Consumer complaint received 2015-10-03
Product: Mortgage — Conventional adjustable mortgage (ARM)
Issue: Loan servicing, payments, escrow account — 
Company: Great Lakes Home Mortgage, Inc. (IL)

I recently purchased a town home in XXXX, IL in XXXX of this year ( closed on XXXX XXXX, 2015 ). My maximum budget was $ XXXX/month, and when my loan officer calculated my payments, my mortgage came out to $ XXXX/month, plus I have a {$230.00} HOA fee- totaling $ XXXX/month. The seller paid for my closing costs ( $ XXXX but I later found out that I actually received {$5100.00}, unbeknownst to me since I do n't ever actually see that money ), and I was responsible for paying the second installment of the property taxes ( taxes were $ XXXX so I was responsible for {$2400.00} ). The {$2400.00} plus two months of escrow ( $ XXXX which my mortgage company requires be in my account at all times ) was supposed to be put into my escrow account at the time of closing- totaling {$3300.00}. 

Three months after moving in ( XX/XX/XXXX ), I received a new mortgage payment book saying that my mortgage was going up $ XXXX/month effective XXXX XXXX, totaling an increase of $ XXXX/year. I immediately called my mortgage company thinking that there was a mistake since I had only been in my new home for three months, and they explained that there was not enough money in my escrow account to even cover the second installment of the property taxes, let alone enough to cover the two months of escrow that they require be in there at all times as well. They informed me that at the time of closing, only {$1600.00} had been put into my escrow account. I then immediately contacted my loan officer, and the wild goose chase ensued. 

I could not get a straight answer out of my loan officer, and our conversations went in non-stop circles. At first, it was that someone else was attached to my PIN # on my property and that I paid for both theirs and my own property taxes, then it was that my mortgage company made a mistake on the calculations, then it was that the county made a mistake on my property taxes, amongst many other theories. I then decided to do my own digging and research. After weeks of emailing and calling my mortgage company, my lawyer, the County Tax Assessors Office, the XXXX Tax Assessors Office, the County Treasurer, the XXXX Treasurer, my loan officer, my realtor ... .just to name a few- the mystery was solved. 

My loan officer mistakenly used the PREVIOUS year 's property taxes on all of my payment calculations and paperwork at the time of closing, rather than using the current tax bill ( which came out the XX/XX/XXXX, and I closed the XX/XX/XXXX ). Problem is, there was a {$1000.00} difference in the taxes. A XXXX and the townhouse burnt to the ground. The current owners ended up getting foreclosed on and the bank took possession of the home ( and later sold the property to the seller who sold to me ). The unit was demolished and built brand new from the slab up. However, when the property was demolished, the property taxes were protested because there was no building/dwelling, so they were granted a certificate of error and the taxes were lowered {$1000.00}. If my loan officer had done their job correctly and used the current tax bill of {$4800.00} instead of the previous year 's of {$3900.00} ... ..I would not be in this situation. 

Even if the new tax bill was n't out and we had to use the {$3900.00} tax bill, the {$1600.00} that was put into my escrow at the time of closing, still would n't have been enough to cover the second installment of property taxes ( which would have been {$1900.00} ), let alone the additional two months of escrow that is required ( {$880.00} ) - so {$2800.00} should have been put into my escrow. I received more than enough money at closing to cover everything and then some, but someone 's calculations were way off. 

As you can see, major mistakes have been made, and I have been getting nothing but " too bad so sad '' types of responses from my loan officer and her manager. I really need some help.