Consumer complaint received 2024-08-26
Product: Mortgage — FHA mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — Escrow, taxes, or insurance
Company: Shellpoint Partners, LLC (CT)

I had damage from a storm happen to my home at the end of XXXX. I contacted my homeowner 's insurance immediately and went through their process. The home insurance process was quick, they didn't fight the damage at all and mailed out the checks by the end of XXXX. During this process I called NewRez at least 3 times and was connected to their general customer service department, just to confirm that they didn't need anything additional from me. In each of those calls I was never told I should speak directly with the loss draft department, all the representatives did was confirm that I would mail the checks to NewRez without endorsing them, and that I would get the entire XXXX back upon confirming that my account was current ( it is, I have never made a payment late ). It wasn't until I called to confirm that I was mailing them out to the correct address when the representative on the phone told me she would send me directly to the loss draft department, and then I sat on hold for over an hour waiting. The phone then disconnected, and I had to recall and go back through that process just to sit on hold for an hour again, to find out that NewRez loss draft did require additional information and that they would not be endorsing the checks and sending them back to me. The representative that I spoke to from loss draft was condescending and rude, telling me that I should know they have a separate department for this, and when I asked if the previous information that I was given was correct ( about them endorsing the check back to me ) he made a comment about how if I was concerned about damage to my home I should pay for the repairs out of pocket and then wait for reimbursement from NewRez because " most homeowners actually care about their home ''. The comment was rude and unnecessary. During this call I was told if I priority mailed the requested documents to NewRez they would be processed quicker because they go to a separate mailroom. I got the documents that he requested together the next day, and mailed them XXXX. When I contacted NewRez on XXXX to confirm receipt I was told that they weren't in process yet so I would need to wait. I called again XXXX trying to confirm receipt and again I was told that I would need to wait as they hadn't received them yet and that I should try back the next week. I noticed on my online portal XXXX that my documents were finally in process. XX/XX/XXXX my contractor asked for an update on when my initial draw would be released, so I called again and I was told that the documents were just starting to be processed, so I would need to wait. I was then told that they had a cutoff of 10 business days to get the initial draw processed from the time that they scanned the forms into my portal ( not upon receiving them ) so that date would be XX/XX/XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX my online portal was updated to having the checks deposited into a restricted escrow. I noticed by XX/XX/XXXX there were no additional updates, so I called again, and I was told that it didn't matter that the forms were shown as being scanned in on XXXX, that the processing didn't start until XXXX so I needed to wait until XX/XX/XXXX for the draw to be processed and mailed. I was also told that my processor was on vacation, but that he would request another processor step in so that I wouldn't need to wait additional time ( why assign my case to someone who is taking a vacation on the second week of processing?? ). I saw later that day on my portal that the draw was processed, and I knew that they already had a XXXX next day air postage for this check so I waited for the check to come. By today ( XX/XX/XXXX ) I noticed that the XXXX truck in my neighborhood drove by my house and didn't stop. I called NewRez to see if the payment was sent out yet, and I was told multiple different stories by multiple different representatives ( their phone kept disconnecting which meant I kept having to call back ). The first told me that the payment request was put in on XX/XX/XXXX and processed, so the check should be mailed out later this week but that he couldn't tell me when. I asked to speak to a supervisor and she put me on hold to look into this. After being on hold she disconnected the phone. After waiting an hour on hold trying to call back ( on a different phone incase she would call my personal phone back ) the representative read me off the notes the supervisor wrote and asked why I needed clarification when the supervisor wrote her note saying she explained everything to me on how my initial draw payment was " unfounded '' ( I still have no idea what that even means ) and how apparently she told me the check wouldn't come until the end of next week at the earliest since it needed to go through 2 " appeals/approval '' committees first. She NEVER had this conversation with me, and I have no idea why she would document all of that when she placed me on hold and then hung up. The representative then told me that he " isn't disagreeing that the length of this process has been excessive '' but that he can't expedite any of this, or transfer me to someone who can and that I just have to wait until NewRez goes through this process of the appeals. I have no idea what he is talking about with appeals. My homeowner 's insurance sent an adjuster to my home who assessed the damage and gave a fair report to my homeowner 's company. They didn't fight his report at all, and gave the amount from the report. There is nothing for NewRez to appeal or find unfounded. NewRez is simply the company that I have a mortgage through. They keep telling me that they have a financial interest in my home, and that they have the right to this money as well but I am lost on what they mean by that. I have never missed a payment or even made a payment late, but they are delaying me fixing my damaged home saying that it is their right to process their own claim on the damage. They are also forcing me to use their own inspectors as the claim progresses, I was told that they pick the times that the inspector comes I don't get to choose, AND I have to pay for their inspectors they will just add the fees to my mortgage payments. None of this process makes any sense. NewRez is now profiting off of storm damage to my home, while I have to wait and fight for the money my homeowner 's insurance paid to fix MY home. A home I've never missed a payment for, so I don't understand why I am being treated as if I am the inconvenience to NewRez. In addition to all of this, their loss draft department makes you sit on hold every call for at least an hour, making this process take almost all day with all of the disconnections and misinformation requiring additional calls to finally speak to someone who might know what they are talking about.