Consumer complaint received 2020-02-04
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: SELECT PORTFOLIO SERVICING, INC. (GA)

I have repeatedly tried to resolve a negative escrow account problem and all the company has done is raise the monthly payments from ~ {$1200.00} to over ~ {$2800.00}. I can afford to pay my own taxes and insurance as my income has grown from ~ {$75000.00} to ~ {$150000.00}. 

The company made a modification during the last economic downturn to convert the loan to fixed interest rate and create a note at the end to include past due payments and late payments and fees and negative escrow. My payment went up {$400.00} and then 30 days later went up another {$500.00} and its been going up and up and up since. I have asked repeatedly to contact the services and ask for an exception to allow me to pay my taxes and insurance and remove the escrow they forcibly added through forgery and duress, during my last modification. As I was very insistent on not having an escrow added, because my original loan did not have that. 

Even though, I was once behind, a Lien for property taxes has never been placed on my property to my knowledge. However, because an employee, whom I spoke to at SPS the loan servicer, thought my taxes were too low, she called the County I live in and influenced them to raise my taxes and subsequently the escrow was raised and became even more out of control, with SPS even charging and adding 3x the actual taxes and insurance to the escrow that was already negative. These manipulative unfair business practices should not be allowed and are a root cause of his {$30000.00} negative escrow. 

Recently, although my certified housing counselor who has worked with SPS and the current lender have verified that my income is more than sufficient for a modification, SPS repeatedly miscalculates my gross and net income and does not clarify what information they are missing, specifically that will clarify my income properly. 

Ive asked them to settle the negative escrow amount with me directly in a variety of ways but instead they want to force us into a short sale because I now have equity in my home versus before when it was upside down. However, they are willing to take a shortage from a sale but they would not offer me a settlement directly, as I believe I could reached a settlement amount that was lower on the negative escrow and reinstate the note that was due at the end of my loan. SPS could even sell that note to someone else or sell my loan to someone who buys distressed notes. They do not have to foreclose on me and my children. 

From XX/XX/XXXX to present I have paid over {$20000.00} and according to Georgia Law, during mitigation attempts especially all payments should go to principal and interest. SPS has misapplied {$13000.00} to fees and negative escrow, knowing this will not mitigate the past due payments as the law directs. 

SPS has incorrectly reported my loan and note that was added during modification as one account when the note was a sepArate instrument due at the end of my loan modification for over 7 years to credit bureaus and continued to report my account as foreclosed from XX/XX/XXXX when I was not in foreclosure. XXXX and XXXX in particular did not correct this situation and remove the in accurate reports and SPS continues this wrongful act. 

SPS has dual tracked my loan and modification in numerous ways including putting up for sale and accelerating my note to become due while in modification after my file was completed and during appeal periods.