Consumer complaint received 2023-11-20
Company: BMO HARRIS BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: IL
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process
Sub-issue: Escrow, taxes, or insurance

Complaint:
Bank : BMO Bank N.A XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, IL. XXXX I would like to make a formal complaint against BMO Bank . I would also like to know what my rights are concerning escrows. I have tried to resolve this issue with them but they havent done anything to resolve it.

I have informed BMO Bank numerous times that they were taking out more money for my property tax escrow then they needed to take out. I requested that they stop taking the escrow funds from my account altogether. They stated that I had to wait until the mortgage is two years old before I could request that. They didnt tell me they would approve the request. They stated that they were going to stop taking my home owners insurance from my escrow but they didnt lower my escrow amount for approximately five months and they didnt lower it by the amount of my insurance, so they are still taking more than they should. I informed them that my tax bill for the year would be around {$7700.00} and I showed them proof from my property tax appeal from my attorney ( attached ). I ask them to perform an escrow analysis using that figure but when they did the analysis, they used an inflated figure of {$10000.00}. I talked to two bankers at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX IL. about this ( XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX ), who talked to the mortgage department employees ( XXXX and XXXX XXXX and sent my tax appeal to them. 
XXXX told me that they needed to have a two-month cushion, well they have over a six-month cushion. They are currently taking the funds from my checking account. I want that to obviously stop too, as I want to take all my money out of the bank. One of the other employees I talked to, I believe XXXX state that once my escrow reaches {$4000.00}, the escrow amount would be lowered about {$300.00} per month. That never happened. 
I would like to know when I can get out of this escrow problem. I made the decision to let them take out an escrow amount when the mortgage was first approved. Seeing what they are doing, I want to stop it. I must have some recourse. Allowing the bank to take escrow funds is not mandatory, I could have said no at the time of approval. What are my options to stop this? I didnt have to agree to allow then to do this, and if I would have known they were going to take out this inflated figure, I never would have agreed to it. 
I just got my property tax bill for the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and it is {$3100.00} ( attached ), which is due by XX/XX/XXXX. I have an escrow balance of more than twice that, {$7500.00} ( statement attached ), which doesnt include my most recent payment. It is now over XXXX. They are taking more than {$1000.00} a month in escrows for my property taxes, when my taxes are only a little more than XXXX. How can I get the $ XXXX they are holding back, and can I charge them interest? 
Since they continue to take these funds, I would like to remove all my funds from the bank. Can I remove my funds from the bank without any penalties from them because I originally allowed them to take the funds from my checking account? If this continues, I wont be able to pay my other bills, as they are holding more than {$5000.00} and my salary cant cover all my expenses. 
Please let me know if you have any questions or need additional information or documents. 
Thank you, XXXX

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 non-monetary relief