Consumer complaint received 2018-10-16
Company: Shellpoint Partners, LLC
State: VA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Closing on a mortgage

Complaint:
Here is a brief summary of what has occurred : I closed on my mortgage with XXXX XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX for a 30-year-fixed mortgage. The monthly payment I was qualified for and signed off on was {$2200.00} and my payments began in XXXX of XXXX at that amount. In XXXX of XXXX, on my 5th payment, my payment increased to {$2400.00}, a {$200.00} increase. 1 year later, my payment on XX/XX/XXXX, was {$2600.00}, another {$210.00} increase and they will remain that way until XXXX of XXXX when they may go up or down. Simply put, less than 18 months after closing on a 30-year-fixed, I am paying {$420.00} more than I was qualified for and than I signed at closing.

This increase is due to Escrow reanalysis, however, my Home Owners insurance has only increased {$160.00} per year ( {$800.00} to {$960.00} ),  and, additionally, my property taxes for XXXX have increased only {$460.00} from what the proper XXXX estimation should have been at the time of closing ( {$5300.00} to {$5800.00} ). Obviously, this total of {$620.00} increase for the years escrow expenses does not account for the additional {$5100.00} I will pay for the 12-month period that began this month.

So, why was the escrow analysis so far off initially which caused me to qualify for a loan I may have never qualified for? My yearly taxes were estimated at {$2600.00}, 50 % of what they should have been estimated at. The excuse was that the previous owner had some rare tax exemption status that allowed him to pay only 50 % of property taxes and the county tax records reported this tax amount. All of this is true except this is actually a common tax exemption for senior citizens in the county. 

Now, I am willing to accept that this was an honest mistake, however, I also believe it may have not been a mistake at all and, when those numbers were reported by the county, rather than questioning an obviously inaccurate number, XXXX XXXX may have taken advantage of it because they knew it would help me qualify for the loan. Again, this tax relief status of the previous owner is not particularly rare as they claimed. Also, anyone who looked at the numbers ( and numerous people at XXXX XXXX did ) and deals with real estate in the area would have noted those numbers were far off. Additionally, more than once during the process, my wife pointed out that the taxes were much lower than she had expected and questioned whether they were correct and the loan officer confirmed that they were correct. We went over the numbers many times. 

Regardless of whether it was an honest mistake or a willful and successful attempt to take advantage of the circumstances, I qualified for this loan at a much lower payment than I am paying now. If it was a mistake, it was still their mistake and I can no longer be held liable for it. Yes, taxes increase and home valuations increase and I can always expect my escrow payments to increase slightly year after year. In my case, I believe the tax rate increased from 1.13 % to XXXX $ and the home valuation increased from {$460000.00} to {$490000.00}. Again, this would be less than a {$500.00} increase in yearly taxes. But when you consider any reasonable expectations of tax increases, a correction of this initial mistake increases my estimated payments over the life of the loan over {$70000.00}. 

At the time all of this happen, XXXX XXXX claimed there was nothing they could do, that these things happen, that I would have to be responsible for this, etc. I had no idea how to represent myself, what could be done in this situation, etc. Unfortunately, my real estate agent neglected his fiduciary responsibility to represent me and help me deal with this situation. Therefore, eventually, I just accepted it and took no further action because XXXX XXXX made me believe that I was responsible and there was nothing they would do make things right. When my payment increased again this month, I couldnt take anymore, and I spoke with people who knew more and they were so shocked that something like this could happen. I tried reaching out to XXXX XXXX to rectify this matter and give them one last chance to make things right before I filed this complaint, but I was not taken seriously nor put in touch with anyone that had the power to rectify this matter.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation