For two decades, I maintained a perfect payment record on my rental property. My credit score ranged from 750-800. I was the definition of a responsible borrower.
In 2021, I refinanced with United Wholesale Mortgage. Everything was on autopay at $1,950 per month. Then life threw me a curveball - my father developed dementia, requiring significant financial and time commitments for his care.
I fell behind on property taxes while caring for him. I was already working with the county on a 5-year payment plan when UWM decided to "protect their loan" by paying my back taxes without authorization.
They added $1,300/month to my payment for tax escrow but never properly notified me. My autopay continued sending $1,950, which they then rejected as "short pays." They held my money for 17 days before returning it.
By the time I noticed, they'd rejected three months of payments and claimed I was 90 days past due. When I tried to pay the full amount, they refused, saying they couldn't accept payments during "pre-foreclosure."
After hours on the phone, they finally accepted $15,800 - four months of the inflated payment. Then they told me I still owed $7,960, almost exactly what they'd previously rejected and returned.
The result? My credit score dropped from 800 to 560. Twenty years of perfect payment history destroyed in 90 days. I never actually missed a mortgage payment - they just refused to accept them.