Consumer complaint received 2020-09-08
Company: Flagstar Bank, N.A.
State: NJ
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
I am opening another complaint today, XX/XX/XXXX, in relation to the one I opened on XX/XX/XXXX - # XXXX. The mortgage company ( Flagstar ) replied and closed the issue on XX/XX/XXXX but 2 months after I did not receive the money they said I was supposed to get back. I contacted the insurance company ( XXXX XXXX ) that is supposed to give me the money and they are saying a different thing from what the mortgage company is saying. Flagstar said Im supposed to get the money from the insurance company but they did not give the name of the person I can contact to confirm. Nothing. Something is wrong somewhere. Somebody got that money and need to return it back to me. It is MY hard earned money!

Flagstar, you need to setup a 3-way call with me and the insurance company to confirm everyone is on the same page and provide me a specific date when I would get the money. Give me the name of people responsible for processing and giving me back my money. This has been open for almost 1 year now. 


For reference here is the detail I wrote on the first complaint - I was double charged on my escrow for the home insurance payment last year - {$800.00} on XX/XX/XXXX and then {$810.00} on XXXX XXXX. My husband and I tried contacting the Mortgage Company ( Flagstar ) to see what happened - apparently the first check issued ( {$800.00} on XXXX ) is not enough to cover the total due amount. Flagstar issued a second check on XX/XX/XXXX for {$810.00}. Flagstar deducted both in our escrow. On one of the calls Flagstar was saying both checks has been cashed in by the insurance company ( XXXX XXXX ) based on their records. On another call where I was with XXXX XXXX ( insurance company ) and Flagstar Bank XXXX mortgage company ) - XX/XX/XXXX sometime XXXX to XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX confirmed they did not cash in the other check ( {$800.00} ) and the representative from Flagstar Bank confirmed that the other check was not cashed in. Flagstar said they will check with their department. Maybe 2 to 3 weeks after that my husband called and he was able to talk to a team leader from Flagstar - the team leader said they will try to ask approval for a refund from their leadership/upper management. Today, XX/XX/XXXX, I did a follow up on the refund request and the representative I talked to didn't even tell me anything about it. He said they'll have to contact the insurance company again. It's like they don't keep a trail of what is happening in our case or they just want us to run in circles. I asked him what the status of the refund request was, and that's the only time he said it was rejected! He was purposely leaving out that information from me, it is so frustrating. I work fair, I pay fair, and I live fair. I just want back the money that is rightfully mine. Up to this day we did not receive anything - not a check in the mail or not a refund in our online account.

And this is the reply I got from Flagstar when they closed the issue without really resolving it - XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, NJ XXXX CFPB Complaint ID : XXXX Dear Ms. XXXX : We received your letter from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ( CFPB ) regarding your home loan. 
We understand the disappointment with us, and we apologize for your experience. As you indicate in your letter, two insurance payments were sent by Flagstar to pay for your insurance. On XX/XX/XXXX, the first payment of {$800.00} was sent to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, your insurance carrier. On XX/XX/XXXX, we received a second bill from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX for {$810.00} and a disbursement was made from your escrow account. 
Prior to receiving your letter from the CFPB, we reached out to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX on multiple occasions to collect a refund of the duplicate payment on your behalf ; however, our attempts were unsuccessful. Upon receipt of your letter, we made additional efforts to reach out. On XX/XX/XXXX, they informed us the payment was located and a refund would be processed and sent to you directly. We encourage you to send the funds to us to be applied to your escrow shortage. The funds can be remitted to us at the address on the attached statement. Once the funds are sent, please feel free to call me directly, Monday-Friday XXXX XXXX XXXX. ET, so we can have your escrow account analyzed again and get your payment updated. 
Once again, we apologize, and we thank you for your business and the opportunity to serve you.

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