Consumer complaint received 2022-03-02
Company: AMERISAVE MORTGAGE CORPORATION
State: KY
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
Amerisave Mortgage failed to pay my XXXX tax bill. A 21 % penalty has been assessed by the Sherriff 's Office and I can not get any resolution to this issue with Amerisave. Below is a timeline of events : XXXX, XXXX : Numerous conversations via email with XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX with Amerisave regarding disclosures and initial escrow payment at closing of my refinance. Per the XXXX XXXX dated XXXX, {$2700.00} was included in my closing costs for 12 months of Property Taxes to XXXX XXXX Sheriff. An additional two months of property taxes was also included in the settlement for 2 months of Property Taxes in the amount of {$410.00}. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I called Amerisave mortgage to confirm receipt of my Property Tax Bill from the XXXX XXXX Sherriff. Per customer service representative XXXX I was instructed to email a copy of my tax bill to XXXX. I was instructed to include my loan number in the subject line and Attn : Tax Department. I emailed as instructed and provided a copy of the tax bill to the custserv email address. 

XX/XX/XXXX : After reviewing my online mortgage account, I noticed that my escrow account seemed inflated. I contacted the XXXX XXXX Sherriff to verify payment of my XXXX tax bill. The Sheriffs Office verified that Amerisave had not paid my XXXX tax bill. 
I contacted Amerisave customer service and was connected to a representative that told me that she had record of my email to XXXX, however my email failed to request payment of the XXXX tax bill. The customer service representative advised that due to my failure to request payment of the tax bill that there was nothing further she could do for me. I requested to be transferred to her supervisor. 
At XXXXXXXX XXXX I was transferred to XXXX ( # XXXX ). XXXX acknowledged that the XXXX tax bill had not been paid and that my initial escrow account had been set up to pay the XXXX tax bill. She apologized for the previous customer service representative and explained that I would not incur any penalty due to Amerisaves failure to pay the XXXX tax bill. XXXX stated, No penalty will come out of your escrow account. She advised that Amerisave would be responsible for all penalties to be paid to the XXXX XXXX Sherriff. I let XXXX know that an additional 21 % penalty would be levied if the bill was not received by XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX said she would put in a request to expedite payment to avoid the additional 21 % penalty. I requested a letter documenting our conversation. XXXX advised that she had put in a work order request for a confirmation letter that would be sent to me within 20 days. To date, no such letter has been received. 
XX/XX/XXXX : I received a delinquent XXXX tax bill document from the XXXX XXXX Sheriffs Office. The document identified a 21 % penalty and amount due of {$3000.00} by XX/XX/XXXX. The document advised that if the tax bill was not paid that the debt would be transferred to the XXXX XXXX Clerk, where substantial penalties, interest and fees would be charged by a third party purchaser. 
I received a check from Amerisave mortgage dated XX/XX/XXXX in the amount of {$2100.00}. The correspondence included with the check explains that there was a surplus in my escrow account. 
XX/XX/XXXX : I contacted Amerisave mortgage at XXXXXXXX XXXX and spoke to customer service representative XXXX. I explained that she needed to transfer me to a supervisor because I had previously spoken to Amerisave supervisor XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX regarding my XXXX tax bill. XXXX reviewed the record to determine escalation and transferred my to XXXX. 
At XXXXXXXX XXXX supervisor XXXX explained that XXXX had not accelerated my request to pay my XXXX taxes. XXXX advised that she was submitting a request for escalation to pay the XXXX taxes and penalties. She also advised that the confirmation letter that I requested from XXXX was in que to be sent to me on XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX explained that Amerisave would do the following : o Pay the face amount of my XXXX tax bill ( {$2500.00} ) with a check from my escrow account. 
o Pay the 21 % penalty with a second check from Amerisave. Note, the total XXXX tax bill with penalty now due is {$3000.00}. 
o The payment from my escrow account and penalty check would be overnighted to the XXXX XXXX Sheriff on XX/XX/XXXX. 

XXXX explained that once the XXXX tax bill was paid, my escrow account would be in arrears and that I would need to send payment to Amerisave to cover the shortfall. XXXX advised that I should cash the check for {$2100.00} that I received on XX/XX/XXXX and use it to cover a portion of my shortfall. I would be required to pay the additional shortfall, beyond the {$2100.00} personally. I advised XXXX that I had sent the original tax bill to Amerisave on XX/XX/XXXX in plenty of time for Amerisave to pay the bill and receive the 2 % discount identified on the tax bill. XXXX advised that my email dated XX/XX/XXXX did not include the tax bill. I advised XXXX that this was incorrect and offered to send her the original email. XXXX advised that I could send the email to XXXX if I wanted to. I requested an additional letter of confirmation for my discussion with XXXX. 

Email from XXXX XXXX received at XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, XXXXXXXX XXXX Dear XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX My name is XXXX, and I am the Resolution Specialist who will be handling your escalated concern regarding the delinquent property taxes on your loan. I will be your contact throughout resolution of this issue. Please be advised that I have initiated research into this issue and will contact you via email to provide an update and/or resolution as soon as I receive updated information. 


Thank you XXXX XXXX Research Department XX/XX/XXXX : As of XX/XX/XXXX I have received no additional information concerning resolution and payment of my XXXX deliquent tax bill. I have emailed XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX, XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX and received no response to my inquiries and correspondence. 

I called Amerisave customer service on this day to obtain a status update and spoke to customer service representative, XXXX at XXXXXXXX XXXX. XXXX advised that the XXXXax Department was researching the issue. I requested to speak to a supervisor. 

I was transferred to supervisor XXXX. XXXX stated that he was accelerating the issue to his management team and that I would received a call from someone in 24 hours. XXXX took my phone number.

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