Consumer complaint received 2020-04-01
Company: Shellpoint Partners, LLC
State: IL
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
My complaint concerns the abject failure and refusal of my loan servicer, NewRez LLC ( " NewRez '' ), to pay property taxes due for my mortgaged parking spot out of my escrow account. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I refinanced the mortgage on my condominium located at [ redacted ]. The loan originator was XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. The mortgage secured the condominium unit ( the " Unit '' ) and parking spot B-32 ( the " Parking Spot '' ). The Unit and the Parking Spot are separately deeded, have separate PIN numbers, and have separately assessed property taxes by the Assessor of XXXX County, IL. 

The PIN for the condominium unit is [ redacted ]. 
The PIN for the parking spot is [ redacted ]. 

I have attached a copy of the Mortgage as Exhibit A. Pages 3 and 13 of  Exhibit A show that mortgage secured the Unit and the Parking Spot PIN numbers. 

Shortly after I refinanced, my mortgage was sold and NewRez was named the new loan servicer on XX/XX/XXXX. NewRez assigned the loan an internal account number of [ redacted ]. 

In or around the end of XX/XX/XXXX, I received separate property tax bills for the Unit and the Parking Spot. Copies of the bills are attached as Exhibits B and C. Exhibit B shows that the assessed property taxes for the Unit were {$1600.00}. Exhibit C shows that the assessed property taxes for the Parking Spot were {$340.00}. Both bills stated that the amounts were due to be paid by XX/XX/XXXX. If they were not paid on or before XX/XX/XXXX, the balances would incur statutory interest of 1.5 % per month. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I checked NewRez 's website to see if the property taxes had been paid from my escrow account. The website showed that NewRez had paid the property taxes for the Unit on XX/XX/XXXX, but they had not paid the property taxes for the parking spot. I called NewRez 's customer service phone number at XXXX and spoke with a customer service representative named XXXX. XXXX told me that NewRez had no record of the property tax bill for the Parking Spot, and told me to forward the property tax bill to the parking spot to an e-mail address of XXXX. XXXX informed me that the tax department would then pay the property taxes for the Parking Spot out of my escrow account. 

I followed XXXX 's instructions and forwarded the property tax bill to the loan servicing e-mail address. I sent follow-up e-mails on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX to inquire on the status of the Parking Spot tax payments, but I received no response. Copies of my e-mails are attached as Exhibit D. Further, NewRez 's website and the XXXX County Treasurer 's website showed no indication that the Parking Spot 's property taxes had been paid. 

Having received no response from NewRez and with the XX/XX/XXXX due date for the Parking Spot property taxes looming, I called NewRez again on or about XX/XX/XXXX. The customer service agent informed me that NewRez had received the Parking Spot Property Tax Bill from me and that it was still being processed by the tax department. She also assured me that NewRez would pay any late interest due if the taxes were not paid by the due date. 

Several weeks passed without update from NewRez. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a letter from NewRez stating that " Due to the complex nature of the matter, NewRez respectfully requests additional time to respond fully to your inquiry. '' A copy of the XX/XX/XXXX letter is attached as Exhibit E. 

I called NewRez 's customer service department and asked to speak directly with the Tax Department to see if I could provide any assistance or any further information that would help them process my payment request so the property taxes on my Parking Spot could be paid without further delay. I was told that the Tax Department " is not a customer-facing department '' and that I could not be transferred to anyone who could directly assist me with paying the taxes. Instead, the customer service representative offered to " escalate '' my issue for more rapid response. I implored the customer service representative to do whatever he could to get the issue resolved, but I was told that " escalating '' my issue was the only available option. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a letter from XXXX XXXX of NewRez stating, " Please be advised, we made a payment of {$1600.00} to XXXX County Tax Collector on XX/XX/XXXX with the funds from your escrow account. Your taxes are not delinquent. Upon investigation of your dispute, NewRez has been unable to determine that an error has occurred. '' The XX/XX/XXXX letter contained no reference to the separately assessed property taxes that were due on the Parking Spot.  A copy of the XX/XX/XXXX letter is attached as Exhibit F. 

Following NewRez 's XX/XX/XXXX letter, I immediate sent an e-mail to Ms. XXXX and the XXXX e-mail address once again explaining that I have never disputed NewRez 's payment of the property taxes for the Unit. I again implored NewRez to pay the separately assessed property taxes on the Parking Spot. I also called NewRez 's customer service department again. The customer service representative told me that the tax department 's response to my inquiry was " concerning '' but said that all she could do was " escalate '' the matter once again. I sent additional follow up e-mails to Ms. XXXX and XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, but I have received no response. Copies of my e-mails are attached as Exhibit G. 

NewRez 's abject failure and refusal to pay the property taxes on my Parking Spot from my escrow account is inexplicable, inexcusable, and beyond frustrating.

Company public response: Company believes complaint represents an opportunity for improvement to better serve consumers
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation