Consumer complaint received 2018-12-10
Company: Shellpoint Partners, LLC
State: VA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Closing on a mortgage

Complaint:
I have already submitted complaint XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX response seemed to miss the point completely (perhaps they dont want to face the actual point). The complaint is not about their servicing of the loan. I understand that the escrow payments must go up according to how much money is needed for taxes and insurance and that is out of their hands and they only collect the necessary amount. The complaint was always about applying for and closing on the loan with XXXX XXXX XXXX and them GETTING THE FINAL NUMBERS INCORRECT that I signed at closing and was qualified for. They qualified me at a lower payment than what the payment actually was and I was incorrectly informed of the taxes on the home, etc. This has caused my payment to increase by MORE THAN 18% (nearly 19%) in less than XXXX months on a XXXX-year fixed! It is unethical and hurts consumers to qualify consumers on a loan at a lower payment than what the actual payment should have been calculated as. The only explanation for my payment going up so high is that they gave incorrect numbers at closing. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ I did not want to name names because I thought that many people at XXXX XXXX may have been involved but, since XXXX XXXX missed the point in the first complaint, let me say at the outset that my mortgage loan officer was XXXX XXXX at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, VA XXXX and the loan processor was XXXX XXXX or XXXX XXXX (I believe her name may have changed but I'm not sure which is correct). However, there were others involved as well. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Here are the simple facts: Since I closed on the loan, the assessed value of the home for tax purposes increased from $XXXX to $XXXX and the tax rate in XXXX XXXX increased from 1.13% to 1.15%. This equates to $XXXX more per year in taxes or $XXXX per month more. My homeowners insurance has increased from $XXXX to $XXXX, or $XXXX more per year or $XXXX per month more. In total, the combined increase in taxes and homeowners insurance (which are the only two things paid for from escrow) is $XXXX   per XXXX more or $XXXX more per XXXX, or a 2.17% increase. HOWEVER, the actual increase in my payment is a whopping $XXXX per XXXX or $XXXX per month, an 18.87% increase. I understand there may be small shortages that cause the payment to go up a little higher than the increase in taxes and insurance, but only a huge shortage and a huge increase could cause it to go up by 18.87% in XXXX months on a XXXX-year fixed and why was there a huge shortage and a huge increase? Because XXXX XXXX XXXX GOT THE NUMBERS INCORRECT THROUGHOUT THE LOAN PROCESS, INCLUDING AT CLOSING, AND QUALIFIED ME ON A PAYMENT MUCH LESS THAN WHAT MY PAYMENT SHOULD HAVE BEEN CALCULATED AT. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Here is a thought to consider: Has XXXX XXXX XXXX created a junk loan? If they were to sell this loan to another bank, would they disclose that I was qualified on a completely incorrect payment? You see the problem? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ So, why was the escrow analysis so far off initially which caused me to qualify for a loan I may have never qualified for? My XXXX   taxes were estimated at $XXXX, 50% of what they should have been estimated at. The excuse was that the previous owner had some rare tax exemption status that allowed him to pay only 50% of property. While he did have a 50% tax exemption, it is a common tax exemption for senior citizens in the county, not rare. Therefore, it seems to me that, when XXXX XXXX XXXX saw that the previous owner was only paying 50% of their taxes, they took advantage of it because they knew it would help me qualify for the loan. Again, this tax relief status of the previous owner is not particularly rare as they claimed. Also, anyone who looked at the numbers (and numerous people at XXXX XXXX did) and deals with real estate in the area would have noted those numbers were far off. Additionally, more than once during the process, my wife pointed out that the taxes were much lower than she had expected and questioned whether they were correct and the loan officer confirmed that they were correct. We went over the numbers many times. Regardless, I qualified for this loan at a much lower payment than I am paying now. If it was an honest mistake (which seems unlikely), it was still their mistake and I can no longer be held liable for it. Yes, taxes increase and home valuations increase and I can always expect my escrow payments to increase slightly year after year. But when you consider any reasonable expectations of tax increases, a correction of this initial mistake increases my estimated payments over the life of the loan over $XXXX. At the time all of this happened, XXXX XXXX claimed there was nothing they could do, that these things happen, that I would have to be responsible for this, etc. I had no idea how to represent myself, what could be done in this situation, etc. Unfortunately, my real estate agent neglected his fiduciary responsibility to represent me and help me deal with this situation. Therefore, eventually, I just accepted it and took no further action because XXXX XXXX made me believe that I was responsible and there was nothing they would do to make things right. When my payment increased again this month, I couldnt take it anymore, and I spoke with people who knew more and they were so shocked that something like this could happen. I tried reaching out to XXXX XXXX to rectify this matter and give them one last chance to make things right before I filed this complaint, but I was not taken seriously nor put in touch with anyone that had the power to rectify this matter.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation