Consumer complaint received 2015-10-14
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: MD
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: FHA mortgage
Issue: Loan servicing, payments, escrow account

Complaint:
This is continued dispute of a previously documented case. 

XX/XX/XXXX I secured a mortgage with Bank of America XXXX FHA Home Loan XXXX as a first-time homebuyer. At the time I was offered free " debt protection '' for 1 year ; in the event I could not make a monthly payment on time, debt protection may apply.I was not provided adequate disclosure of the debt protection product given my knowledge as a consumer and the circumstances involved in securing a first-time homebuyers loan. It was not clearly explained to me what this did and did not cover, but I was advised to accept it due to its free nature. XX/XX/XXXX, I realized that I had been enrolled beyond the 1-year mark and was being charged a monthly fee via my escrow account. No communication had been made to me that I was auto-enrolled beyond the free " trial '' period. I had been billed for an extended period without my knowledge. Further, I also encountered difficulty paying my monthly installment around the same period ( I was a XXXX student prohibited from working and thus relying on savings and grants ). Realizing that I had " coverage '' without having known, I called customer service to request the debt protection and allow me some time to pay the installments without penalty. I was advised that debt protection did not apply to this scenario, only a select few ( that were likely not to happen ). 

As a consumer, the debt protection offering was presented in a way that favored BofA, and not me. My savings, credit, employment history were scrutinized very closely and thus it was fairly clear I was not going to need protection during the free 1-year period. Further, it is very unlikely a consumer will remember they opted for a free service, gone unused, after a full year. 

My issues are that I was 1 ) being charged for an add-on product that was marketed with a free trial, but information around the auto-enroll process at the end of the trial was not clearly conveyed either at the start of the trial or the end. It was added when I was signing a substantial amount of paperwork for a first-time homebuyer FHA loan. I was apparently sent XXXX piece of mail to inform me of the impending fees at the end of the trial ( I do not recall receiving this, but I have read the attachment ). It is not unreasonable to say that a single piece of what looks like marketing material would be insufficient to inform customers. I received much more notice, for example, when my mortgage was being transferred to a new financial institution. 2 ) My XXXX issue was my attempt to use the product prior to cancellation, but being told I was ineligible for the benefit.The terms and conditions were written in a manner that was not easily conveyed when signing a mortgage unless you were a lawyer. 

The bank offered a courtesy refund of XXXX months ; I appreciate that but I would like to request the entire amount charged over the period be refunded to me.

Company public response: Company chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief