Consumer complaint received 2020-12-08
Company: AmeriHome Mortgage Company, LLC
State: GA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
XX/XX/2020 CC : XXXX XXXX, Amerihome CEO ; XXXX XXXX, Amerihome COO ; XXXX XXXX, Amerihome CRO ; XXXX XXXX, Amerihome EVP Head of Operations U.S. Representative XXXX XXXX U.S. Senator XXXX U.S. Senator XXXX XXXX XXXX, Co-mortgagee To Whom It May Concern : I have now had three, very long, phone conversations with Amerihome Mortgage representatives ( Account Number XXXX ) about my property insurance bill with XXXX ( Policy Number : XXXX ). To date, Amerihome failed to pay the bill on time from my escrow on three separate occasions. The bill is now three months past due, and my homeowner 's insurance has been canceled twice because of Amerihomes violation of Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act 12 U.S.C.A. 2605. Once, which resulted in us unknowingly having no insurance in place during a hurricane. 

History of Events : XX/XX/2020 - We switched our homeowner insurance provider to XXXX. I notified Amerihome Mortgage by phone and submitted the amended declaration form through XXXX that day. 

XX/XX/2020 I rendered payment in the amount of {$1100.00} to my Amerihome escrow account to cover the new homeowners insurance bill. 

XX/XX/2020 - I was notified by my new homeowners insurance company, XXXX, that the bill was never paid. I contacted Amerihome mortgage and spoke with a representative in the insurance unit that assured me a check was being sent to XXXX that day. We verified all billing information was correct and was documented appropriately in my loan administration portal, as well as on XXXX XX/XX/2020 My homeowners insurance policy was canceled for failure to pay. 

XX/XX/2020 My home was hit by Hurricane Zeta XX/XX/2020 - I was notified by XXXX they never received payment from Amerihome and had canceled my insurance policy. I called Amerihome and again spoke with a representative in the insurance unit. The Amerihome representative and I conference called with my XXXX homeowners insurance agent that afternoon. We begged for the policy to be extended so it would not have to be reissued. After obtaining supervisor approval XXXX extended the policy The Amerihome representative assured the XXXX agents and I that he was faxing over information right then and sending a check by priority mail that day. He left extensive notes in my file to document the conversation. We again, verified all billing information and declaration forms were correct. 

XX/XX/2020 - I received yet another message from XXXX that Amerihome Mortgage had STILL not sent a payment and that they are again canceling my homeowners insurance policy. I called Amerihome Mortgage again tonight ( XX/XX/2020 ) and spoke with yet another Amerihome representative in the insurance unit. The individual could see all of the notes in the account and verified that Amerihome yet again failed to send payment. The representative had no idea why Amerihome and yet again failed to send the payment. We triple checked to ensure that all policy information was correct. I can see in my Amerihome loan administration portal that all of the billing information is accurate. We went into XXXX and again verified all of that information was correct again. 

XX/XX/2020 - In order to stop XXXX from, rightfully, canceling my homeowner 's insurance, again because Amerihome is now three months past due on the bill, I paid the minimum due for the policy out of pocket. Proof of that payment is attached to this email, as is the latest amended declaration. 

Violation of RESPA : The state of this is an extremely poor reflection on Amerihome Mortgage. Not to mention, this significant failure means that Amerihome is in violation of the duty of care responsibility under the RESPA 12 U.S.C.A. 2605, for failure to pay a bill out of escrow by the deadline. Further, this issue could have opened Amerihome up to huge liability and risk. After Amerihome said that they were sending payment in the conversation on XX/XX/2020 and failed to do so by the deadline, my insurance was canceled on XX/XX/2020 for failure to pay ; two days prior to my home being hit by a hurricane on XX/XX/2020. I had no knowledge that the insurance was canceled due to Amerihomes failure to pay when we weathered the hurricane. My home sustained no damage from the storm, luckily, because Amerihome would have been liable under section f ( 4 ) which states : ( 4 ) Nonliability A transferor or transferee servicer shall not be liable under this subsection for any failure to comply with any requirement under this section if, within 60 days after discovering an error ( whether pursuant to a final written examination report or the servicer 's own procedures ) and before the commencement of an action under this subsection and the receipt of written notice of the error from the borrower, the servicer notifies the person concerned of the error and makes whatever adjustments are necessary for the appropriate account to ensure that the person will not be required to pay an amount in excess of any amount that the person otherwise would have paid. 

Further, we were charged a {$5.00} fee for the nonpayment and our insurance premium increased by over {$40.00} ; both of which are further violations of RESPA. The communication we have received from XXXX about these issues is attached. 

As a policy and financial crisis scholar, I strongly recommend that Amerihome view this incident as a symptom of a systemic problem that is creating a significant source of liability for the company. Take time to evaluate what has gone wrong, and fix it. I, for one, will be filing paperwork to eliminate my escrow account and doing everything I can to move my mortgage from Amerihome in the very near future. I am submitting a complaint with the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau of this issue and filing a complaint with the XXXX XXXX XXXX. 

Respectfully, XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX  .

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation