Consumer complaint received 2022-04-27
Company: LD Holdings Group, LLC
State: MD
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: FHA mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
LoanDepot 's response to my claim of a payment of {$1300.00} as settlement for an egregious, if not unethical wrong, is unacceptable. Fact is LoanDepot knew the effect of " low-balling '' my estimated property tax liability would have on the refinancing terms ; I didn't. I trusted its representatives to provide the most accurate information they could. They betrayed my trust. The loan officer is trained to obtain up-to-date property tax history and he had multiple sources to access to accurate, official and updated information. So, why did LoanDepot choose to use a property tax history estimate? What was that estimate based on? There is only one answer : that is, to inflate how much money in monthly mortgage the LoanDepot refinance would save me to unethically influence me to agree to the terms. He did this knowing that the accurate property tax would come due, and not only would I have to pay it ( {$1800.00} ), when the accurate tax revealed a shortage of my escrow account, but that the accurate property tax history would have reduced my estimated savings from over {$200.00} in monthly mortgage payments to only {$99.00}. Had I known what the LoanDepot loan officer must have known, I would not have ordered the refinance, which cost me well over $ XXXX and counting since the cost was amortized into the loan. Therefore, my lost far exceeds the {$1300.00} that LoanDepot has claimed responsibility and this arrangement does not satisfy my claim. I would like to for LoanDepot to make me whole and pay the entire cost of the refinance. A fair settlement would for LoanDepot take " full '' responsibility for the low property tax estimate pay me the cost of the loan, minus the {$1300.00} that it has refunded me. 

Background : Complaint # XXXX In XX/XX/XXXX, I canvassed several mortgage loan companies to refinance and reduce my previous monthly mortgage payment by about {$200.00}. XXXX XXXX, of LoanDepot, won my application, saying that if I refinanced with LD that it could reduce my monthly mortgage by {$200.00}, bringing my mortgage down from {$1700.00} to {$1500.00}. In XX/XX/XXXX, I chose LoanDepot and paid the company {$5500.00} in closing costs, plus {$490.00} for an appraisal and proceeded to refinance my loan and reap the {$200.00} monthly savings. ( See attached ClosingWorksheet ). All went well until, XX/XX/XXXX. Eight months after I had paid over {$6000.00} the refinance my mortgage, LoanDepot sent me an Annual Escrow Account Disclosure Statement saying that as of XX/XX/XXXX, my mortgage would shoot up {$230.00} to {$1800.00}, monthly ( EscrowStatementShortage ). Thats {$26.00} more than the promised reduction of my mortgage ( by {$200.00} XXXX Loan Depot said that my taxes had gone up. I contacted the local county tax office who said my taxes had not gone up and it had been consistent for the last three years that I have lived in my home. In fact, in over 30 years of home ownership my escrow had never increased to {$230.00} monthly ; especially after paying so much to reduce the mortgage. The county tax office said further that mortgage loan companies have access to the same home history data as the county tax office. In fact, the mortgage loan company didnt have to use an estimate to determine my taxes. It can get accurate tax history by visiting any real estate website and viewing the propertys tax history. So, LoanDepot could have used my actual tax history, rather than an estimate. Why did LoanDepot use a property tax estimate to determine my escrow amount when it could have used actual tax history? LoanDepot had used a low-balled tax estimate, rather than actual tax rate to offer me the lowest mortgage rate. Then, 8 months afterwards, the actual escrow taxes became due, which was short by {$1500.00}. LoanDepot said that unless I paid that {$1500.00} shortage, that my mortgage beginning in XX/XX/XXXX, would be {$1800.00} or {$26.00} more than my previous mortgage that I LD to have reduced. On XX/XX/XXXX, I made the mortgage payment of {$1800.00} as demanded by LoanDepot, to avoid a late payment, while I tried to resolve the causes of this sudden mortgage increase. That payment reduced my mortgage to {$1600.00}, netting me a refinance savings of only {$99.00} from my previous mortgage of {$1700.00}. After complaining to several officials at LoanDepot, XXXX XXXX, Servicing, Escalation Resolution Specialist, on XX/XX/XXXX, acknowledged that the tax amount used at closing was incorrectly used and therefore a refund is being sent to you The specialist, concluded that the amount of the refund is {$6.00} LDs resolution had added insult to injury. Had I known that my refinanced new mortgage would be reduced by only {$99.00}, I would not have paid over {$6000.00} to have it refinanced. The benefit was clearly not worth the cost to me. In addition, my mortgage increased from {$270000.00} to {$280000.00}, adding an additional {$10000.00} to my mortgage. There has been no reasonable benefit to me in this refinance transaction with LoanDepot for the money I paid. I believe that what LoanDepot did to me was unethical, if not criminal. I feel like I have been robbed. At a minimum, I believe that I should be refunded the entire amount that I paid to refinance my loan with LoanDepot ; thats over {$6000.00}. The refund that LoanDepot offered me as resolution, {$6.00} does not compensate me for the financial expense I incurred, resulting from their mistake. And, it does nothing to discourage LoanDepot loan officers from repeating said mistake.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation