Consumer complaint received 2022-09-21
Company: Ocwen Financial Corporation
State: MA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
Hi- I am having issues with my mortgage provider PHH Mortgage paying my real estate taxes to the XXXX XXXX XXXX, which should be covered by my escrow account. As a result I continue to receive late payment notifications ( including a warrant notice ) and accruing late fees and penalties. I have tried to seek clarification from PHH mortgage around these tax payments but have not received a meaningful response, and so have resorted to paying these fees and penalties to avoid action from the City against me.

I believe the problem stems from the fact that I receive two separate invoices for my parking space and actual apartment, which are covered by the same mortgage. I have consistently called out to PHH that there are separate invoices but they have not been paying both. I reached out to the PHH team to get clarification as to whether I should be paying the parking space taxes but so far have not received a resolution. 

Here is the timeline of the issue : - XX/XX/XXXX : I received the tax invoice from the City of XXXX for XXXX XXXX and sent this to PHH Mortgage. 
- XX/XX/XXXX : I received and shared a demand notice from the City of XXXX for the XXXX XXXX real estate taxes which I once again shared with PHH Mortgage. 
- XX/XX/XXXX : I received and shared another demand notice from the XXXX of XXXX which included accrued late fees and interest. Total due was {$520.00}. To this point I have also been calling PHH directly but have not heard anything back yet. 
- XX/XX/XXXX : I received and shared a warrant notice from the City of XXXX summing to {$540.00}. I once again called PHH to try and seek clarification if this is something that I should be paying ( vs. coming from the escrow ) and they indicated they would look into it and get back to me before the due date of XX/XX/XXXX. 
- XX/XX/XXXX : Despite having an escalation team assigned to this I did not hear back from PHH Mortgage prior to the payment deadline so I paid the full amount myself to the City of XXXX, including late fees and interest, to avoid any further escalation. 
- XX/XX/XXXX : I received an email from PHH indicating that they would get back to me within 24-48 hours with a resolution ( I have yet to have received any resolution ). The same day I resent the invoices as well as proof of payment that I made the tax payments to the City of XXXX as I am hoping to reimbursed. I was also looking for confirmation that PHH would cover the late fees and interest due to the non-payments. 
- Today : I have yet to receive resolution or clarification from PHH mortgage. Each time that I call the escalation team they tell me the same thing " that legal is looking into it and that I should expect to hear back within 5-7 working days ''. This has been going on for almost a year now and I just want clarification as to whether I need to be making these payments to the City of XXXX or whether it should be coming from the escrow payments I make each month. 

I'm obviously incredibly frustrated with the lack of customer service and it feels like there's no path for me to get resolution dealing with PHH Mortgage directly, which is why I'm trying to escalate this. Thanks in advance for you consideration here.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief