Consumer complaint received 2017-02-17
Company: FIFTH THIRD FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: IL
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: FHA mortgage
Issue: Loan servicing, payments, escrow account

Complaint:
Hello, My issue revolves around a shortage in my escrow account with my bank Fifth Third ( XXXX IL ), and I have kept all of my paperwork and documentation possible regarding this entire issue, I will not be attaching all of it as it includes my original paperwork when signing for the home ( so please do n't feel as if I do not have documentation to provide ). The numbers I used were rounded numbers, but I can give exact numbers as requested. 

My issue began 4-5 months ago when I received 2 letters in them ail on the same day, one included a check of XXXX dollar as an overage in my account, and another raising my payments do to a shortage in my account ( both letter received on the same day ). I attempted to redeposit the overage in an attempt to not only keep from being short but to keep my payment from raising. They told me legally they are unable to take it back even though my account was in a shortage. They also made sure to tell me it was due to tax and insurance premiums increasing, which I have documentation stating neither have been raised. 
A few months pass and I dealt with my {$15.00} increased monthly payment and I receive a letter from the county stating my second installment of taxes have not been paid, and If not paid within 2 week my house will be taken. I called my bank to find out they had a mistake and it will be taken care of, also that this mistake happened to everyone else 's taxes they manage. ( as another bit of information I talked to the county and found out every time my taxes have been paid they have been late ). The taxes were paid after 1 week and I suspected all was in the green until I received a letter from my bank stating I now have a shortage equal to the amount paid on my taxes of XXXX. I called my bank to find out and was told I can pay it in full or over a 12 months cycle ( neither of which I felt was fair ). This was going to raise my payment another {$90.00} a month on top of the {$15.00} a month 2-3 months prior. I did return the shortage I was given in order to set things correct but it did not effect the shortage hardly at all. I had returned {$650.00} and had 4 increased payments and I was still being told I was short {$900.00}. 
At this point I have had my loan for roughly 1 year 3 months and at this point in time I have accumulated over a {$1200.00} shortage, had 2 late tax payments, had my payment changed 3 times, all because my taxes and insurance supposedly increased. 

I would not accept that answer when I possessed documentation that said otherwise. I spent the next 2 almost 3 months speaking to a dozen representatives including the bank manager where I received the load and supervisor of escrow accounts at corporate to find out that the bank was unaware there were XXXX tax installments a year in my county and had made a calculation mistake with my escrow and was not billing me appropriately. With this mistake I was not being billed appropriately to accommodate these taxes. My paperwork states how much my taxes for the year would be and somewhere along the line it was not set up correctly to comply with my escrow account requirements. 
The supervisor with my bank told me although they made this mistake the taxes are still my responsibility and I have to fix the shortage. I fully agree these are my taxes and my responsibility, but I do not feel that a XXXX math calculation when they had all the information to correctly set a payment is unacceptable. 
I have been lied to ( or told incorrectly by a misinformed employee ) in many different situations, Treated as if I was crazy for being upset over a small {$1200.00}, and even told by my the bank manager my taxes and insurance have increased and I am just going to have to deal with that.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation