Consumer complaint received 2023-08-15
Company: Mr. Cooper Group Inc.
State: CA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
RE : Mr. Cooper Loan Number XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, TX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( Borrower ) XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX CA XXXX TO WHOM IT XXXX CONCERN : This letter is intended to file a complaint against Mr. Cooper for XXXX to make timely payment for homeowners insurance on the above referenced loan pursuant to the mortgage agreement between XXXX XXXX ( borrower ) and Mr. Cooper ( XXXX ) as required CFR 12 1024.17 and for charging borrower {$84.00} for force-placed insurance when there was in fact no such purchase of said insurance. 

Mr. Cooper serviced the mortgage for borrowers property located at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, CA XXXX in XXXX XXXX XXXX, California. The mortgage was sold to a new servicer effective XX/XX/XXXX. 

The following is a cut and paste of a Qualified Written Request-Notice of Error sent to Mr. Cooper dated XX/XX/XXXX : Notice of Error : This communication addresses XXXX XXXX failure XXXX make timely payment for homeowners insurance on the above referenced loan pursuant to the mortgage agreement between the borrower ( XXXXXX ) and Mr. Cooper ( XXXX ) and as required in XXXX XXXX XXXX. This failure resulted in cancellation of XXXXXXs homeowners insurance ( inclusive of fire coverage ) and the servicers purchase of force-placed insurance for the period between cancellation of the previous policy and issuance of a new one. 

The financial impact to XXXX was that her new costs for insurance were greatly increased in perpetuity. See figures below. 

Previous cost through XXXX XXXX : {$1200.00} annually. 
New fire policy through XXXX  XXXX XXXX : {$2500.00} annually. 
New homeowners policy ( exclusive of fire coverage ) through XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX : {$1100.00} annually. 
Total annual cost for two new policies to provide a comparable level same level of protection : {$3600.00} annually. 
Difference between the previous policy and the two new policies : {$2400.00} annually. 

Adding to the error, Mr. Cooper notified XXXX that evidence of coverage during the lapse period must be provided to them or a charge of {$84.00} for force-placed insurance coverage would be billed to her. 

In neither circumstance, failure to pay the insurance nor the placement of force-placed insurance, did Mr. Cooper have XXXX reasonable basis to believe either XXXXXXs hazard insurance had been cancelled ( or was not renewed ) for any reason. This assertion is indisputable for the following reasons : According to XXXX XXXX XXXX, they sent the related documents to Mr. Cooper on approximately XX/XX/XXXX. 
Having lost that correspondence, Mr. Cooper contacted XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX at approximately XXXX am requesting same. The same day, XXXX XXXX responded by email at approximately XXXX pm, providing the requested information. 
Having received notice from XXXX XXXX that payment had not been received, XXXX called Mr. Cooper on the insurance due date ( XX/XX/XXXX ) to ensure the payment had been processed or would be paid in the required timely manner. The call-taker assured XXXX the payment would be made as required and stated Mr. Cooper would XXXX any associated, additional fees. She made no reference to any condition that would interfere with that process. In short, Mr. Cooper had no reasonable basis for belief that a cancellation had taken place for any reason. 

XXXX received a notice of cancellation dated XX/XX/XXXX from XXXX XXXX that stated the policy had expired due to no receipt of payment. XXXX called Mr. Cooper and spoke to a call-taker who identified herself as XXXX. XXXX said Mr. Cooper did not receive an invoice for payment and inquiries to XXXX XXXX were not responded to. This assertion was inconsistent with the comments of the call-taker on XX/XX/XXXX who stated the payment would be made ; making no reference to any hindrance to that happening even while looking at the loan files and is in conflict with XXXX XXXX records of activity on the affected file. 

Qualified Written Request : XXXX requests copies of all correspondence ( handwritten or electronic in any form, records of attempted and/or incomplete, completed, recorded messages/phone calls between servicers employees and XXXX XXXX and between XXXX XXXX and XXXXXX ) and all records/documentations ( handwritten or electronic in any form ) created and added to the mortgage loan record by servicers employees for the purpose of recording any and all activity related to loan number # XXXX. Also, XXXX requests all documentation for the force-placed insurance for the affected loan number including the name of the insurance carrier, all correspondence between Mr. Cooper and the insurance carrier relative to the affected loan number, the name ( s ) of all Mr. Cooper employees and the representative ( s ) of the insurance carrier involved in a transaction for the purchase of force-pay insurance, all documents related to the purchase and placement of force-placed insurance on the affected loan and any payment/billing invoice and payment record for said force-placed insurance. 

Resolution : XXXX also requests the steps Mr. Cooper proposes to compensate for the increase in insurance cost caused by the error ( including removal of the improper charge for force-placed insurance ) and to make assurances that no negative notation arising from this matter will appear in her loan file. 

In responding to XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) asserted no error had occurred on their behalf and declined to provide specific documentation to support that claim. He also asserted that because no error had occurred and XXXX  XXXX XXXX insurance lapsed, that force placed insurance was an appropriate action. 

Items XXXX supplied were : Insurance Information received on XX/XX/XXXX [ There is no document that establishes the content of XXXX XXXX request to Modern American. If as XXXX claims, this information was received on XX/XX/XXXX, it might be accurately responsive to what was incorrectly requested by Mr. Cooper. 

XXXX declined to provide any documentation of this request despite XXXX  specific request for all correspondence ( handwritten or electronic in any form, records of attempted and/or incomplete, completed, recorded messages/phone calls between servicers employees and XXXX XXXX and between servicers employees and XXXX  ). 

Neither is there a record of the date received other than Gaynors claim that it was received in response to XXXX XXXX request on XX/XX/XXXX. This is a document that would have been in XXXX XXXX possession since the previous service year. Also, there is no objective information that validates XXXX claim of the date of receipt. ] XXXX XXXX dated XX/XX/XXXX [ This letter asserts XXXX XXXX right to purchase force-placed insurance and threatens such action. It was already in XXXX  possession. ] XXXX XXXX dated XX/XX/XXXX [ This letter reasserts this right, calling the action an insurance charge of {$84.00}, an action that does not appear in the code and references the period of time that the coverage was in effect. Read together, these suggest force-placed insurance had in fact been purchased. It was already in XXXX  possession. ] XXXX XXXX dated XX/XX/XXXX [ This letter was the XXXX and XXXX Notice for the matter in discussion. Stating in pertinent part it reads, We will charge you for insurance we plan to buy contradicting the previous suggestion that the coverage was in effect during the relevant period of time. This letter was already in XXXX  possession. ] XXXX XXXX dated XX/XX/XXXX This document codified nothing in the matter and amounted to little more than static in the discussion. 

Gaynors and thereby XXXX XXXX response fell woefully short of providing the information requested that would either validate XXXX claims or impeach them as false. The items of which XXXX was silent were : Copies of all correspondence ( handwritten or electronic in any form, records of attempted and/or incomplete, completed, recorded messages/phone calls between servicers employees and XXXX XXXX and between XXXX XXXX and XXXX  ). 

XXXX responded to the specific dates where XXXX asserted communication with XXXX XXXX representative and claims there are no records that support XXXX  assertion that she in fact called them. XXXX  request was made however with XXXX  understanding that although the dates should be accurate, the chronology was reconstructed after the fact and could be flawed. That is the very reason XXXX  request was broadly made to include all correspondenceetc. Mr. Cooper ( XXXX ) was unresponsive to this request. 

The request for calls would include those made to Mr. Cooper where the outgoing message on the phone tree explicitly assured the calling party if their call was in regard to an unpaid insurance impound payment, there was no need for concern as those payments would be paid by Mr. Cooper as required. That message is no longer accessible on the phone tree. 

Finally on this bullet, XXXX claims in his letter to XXXX there is no record of the calls asserted to have been made. It is laughable to suggest that XXXX received notice of cancellation and took no action whatsoever. XXXX claim of no record of the calls no doubt reflects a very narrow query intended to discredit XXXX  complaint instead of getting to the bottom of the problem. 

Copies of all records/documentations ( handwritten or electronic in any form ) created and added to the mortgage loan record by servicers employees for the purpose of recording any and all activity related to loan number # XXXX. 

Common loan industry practice is to enter information into a loan file records ( notes ) of conversations, requests for information, interactions with involved persons, placeholders for informationetc. to ensure that all relevant information is available for use from a dated, objective repository upon need to avoid relying on the unreliable recollection of employees responsible for vast amounts of information stored across a wide range of records.

All documentation for the force-placed insurance for the affected loan number including the name of the insurance carrier, all correspondence between Mr. Cooper and the insurance carrier relative to the affected loan number, the name ( s ) of all Mr. Cooper employees and the representative ( s ) of the insurance carrier involved in a transaction for the purchase of force-pay insurance, all documents related to the purchase and placement of force-placed insurance on the affected loan and any payment/billing invoice and payment record for said force-placed insurance. Mr. Cooper ( XXXX ) was unresponsive to this request. 

There is no evidence articulated or provided by Mr. Cooper or its Customer Relations XXXX, XXXX XXXX that verifies the actual purchase of force-placed insurance. Notwithstanding the fact that the evidence of insurance XXXX requested is precisely the same as that requested by Mr. Cooper and its representative, XXXX XXXX ; Mr. Cooper ( XXXX ) was nonetheless unresponsive to this request. In the absence of a lawfully authorized and purchased forced placed coverage, this charge is nothing more than a fine or penalty levied by Mr. Cooper with no lawful authority to do so. 

At the very least, this practice although not authorized under RESPA is clearly the default practice of Mr. Cooper. The greater problem however is the likelihood that this practice is part of a greater abuse by mortgage servicers nationwide. I suspect this is an aspect of mortgage industry practices that is likely to be the subject of much abuse by the industry and flies under the radar of the overwhelming number of consumers who fall prey to the it. Consumers are expected to naively accept that charges are appropriate or authorized simply because they have been levied. If the mortgage industry as a whole engages in the practice of charging the consumer for a product when no such actual product has been purchased, the consumer is being defrauded of precious financial resources. 

XXXX ( XXXX ) document provided by XXXX that if read correctly suggests a gross absence of due diligence on the part of XXXX XXXX servicing employees. The page acknowledges receipt of a document from XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX ( XXXX days before the expiration of the existing policy ) and the archive filing of the same document on XXXX, XXXX, XXXX. At no time, does XXXX assert on XXXX XXXX behalf that any employee attempted to contact XXXX  of XXXX XXXX difficulty in obtaining a response from American Modern. Adding to the irony of that, each and every time XXXX has called XXXX XXXX, even after cancellation, she has been able to reach an employee who was informative and helpful and provided the information now challenged by Mr. Cooper. 

XXXX requests a reasonable remedy for the circumstances and costs resulting from XXXX XXXX failure to meet its contractual and regulatory obligations. 

Very Truly Yours, XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation