Consumer complaint received 2022-03-23
Company: Flagstar Bank, N.A.
State: CA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
My mortgage company ( Flagstar Bank XXXX has continually treated me with disrespect and made decisions without my consent or knowledge. 

They purchased my mortgage and began servicing it in XXXX, but they did not reach out to me or my property manager. My old lender forwarded payments for three months but ceased doing so then, and I got calls about an overdue payment on my home to a bank that I had never heard of. My credit was affected. 

Last year ( XXXX ) they claimed I was late on my taxes, however my county shuts down their online payment system for several months. My check sat in the mail room during this time, as the office was closed due to COVID. Official records listed my payment as late, even though it was in the mail room the whole time. 

They instigated an escrow account to pay my taxes, and once they did ( and the online payment option with my county was restored ) I immediately paid the full balance and instructed the county to return the check to me. However, Flagstar refused to remove the escrow account, stating that because I was late on my taxes ( i wasn't! ) they had to collect it according to the terms of my mortgage. Since I paid online as soon as I realized the check had not been cashed, my payment data was listed several months later, despite the fat that I had paid well within the allotted timeframe, my check just hadn't been cashed. 

They began charging additional money to cover escrow balance- but they still continued with automatic payments for the mortgage payments alone, on top of the payments I was making for the new balance! I discovered this months later, and had to fight with them every step of the way to get my money returned to me. They kept applying it to the principal, which I did not consent to. And several times I was told that overpayments would be applied to my monthly payments, but that turned out to be a lie as well, and I had to start the whole process over again a second time. 

Finally, the escrow amount calculated was nearly three times what it should have been. I pointed out the error earlier this month and I had to wait two weeks for a clarification, and they made a mistake in calculating my monthly amount due. I demanded my money returned to me. 

Today I got a call saying that money money would be returned, but not the correct amount, about {$1300.00} dollars short. I asked why the discrepancy and I was todl that it was a " cushion ''. They have taken money from me again for a use I have not consented to, yet again! 

I am filing paperwork with them to stop my escrow account but I do not imagine they will agree to do so. At every turn I've been told that no exceptions can be made because " that's how the system works ''. When filing complaints I get calls from people not in those departments who do not have the information I need or the authority to fix anything. Half the time they are rude and blame me for the problems their mistakes cause. 

They have proven themselves to be unsuited for the task of servicing my mortgage.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation