Consumer complaint received 2018-02-23
Company: Caliber Home Loans, Inc.
State: MD
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: VA mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
On XX/XX/2018, I called XXXX XXXX to ask why my tax bill included a fee of {$5.00} names as " interest ''. They said the tax payment was made on time, to call the Tax Assessment office. The tax assessment office said the fee was for the " convenience '' of paying the tax bill twice a year, versus once a year. I spoke to a supervisor at the XXXX County MD   Assessment Office at XXXX. I asked her how I could change the payment frequency and she stated that I needed to call my mortgage servicer ( since my tax bill is paid from escrow ). I called XXXX XXXX again at XXXX XXXX. I spoke to XXXX ( ID : XXXX ). I explained the issue and he said they would just need to change the bill amount in their system and that he would transfer me to the office that can do that. I was on hold for over 20 minutes so I hang up and called again. This time I spoke to XXXX ( ID : XXXX XXXX at XXXX XXXX. He too transferred me to the department that handles taxes via conference call and we spoke to an employee called XXXX. She said that they could not make the Tax payment once a year, that I had to contact the MD Tax Assessment Office to change the billing frequency. Her statement is in conflict with the XXXX XXXX flyer which states otherwise. The Maryland tax assessment ( XXXX XXXX County ) office was very clear that the mortgage servicer CAN pay the bill once a year and is the only one that can make the payments once a year ( vs. bi-weekly ) since the payments are made from escrow ( see email from the XXXX XXXX Government official, Financial Operations Supervisor ). Despite this, the Caliber Home Loans Tax office in essence denied my request to pay once a year. Since they said they could not change my payment frequency I asked Caliber to be allowed to get out of escrow so I can pay my own tax bill once a year and not have to incur additional fee for the convenience of bi-annual payments. I was told by XXXX that I am required to have an escrow because I have a VA loan. I asked if they could send me in writing the reason why they can not make the tax payment once a year as the supervisor at the MD tax assessment office explained I had the right to choose but the Caliber Home Loans representative said that no We don't put anything in writing because there are legal implications. Then I asked to speak to a supervisor at the Caliber Home Loans tax Department and 30 minutes later, I was still on hold. Finally, XXXX came back to the phone and said that no supervisor was available but that he would put in the notes that I called. A homeowner forced to pay Property Taxes via escrow should not also be FORCED to incur a fee because it is more convenient for the mortgage servicer to pay the tax bill twice a year. Caliber Home Loans should be required to notify me in writing the reason why they refuse to pay my tax bill payment once a year as I requested and as MD law allows me to choose. Caliber Home Loans refused to give me a reason in writing for not granting my request, they refused to make one payment as I requested and as shown in the Tax Assessment Office flyer ( see attached county 's tax flyer, page 2 under Semiannual Tax Payment Option ). I should not have to pay a service charge that is 0.15 % on the balance of the payment, only because Caliber Home Loans chooses to pay my bill semi-annually vs. annually. Furthermore, as a consumer, I should have the right to speak to a supervisor when I have problems with my escrow that the main line representatives are unable to correct.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief