Consumer complaint received 2021-09-17
Company: MOUNTAIN WEST FINANCIAL, INC.
State: CA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
XX/XX/XXXX Dear Consumer Financial Protection Bureau : This complaint is regarding Mountain West Financial. 

Mountain West Financial Attn : Customer Care Escalations XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, CT XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX My family refinanced our home in XX/XX/XXXX, using an escrow account for taxes and insurance. When the escrow account was setup, it was shorted- {$7500.00}, which has resulted in a spike to the monthly escrow payments causing financial hardship. 

I noticed this error on XX/XX/XXXX when reviewing my bank balance, and noticed the monthly withdrawal for the mortgage had increased substantially. After doing some research, Mountain West Financial performed an escrow analysis in XX/XX/XXXX, and due to their error, my escrow account balance had been in a negative balance for the past year, resulting in the large increase to the monthly escrow payments starting in XX/XX/XXXX to make up for the shortage. 

There are two errors related to this initial negative balance. First, Mountain West Financial did not deposit {$3300.00} that was part of the Closing Disclosures during the refinance last year. Those are funds that I paid as part of the refinance that were never credited to my escrow account as an opening balance. Second, rather than depositing the {$3300.00} as an opening balance, Mountain West Financial opened my escrow account with a negative balance of - {$4100.00}. Combined, this amounts to a shortage of - {$7500.00}.

The only thing that I can think happened is that someone at the bank accidentally entered XXXX as my opening escrow balance, which is very close to the the monthly payment of the loan, instead of the {$3300.00} that was to be deposited as the opening balance. 

To make up this error causing a shortfall in the escrow account, during the escrow analysis in XX/XX/XXXX, Mountain West Financial has required an additional monthly payment called the Shortage Spread of {$630.00} to make up the shortage. 

Therefore, the monthly mortgage payment has increased from {$4100.00} to {$4700.00} because of this error. 

I have tried repeatedly to contact Mountain West Financial, but nobody has been able to provide any explanation or assistance. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, after I understood the error made by Mountain West Financial, I called Mountain West Financial and spoke with XXXX. We discussed the problem, she expressed that it was unusual for an escrow account to be opened with a negative balance, and she told me she escalated the issue, and would call me back. I was never able to talk with XXXX again. Over the next few weeks, I called multiple times and spoke with other staff, including XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ), XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ), and XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ). XXXX understood the general issue, and he was surprised the company had not contacted me, and recommended that I speak with XXXX. When I called the next day to speak with XXXX, XXXX said XXXX could not speak with me, and then hung-up the call, or at least it was disconnected. Each time I call Mountain West Financial and speak with a representative, they ask me for a call-back number in case we get disconnected, and when the call disconnects, they never call me back. 

Following the steps outlined by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ( CFPB ), I sent a written letter to Mountain West Financial detailing the error through the US Postal Service, using Certified Mail Return Receipt on XX/XX/XXXX. I received the Return Receipt postmarked by the Post Office on XX/XX/XXXX, signed by XXXX XXXX ( from what I can tell from the handwriting ). This indicates that Mountain West Financial has received the notice of error. 

The letter was addressed to the mailing address that is listed on the back side of my monthly mortgage statement from Mountain West Financial. 

IF YOU WANT TO SEND US A QUALIFIED WRITTEN REQUEST, A NOTICE OF ERROR, OR AN INFORMATION REQUEST, YOU MUST SEND IT TO THE FOLLOWING ADDRESS XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX - XXXX XXXX XXXX, CT XXXX Attn : Customer Care Escalation It has been eight business days since Mountain West Financial has received the Notice of Error, and I have received no communication from the company. 

When I called today, XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX PST, and spoke with XXXX, she said there was no information on my file, and when I asked how to escalate the issue or to speak to a supervisor, the call was immediately disconnected. At the beginning of the call, XXXX did ask for a return phone number in case the call was disconnected, but the call was never returned. 

Please help my family and I. We did not expect to have such a large increase in monthly payments, which is causing financial hardship. Mountain West Financial is ignoring the error and is not communicating. 

We are sincerely hopeful that the correction will occur before the next mortgage payment is due on XX/XX/XXXX.

Company public response: Company believes the complaint provided an opportunity to answer consumer's questions
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation