Consumer complaint received 2016-03-04
Company: FIFTH THIRD FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: TN
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional fixed mortgage
Issue: Loan servicing, payments, escrow account

Complaint:
My mortgage payment was {$670.00} on both my GFE and my monthly mortgage payment statement during XXXX. Then in XXXX or XXXX XXXX ( I now know ) the bank paid my homeowners ' insurance two times, saying it was because they were invoiced two times. The amounts were {$890.00} and {$820.00}, both paid to XXXX XXXX. As a result, my payment went up to {$740.00}. I assumed it was an increase in property taxes, insufficient escrow projections since it was a new loan, or some other legitimate reason. I did not receive an Annual Escrow Disbursement letter in XXXX XXXX. I paid those amounts of {$740.00} from XXXX XXXX through XXXX XXXX, for the XXXX payments, along with additional amounts to be applied to principal, since I want to pay my loan off early. As a result, I paid {$810.00} over what I owed, according to my calculations. I did not know this at the time that the bank had paid XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX times in XXXX XXXX. Then I changed insurances in XXXX, going with XXXX XXXX, because XXXX XXXX had a better policy, although the premium was the same at {$920.00}. I purchased insurance through XXXX XXXX, a third party broker. I signed documents online and paper, thinking that a notice of cancellation was included to cancel insurance with XXXX. It was only when the bank provided my letter of Annual Escrow Account Disbursement that I discovered that two insurances were paid in XXXX. ( Note this refers to XXXX, not XXXX, which is a separate incident of overpayment of insurance from escrow funds. ) The letter regarding my escrow account for XXXX stated that XXXX XXXX XXXX I had been paid twice, in the same amount, {$920.00}, and that I needed to pay an amount similar to that, or that I needed to pay higher payments each month. Then my payment was raised to {$770.00}. This got my attention when I saw the same company had been paid twice. When I called the bank I was told that their records reflected two insurance companies were paid, both XXXX and XXXX XXXX, so that my letter of escrow account disbursement was not correct in that aspect. I was told to contact the insurers and get a refund issued and bring the check to the bank. I did this and presented a check from the XXXX for {$920.00} ( endorsed ) to Fifth Third Bank in XXXX XXXX. Then they were reimbursed for paying both XXXX and XXXX XXXX both for Homeowners ' insurance, so my payment should be adjusted downward to reflect that I paid the amount of shortage they created when they paid two insurance companies. It has not been adjusted downward, although I talked with someone at the XXXX XXXX branch of Fifth XXXX in XXXX about the whole situation. Then I received another check from the XXXX in XXXX XXXX, dated XXXX XXXX, XXXX. That check was for {$870.00} with no letter of explanation and no memo on the bottom of the check or attachment below. This caused me to look at my account statements to see if XXXX had been paid twice in XXXX. I could not tell from the information online whether that was the case or not, so when I told the bank ( XXXX ) and she said she would look into it, she said the insurance was paid twice in XXXX, through no action of mine that would cause two insurances to bill, but by the bank 's error. That explained why I received a second check. The bank has not worked with me to resolve this. My payment remains at {$770.00}, which causes me to be repaying the bank for their errors, when I have reimbursed them for my non-cancellation, {$920.00}. My payment should be reduced to {$670.00}. The amount that I paid over what I truly owed should be reallocated to principal and to interest from XXXX XXXX to XXXX XXXX and a new tax form issued upon my giving them the second check from XXXX. The bank should not benefit from their error in having me pay extra on my payment for their own mistake.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation