Consumer complaint received 2021-09-16
Company: U.S. BANCORP
State: VA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
This is is a complaint about US Bank 's mismanagement of the escrow account associated my mortgage. I have contacted the company to report but they indicated that they can not ( and are not required ) to provide any assistance with the escrow account. 

My mortgage includes an escrow account created by US Bank to pay annual real estate taxes, which are due in two payments- one in XXXX, and one in XXXX. Each year, US Bank sends out a schedule of anticipated annual payments that are rolled into the regular mortgage payment, beginning with the XXXX monthly payment. US Bank paid the first installment of my real estate taxes in XX/XX/XXXX, but as of this date ( XX/XX/XXXX ) US Bank still has not sent they usual " escrow analysis statement '' which details the amount to be added to each payment. They usually a preliminary version in the spring ( XXXX ) and a final one in XXXX or XXXX, once the tax bill is sent to US Bank by the county. US Bank has sent me nothing for XXXX. For example, for the monthly payment due on XX/XX/XXXX, the amount due does not include anything for the escrow account. This leaves the escrow amount unpaid, which will require a lump sum payment from me later if US Bank does not add it to the monthly payment. This negligence defeats the purpose of the escrow account - if I have to make lump sum tax payments to US Bank, why couldn't I pay the tax authority directly? It doesn't make sense. 

When I contacted US Bank, they tell me the same thing they always tell me that, in XXXX, they instituted a new internal policy that penalizes all customers who have ever filed a bankruptcy while holding a debt from US Bank. Though my bankruptcy occurred more than 10 years ago, and though the bank didn't harass me with this policy until XXXX ( 4 years after it allegedly went into effect ), they use this " policy '' to say that they don't have to provide mortgage service benefits available to every other US Bank customer, even though they provided this benefit as late as XXXX ( last year ) when they processed an escrow analysis statement. Although in XXXX, no tax was owed because I qualified for 100 % tax relief, I only qualified for 50 % tax relief in XXXX, and thus US Bank is supposed to submit an escrow statement that breaks out the annual tax amount ( as indicated by the county 's bill ) into monthly payments beginning with the XX/XX/XXXX payment. So, far, US bank is already 4 months behind ( XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX ). The total tax amount for my property is {$1400.00} ( {$700.00} * 2 ) but the monthly payment amount includes a {$0.00} amount applied to escrow for these last 4 months, and they have not provided a schedule of payments for the remaining 8 months of the escrow payment year, which runs from XXXX to XXXX. 

US Bank keeps abusing this " policy '' to expand the areas of service that they are required to provide to mortgage holders with escrow accounts. The effect ( if not the intent ) of the policy is to cause harm to seniors like myself, principally to introduce obstacles to payment in order to increase the likelihood that payments arrive late. 

US Bank has a track record of doing this. As early as XXXX, during a trial loan modification period, US bank required payments to be sent to a specific address, but even though I sent these over a week ( or 2 weeks ) before the due date, US Bank `XXXX sat '' on the checks and only processed AFTER the due date. As a result, they could claim that the payments were " late '' and that we didn't qualify for the full loan modification. I have the mailing records showing when the checks were sent, and some advisors recommended that my late husband and I take US Bank to court because of this, because we had to pay a {$7000.00} penalty at the time, but we did not. What this indicated though is that US BANK CAN '' T BE TRUSTED WITH MAILED IN PAYMENTS. 

But though this is the policy that they are harping about - where they block online payments to people who in their lifetime have ever filed for bankruptcy and that they block this benefit for as the entire life of the loan as a form of medieval punishment, the issue here is about the management of the escrow account. US Bank has failed to provide a schedule of escrow payments, to be added to the monthly payments, which is required to do so under federal law. 

I ask that the CFPB open an investigation into US Bank because each time I complain to them they provide the same excuses.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief