Wamu establishes review for customer complaints

Tuesday, September 16, 2003

By BILL VIRGIN
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Washington Mutual Inc. mortgage customers who complained about the service they've gotten are getting another chance to have someone straighten out problems with their accounts.

Seattle-based Wamu and the three law firms that sued the company over mortgage-servicing problems have agreed to set up a series of reviews of complaints sent to the law firms after the suit was filed.

The suit, filed in King County last year, charged that Wamu lost payments on mortgages, didn't post payments promptly or properly, slapped customers with fees resulting from the company's errors, made it difficult to resolve problems and filed inaccurate reports about its customers to credit agencies.

The plaintiffs had hoped to have the suit declared a class action, but the court turned that down, according to a letter sent out by the law firms this week. Wamu settled the claims made by the plaintiffs who filed the suit and agreed to set up a Specialized Customer Review Process. A letter sent out by the law firms this week notes that Washington Mutual denies any wrongdoing or liability, and makes no promises beyond reviewing the complaints.

Letters are going out to those who had filed complaints with the three law firms following news reports about the suit. Customers are asked to submit a form detailing the problem. If one Wamu customer service specialist determines no action should be taken, the form will be reviewed a second time.

"We strive to be responsive to our customers and their concerns at all times," Wamu spokesman Tim McGarry said. Although Wamu settled with those who filed the suit, it decided to offer the complaint-resolution system to other customers because "we did not want to leave their concerns unaddressed."

A wave of complaints about Washington Mutual's mortgage servicing surfaced after a series of acquisitions and a boom in applications for new loans and refinancing. Wamu acknowledged that it had problems coping. But the company also said in its response to the suit and in public presentations that the errors were the sort that "occur in the ordinary course of any enterprise" and that Wamu had taken steps to correct existing problems.

Although letters and forms are going out to those who contacted the law firms, "customers can contact us at any time" to resolve problems, McGarry said.

McGarry did not have a count of how many letters are being sent out. One of the three law firms involved said it is sending out 300 letters.

P-I reporter Bill Virgin can be reached at 206-448-8319 or billvirgin@seattlepi.com

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