Consumer complaint received 2022-03-10
Company: Mr. Cooper Group Inc.
State: SC
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
Our beach house is located on XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, SC XXXX. We purchased the home on XX/XX/XXXX. At the time of preparing the purchase, we acquired insurance from SC XXXX XXXX for this home. That insurance was added as part of the package for the mortgage and paid for at closing. Our loan required an escrow account to be established, and the escrow payment was added to principle and interest payment to determine a monthly payment for the loan. However, when the renewals were sent by SC XXXX XXXX XXXX, only the standard home owners policy and flood policy were paid. This resulted in an overage within the Escrow account. Mr. Cooper refunded {$5000.00}. I questioned why? I was told about the practices associated with Escrow and how they were required by law to refund excess dollars. I then spoke with my insurance agent, XXXX XXXX, regarding the coverages and payments. We then noticed that XXXX XXXX XXXX   policy had not been paid. When we inquired to the SC XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, we were told that while it was billed to the Mortgagor, but yet unpaid. The policy was to lapse on XX/XX/XXXX @ XXXX. We started calling Mr. Cooper customer service line, and got no resolution, finally were able to speak with a customer service representative in their insurance office. Who stated that while the bill was received, it was not " required '' insurance and therefore could not be paid out of escrow. After this conversation, were able to reach out to our agent ( XXXX XXXX ) again, and determine that it was required when the mortgage was established and had been paid from the proceeds of the closing via the closing attorney. So we returned to calling Mr. Cooper and their insurance department, which is apparently a different company, and provided them with the above information and the policy number. This time, the representative was able verify that we are required to have hurricane coverage. We were promised that the payment would now be made and expedited. However, XX/XX/XXXX due date came and went with no payment received. XXXX XXXX reached out to Mr. Cooper on XX/XX/XXXX and was told that the payment was denied again, and no real reason was given. I spoke to two different CSRs and was told by both that it was being processed. However, after being placed on hold, the first CSR dropped my call because of not hearing any response from me when she came back. She then stated that she would call my home phone which is the number associated with my Mr. Cooper account and leave a voicemail ( I could hear her talking and typing but she stated she could not hear me ). However, that voicemail was never delivered to my mailbox. I called talked to my second CSR of the day. This very confident and boasty gentleman, stated that it was denied due to improper billing address. He stated that XXXX XXXX had requested the payment sent to his office, but that his office was not in their system. Mr. Cooper could only send the payment to a properly vetted address. However, he could send it to the same address as the standard policy, which they had already paid, and is the SC XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX, SC. XXXX XXXX stated that would be fine, as he would then have them accept and apply the payment. Then the CSR stated that in " full disclosure '' that if there were no additional problems, the check would be written tomorrow and probably reach SC XXXX XXXX no earlier than Monday XX/XX/XXXX, but no later than Wednesday XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX XXXX then called the SC XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and was told that the policy was in grace period, but full payment had to be received by Midnight XX/XX/XXXX, or the policy would cancel. Once cancelled there would be no coverage under that policy and we would be required to create a new policy with at least a 16 day waiting period. This new policy could not begin prior to the payment being made. So my options are : To make an immediate payment of {$4100.00}, and hope that I can get refunded/reimbursed by either Mr. Cooper, SC XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX 
Do nothing, but hope that Mr. Cooper gets payment applied prior to cancellation/lapse. Hope there is no event that would require coverage provided by the XXXX XXXX XXXX policy occurs. And if it does, pay for damage from my own resources. 
Any combination of the above steps. 

I find it very unprofessional that Mr. Cooper ( XXXX XXXX ) did not inform the Mortgagee that the invoice for the insurance had been sent to them, and they were not going to pay it. Regardless of the reason for nonpayment, they should have sent a notification to the Mortgagee ( me ). Additionally, if the company ( XXXX ) monitoring coverage and processing payment on behalf of Mr. Cooper did not think that they Wind & Hail coverage was necessary, then they should have sent either me ( Mortgagee ) or Mr. Cooper a notice that it was not needed and had been applied to the closing cost of the mortgage. If on the other hand, they knew that it was necessary and required by the Mortgagor but not listed in my portfolio, they should have notified Mr. Cooper to enforce their rights to coverage. This would have alert me to the problem of the wind & hail policy not being listed and known by Mr. Cooper. That notification would mean this could have been resolved prior to the expiration date, avoiding the possibility of a lapse in coverage, and more importantly me being faced with the above options.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation