Consumer complaint received 2021-01-14
Company: MONEY SOURCE, INC., THE
State: NY
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: FHA mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
I purchased my home through XXXX XXXX XXXX inXX/XX/2019, the mortgage was than transferred to TMS ( The Money Source ). I have always paid my mortgage in full either ahead of time or on time. In the beginning of XXXX I started calling TMS, because I had received a letter stating my school taxes had not been paid. When I contacted TMS they told me they had until a certain date to pay and it was " OK '' they were paid late, I would not be charged any late fees. I called numerous times after because I did not want my taxes to be paid late, I also did not trust I would not be charged a late fee because my town said I would be charged. I then found out that my property taxes had never been paid. When I spoke with TMS numerous times, they said they were paid, I asked for a manager and they " investigated '' further and saw that this was not the case. They told me that it would be taken care of within 15 business days and I would be notified. I was never notified of anything. When I spoke with my town tax assessor, nothing was paid. After numerous phone calls from me my school taxes were finally paid and sent out late on XX/XX/XXXX. My XXXX property taxes were not paid until XX/XX/XXXX and were sent back with a letter from my town on XX/XX/XXXX stating that the taxes were a year late and they needed to contact the county tax department and pay through them. To this day ( XX/XX/XXXX ) those taxes have not been paid and the money for those property taxes is " missing ''. 

My homeowners insurance was also something that I had to call numerous times for as well because that was not paid on time. When I spoke with TMS they said there was a " special grace period '' for them and they did not need to pay this on time either. Yet, when I spoke with my insurance company they told me if it was not paid on time, the insurance would lapse and I would be charged a late fee that could be in excess of over a years worth of the insurance because i would be dropped. So I had to pay out of pocket for the insurance and wait almost 3 months for reimbursement because TMS paid late. 

None of my taxes or insurance should be getting paid late because I have an FHA mortgage and all of the money is/was in my escrow account. 

I started refinancing my home during the summer of XXXX and when TMS got wind of this information, they decided to send me my entire escrow account. I tried to send it back but they would not accept it. I spoke with them numerous times about this and they said because I was refinancing that it would not be a problem but to keep paying my mortgage payments until the refinance went through. My refinance was finalized the beginning of XX/XX/XXXX and all mortgage payments were paid in full on time. 

Since than, I have been getting harrassed at least 5-6, sometimes up to 10 calls a day from TMS that I am in collections for not paying my mortgage and that I owe money for the payoff of the refinance. I have repeatedly expressed that the calls need to stop because of the refinance. TMS has told homestead funding, my mortgage, title and lawyer that they would contact them but when I spoke with them XX/XX/XXXX they said they were unable to do so without consent. So I sent the form in as soon as they requested this but the form is not available on their website so I had to sit on hold for almost an hour to get them to email it to me. 

I am in a high risk XXXX, work full time and should not be going through all of this stress. I am afraid that I could possibly lose my house or that I am being charged more money than I should be. I have spent countless hours on the phone with TMS, XXXX XXXX, XXXX tax assessor 's office, XXXX XXXX tax department and others to try and rectify all of this. 

TMS has stated that I would not be getting charged any late fees because I have done more than my due diligence with this all but yet I have been getting charged fees the entire time. TMS is also charging my and sending payments for PMI but with my refinance the PMI is no longer part of my mortgage. 

There have been about 3-4 different payoff letters sent to my title company and the balances have been paid by homestead funding but the letters for more money keep coming. There was another sent today XX/XX/XXXX. 

TMS also never solidified my taxes. My property was subdivided before the closing of my home. Which was in XXXX of XXXX. The property was originally 23.5 acres and at closing my property was supposed to be 2 acres. The taxes I am currently paying both school and property are almost the same if not higher than what they were before my purchase. I understand that taxes go up every year but 2 acres is not equivalent to 23.5 acres. I have spoken with the town assessor and they have not been helpful nor did they ever send me the paperwork for grieving my taxes last year. They stated that because 10 acres were described as wasteland that it would not change the taxes that much. But my taxes have gone up and not down at all. 

The most confusing piece of my taxes is that some companies/agencies show that the property is 2 acres and others show it as 23.5 acres. If I own 23.5 acres than I understand why my taxes have not declined but if not, than I should not have such high taxes. There was also a email sent from a tax manager that there were 2 acres without any buildings on it that the previous owners own and the rest is mine. I would love clarification of this. 

As stated previously, I am in a high risk XXXX, during covid, I work full time as a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXr and have a XXXX XXXX XXXX. This past year has been extremely stressful without the mortgage and tax issues but with this on top, my stress is through the roof and not healthy for myself or my XXXX XXXX. 

TMS and XXXX tax assessor have not been helpful at all during this process. I understand COVID has hindered a lot but this is unacceptable. My credit has dropped over 100 points because TMS reported that I have not paid my mortgage since XXXX. 

I have reported TMS to the XXXX XXXX XXXX  and will also be reporting them to the NYS banking department and NYS attorney generals office. I have attained a lawyer for this situation as well as this continues to escalate and not get resolved. I would very much appreciate being able to speak with someone over the phone about this as well.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation