Consumer complaint received 2017-04-11
Company: FRANKLIN AMERICAN MORTGAGE CO.
State: PA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional fixed mortgage
Issue: Loan servicing, payments, escrow account

Complaint:
I had an escrow account for my XXXX parcels of property. In XX/XX/XXXX I forwarded my county & school tax bills to Franklin American Mortgage Company for both parcels as instructed. In XX/XX/XXXX, I received a late tax bill from the county indicating that all taxes for XXXX of my parcels were unpaid. I called FAMC on XX/XX/XXXX & was told to mail the bill to FAMC and they would pay it & cover any late fees. I forwarded it as directed. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I received a delinquent tax notice & called XXXX & spoke to XXXX. I was given an e-mail address to send the bill to & told that it would be paid right away. I e-mailed the notice that day & called back on XX/XX/XXXX to follow up. I spoke with XXXX, who said they were in the process of confirming the tax assessment. On XX/XX/XXXX I called again & was told that the bill would definitely be paid by XX/XX/XXXX, the date on which the notice indicated additional fees would be added. I was assured that any fees were not my responsibility. On XX/XX/XXXX I called again & spoke with XXXX. He assured me that the bill would be paid by the next day & said he was escalating the issue. He advised me to call back on XX/XX/XXXX if I wanted to have confirmation that it was paid. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I spoke with XXXX, who told me that the tax bill had been paid in full all along & that she would mail me documentation indicating such. I made sure she was aware that there are XXXX parcels of property. That day I called my tax office to verify that the taxes had been paid. They told me that my second parcel had not been paid. On XX/XX/XXXX I called FAMC & asked for a supervisor. I spoke with XXXX, who said he would take care of it & call me back the following day. To date, I have not received a call back from him. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I mailed a QWR to FAMC explaining everything detailed above & asking that my overdue taxes be paid immediately. I also requested that once my XX/XX/XXXX overdue tax issue was resolved, I wished to waive my escrow account, because I did not wish to encounter issues with my XX/XX/XXXX taxes. I was clear that I was not absolving FAMC of their obligation to pay my XX/XX/XXXX taxes. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I received a notice from the county via certified mail that I still had delinquent taxes & that my property would be sold if they remained unpaid. I called FAMC once again & spoke with XXXX. She confirmed that my QWR had been received on XX/XX/XXXX. She did not explain why I was not notified in writing of receipt of it within 5 days, as is required by law. She asked me to e-mail this notice. I asked to speak with a supervisor & spoke with XXXX. She assured me that it would be resolved by XX/XX/XXXX & FAMC would cover any fees. I asked why this had taken so long to resolve & why I had been promised a call back previously, but had not gotten one. XXXX said that if for some reason, it was not resolved by XX/XX/XXXX, she would call me back by XX/XX/XXXX. To date, I have not received a call back from her. On XX/XX/XXXX, I e-mailed the notice as directed. I received a reply saying I would get a response within 24 hours. I did not receive a response until XX/XX/XXXX. In that e-mail, I was told that my escrow account had been waived on XX/XX/XXXX &, therefore, my taxes could not be paid & were my responsibility. I replied that that was unacceptable & contrary to what I had been repeatedly told. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I called back & asked for XXXX or XXXX. I was given a different supervisor, XXXX. I explained everything to her, including my frustration. She assured me that FAMC would make restitution, because I had an escrow account when the taxes were due. On XX/XX/XXXX XXXX called & said that FAMC will send me a check with which I can pay the taxes. Because of this assurance & knowledge that fees would increase further as of XX/XX/XXXX, I paid the overdue taxes out of pocket, for 3 times the initial amount. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a voicemail from XXXX saying that FAMC actually wo n't be covering the tax bill, because I no longer have an escrow.

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 monetary relief