Consumer complaint received 2021-03-19
Company: AmeriHome Mortgage Company, LLC
State: CA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX I received a letter from AmeriHome ( dated XX/XX/XXXX ) saying my XXXX mortgage payment was {$340.00} less than owed. I checked my direct payment with my bank account and it went through as usual. I went to the AmeriHome website and found that unbeknownst to me ( I am not paperless- statements are supposed to be mailed to my home ) my mortgage payment has increased {$340.00} per month. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I called AmeriHome. After 45 minutes on hold, the rep told me that XXXX had increased my taxes significantly last year and that my escrow fell short. He then said I could pay them {$2000.00} to fix the escrow or pay an extra {$290.00} a month ( which works out to {$3500.00} a year ... So, where does the {$2000.00} help? ). He was rude and abrupt. I told him I could not afford an extra {$4100.00} in mortgage a year ( if I go by the {$340.00} increase ), especially given the hardships with COVID. He did not acnowledge the {$340.00} increase and kept referring to the increase as {$290.00} a month. 

He said there was nothing they could do. I asked for all paperwork detailing my tax and escrow changes to be emailed to my account. He said he would do so. It was not done. ( I was later told by XXXX from several paragraphs down that he mailed it ... The deadline to pay the extra money was XX/XX/XXXX which has not given me any time to have the documents reviewed before I would have to pay a penalty of {$62.00}. ) Over the weekend, I called my original real estate agent and asked if this sounded legit. She had me contact my original loan officer with XXXX Mortgage ( they sold the loan in XX/XX/XXXX to Amerihome ). The XXXX agent said that they had figured the property tax increase into the original loan and was surprised to hear of the supposed increase, which he considered rather drastic for a 2 year old mortgage. 

On XX/XX/XXXX- I called Amerihome. 
1st call took 4 minutes to get through the prompts and be on hold to speak to an agent. Call disconnected. 
2nd call- 4 minutes + then call disconnected. 
3rd call- 4 minutes + to get to the hold line for an agent. Asked to speak to a supervisor. I asked for a direct line due to the continued disconnections. She gave me the number ( XXXX ). On hold for 12 minutes. Call disconnected. 
4th call- I called ( XXXX ). Takes me directly back to 4 minutes of prompts. Then the automated voice tells me the office is closed. 
5th call- I call the XXXX number back. 4 minutes of prompts and then I'm on hold again and finally get to XXXX. She tells me that their offices are already closed. I tell her their paperwork and website says customer service is open M-F till XXXX. I ask to speak to a supervisor. She says there aren't any available. She says she will schedule a call back with a supervisor in a 24 hour window. Which I have no faith in because I'm still waiting for one from days ago. As for the deadline to pay without further penalty, XXXX said my account was under investigation, so the penalty wouldn't apply .... But, not one can tell me why XXXX XXXX payment is less {$340.00} when my new payment is supposedly only {$290.00} more a month, so my faith is shaky. 

XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX calls me. I do not know if she was a supervisor. I was at work and missed the call. She gave me the XXXX as a call back. 
At XXXX XXXX- I called XXXX ( 4 minutes of hold and listening to an automated voice telling me that this was an attempt at a debt collection call ... Which is weird since I thought they were a mortgage company ). XXXX # 2 answered ( employee number XXXX ). She refused to transfer me to a supervisor stated reason being her computer was down and could not verify my loan number. Supervisors only speak to verified customers. She put me on hold for 16 minutes to transfer me to another phone rep/non-supervisor. XXXX ( employee number XXXX ) came on and told me she could not transfer me to a supervisor as she is working remotely and that isn't possible. I informed her that the other AmeriHome reps all told me they could transfer me to a supervisor and they were all working remotely, but XXXX said they were all incorrect. I accused XXXX of lying and using deceptive practices. She told me that she would arrange a supervisor call back- I explained that would not work as I have a job and can't take random phone calls at random times over a 24 hour window. She also told me that there wouldn't be a supervisor available for me to speak to until Monday at the earliest. I told her I was recording the call ( I wasn't ) and that I needed her to acknowledge for the recording that after 3 days of trying to get to a supervisor, I would not be allowed to talk to a supervisor today. She refused to speak. I terminated the call. 

My point to all of this is that there is something very not right with this company. I didn't choose them. They bought my mortgage without my consent or consultation, which I understand is just " how it's done. '' But, this poor level of customer service is not acceptable. I could lose my home over this. An extra {$340.00} a month puts me in a mortgage payment range that I wouldn't have qualified for in my housing loan. This is very concerning and possibly life altering, especially in light of all the COVID uncertainty. I shouldn't have to spend so much time just trying to speak to someone at the company, especially given the severity of the circumstances. 

As a side note, I have another mortgage in XXXX on a rental property 3 miles away from my current home. This mortgage was bought from XXXX by XXXX XXXX XXXX. That mortgage has not gone up in 4 years and when it did it was like $ XXXX/month. Additionally, their website has clearly laid out any escrow changes in accessible documents. All of the statements make sense and they contact me any time there are changes. I should be able to expect the same from AmeriHome.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation