Consumer complaint received 2020-11-30
Company: AMERISAVE MORTGAGE CORPORATION
State: TX
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
AmeriSave Mortgage Corporation XX/XX/XXXX : Initiated a cash out refinance with AmeriSave. 

Encountered multiple issues with loan processor XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ). Multiple closings were set and missed due to his failure to process which required lock extensions throughout. At one point he had scheduled a closing with a notary to come to my residence, only to be cancelled after the date because it is not legal in Texas to send notaries to a residence to close. 

After repeated errors and mistakes XXXX was replaced by XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ). XXXX had to get management approvals to keep the initial costs and terms due to the multiple delays caused by their own processing. 

The Loan Officer throughout was XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. 

XXXX and XXXX in recorded conversations guaranteed me there would no chance of an escrow shortage since they baked in an overage of $ XXXX. 
They had the correct property tax assessment of {$10000.00} for XXXX. 

XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) was recommended to be used as the Title company. At closing, the Title agent found multiple errors in the paperwork and had to contact AmeriSave to correct before signing.

One month after closing the refinance I was notified by my Home Owner Insurance company that they had not been paid and my policy had expired. I made multiple attempts to contact AmeriSave to inform them of the issue and my concern that the house was not presently insured, and I was unable to get through to a representative calling multiple days at multiple times of day with no answer due to call volumes. 

I then notified my insurance agent, and they stated they would make attempts to contact to resolve. An agent from the insurance company ( XXXX XXXX : XXXX XXXX XXXX ) contacted AmeriSave on XX/XX/XXXX and spoke with an agent in the Escrow department named XXXX. 

XXXX stated she could not talk to them without me on the line so I was contacted via conference call with both parties on the phone. I was driving at the time and had no prior notice. 

The agent was extremely rude to both myself and the insurance agent. XXXX stated that the only way the policy would be paid is if I authorized the {$780.00} to be paid from my current escrow account. 

I asked repeatedly how it would be paid from my escrow account if I was only one month into my loan with AmeriSave. XXXX stated then it must be a Title issue and I needed to contact the Title company I used. My agent tried to explain this would not be the case and she refused to let him speak. 

I asked to be transferred to a Supervisor and XXXX refused. I asked how I would be able to identify her after the call if I wanted to call back in and she stated she did not have an employee number or last name she could provide. 

She then threatened to disconnect the call since there was nothing further to discuss if I did not want to authorize the payment from escrow on a recorded line. Frustrated and concerned about not having insurance in place I told her I would authorize the payment and call back in to dispute the process if she provided me a means of identifying her. She stated her name was XXXX and her initials were XXXX. 

I feel the agent provided no customer service to the customer and made no effort to understand the issue before her or explain it to the customer. The agent also stated she had no means of identifying herself, and refused to escalate the call upon request. The agent was excessively rude and was directly told that by both myself and my insurance agent, and she did not seem to be concerned in the slightest despite confirming it was a recorded conversation. 

Finally, I felt I had no other reasonable choice to resolve my home owner insurance issue other than to agree to do the recording authorizing the amount to be paid from my escrow account even though I totally disagreed this should not happen a month after closing. 

I believe this agent 's behavior violates several tenants of the FDCPA and similar guidelines in place to protect consumers from abusive practices. 

Following this conversation a few weeks later I was notified I had an Escrow shortage as well of {$3200.00}. 

Again this is only 2 months after closing. 

I then filed a complaint with the State Attorney Generals Office in Texas. A month later I received a letter from AmeriSave explaining the escrow shortage. 

The letter from AmeriSave references the following dates : XX/XX/XXXX - Loan Closed XX/XX/XXXX - phone call received at AmeriSave from my insurance agent of a balance due - AmeriSave states they requested a Declarations page to be sent to them XX/XX/XXXX - AmeriSave states I contacted their office ( this is not the case ), and advised them that they needed to remit {$780.00} to the insurance carrier to be overnighted ( this was not the case, and it makes no mention of the call outlined above ) XX/XX/XXXX - {$3200.00} was disbursed from my escrow account to XXXX XXXX XXXX " and an interim escrow analysis was completed on XX/XX/XXXX. When we analyzed your account, a shortage of {$3200.00} was determined. '' This interim analysis and determination was done 59 days after closing. 
- 3 recorded conversations with my Loan Officer I was assured I would not have an escrow shortage at year end ( both Loan processors confirmed the same : XXXX and XXXX ) - yet 59 days later they are able to determine this I believe the processing on my loan has been poor from the start, and not being educated enough to know for certain I think the multiple delays in closing cost me money in the end. 

Regardless of this, I think the facts outlined above would make any reasonable person believe there was either gross incompetence on behalf of AmeriSave, or fraudulent/unlawful dealing. 

The " interim '' escrow analysis completed two days after my call with XXXX in the escrow department appears retaliatory in the timing of the two events.

I strongly believe there are multiple regulatory and legal violations in the handling of my loan to date from the FDCPA, to RESPA, and Truth in Lending ( and I am sure there are many governing regulations I am not aware of that may also be relevant. ) As it stands now, at closing I contracted to make monthly payments of {$2600.00}. 

To date I have only made one payment at that amount and three payments at the escrow shortage amount of {$2900.00}. 

There is also an impact to the principle and interest having to pay 12 months at a higher monthly premium. 

If some independent party knowledgeable in the industry is not able to explain this to my satisfaction I am concerned I will have to hire an attorney, but I am trying to avail myself of the remedies at my disposal before having to take on the added cost of litigation. 

Any assistance you can provide is greatly appreciated.

Company public response: Company believes the complaint is the result of a misunderstanding
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation