Consumer complaint received 2021-05-03
Company: CrossCountry Mortgage LLC
State: NY
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX we purchased our property. All taxes and insurance are being escrowed and we pay our mortgage payment, which includes principal, interest and escrow on time every month. However, Cross Country has failed to pay our property taxes on time, resulting in a lien being filed by XXXX County ( GA ) on the property. This lien was subsequently sold by XXXX County to XXXX XXXX, which continues to add penalties and interest to the amount due. 
We have tried to work with Cross Country, making numerous calls and forwarding all documents and notices we have received to their customer service center, but no progress has been made since the lien was filed in XX/XX/XXXX. This problem is consuming a large portion of our time and has caused us great distress over several months. We feel we are at a dead end and that this will not be resolved without help. That is why we are filing this complaint. Below is a chronological summary and attached are supporting documents of what has transpired to date. 
In XX/XX/XXXX, a month after we purchased our property, we received a notice from XXXX County that our city and county taxes were due. The city tax was due XX/XX/XXXX and the county tax was due XX/XX/XXXX. We looked on our Cross Country account and found that Cross Country had noted the taxes being due in XXXX and XXXX. We contacted Cross Country and explained that they had incorrect information and, at their request, we emailed them the tax bill. They agreed to pay the taxes and said they would check into the due dates they had on file. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, after determining the taxes had not been paid, we emailed Cross Country explaining that the XXXX County ( City of XXXX ) taxes were delinquent as of XX/XX/XXXX and the XXXX County ( County ) taxes were still due XX/XX/XXXX and we reattached the tax bill showing both tax bills and their due dates. 
We continued to check the tax assessors website and determined in XX/XX/XXXX that all taxes were not paid. The City taxes were still outstanding. When we looked at our Cross Country account we could see that Cross Country had only paid the XXXX County taxes and not the City of XXXX taxes ( which both go to XXXX County ). On XX/XX/XXXX, we contacted Cross Country and they requested another copy of the tax bill, which we once again emailed to them showing the outstanding taxes due. 
Since we do not live at the property full time, we have someone checking our mail periodically. They alerted us in late XX/XX/XXXX that a Notice of Intent to Issue a FIFA was received from XXXX County. We contacted XXXX County and learned a FIFA lien was filed due to the City of XXXX taxes not being paid. We contacted Cross Country and explained this to them. We again sent them a copy of the tax bill showing what was outstanding and a copy of the Notice of XXXXntent to Issue FIFA. They assured us they would take care of it. 
On XX/XX/XXXX we followed up with XXXX County to see if the taxes had been paid and were informed they had not been paid and therefore, the FIFA  had been sold to XXXX  XXXX  on XX/XX/XXXX. They stated that it was now with XXXX XXXX and for us to contact them to arrange payment. We contacted XXXX XXXX  and got the payment information. We then contacted Cross Country to relay this information and to tell them that the payment could no longer be made to XXXX XXXX, but now had to go to XXXX XXXX. We provided Cross Country the total amount due including interest and penalties, as well as the address to send the payment to. Cross Country assured us they would process the payment and that they would cover all interest and penalties by the end of XXXX deadline. We contacted Cross Country several times during the month of XXXX to check on the status of this payment and were assured the check would go out by the end of XXXX. We sent follow-up emails with reminders and attachments. We repeatedly conveyed that it had to be received by XXXX XXXX by the end of XXXX or more interest and penalties would accrue but they assured us it was being taken care of. 
In XXXX, XXXX received an email from XXXX XXXX that the amount due was not paid and has now been increased by additional interest and penalties. This payoff amount was now good until XX/XX/XXXX. Please note that some notices are in the name of the seller and sent to our property address. We have attempted to get all notices sent to our address in New York or via email but some are still going to the property. On XX/XX/XXXX, we forwarded the updated notice from XXXX XXXX to Cross Country and had more calls. 
We continued to follow up with Cross Country and on XX/XX/XXXX ( three days before the deadline to pay XXXX XXXX ) we contacted Cross Country and they requested another copy of the payment notice, which we again emailed to customer service. 
On XX/XX/XXXX we contacted Cross Country again and sent them a copy of an XXXX XXXX  notice which was received in the mail at the property, adding more penalties and interest to the amount due and which states that the payoff amount is good through XX/XX/XXXX. 
Please note that when we call Cross Country, they start by telling us the taxes have been paid. We then explain that, if you look on the tax assessors website, you see that it shows the taxes have been paid but this is only because XXXX County has been made whole by XXXX XXXX in selling them the FIFA lien. But we now owe XXXX XXXX the amount due in order to remove the lien. Cross Country has told us at times they dont know how they will pay XXXX XXXX. Cross Country also tells us repeatedly that the matter has been escalated and that a work order has been opened to pay the amount due, but the bill does not get paid. 
Furthermore, the due dates for our taxes as noted on our Cross Country account are still showing XXXX and XXXX, which we have asked repeated to be updated to avoid this happening again. We have asked XXXX County if these are the due dates and they have replied that the bill have not even dropped by that date. We have also asked to speak with the tax department at Cross Country but were told that we could not speak to them, nor could Cross Country customer service, since the tax department does not have a direct line. And while we do not know if this is accurate, we were also told that paying the taxes is not handled by Cross Country but that there was a third party that handles those payments. From our standpoint, it makes no difference who handles this but we assume that Cross Country is still the responsible party for servicing our mortgage.

We have also requested during our many conversations with Cross Country to have the escrow removed and allow us to make the tax and insurance payments ourselves, but those we spoke with didnt know how to go about making that change. 
Calling Cross Country customer service is a nightmare. We never get to speak with the same person twice and everyone seems to have the same misinformation which requires us to go through the entire history each time. Often we ask to speak with a supervisor and on occasion we have done so. They have at times provided their servicing code so that we can request them next time we call in but they are never available or off for the day. On at least two occasions we were disconnected or placed on hold for excessive periods of time. Below are the dates we spoke with a supervisor and noted their names. There were many more calls to Cross Country than this but these were the calls when we requested a supervisor, one was available to speak with us and we wrote down their name. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX ( code XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX ( code EPT ) What we are requesting : 1. Cross Country to pay XXXX XXXX and obtain lien release.

2. Property tax due dates be correctly reflected in our account.

3. Our escrow obligation be removed from our payment and the escrow balance refunded to us to allow us to manage our own payments. If Cross Country does this, numbers one and two above will not be necessary and we will be free to resolve this problem by paying off XXXX XXXX  and assure that all payments related to our property are made on time in the future. 

We have lost confidence in Cross Country and do not believe they are competent enough to service our mortgage. They have not only breached their obligation to make the required payments for which we pay into escrow, but they have failed to rectify the situation they have created despite our exhaustive efforts to do so. They may say they have appointed a resolution Specialist to our case, as we had received an email with the name XXXX XXXX but when we have tried to get in touch with her, she is never available and her voice mailbox is full. We have also received calls in response to our negative survey responses but after we explain the situation, we are transferred to another supervisor and again nothing progresses. Thank you for your attention to this matter. We look forward to hearing from you.

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