Consumer complaint received 2019-07-24
Company: BB&T CORPORATION
State: RI
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
My mortgage company, BB & T recently mailed me a letter stating that they have changed the tax payment frequency of my escrow from quarterly to annually in order to take advantage of a 2 % discount that my municipality offers if real estate taxes are paid in full. This has caused a significant shortage in my escrow, and after researching all last night, Im afraid that Im going to be stuck with the only options that they have given me. I never requested a change, have never been late on a mortgage payment, and Im beside myself right now because I believe my options are limited. I will try to provide as much info as I can, and round numbers. 

I bought a house about 4 years ago for XXXX ( XXXX loan and XXXX down payment ), and right now Im at about 0.83 for a LTV. My mortgage payment has always been around the same amount with slight fluctuations after an escrow account recalculation, but nothing drastic. Only this time, because of the one lump payment, theres a shortage of about {$3500.00}. They have given me 4 options : 1. An extended shortage spread of 24, 36, 48, or 60 months. They state theres no fee assessed with this option, but they dont state whether there would be interest or if Im going to be in perpetual escrow shortage again next year 2. Repay the escrow shortage in full ( which I could have probably done if I hadnt just bought a new car recently, which is why Im in a panic ) 3. If applicable, you may qualify to remove you escrow account. 

4. Have my mortgage payment go up $ 300+ a month over the coming year My Escrow Account Disclosure Statement usually comes in XXXX, but because of the shortage on the escrow due to the lump sum payment, they reevaluated it earlier and Im receiving it in XXXX. There doesnt seem to be much info on this, and from what I found [ 1024.17 ( k ) ( 3 ) ], the Consumer Bureau only encourages, but does not require, the servicer to follow the preference of the borrower, if such preference is known to the servicer. So, in order to save me about {$100.00}, my mortgage company is throwing my finances in total disarray at the last minute. 

I just got off the phone with them ... after talking and getting transferred to various people, apparently there really isn't anything I can do. I can't drop the escrow because i still have PMI. They said that they will not/ can not revert back to quarterly payments ... even though if my municipality were to remove the discount, they would have to revert to installments. They said I can dispute it by sending a letter to a PO Box ( no email or phone ), and would have to wait and hear back. If I extended the shortage spread to say 60 months, I will be in a negative escrow for the next few years, and refused ( or didn't know ) how that would impact my escrow payments in the following years. One of the ladies I did talk to said that they've been fielding similar calls all day.

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