Consumer complaint received 2021-07-07
Product: Mortgage — VA mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: Mr. Cooper Group Inc. (SC)

I had a mortgage with Mr. Cooper from XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, Mr , Cooper withdrawed {$1500.00} from my escrow account to pay my property taxes which were due on XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a letter from the XXXX  County Tax Collector office stating " check # XXXX dated XX/XX/XXXX drawn upon XXXX XXXX STOP PAYMENT & made payable to XXXX County had been dishonored. '' The letter stated our taxes were unpaid & now the balance due was {$1500.00} due to a {$30.00} fee for a returned check. Obviously I was VERY CONFUSED considering the $ had been taken out of escrow XX/XX/XXXX & the check sent to the tax office was dated XX/XX/XXXX. So I called Mr , Cooper & was told they would escalate the issue & to call back in XXXX business days to check. I also informed the CSR rep at Mr.Cooper that the longer it took for them to pay it, the more late fees were going to get added to the total amount due. I was assured that any late fees would be paid by Mr. Cooper because it was their mistake. ( It also plainly states on their website, that late fees due to Mr.Coopers error would be reimbursed & put back into the consumers escrow account ). I called Mr. Cooper back 2 weeks later & was pretty much told, nothing had been done. There was a note on my account but it hadn't been escalated so the CSR said she was escalating the issue & I should have an answer/solution within 10 business days AGAIN. Also, during this time period I was trying to refinance my mortgage possibly through Mr. Cooper. On XX/XX/XXXX, I reached out to the loan officer XXXX XXXX through email & asked her who I could get to help with the property tax issue but she just told me to contact the escrow department. I had back XXXX at the end of XXXX, so I was focused on my recovery & didn't call to check on the tax situation again until XX/XX/XXXX. On that day, I received a TAX EXECUTION DEMAND NOTICE. The balance for the property taxes had went from XXXX to {$1700.00} because they were 3 months late at this point. I called that morning & was told they'd expedited the check on XX/XX/XXXX. I finally thought this nightmare was over. Another issue was they tried raising our mortgage payment due to our property taxes being {$260.00} more so they factored that into our future escrow account payments. It was ridiculous to say the least!! On the afternoon of XX/XX/XXXX, we refinanced my mortgage with another lender & my mortgage with Mr. Cooper was paid off. On XX/XX/XXXX, I called Mr.Cooper because I noticed that the late fees for the taxes had been taken from our escrow account & we were not reimbursed. Since our loan was paid off, we'd be receiving a check for the escrow account balance. The balance was {$670.00} but on XX/XX/XXXX, they withdrew {$260.00} ( tax late fees ) & left us with an escrow balance of {$400.00}. I called & spoke to someone & she said she'd escalate my concerns. On XX/XX/XXXX I called Mr.Cooper again regarding escrow amount due to us. I was told they mailed a check out to us for {$400.00} XXXX our escrow balance minus the {$260.00} tax late fees ). They also mailed out a check for {$150.00} for overages when our loan was paid off. The CSR told me her supervisor XXXX would be calling me within XXXX business days after she called the tax office. I offered to email her all of the property tax documents we had received but I was told they didn't need them at that point. Well I've been waiting on that phone call for 2 months now. I've honestly grown tired of calling over & over again, having to explain it all to one person then to another & another every time we call. My wife & I are both on the mortgage so I'm also including times she's called them as well. The way this has been handled was definitely a BIG FACTOR on why we refinanced with another lender. I'd really like to know where our {$1500.00} taken from our escrow on XX/XX/XXXX went for the 3 months our taxes went without being paid. The outcome I'd like is for Mr.Cooper to return the {$260.00} that they took from our escrow account for THEIR MISTAKE. A mistake that took way too many phone calls to fix. You trust a lender to pay your taxes & insurance on time. That's why we have an escrow account to avoid this kind of situation & they've lost a mortgage account due to this.