Consumer complaint received 2021-03-16
Company: Flagstar Bank, N.A.
State: WI
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
I received a delinquent property tax bill in the mail from my local government on XX/XX/2021. The following business day XX/XX/2021 I contacted Flagstar Bank via their customer service line. The customer representative informed me that my tax payment was dispersed from my escrow account to a city I do not live in that is in a different county. I told the customer service representative that I do not pay taxes there, so she instructed me to email my tax bill to their tax department email address. I did so immediately. 

Since then I have continued to follow up with their customer service line about this issue, since I was initially informed it would take around 5 days to resolve. I made calls to Flagstar Bank XXXXs customer service line on the following days : XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. Multiple times I have asked to speak with someone in the tax or escrow department, but I've been continually informed that that is not possible. 

Through these calls I discovered that the tax code Flagstar Bank had made a tax payment to was incorrect. I located the parcel description for the tax code Flagstar had associated with my account in addition to my own property description and emailed both supporting documents to Flagstar Bank on XX/XX/XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted the local government of the incorrect tax code, and they informed me that a payment was received by them in my name for that tax payment. However, they informed me that the owners ' of that property had received a property tax refund from them because of the excess funds sent from Flagstar Bank in my name. They suggested I work with my mortgage servicer to recover the funds. 

During the first week of XXXX I received my escrow analysis from Flagstar Bank. The escrow analysis was based on the incorrect tax amount and required additional funds to make up for the escrow shortage caused by the incorrect tax payment. Because of these errors my escrow payment is set to increase approximately {$360.00} each month. I contacted Flagstar Bank 's customer service line about this increase. I asked if we I could forgo escrow payments until the issue was resolved. They informed me that I could not. I asked if I could continue to pay my original escrow amount until the issue was resolved. They informed that I could not do that either. The only solution they could offer was waiving my entire mortgage payment for XX/XX/XXXX if the issue isn't resolved. I do not wish to do that as I would prefer to continue to pay my principle and interest to avoid paying additional interest because of this issue. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email from Flagstar Bank that my tax case has been resolved. At the time additional funds were removed from my escrow account to for taxes. 

As of XX/XX/XXXX, I have confirmed with my local government that my property taxes are still unpaid. My escrow account is negative because of the erroneous tax payment. I've received no information from Flagstar Bank of the steps they are taking to resolve this issue. Ive received no assurance that the money removed from my escrow account in error will be returned to me. At this point the total money removed from my escrow account is greater than down payment on my home. Flagstar Banks handling of this issue has caused significant financial stress for me. During my time trying to resolve this issue Ive experienced severe migraines and have had trouble focusing at work.

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