Consumer complaint received 2023-05-05
Company: Specialized Loan Servicing Holdings LLC
State: TN
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
Specialized Loan Servicing XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, CO XXXX Since XX/XX/XXXX  Ive been trying to cancel my escrow account with Secialized Loan Servicing, LLC ( SLS ). 

Id rather pay my taxes and insurance directly and invest the extra money for a small return during the year. Nowhere in my contract does it state I must have an escrow account. Ive talked with these people, who are totally incompetent, as you will see below, for hours on end and below are some of the reasons theyve given me as to why I cant cancel my escrow. The most viable reason being it was a requirement at the time of the loan. However, there is nothing in my contract that indicates this. Ive asked if I could just send them the total amount for my annual escrow which would lower my monthly mortgage payment, $ XXXX vs. $ XXXX. Their response was I couldnt do that. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted XXXX XXXX  who holds my mortgage loan and they are in contact with Specialized Loan Servicing to find out why I cant cancel my escrow account. They cant get any answers either. When you call Specialized Loan Servicing, you can never speak with a supervisor youre told a supervisor will call you back. If you miss the supervisors call they dont leave their name just the regular number so the entire process starts from the beginning. The last person I spoke with informed me they sent a letter telling me I cant cancel my escrow, said she '' d have a supervisor call and hung up on me. Following is a list of reasons they gave me, in order, on the different calls I made to them. 

You cant cancel your escrow because you live in a manufactured home. 
You have an FHA loan ( I do not ) You have a XXXX XXXX loan and their guidelines say you must have escrow. ( I do not ) Your loan is secured by Bank XXXX New York XXXX ( it is not ) Escrow Account was a requirement of the loan. ( Nothing in my contract states this ) You have a {$400.00} negative balance in your escrow account ( due to a mess up with my insurance. Told them I would pay it immediately. They said I couldn't because I had to wait for the escrow analysis. I also asked if I could just send in the total dollar amount for my escrow for the year and they said NO During the past month and a half I was doing research to find out who held my mortgage. After calling XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX, XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX secures my mortgage and have no requirements that I must have an escrow account. ( Case # XXXX ). XXXX at XXXX XXXX is working on this but she can not get an answer. SLS just sends them a copy of XXXX XXXX regulations that don't state I must have an escrow account. 

During this time Ive contacted a real estate attorney and hes never heard of not being able to close my escrow. 

Being a retired XXXX, cancelling my escrow will help me financially. It would keep my mortgage payment at {$430.00} instead of {$670.00}. The additional monies could be be invested or used for other things. 

They CAN NOT give me a valid reason why I can't cancel my escrow account. Makes me wonder what they are doing with my money,

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation