Homeowners in North Carolina who paid Dovenmuehle Mortgage a fee to make a mortgage payment by phone are in line for about $425 per fee, with no claim form to file. Chief District Judge Catherine C. Eagles is scheduled to hold the final approval hearing on November 5, 2026, at 2 p.m. in Greensboro, and the money moves only if she signs off.
The case is Custer v. Dovenmuehle Mortgage, Inc., filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. Dovenmuehle is a subservicer, meaning it handles the day-to-day work on loans owned or serviced by other companies, so some homeowners may know the name only from a payment coupon or a phone menu.
The question most affected homeowners have is when the money arrives and how much. The amount is an estimate: about $425 for each pay-to-pay fee paid, and the settlement notice says that figure is subject to change. No payment date exists yet, because payments follow final approval and any appeals. Homeowners who are covered do not have to file anything.
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Who is covered by the Dovenmuehle settlement?
The class covers residential mortgage loans secured by property in North Carolina that Dovenmuehle serviced or subserviced. To be included, the homeowner must have paid a fee to make a payment by phone or through the company’s automated phone system, known as IVR, between April 10, 2020, and January 13, 2026.
The location of the house decides who is in the class, not where the borrower lives now. A homeowner who has since moved out of state but paid the fee on a North Carolina property is covered. A borrower whose mortgaged property sits in another state is not, according to the settlement summary on RecordingLaw.
How is the $425 figure calculated?
The settlement creates a $9,000,000 common fund. Before deductions, the court’s figure works out to approximately $670 for each fee paid. After administration costs, a service award and attorneys’ fees and expenses come out, the notice estimates about $425 per fee.
Lawyers for the class have asked for $3,000,000 in attorneys’ fees, which is one-third of the fund, plus about $80,533 in expenses and a $25,000 service award. They filed that motion on August 3, 2026. The notice capped the fee request at 35% of the fund, and the judge makes the final decision on every deduction, which is why $425 can still move.
Because the payment is per fee, a homeowner who used the phone service several times in those years could be owed for each charge. Dovenmuehle’s own servicing records, not receipts or statements from homeowners, will show how many fees each loan paid.
What happens at the November 5 hearing?
Judge Eagles granted preliminary approval on June 4, 2026. The November 5 hearing is the step where she decides whether the settlement is fair and whether to approve the requested fees. The deadline to opt out of the settlement or to object to it was September 23, 2026, and it has passed.
That matters for a few homeowners. Anyone who opted out kept the right to sue Dovenmuehle separately but gave up a share of the fund. Anyone who objected stays in the class and could argue in writing that the terms are unfair. Everyone else is covered by the settlement automatically if it is approved.
How will payment reach homeowners?
The administrator is ILYM Group, Inc., which runs the official site at dovenmuehlephonefeelawsuit.com. The settlement summary lists its phone line as (888) 250-6810 and says filing is free, and that the official site and the administrator are the only legitimate sources of information about the case. Anyone who is asked to pay to receive settlement money is dealing with someone else.
Payment is based on Dovenmuehle’s servicing records, so no documentation is required. The settlement summary notes that settlement payments may be taxable and points readers to IRS Publication 4345 and a tax professional. The administrator’s mailing address is PO Box 2031, Tustin, CA 92781.
After November 5, the open question is whether the judge approves the settlement and the fee request as filed, and whether anyone appeals. Payments follow those answers, and the administrator has not announced a payment date.
Waiting on the Dovenmuehle phone-fee money?
An automatic payment with no scheduled date is easy to lose track of. The hearing is one date, any appeal is another, and the payment follows both, with an estimate of about $425 per fee that can still change.
The Settlement & Refund Recovery System includes the four-date rule for reading a settlement notice and a claim log and payment tracker, so the hearing, the approval and the payment can be written down in one place. It also comes with a 5-tab Excel tracker pre-filled with all 51 state unclaimed-property offices.
Get the claim log and payment tracker for the Dovenmuehle fee refund →
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
