinquent. When they called, they would immediately begin with a comment like “so when are we going to get you to pay this money…”, as if I was trying to not pay my mortgage. Of course I would tell them the same thing every time, “I pay my mortgage through my bank, and you will get it shortly after the paycheck for that period comes in”, which is always between the 1st and the 16th of the month – I get paid bi-weekly. This would only lead to being insulted and often times yelled at.
I have a legal mortgage “note” from the original mortgage lender, National City Mortgage, which states that my mortgage is due on the 1st of the month and that I will not be assessed a late fee until the 16th of the month. That same contract is in affect with Green Tree Servicing LLC, and I have spoken to them about this note. They have responded every time – yes every time – with “your mortgage is due on the 1st, if you don’ want us to call and harass you, pay it on or before the 1st of the month…”
During one of my conversations with a representative, I was yelled at for asking them to make a note not to call until my payment is late. She insisted on transferring me to her supervisor, with a bit of relief I waited until the supervisor got on the line, thinking I’d speak with someone more experienced. I was correct, she had more experience, but she had no intention of helping, it seemed she only wanted to get in on the yelling. When I asked her if she was familiar with “The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act”, clause 805 and subsequent clauses, she laughed at me and said, “oh, I’m very familiar, so what?” Implying that it wouldn’t help me and it definitely would not stop them.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, clause 805 in particular tells the consumer to send a “certified letter” to the company telling them to cease and desist all communications about the debt with the consumer. If they do not comply, you have a legal complaint. Another clause in this Act specifies threats of foreclosure, calling of third parties, additional fees, etc… as illegal acts by debt collectors.
Upon researching a little more I found that Green Tree Servicing LLC has a work around for these laws to some extent. Since the Acts primarily apply to third party collectors, Green Tree Servicing LLC has created their own debt collecting department. This was the reason the supervisor I was speaking with didn’t care about my mention of the Fair Debt Collection Practices.
I later found out the “Supervisor” was actually my account manager and when I refused to be talked to the way she was talking to me, I asked to speak to her supervisor. She transferred me to her manager; he took less than 15 seconds to start yelling at me and told me it’s my fault because I don’t know how to budget my money properly. Once again, if you look at my credit report, I have zero, none, zilch in the department of 30 days past due for any credit, loan or bill in the past seven years.
I told him I’ve never missed a payment and I’ve never been in default or delinquent. His response was, “you better make your payments immediately and start doing it by the 1st if you don’t want us calling”, and then hung up on me – To be fair, at this point I was yelling too, because none of them seemed to be listening to me, just yelling over me.
Here is an excerpt from one of the comments left on “measuredup.com”, a little insight:
“I was a Collections Supervisor at Green Tree servicing for sometime (years) and we were driven by end of the month results. Upper management endorsed the idea of the ends justify the means. For example 1 month (July/August 2005) the last day of the month was a saturday. The office I worked in consistently made its goals. At 1pm or so on that saturday afternoon it was obvious we were not going to be able to collect anymore delinquent balances/loan payments. We (my regional manager and myself) sent the collection staff home and reported our numbers to corporate office. By the time I got home (45 minutes away) I recieved a call at my home from my regional manager stating we had to go back to the office because the delinquency level for the company had not met it’s desired goals. I was required to go back to the office and call all delinquent customers and collect on balances until 9pm that evening. (the types of calls were despicable) These orders came from Corporate
Our EVP actually came to our office one day and explained that these “types” of loans requires “hard ” collections. When we had a side bar I asked about the comment “these types of loans” and he advised these are low credit scores and the homes are not built to last and we need to collect hard to avoid the anticpated high default rates…” (sic)
This comment on that site gives the consumer insight into the corporate mindset of Green Tree Servicing LLC’s management. There are many others like it throughout the web, and I obviously can’t post them all here.
It seems simple enough, get my payments to them before the 1st of the month and they won’t bother me, right? Problem is, I’ve read too many stories about this company and know that if they receive my payment before the 1st they start applying to the principal and then send you a bill for the month’s mortgage payment. If you tell them you sent it, they give you the run around long enough to assess late fees.
Many complaints from their customers claim that the payments never get cleared up and nearly every incident ends with the consumer making an extra mortgage payment. If they don’t, the phone calls start, they call you, co-workers, neighbors and other family members and they threaten foreclosure to all, trying to collect. Please note, I have not been in this situation, this is merely concluded from reading other people’s stories. I have decided to not have any payments before the 1st of any month.
I’ve also read about missing escrow money, to which Green Tree Servicing LLC will claim that there is no longer insurance on the home and they force an insurance purchase with, you guessed it, their home insurance branch. How do they do this? Law requires that your home be covered by insurance when there is a mortgage or a lien. Green Tree Servicing LLC misplaces insurance letters from actual insurance companies, or doesn’t account for escrow money properly.
A quick Google search of “Green Tree Servicing LLC complaints” or “Green Tree Servicing LLC reviews” will lead you to an abundance of information on their practices and the amount of time they’ve been doing this to their customers. I’ve also researched and discovered that this company is a potential recipient of TARP funds in the amount of $105 million for Modifications Loans, and every indication is that they make it near impossible to receive one.
Green Tree Servicing LLC is a classic “predatory lender” – they chose to lend to “high risk” borrowers just so they can collect more interest. If you read the complaints you’ll see that many people mention extra payments being put towards “interest” rather than “principal” – others mention paying well more than the average APR. This company preys on your money. Know your rights and defend your fellow consumer.
I am not writing this to get help from anyone. I just realized after reading these complaints that many people do not know their consumer “rights” and I wanted to inform them as best as I can. Please, if you are being harassed by this company or any other, go to:
There is plenty of information there to assist you in your rights. This company treats consumers like this because they know that no one will actually use the laws that are available to protect from this treatment.
I’d like to add that it is very important to keep all documentation from Green Tree Servicing LLC or any other predatory company. Document the time and person in every conversation, check with your state Attorney General’s office to see what the laws are on recording telephone conversations, and be sure to visit as many sites as possible to leave complaints.
We, and the government, may not be able to shut them down, but we can stop them from receiving any more business. We need to inform other prospective customers about the tribulations that come with this company and let these types of corporations know that consumers will not accept these practices.
