Consumer complaint received 2019-02-28
Company: MONEY SOURCE, INC., THE
State: LA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: FHA mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
Background : Home purchased in XX/XX/XXXX on an FHA XXXX Rehab loan using XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. The Money Source appears to have purchased our debt, with an effective date of XX/XX/XXXX. Borrowers do not remember official notification or authorization for our account to be transferred. 

Significant Dates : ( D.1 ) XX/XX/XXXX : we received a bill from TMS with a significant change in our monthly amount due. My spouse contacted TMS ( XXXX ) to inquiry what changed. We discovered that there were discrepancies in the escrow account and that TMS would investigate. 
( D.2 ) XX/XX/XXXX : TMS ( XXXX ) contacted my spouse to inform us that our real estate tax wasnt entered correctly, and so TMS paid the bill. TMS then unilaterally developed a payment plan over 12 months which would increase our monthly payment by approximately $ 800/month. Paraphrasing from TMS ( XXXX ), TMS paid the bill, so you will be paying TMS back and now paying the correct payments towards escrow on future billing cycles. We explained that the significant change in monthly billing cycles is still unacceptable due to the significant financial hardship it would cause and that we should not be penalized for their error. TMS ( XXXX ) stated that she understood our concern and that the matter would be looked at further by TMS and someone would call us back. 
( XXXX ) XX/XX/XXXX : Because no representatives from TMS had contacted us, my spouse called them to inquire what other options were available. Eventually, a supervisor/lead ( XXXX ) was placed in touch with my spouse. Paraphrasing TMS Supervisor ( XXXX ) information was entered incorrectly, but we have to pay for the XXXX their ) deficiency. TMS Supervisor ( XXXX ) then recommended that our insurance be lowered to decrease monthly bill cycles to compensate for the high monthly payment. Due to my status as active component military TMS Supervisor ( XXXX ) also recommended that we pursue local tax exclusions/benefits to limit our monthly payments. Because of my spouses concern that our conflict was not being resolved, she asked for TMS Supervisor ( XXXX ) to contact me ( primary borrower on account ). 
( XXXX ) XX/XX/XXXX : TMS Supervisor ( XXXX ) contacts primary borrower via voicemail as requested, but fails to leave an extension number to be reached. I was on hold for approximately 38 minutes before being routed to an operator/customer care representative and then placed on hold for another approximate five minutes to contact the TMS Supervisor. TMS Supervisor ( XXXX ) apologized for the delay and failure to provide adequate contact information beyond I am the only ( XXXX ) in the department and one of four team leads. TMS Supervisor ( XXXX ) then explained to the me ( primary borrower ) that the property taxes was not entered or calculated correctly, and that the responsibility rests with the borrower. TMS Supervisor ( XXXX ) then again recommended that I adjust my insurance to compensate for the error, however, I see this as an inappropriate/unauthorized person directing what risks I should take as both an owner and borrower. He further recommended that I ask local authorities for exemptions due to my military status. TMS Supervisor ( XXXX ) offered to extend the re-payment to 24 or possibly 36 months to compensate for the escrow shortfall. I ( primary borrower ) requested additional documentation from TMS due to my concern about how, where, and why my payments were being used. I also stated that in my lay knowledge, I understood and considered TMS to be in multiple violations of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act ( RSPCA ), especially in consideration of potentially improperly applying or crediting payments, neglecting to pay taxes, and failing to provide information on workout options. Additionally, I stated to TMS Supervisor that I may write a formal notice of error in accordance with the RSPCA and file a complaint with the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX if my lay research into the issue indicated that was appropriate to do so. TMS Supervisor ( XXXX ) explained that he understood, was sorry, and indicated that the mistake may have been TMS. Although the TMS Supervisor ( XXXXt ) was courteous and polite on the phone, I do not feel that he is/was enabled to remedy the problem in a manner that I feel is reasonable. 

Other concerns noted leading to decision to file complaint : ( C.1 ) TMS stated to spouse that they did not know they were responsible for property taxes or amount, but they had previously paid it. 
( C.2 ) Escrow account appears to be at a zero balance since the beginning of XXXX, but no notice was given to the borrower until a spike of monthly payments was encountered. 
( C.3 ) Escrow disbursements appear to be erratic.

( C.4 ) Length of time observed to review our account seems longer than necessary, which has placed consumer into danger of being significantly overdue on the account while the discrepancies are identified and rectified ( XXXX ) Following the XX/XX/XXXX escrow analysis, borrower paid minimum amount billed ( {$1800.00} ) or more for each billing cycle. Borrower was moderately delinquent on payment only once during the lifecycle of the mortgage, which was rectified once borrower was made away of a banking/funds error during a XXXX season. This delinquency was not significant enough to incur a late payment fee. 
( C.6 ) After researching similar complaints regarding TMS on the Consumer Complaint Database of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau , the borrower is concerned that this may be a trend for TMS ( example : XXXX, XXXX, XXXX ).

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation