Consumer complaint received 2023-05-05
Company: Shellpoint Partners, LLC
State: FL
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
Approximately 10 years ago this XXXX XXXX XXXX were put in place. ( The monthly " due-date '' was set at the XXXX day of each month. However, each monthly statement I receive clearly states that a late-fee is NOT triggered until on about the XXXX or XXXX of each month. ) I make my monthly payments to the servicing company ( I call, " servicer. " ), NEWREZ, by its automated telephone pay-system, on the XXXX, XXXX, or XXXX of each month. ) This procedure has been in place since the beginning of the mortgage-life. I have not been late on any required monthly payment according to the dates & procedure developed between all these parties since the beginning. I have not been assessed any late-fee since the beginning, UNTIL THE PRESENT DISPUTE AROSE. The mortgage has an escrow account for taxes & property insurance The documents require that I, the property Owner & mortgagor, obtain & keep in force acceptable property insurance, which I have always done since the beginning of the mortgage-life. This is the 2nd year that I have changed property-insurance companies to try to obtain a lower cost premium. ( The property is located in Florida, which has a property-insurance crisis, and has had for several years. ) The first year there did not seem to be any significant pe another change of property insurance carriers... .this generated another REFUND of premium. I obtained directions on how to endorse the refund check and the address of where to send it. These directions were followed and, by phone I was able to later verify tat the servicer did receive the refund-check. The next bill I received indicated an amount which was clearly more than if the refund monies were acknowledged as received into escrow, though not more than {$200.00}, in my estimation, than what the true amount of my monthly payment should have been calculated to be. A phone call to the servicer did not seem to get me any results such as recalculation of the monthly payment based on t the servicer 's receipt of the refund monies ( which was approximately {$3100.00} ). Finally, almost two ( 2 ) months after the servicer received the refund monies, one XXXX admitted to me on the phone that the refund monies had been ( mis ) applied as a " regular monthly payment '' instead of the escrow account. The XXXX stated that she would try to straighten the matter out. 
On the next monthly payment due from me, I estimated the amount I thought was actually due from me rather than pay the amount requested by the monthly statement, which was about {$250.00} too much. I did not subtract an entire {$250.00}. I subtracted less than that. There is no way I could calculate the exact amount owed because, I do not know what amounts for insurance & taxes are in my escrow account at any moment. I am informed of that only once a year, probably on my Form 1099. The servicer assessed me a late-fee, as a result of what it says is a " partial payment. '' The next month, it did so again, and will no doubt do so again this month ( XXXX, XXXX ). 
Now the servicer has sent me two ( 2 ) letters which are, in essence, collection letters. In those letters the servicer states that I will be assessed late-fees on the XXXX of the month. This changes the time I have been required to pay my monthly payments. For ten ( 1XXXX ) years I have been an about the XXXX of each month because the bills have stated that I am NOT LATE until the XXXX of each month. This is an illegal change over the procedure developed between us for ten ( 10 ) years.

Company public response: Company believes complaint is the result of an isolated error
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation