Consumer complaint received 2021-02-25
Company: West One Capital Group Inc.
State: TX
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
According to the loan agreement signed on XX/XX/XXXX, and supported by the email correspondence between XXXX XXXX, President, West One XXXX XXXX XXXX  ( NMLS # XXXX ), and myself, West One Capital Group was bound to provide lender-placed homeowner 's insurance at the time of closing through Foremost Insurance. According to documents supplied by West One Capital at several points in this journey, the insurance was placed through the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( CA License # XXXX ). In fact, the loan agreement documents required " evidence of insurance covering the cost of the dwelling structure ( s ) in accordance with the appraisal report ''. For this purpose a " Certificate of Insurance '' from XXXX XXXX was sent to XXXX XXXX, Settlement Assistant at Premier Reverse Closings and attached to the loan agreement signed at closing. The effective date of the policy was XX/XX/XXXX, through XX/XX/XXXX. The homeowner 's insurance policy from XXXX XXXX was, again, reasserted as valid by XXXX XXXX in an email to me dated XX/XX/XXXX. At no point did I ever receive notice that the lender-placed insurance was being removed or did my escrow payment change. 

At closing I was charged a " Closing/Escrow Fee '' of {$750.00} in addition to an " Initial Escrow Payment '' equal to ( 2 ) months of my county property tax payment and ( 1 ) month of hazard insurance - this totaled {$750.00} + {$1600.00}, respectively. This amount was folded into the loan and I assume I was being charged interest on this amount. From my first payment in XX/XX/XXXX until my last payment ( with West One Capital Group ) in XX/XX/XXXX, I paid {$900.00} per month to my escrow account according to my payment letter/coupon. Further the loan documents signed on XX/XX/XXXX, state that an impound account is required by the lender. In total, I paid {$10000.00} for the set up and funding of my escrow account. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted XXXX XXXX directly by email and let him know that I had purchased my own homeowner 's policy and on XX/XX/XXXX, he replied " Yes send me a copy of whatever you get so we can pay it. '' The effective dates of the new XXXX homeowner 's insurance policy are XX/XX/XXXX, to XX/XX/XXXX. 

The XXXX XXXX agent I was working with took down all pertinent contact information for West One Capital Group and told me that XXXX XXXX would bill West One Capital Group directly. I informed XXXX XXXX of this via email so that West One Capital Group could expect the invoice and pay it in a timely manor. XXXX XXXX has verified that ( 2 ) separate invoices were sent to West Once Capital Group on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX - neither invoice was paid. This inaction resulted in me receiving a " Notice of Cancellation '' from XXXX XXXX due to non-payment in XX/XX/XXXX. It was not normal for me to receive direct correspondence from an organization paid by escrow when said escrow is being properly employed. XXXX was a very trying time for us as we were dealing with our beloved oldest dog 's fight with XXXX. Unfortunately, we had to put him down on XX/XX/XXXX. On that day, XX/XX/XXXX, I forwarded him both my homeowner 's insurance and property tax bills via email as neither were paid by their due date. I received a " Notice of Reinstatement '' on XX/XX/XXXX - West One Capital paid the homeowner 's insurance invoice in full. I thought at the time that the paying of the invoice 'in full ' was strange, yet great, as I originally assumed the payments would just be spread out through the escrow account. The representative at XXXX XXXX did mention that the form of payment seem " strange '' and " not typical ''. According to XXXX XXXX documents, payment was made via a " check by phone '' from an account ending in XXXX. Was this an escrow account or is this someone else 's account? I would like to get to the bottom of this particular issue. 

In early XXXX, after noticing that my escrow account had not been analyzed and adjusted due to the insurance policy that was paid in full, I decided to check a little more closely into who was receiving my escrow payments. I returned to the original loan agreement and found the XXXX XXXX policy certificate provided at closing ( which matched the one supplied by XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX ). I decided to call the XXXX XXXX XXXX directly and ask them about my coverage as they were listed on the certificate. I spoke to a female associate at the agency and she couldn't find my information at first but then mentioned that there were other ways to look my policy up. I gave her the policy number, my full name and the address of my residence and she was immediately able to find me in the system. The agent then informed me that this policy was never in force due to non-payment and was considered only an " estimate ''. This was verified again by an XXXX XXXX representative named XXXX and finally by XXXX XXXX himself. The XXXX XXXX has been extremely helpful in getting to the bottom of this issue and supplied me with all documents need to verify the invalid nature of the policy perpetuated by West One Capital Group. This means that West One Capital Group had never used any of my escrow payment in XXXX and never bothered to place lender-placed insurance on my property. Basically, my home, from XX/XX/XXXX, to XX/XX/XXXX, was uninsured! What would have happened if there had been damage to my home or a natural disaster during this time? Is this insurance fraud? Remember, this fake insurance policy created by West One Capital Group was reasserted to me on several occasions. In XX/XX/XXXX, I assumed that the XXXX XXXX policy would be attached to my account and reflected in my West One Capital Group accounts in place of the Foremost Insurance policy. However, West One Capital Group even perpetuated this fraudulent policy to the company they sold my loan to in XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX. 

In the email referenced above, on XX/XX/XXXX, I also sent XXXX XXXX a copy of my county property tax invoice, as it too had remained unpaid. I decided not to fret at this point as I figured that West One Capital Group had all the information it needed to make the payment on time. In hindsight, I should have realized something was amiss as the payment information would have been readily available to West One Capital Group if the escrow account was employed properly. Regardless, the invoice supplied in XX/XX/XXXX clearly states that the it must be paid by XX/XX/XXXX, to be considered on time. 

As of today, XX/XX/XXXX, my property taxes have not been paid and no funds have been disbursed from my escrow account by West One Capital Group to me. My original county property tax payment was to be {$9100.00}, if paid by XX/XX/XXXX. However, because of non-payment late fees have been assessed. If paid by XX/XX/XXXX, the new balance is {$9700.00} and it will increase to {$9900.00} if paid in XXXX. I am not responsible for added late fees as West One Capital Group failed to pay in a timely manor. 

If West One Capital Group had truly been acting as my fiduciary they would have, at the very least, completed an internal audit of my accounts, general and escrow, upon selling it to another lender. A final audit seems like it would be standard practice before selling the loan and the fact that it was either not done or the results were not disclosed is concerning. Further, why have I not received an escrow account statement to date? The loan was sold in early XX/XX/XXXX and we are not almost in XX/XX/XXXX. This is where our issues begin to look less careless and more fraudulent. 

Throughout my time with West One Capital Group, it was a struggle to get information from the firm. I had to constantly call and email to get updates and information was not made readily available nor was it commonly disclosed. Whether West One Capital Group is a typical loan servicer or not is besides the point - West One Capital is bound to be my fiduciary in all instances and obligated by federal code to provide certain services and be transparent to me, the Borrower. All along the way, beginning in XXXX with XXXX, I was led to believe that this refinance was only the first step in the process - that after 6 months of timely payments, we would do another 'in-house ' refinance and get a much better rate. XXXX XXXX even wrote in emails that " Rates have dropped dramatically, and I would like to see if we can refinance your loan ''. The last conversation I had with anyone at West One Capital was in mid-XXXX XXXX. NOW I know this was just after my loan had been sold to XXXX XXXX and the email was a request for payment for the month of XXXX. There was no mention of the loan being sold informally at that time and no formal notification of loan sale to date - a RESPA requirement. The loan was then sold to XXXX XXXX with no benefit to me as my interest rate and even my payment stayed the same. Months of talk and emails from West One Capital Group associates stringing me along and dangling a better rate and payment in front of me - and at the end all communication stopped and I was none the better off. 

These are by no means the only ways in which West One Capital Group failed. This complaint does not even begin to address the damages that West One Capital Group caused to my personal finances and creditworthiness. I am a XXXX XXXX owner and Veteran who relies heavily on my credit to keep XXXX XXXX going. While with West One Capital Group my credit score plummeted due to them not reporting my monthly payments and now I am out over $ XXXX and in fear of losing my home during a pandemic. 

I have tried to contact West One Capital Group, XXXX XXXX, XXXX, XXXX and anyone else who will pick up the phone or respond to emails and have RECEIVED NO ASSISTANCE WITH ANY OF THESE MATTERS.

Company public response: Company believes complaint caused principally by actions of third party outside the control or direction of the company
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation