My Private Mortgage Lender doesn't send me the payoff statement

[Yin Wu]

I have a first deed mortgage of $600k with a private person in CA. Loan term is 6 months, interest only at 5%, maturity on 7/1/20. First payment is due on 2/1/2020. 

I've been DU approved for refinancing. Escrow and myself have made multiple attempts to reach the lender for payoff demand and reconveyance via phone call and emails. The lender has been ignoring all these communications. I hired a process server last week to deliver a "notice to perform" letter to is address last week and so far hasn't been successful either. The server also called the lender regarding this request and the lender responded that he didn't know what it was about. 

So at this point, I am not sure what the lender is trying to do. What should I do to protect my rights in addition to documenting all these attempts? 

Any advice are appreciated.