Consumer complaint received 2022-10-21
Company: Brightfunders, LLC
State: IL
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
I had a clerical mistake at closing when my taxes were miscalculated and therefore my escrow would drop below the balance when taxes were the loan was aggregated. This was a known issue, and I was told the second the money comes out I can replenish it in full and my monthly payment would not go up. I have been trying to rectify this to no end since the end of XXXX ( when the funds were taken out of my escrow ). I have spoken on the phone now for hours with Lower.com ( my loan servicer ) about rectifying this issue, and my desire to give them money up front to stop my monthly from increasing ( to an unpayable amount ). 

I was told first that an " escrow analysis '' would need to be run. Even though I told them what the issue stemmed from I acquiesced and let them run the analysis. I was told it would take 5-7 business days for which I waited and was never contacted... I followed up and was told that it would be done on XX/XX/22 and someone would follow up. That day came and went, and no one reached out. 

I followed up 3 times before I could get an answer. So, I emailed the companies account letting them know that it has been long enough I would like some clarity and I am now concerned that their customer team couldn't help me. I got a boilerplate email back from XXXX XXXX stating my " analysis couldn't be done because there was a tax issue '' and " when my loan is aggregated it will go up almost {$1000.00} '' the very thing I told them in the beginning that I was trying to prevent. I asked to speak to a manager so I could get someone who understands what's going on and expressed my frustration for having to continually try to force someone to help me. I received no email back on this whatsoever. It is now 3 weeks and about 7 total hours on the phone with customer service since I've tried to fix this, and I am back at square one. 

I was now very nervous as it seemed like not only could the people not help me but didn't seem to even know what was going on, or worse didn't care to help me. I reached out to the broker who helped originate my loan who is a friend and asked if there is anything he could do. He Cc 'd me on an email to Lower.com 's Customer Care ( XXXX ) team summing up my issues and asking where I could send a check. It's now over 72 hours with that sales team and not even a confirmation that someone will assist me soon. I've followed up on this email 3 separate time and still no response. 

Finally, at my wits end I called back to their customer team and politely but agitated explained to the rep I need to get a manager on the phone ASAP. I explained all of the above and she said she would get one to call me when they were back from lunch. 24 hours later I received no call again.. I followed up and called and asked the rep when the manager would call It's been 24 hours. They said " She did call you it is here in the notes '' I explained that I haven't had a single person follow up with me since the beginning of XXXX and no she did not contact me. 

The rep was finally able to get a manager ( XXXX XXXX ) on the phone with me which to her credit was apologetic. She explained that " she didn't know why that her team wouldn't have the answer to my questions it was right there in the system. '' I requested that she send me an email confirming the amount I can pay to clear all this up and she agreed to. When I received the email, it had a screen shot from their system with no headers on the totals she provided me, so I was unsure if the amount she gave me was the amount to put on my account or the net balance I needed in my account. 

I made sure to pay the amount that was in the email to show good faith and, I followed up just to get confirmation. I don't want to put another {$1500.00} in my account just to sit there. It's now been 48 hours, 2 follow ups in email to that manager, and multiple calls to their customer service team and I still do not have an answer... I would normally just wait for the company to answer as they wouldn't possibly ghost a customer who has hundreds of thousands of dollars in a loan with them, but after this experience this is what I've come to expect from Lower.com. After 3+ weeks multiple hours calling and emailing to 2 separate teams, and Lower.com I still can't get a straight answer and it has been a genuinely miserable experience. I can't even leave this horrible company and I am afraid I am going to be left in the dark for the next 30 years on my loan because of either acute top to bottom organization incompetence or a genuine lack of care for a customer trying to rectify a situation and frankly given them money upfront. I've never wrote a customer complaint before, but I do not know what else to do at this point.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation