Consumer complaint received 2017-01-12
Company: GATEWAY FIRST BANK
State: OK
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: FHA mortgage
Issue: Loan servicing, payments, escrow account

Complaint:
I financed my new home through Gateway Mortgage group. Everything has been okay the first few years until just recently. Back in XXXX I received a check from my old homeowner 's insurance company ( XXXX ) for the amount of {$2600.00}. This was odd to me so called XXXX. They stated it seemed that they had been overpaid for the insurance from my escrow account, and were returning the amount to me as I had switched to a new company through my work. They stated there was no balance for me and that the money was for me. Still skeptical I called my new insurance company to see if it was needed to cover anything that was not paid, they stated everything was paid to date and that the check was not needed. STILL skeptical I contacted Gateway Mortgage to make sure that I had not missed a payment I was unaware of, or to make sure that my escrow account was n't low or missing a needed amount. The service rep over the phone ran an escrow analysis and stated that it was paid up and I had no balances. I asked SPECIFICALLY if that money was needed to be placed into my escrow account, I was told no. My fianc also called the mortgage company to verify, and was told the same thing. I never heard anything else from the company. I used the money for XXXX and to help pay other bills needed. My payment for the year of XX/XX/XXXX had always been {$1100.00}. When I checked my bank on the morning of XX/XX/XXXX, the payment jumped to {$1400.00} with no warning. I went online and noticed that the change was in my escrow payment. I called the company and they stated that I was short ( what do you know ) around {$2600.00} in my escrow account. I immediately stopped the person and stated that I did n't know how that could be because I had already checked with the company about this specific matter ahead of time to save me the headache. She then stated, " you 're right I do see where you called about this, I am so sorry this happened. However, we are not able to advise you on how to spend that money. '' I then stated that if I called to specifically ask about placing the money in the escrow account, then you are not advising me, you are answering my question. I also stated the fact that a company would not look out for the best interest of their customer and tell me that that money should be placed in escrow in the event there is a shortage, is a failure of customer service. She stated that my escrow payment actually went down but I am now paying for the shortage. My fianc called a few days later and spoke with them about the issue again, he stated that we would pay the shortage because we could not afford the payment to go up that much, even though we did not feel at fault for this situation. The person on the phone stated that the total due amount may be lower and that they could run another analysis on the escrow to see what would need to be paid. I then get an email, stating that not only did they not run the analysis, but they are wanting to place my account on a 3 year repayment plan to pay off the difference. This is not what I asked for. So I attempted to email them again XX/XX/XXXX regarding the resolution to this issue that I never received. It is now XX/XX/XXXX and I have not been contacted except for an automated email stating they received my submission. I need this resolved before I have to pay my next mortgage on the XX/XX/XXXX and with them dragging their feet, I can tell this will not happen. This is why I am needing your help. I do not need anything refunded to me, I just ask that Gateway pay the difference in escrow needed as they advised me that I not need deposit the money I offered to them. I have made all payments on time and never have any disputes with them until now. This is not right and I want this resolved.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation