Consumer complaint received 2017-11-13
Company: Home Point Financial Corporation
State: IL
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: VA mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
XXXX XXXX XXXX To whom it may concern, the VA  does not require an Escrow so your information is incorrect. It is the lender that is requiring an escrow account. I have spoken with multiple representatives at the VA in Washing DC and they have confirmed that VA does not Require an Escrow Account. I have also provided information in writing that the VA does not require an Escrow in my Recent Email to XXXX XXXX in your customer service department. Also your company has reported incorrectly on my payments for XXXX XXXX payment as your correspondence states. We mailed payment on XXXX XXXX XXXX. In XXXX XXXX we made two payments one on the XXXX and one on the XXXX of XXXX XXXX. But you show me being late. Please correct your reporting to the Credit reporting agencies. You also show that I was 30 days late on XXXX XXXX. I made a payment through your website on XXXX XXXX. 
Also, you do not show any reporting for XXXX, XXXX and XXXX of XXXX, because of your transition from XXXX. I find it concerning that when it benefits your company to not report because your company is in a transition you dont report. But when a customer ask for a late to be removed you cant accommodate. I have provided documentation to substantiate the reason why while I was on XXXX XXXX training. I will be sending these inconsistent reporting to the VA and also reporting to the Federal Consumer Financial protection Bureau and each credit Bureau. I think this is predatory lending if I make a request you dont honor my request but your company can not report should you choose not to because your transition. Please show me in writing that the VA requires an escrow. Not your company policy but VA. I have attached VA lending handbook language that proves that VA does not require Escrow. 
Again, I am requesting that my escrow be removed from the loan as I will make my own payment for taxes and insurance. It is much easier for me to maintain my own escrow account than Homepoint Financial. It will also be easier for me to maintain XXXX} for principal and interest and remain in good standing with your company than to make the payment of {XXXX which will increasingly become un-affordable because your companys incorrect escrow estimation for taxes and insurance that I have provided in my previous email and Fax. I would think that your company would rather have a VETERAN stay in good standing with your company than to keep raising payments making the home un-affordable because of your incorrect estimations for escrow. 
I respectfully request that you remove my escrow from my loan and remove my late from XXXX and XXXX XXXX, and remove my late from XXXX and XXXX XXXX. I have attached my credit report. 

Please See VA lender Handbook Chapter 9 page 21 it clearly states that VA does not require a Escrow Account XXXX XXXX, XXXX To whom it may concern : This is in regards to my current escrow account and my late payments for XXXX and XXXX for my home at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX IL, XXXX which is serviced by account xxxxxxxxxx. It is not a requirement of the Veteran Department of Administration that I have an Escrow on this loan. I am requesting that my escrow be removed from the loan and the late payments be removed from reporting to the 3 credit bureaus for XXXX and XXXX Payments. I was on military Duty and my military pay does not pay as much as my civilian occupation. My military pay is still being held up as you will note from my emails in this correspondence. Please note that my payments have been current up until XXXX of this year when I stated my first duty. However, that is when my short fall started because my military duty excluded me from my normal pay from my civilian occupation. Several days of pay were not available for pay from my civilian employer as you can note from my approved time sheets showing zero hours worked. I do not receive pay when Im on duty with the military from my civilian occupation. As you can note from my hours during XXXX thru XXXX I did not get paid for holidays and days not worked being on military duty. 
These late payments showing has caused my credit score to plummet from XXXX down to XXXX. I would like to point out that your customers service representatives XXXX XXXX in the refinance department and XXXX the customer service reps were very professional and was a great help in understanding my situation. Please note my payment history as I have been trying to catch up on these payments to be current and I will be making the XXXX payment next week. I will be able to pay the XXXX payment on time. With my mortgage payments constantly increasing because of the escrow account, it will make it hard for me as a military veteran to maintain affordability of this loan as required. 
With paying taxes homeowners have some grace period in paying taxes and even payment plans can be set up should that for some reason they neglect to pay them on time or at all. I mentioning this because With your financial institution I dont have those options. I have already received a foreclosure letter from Homepoint Financial. I want to continue being current and a good customer. With my plan for maintaining the escrow on my own, I will send correspondence to Homepoint Financial to ensure that all taxes will be current and on time. 
With this formal request that my escrow account be removed from the loan, It will benefit me greatly to manage the escrow account through an account I have already set up for with XXXX bank to have funds for taxes and insurance. After reviewing your escrow estimates included, I do not understand why there is a required stating balance of XXXX plus a XXXX cushion in XXXX. That is a total of XXXX that I can have as surplus to pay the next first year escrow amount. In XXXX I put in XXXX  in for escrow at closing to cover the escrow. If that starting {XXXX was placed in the account, there should not have been that much of a shortage from XXXX to XXXX. My XXXX escrow account you required a cushion of XXXX and a required starting balance of XXXX which is a total of XXXX. 
My taxes from XXXX thru XXXX as noted below rose the most from XXXX to XXXX in the amount of XXXX. This was due to the sale of my home which cause all the home owners in the area taxes to rise. With the XXXX at closing and the XXXX you collected in XXXX for taxes leave a total of XXXX. That is still a surplus of {XXXX} to be used for XXXX taxes. In XXXX you collected XXXX in escrow when my insurance and taxes were only XXXX} which is a surplus of XXXX above what is required for taxes and insurance. Please keep in mind my Home insurance went down XXXX last year not up as you estimated. Your most recent escrow estimate shows my Payment going down but you still say that my escrow has a shortage of XXXX}. I find that hard to understand. How can I be at a short fall when my payment goes down but my escrow is short? 
Again, I sincerely request that my late payments be removed from my credit reporting agencies for XXXX and XXXX. I am also requesting my escrow account be removed from my account. With these 30 day late payments showing on my credit reports makes it impossible for me to request this from you and any lender. I hope that my soldiers and sailors act rights will help you in decision making process along with the information I have provided. 
The tax increase does not warrant the amount of escrow being collected each year for taxes and insurance. 
Below is a 4 year tax assessment summary for Address xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Year Property taxes Change Tax assessment Change XXXX XXXX  XXXX % XXXX XXXX % XXXX XXXX XXXX % XXXX XXXX % XXXX XXXX XXXX % XXXX XXXX % XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX % XXXX -- Your attention to this matters is Greatly appreciated I can be reached at XXXX or XXXXXXXXXXXX Sincerely XXXX

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation