Consumer complaint received 2020-07-15
Company: Union Home Mortgage Corp
State: IL
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
I am a homeowner in Illinois, and my mortgage and escrow services are with Union Home Mortgage ( UHM ). <b> In early XXXX, we received a letter stating that our monthly escrow payments are being increased by {$570.00}, resulting in our PITI payments increasing from {$1600.00} to {$2100.00} ( due XX/XX/XXXX ). The rationale for this was that UHM estimated second property tax installment to be {$5300.00}. 

In reality, that number did not reflect 1 ) our homeowners exemption and 2 ) our successful property tax appeal. In fact, our actual property tax bill was {$3300.00}, or {$2000.00} lower than their estimation. I immediately contacted UHM to figure out how I could resolve this. They told me that I needed to submit my updated Illinois property tax bill, on XXXX County letterhead, to an email address called " XXXX ''. 

I had to wait about 2 weeks for my second property tax installment bill to arrive, at which point I submitted the documents to this email address. I received a mail delivery failure notice. I then submitted a complaint ticket on their website and submitted the same documents to a customer service representative on their chat service, who said that they opened a ticket for me. 

After 10 days of no action, it was the very end of XXXX and I called UHM again. They informed me that all of these methods are invalid, and that I needed to submit a formal query to " XXXX '' with an attached signature and relevant documents. They also informed me that since I have no deliquent or late payments on my record, I am granted a 15 day grace period, after which the review should be completed. 

It is now XX/XX/XXXX and there is no resolution. I called UHM again and they gave me the runaround. Every call with UHM takes 90-120 minutes due to their wait times. Three support agents later, I received no recourse. I asked the first support agent how I could cancel my escrow, she told me to email customer service. Her supervisor, who I spoke to later, told me that this was incorrect and that I need to mail or fax a written and signed letter. 

At first, they told me that they only do escrow reviews once a year in XXXX. However, they performed an escrow review in XXXX. They then told me that it can take 2 months for them to complete a review, even though they immediately sent me a hiked bill. 

This $ XXXX  monthly increase is causing substantial financial stress to my family, especially during covid. It was thoroughly arbitrary and miscalculated, and I feel like the company has either maliciously or through incompetence misled and and misinformed me through every step of this process, while also not resolving the issue or even acknowledging that this could adversely affect honest hardworking citizens. To add insult to injury, they paid my property tax installment last week. It was {$3300.00}, but they still refuse to back down from an escrow ask based on an estimation of {$5300.00}. 

Personally, I consider this to be mob-style theft, as it is money that I am not supposed to owe, that I am being forced to pay, and every attempt at correcting this mistake has been fruitless.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation