Consumer complaint received 2018-03-04
Company: Freedom Mortgage Company
State: WA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: VA mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
Effective XX/XX/XXXX, Freedom Mortgage Co. increased our monthly mortgage payments subsequent to an increase in our escrow amount. The escrow amount was raised due to increases in our homeowners insurance premiums and property taxes. We immediately reduced both our homeowners insurance premiums and our property taxes by hundreds of dollars and forwarded this information ( for the first time ) to Freedom Mortgage Co. on XX/XX/XXXX via fax. In the fax ( and all our subsequent letters ), we asked for a new escrow analysis and adjustment to our monthly mortgage payment. 

When we did not receive any kind of response to our fax or adjustment to our escrow/monthly payment, we mailed Freedom a letter on XX/XX/XXXX containing documentation of our reduced insurance and property taxes. We knew that Freedom needed to see documentation to make the change and felt that they would take our request more seriously if we made it in writing. In our cover letter, we asked for a new escrow analysis and an adjustment to our monthly mortgage payment. One again, Freedom did not respond in any way and no adjustments were made to our account. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, we mailed a 2nd letter containing the same information and request for adjustments. Nearly 4 months passed with no response from Freedom whatsoever and no adjustments to our account. 

By now, 7 months had passed since we had made our first request with Freedom and we were very upset about their 1 ) failure to respond to our request ; and 2 ) reduce our monthly payments. So I called Freedom on XX/XX/XXXX and was informed that the company had received our XX/XX/XXXX fax and homeowners insurance documentation but it had either lost or never received our XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX letters. The companys rep informed us that obtaining a new escrow analysis takes about 5 days but we would need to email documentation of the reduced property taxes to XXXX, which we did on XX/XX/XXXX. He also informed us that we were likely to be owed a refund for our several months of overpayments. 

We received an automated email response from Freedom stating that it had received our XX/XX/XXXX email but, to date, the company has not responded to us in any other way nor has it made the necessary adjustments to our account and refunded our overpayments. Two months have passed since our email and 9 months have passed since we made our initial request. If the requested change only takes 5 days, why have we been made to wait 9 months? Why doesnt Freedom respond to its customers or their requests? 

It seems clear that Freedom plans to continue overcharging us indefinitely. To date, we have paid about {$1000.00} in overpayments. It is equally clear that Freedom cares little for its customers and provides the worst possible customer service. We are at our wits end with this company. 

Our frustration is compounded by the fact that Freedom has bought every mortgage weve initiated with another mortgage company ; Freedom seems to have a monopoly on the industry, leaving us with no choice about who we do business with. This is both an untenable situation and an unfair business practice, especially considering our experience with Freedom not addressing its customers needs. They have left us little choice but to file a complaint and hope that your agency will get results where we could not. 

Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated. Our documentation is attached.

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 explanation