Consumer complaint received 2022-06-05
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: CA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Home equity loan or line of credit (HELOC)
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
Account Number Related to this complaint : XXXX Account has since been closed but funds are still owed This complaint is being filed in regards to Chase Banks refusal to release {$12000.00} in insurance claim funds that it received from my homeowners insurance company three years after it had itself inspected the property and determined all repairs had been 100 % complete. As I will explain neither the courts or the Deed of Trust associated with my loan afforded it the legal right to withhold these proceeds and the written explanations provided to me as to the basis for its decision to withhold these funds is unsupported by the records and evidence. I did provide Chase with a notification of error report regarding this matter and received a response stating that it would provide me with a written decision by XX/XX/XXXX of last year but a month passed and not response was provided. I tried contacting a representative of The Chief Executive Office of Chase via the contact number provided on the letter I had received stating it would respond by XX/XX/XXXX but no calls were ever returned. Eventually I did manage to make contact with the person who was suppose to have been assigned to my request and she was very nice. After a short time she was in agreement with me that Chase had been incorrect in refusing to release the funds but stated that she wished we had spoke sooner as too much time had passed and a decision had been made. I asked if she could reopen the request now that she had a better understanding of what took place and agreed that the funds should have been released and shes informed me that she did not have the authority to do so. I asked her if I was really going to have to file a lawsuit in order to collect the proceeds that she was now aware should never have been withheld and she stated unfortunately Im afraid so. It is my hope that through this complaint my request may potentially be forwarded to the correct person that has the authority to reopen my request for reimbursement and resolve this issue without the need for litigation. My request is as it has always been and thus I am requesting reimbursement of the {$12000.00} in question plus interest at annual rate of 10 % for the loss of use associated with these funds dating back to XXXX of XXXX when Chase was obligated to have released the proceeds. I have provided a more detailed version of the events In the paragraphs that follow and within this explanation have made reference to the supporting documents that have been attached. 

I filed a homeowners insurance claim in XXXX of XXXX and $ XXXX in repair funds were released by the insurance company to conduct repairs. Because my home loan was with Chase the insurance proceeds were first disbursed to Chase who then released the proceeds as it inspected and determined work was being completed. In XXXX of XXXX the records show that Chase inspected the property, deemed all repairs 100 % complete and shortly thereafter released 100 % of the $ XXXX in repair funds that had been provided to it by my insurance company XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ). Chase has never once denied that it determined repairs to have been completed in XXXX and I have provided a copy of the inspection report as SD # XXXX. Although the repairs were completed the $ XXXX in proceeds was not sufficient to cover the cost of these repairs resulting in my having to pay out of pocket for many of the repairs. As a result I requested additional funds from the insurance company to reimburse me for these out of pocket costs. In XXXX the first disbursement of supplemental proceeds was issued by the insurance company and again Chase received these funds. Chase immediately released this first supplemental payment without issue. The second disbursement of supplemental funds was issued in XXXX of XXXX and the {$12000.00} in proceeds were this time withheld by Chase. The explanation provided in writing by Chase in summary stated that it had withheld the proceeds due my having failed to provide the documents necessary to allow for the release of such funds. The written notice provided by Chase regarding its reasoning for withholding these funds has been attached and labeled XXXX XXXX XXXX  A review of the document shows Chase to have stated that it would release the funds in question once I provided it with an inspection report confirming the completion of repairs, a promise to complete repairs and a list of other documents that I clearly had to have already provided in order for Chase to have already previously released {$82000.00} to me after confirming all repairs were completed. And of course it is simply absurd for Chase to have claimed that it was waiting on me to provide an inspection report to confirm the completion of repairs and a promise to complete repairs given that Chase had already provided itself with this inspection report 3 years earlier which of course confirmed all repairs to have been completed thus also making it absurd to have alleged that it was waiting on me to provide a statement promising to complete such repairs. I attempted countless times to have the funds released by contacting the escalation department and each time I did the supervisor I requested to speak to would agree that Chase had deemed all repairs to have been completed and thus he or she would tell me that a request for the release of funds was being submitted. Each time I would receive a written response that was identical to XXXX XXXX  XXXX. 

. 
To try and resolve the issue related to the withheld funds I provided Chase a notification of error letter explaining the obvious illegal nature of its withholding of supplemental insurance funds it had received three years after confirming all repairs to have been completed and received a quick response stating that it would provide me with an answer by XX/XX/XXXX. A month or so passed with no response from Chase so I proceeded to begin making phone calls to The Chief Executive Office of Chase and never received a response. I eventually spoke to a representative who was not actually assigned to my complaint but was able to inform me that the records indicated that I had been provided with a written response to my notification of error letter on XX/XX/XXXX. He proceeded to read the response to me over the phone and after confirming that Chase had mailed to an address had lived at 12 years earlier he had a copy sent out to my actual current address. I have attached a copy of the XX/XX/XXXX response to my notification of error letter for your reviews and labeled it as XXXX XXXX XXXX  The first portion of the letter addresses a separate topic related to Chases illegal cancellation of the loan modification plan that I had been forced to apply for as a direct result of the financial issues that were caused by XXXX refusal to release the funds in question. The portion of the response relevant to the withheld funds has been circled for you and in reviewing this the response by Chase you can see that it essentially said absolutely nothing about the {$12000.00} in supplemental claim funds that it received in XXXX of XXXX despite my having specifically provided a detailed explanation as to why it was obligated to have released such funds. Instead it simply summarizes the events that had occurred three years before it received and chose to illegally withhold the funds in question. It does have some significance to this complaint as it shows Chase to have itself confirmed the fact that it had personally conducted an inspection and determined that all repairs had been completed in XXXX of XXXX while also noting that it released the funds shortly thereafter as a result. Unbelievably yet believably this letter failed to in any way actually address the issue pertaining to XX/XX/XXXX supplemental funds it received and withheld. I spent the next couple of weeks calling and being forwarded to a voicemail box that stated I would receive a call back in one business day but of course I never received any return call. Eventually I was fed up and refused to be transferred to the voicemail again demanding I speak to someone and to my surprise I learned that the only way to get someone to speak to you was by being rude and angry. I was connected to a very nice representative who stated she worked directly for The CHief Executive Office of Chase. After discussing the issue with her for no more then 10-15 minutes she was completely in agreement that Chase had made a mistake in failing to release the funds in question and could provide no explanation for the odd XX/XX/XXXX response from Chase that simply summarized the first year of my insurance claim rather than responding to my inquiry regarding the withholding of the funds it received in XXXX. Despite fully agreeing with me regarding the error Chases had made in withholding the funds she never the less proceeded to tell me that she really wished she had spoke sooner as she claimed that a decision had already been made and she had no ability to correct the error. I asked if Chase was really going to make me file a lawsuit to collect these funds she herself agreed should have been released 4 years earlier and in response she stated unfortunately Im afraid so. Again she was very nice and thus it was hard not to believe her but I none the less have a hard time believing there is not way to reopen a request in light of the obvious irrefutable nature of my dispute as doing so would certainly be a much more cost effective method resolution then requiring me to sue to collect the funds. It should be reiterated that this representative of The Chief Executive Office of Chase ( I have the name somewhere if needed ) did not in any way dispute my argument and in fact was very apologetic and seemed to feel a bit stupid for having been confused by the issue prior to our conversation. Of all the supervisors and other representatives of Chase that I have spoken too in regards to this matter I can honestly say not one single person I have spoken with actually disagreed with me regarding Chases obligation to have released the funds and the reason for this is because it requires nothing more than simple logic and common sense to recognize that Chase did not have the right to withhold supplemental insurance claim funds that it received three years after confirming all repairs to have been completed and thus after confirming that its security interest risk had been eliminated by the home being returned to its pre loss condition. The funds were intended to be provided to me in order to reimburse me for the out of pocket costs associated with those repairs that Chase confirmed I had completed years earlier and which again eliminated its security risk entirely. 
The last document I have included is the relevant page of the Deed of Trust ( XXXX  # XXXX ) and I have placed stars next to the section that addresses when Chase is legally afforded the right to withhold insurance claim funds. It states that it may withhold funds if there is a written agreement, if the repairs are not feasible and/or if Chase would have its security interest lessened by releasing such funds. It explains that at least one of those circumstances needs to be present in order for funds to be withheld and yet there was no written agreement, the repairs were confirmed 100 % by Chase itself thus clearly feasible and last Chase confirmed the home to have been returned to its pre loss condition by confirming all repairs were 100 % complete which in turn makes it literally impossible for its security interest to have been lessened through the release of such funds. To assure no confusion regarding the lessening of security interest it should be reiterated that in order for it to have been possible for Chase to have had its security interest lessened through the release of funds in question it would have had to be possible for me to have not completed the repairs necessary to return the home to its pre loss condition. Again Chase confirmed the home to have been returned to its pre loss condition three years prior to withholding the funds when it confirmed repairs to have been 100 % completed. As such it is simply irrefutable that the Deed of Trust very specifically states that one of the listed circumstances needed to be present and they undeniably were not. Again not one person from Chase that I have spoken to has actually made an attempt to argue that Chase had the right to withhold these proceeds and this is because my argument is simply irrefutable. 

In conclusion I want to directly state the following to Chase : This is my final demand that the withheld funds and associated interest be issued to me. Failure to do so will force me to file suit to collect these proceeds and if forced to do so over funds that are so clearly owed to me then I will do so in pursuit of all damages legally available to me. As such I will ask the court to award damages for legal fees, for unnecessary costs incurred in connection with the blatant breach of contract associated with the canceling of my modification plan and more specifically in connection with its subsequent illegal foreclosure activities that nearly resulted in my house being auctioned off. As previously explained to Chase this illegally conducted foreclosure that was conducted resulted in my having to obtain a new residence, move personal property and relocate some family pets and thus if litigation becomes necessary I will request damages for the related costs, and unnecessary emotional stress that my family was forced to incur as a direct result of Chases numerous and blatant acts of bad faith. However because the home was not ultimately illegally auctioned off at the end of the day and because I would like to put this matter behind me I am willing to settle these matters via fulfillment of the demand for claim funds plus interest. 

Because I have spoken to a representative of The Chief Executive Office of Chase who along with every other representative I spoke too agreed that the funds should never have been withheld it is my hope that this issue may be resolved by simply forwarding this complaint to the appropriate person who is authorized to reopen my request to provide these illegally withheld funds rather than forcing me to file suit in order to open dialogue with Chase over this matter. I have a difficult time believing that Chase would prefer that I file a lawsuit to collect these funds given the irrefutable nature of the evidence and the obvious risk of my receiving a judgement that far exceeds the reasonable demand for payment I have presented. Thank you for taking the time to read this and for any help you may be able to provide. 


XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation