Consumer complaint received 2017-09-09
Company: Ditech Financial LLC
State: IL
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
XXXX/XXXX/XXXX Re : Ditech Financial - Failure To Pay Property Taxes To whom it may concern, I was notified by Ditech that my loan payment was changing due to an escrow surplus of {$6800.00} from my mortgage statement date of XXXX/XXXX/XXXX. Ditech listed my loan as tax exempt ; my property is not exempt from taxes. 

I then started calling Ditech regularly beginning XXXX/XXXX/XXXX to resolve the discrepancy between the exemption status and my loan payment. It was at this time that I researched my loan parcel through the county, only to uncover that Ditech had n't paid the first installment of my taxes due in the amount of {$3100.00}, there was a penalty amount of {$140.00} on top of the amount due and the second installment was due in the amount of {$3100.00}. I 'm also in the process of refinancing this loan to a more affordable monthly payment with a new lender, and in order to close this refinance the tax bill had to be paid. 

I spoke to XXXX on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX who said the county said I was tax exempt, but I explained to her that the documents Ditech received that said I was exempt from taxes were read wrong. The year prior, the XXXX asked for 136 sq ft of my property, to widen the road in front of my house. The little bit of land XXXX less than 3 ft ) was tax exempt, NOT my whole house. 

I spoke to XXXX at the county assessor 's office to help clarify the issue, he said Ditech was provided the appropriate documents to pay the taxes due, that they clearly explained the parcel number change and that only a small portion of the parcel is tax exempt ( the 3 ft in front of the house ). The county provided the updated parcel number to Ditech along with the documents necessary which show the taxes due. 

I then spent the next month and a half on the phone for hours on end to help Ditech pay the unpaid tax bill with phone calls on XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX ... hours on top of hours to rectify the escrow account, pay the taxes and correct my loan. I have spoken to XXXX XXXX a XXXX  in the XXXX, TX XXXX XXXX ), XXXX XXXX a XXXX too XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX also a XXXX in the XXXX XXXX ). I have had several escrow account reviews, all of which are incorrect, with the initial review showing a surplus to now a shortage in epic proportions. 

During the course of my phone calls to rectify the unpaid tax bill, I requested the surplus check in the amount of {$6800.00} to be returned to me on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX so that I could pay the unpaid tax bill myself. I received the check on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX and paid the tax bill on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX in the amount of {$6300.00}. Proof of payment is attached. My escrow account at the time my surplus check was received had a balance of {$670.00} XXXX this was my money leftover after the funds were distributed to me XXXX. 

On XXXX/XXXX/XXXX - Ditech then advanced my escrow account {$5700.00}, paid my taxes a SECOND time, thereby using the balance of my money in the account of {$670.00} and what they advanced me to drain my escrow account and pay the taxes I already paid, causing a huge shortage. 

I have been diligently keeping track of my escrow account and when I saw this duplicate payment I immediately notified them. I was told it would take 30 plus days to request the check back from the county, receive it and correct the escrow - but I do n't have 30 plus days to wait, so I put a stop payment on the original payment I made and asked the tax county to apply Ditech 's check to pay the taxes. 

At this point, because of the escrow advance of {$5700.00}, my escrow account now stands in a SHORTAGE OF {$9000.00}! I was notified I have two options to reduce this : option 1 is to pay the shortage of {$9000.00} and the other is to spread it out over 12 months thereby increasing my mortgage payment to {$2700.00}. 

This is completely unacceptable. I will lose my house, lose this refinance opportunity, all because Ditech read the tax documents wrong, refused to pay the tax parcel bills, refused to pay the penalty of {$140.00}, refused to correct my escrow account and now I 'm in a shortage of {$9000.00}! This company has no moral backing, every person I have spoken to knows nothing of what is going on, I have been unsuccessful at rectifying the lender 's mistake and now it will cost me my house. 

This is my last ditch effort, before I hire an attorney. My lender has been entrusted to pay my tax bill with the escrow money I put in monthly, only to take it upon themselves to refuse to pay the bill, refuse to correct their error, and then change my normal mortgage payment of {$1700.00} to {$1100.00} and now up to {$2700.00} because of their negligence handling my escrow funds. 

I would like Ditech to reimburse my escrow the money they " loaned '' me, in the amount of {$5700.00} along with the {$670.00} I had in there, totaling {$6300.00}. The error was made by them, they should run a new review of my escrow account after they replace the funds and correct my loan payment.

Company public response: Company believes complaint represents an opportunity for improvement to better serve consumers
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation