Consumer complaint received 2021-08-17
Company: Mr. Cooper Group Inc.
State: VA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
On XX/XX/2021, after returning from a 5-week trip abroad ( XXXX XXXX XXXX, 2021 ), I discovered that my mortgage company, Mr. Cooper, had failed to pay the first half of the real estate tax on my property, which was due to the City of XXXX, VA, on XX/XX/2021. The amount to have been paid amounted to {$4300.00}, which includes {$4100.00} for real estate tax, {$44.00} for stormwater fee, and {$230.00} for refuse fee. In my absence from the country, the Department of Finance of the City of XXXX had sent a letter, dated XX/XX/2021, notifying me of the mortgage company 's non-payment. The letter also included an updated real estate tax bill in which the City of XXXX had extended the deadline for payment until XX/XX/2021. 

Upon my return from the airport on XX/XX/2021, I saw the above-mentioned notification of non-payment, and I immediately logged into my mortgage account with Mr. Cooper, and saw that the escrow balance remained unchanged and that indeed they had not paid the real estate taxes. What is more, I saw that both the amounts and the dates Mr. Cooper had on the webpage for the real estate taxes were completely wrong. 

I telephoned Mr. Cooper 's customer service and told them that the real estate taxes had not been paid and that the amounts and dates they had were erroneous. The customer service representative provided me with an e-mail address ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) of a third-party, XXXX XXXX, that apparently pays the real estate taxes for the mortgages Mr. Cooper holds, and instructed me to send an e-mail to XXXX XXXX asking for immediate payment of the real estate taxes along with the cooresponding real estate tax bill. I sent this e-mail to the address provided along with the real estate tax bill that very day. In my e-mail to XXXX XXXX, dated XX/XX/2021, I requested payment of the real estate taxes by XX/XX/2021, and that they update the real estate tax information to correctly reflect the amounts due both for taxes as well as storm water and refuse fees. 

I followed up on the matter on XX/XX/2021, calling Mr. Cooper once again to ensure that XXXX XXXX had received my e-mail and the real estate tax had been paid or would be paid by the extended deadline -- i.e., XX/XX/2021. I was informed that XXXX XXXX would be paying on XX/XX/2021. I stated that this was unacceptable as this meant, ( a ) the City of XXXX would be imposing penalties and interest as from XX/XX/2021, and ( b ) that my credit history would be damaged. The representative responded that Mr. Cooper would take care of the penalties and interest if it was their fault. I replied that this was all well and good, but that the damage to my credit history would not be taken care of. 

I again called on XX/XX/2021, and after being told by the customer representative that there was nothing she could do and I would just have to accept that the taxes would be paid late, I insisted on speaking to someone else. I was referred to the escalations department. The representative at the escalations department said she would send another message to XXXX XXXX requesting that it pay the real estate taxes on XX/XX/2021. She also said she would personally follow-up with me on XX/XX/2021, to inform me about the situation. 

On XX/XX/2021, after not receiving any phone call from the Mr. Cooper 's escalation department, I called Mr. Cooper yet again. The representative informed me that the taxes would be paid on XX/XX/2021, as despite my insistence on timely payment of my real estate taxes, the timeframes established could not be shortened and that my request for payment had only been sent on Friday, XX/XX/2021. I informed the representative that this was completely untrue ; rather, I had originally called and requested timely payment of the taxes on XX/XX/2021, both by phone and in writing. I further informed the representative that I would be paying the taxes myself that day ( XX/XX/2021 ) in order to avoid irreparable harm to my credit history. I was then told that XXXX XXXX would likewise be paying the real estate taxes nonetheless on XX/XX/2021 because at this point it was too late to reverse the order. 

Mr. Cooper 's lack of responsiveness to this issue, despite my repeated attempts, is unacceptable and clearly shows its incompetence and indifference. Thus, I was forced to pay the real estate taxes myself using funds in my personal checking account on XX/XX/2021 in order to preserve my good credit standing.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation