Consumer complaint received 2017-10-11
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: M&T BANK CORPORATION (TX)

I purchased my home in XX/XX/XXXX. Payments were to include taxes and insurance. My parent 's co-signed the loan. 

XX/XX/XXXX I filed for Homestead, I am only allowed 50 % since my parents do not reside with me. In XX/XX/XXXX, I paid a monthly payment of {$1800.00}, this amount included taxes and insurance, as agreed upon when we bought the house. M & T bank only paid half of my property taxes ( I did not receive any notification ), even though I was paying the full amount, and have never been late. They did send me an escrow check, XX/XX/XXXX in the amount of {$3500.00}, which I cashed, but I was never notified by M & T that there was a shortage, otherwise I would not have cashed it. 

XX/XX/XXXX, I received a bill from XXXX XXXX for unpaid taxes.XX/XX/XXXX, I sent M & T an email ( I have documentation ), stating my taxes had not been paid.XX/XX/XXXX I received a letter from M & T stating my taxes HAVE been paid. XX/XX/XXXX I sent another email to M & T to let them know the taxes were still not paid. I had called XXXX XXXX Tax office, and they were NOT paid. I have documentation. XX/XX/XXXX, M & T emailed me back, advising me to mail the bill to them, which I did.XX/XX/XXXXI received a Notice of Tax Lien from XXXX XXXX XXXX. The total bill was {$6200.00}, including unpaid taxes, late charges and attorney fees. XX/XX/XXXXI called the county tax office, and they said M & T had paid the back due taxes on XX/XX/XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX, I received an escrow shortage bill from M & T.XX/XX/XXXX I called M & T and was advised to fax in all paperwork because XXXX XXXX tax office did not send M & T all of the tax bill and that 's why it was n't paid in full. XX/XX/XXXX, I called XXXX XXXX tax office, and was told that the county DOES NOT send out bills, that it 's the mortgage company 's responsibility to get the bills, and that M & T uses a third party company for this job. Furthermore, I was told there are two parcels on the property and that M & T is aware there are two. XX/XX/XXXX I mailed ( certified letter via USPS signature confirmation # XXXX ), and faxed M & T with all the information I just sent you above, disputing charges.XX/XX/XXXX, I received a letter from M & T stating I do owe all taxes, late fees, attorney fees. M & T stated, " Since this transaction occurred after the loan originated on XX/XX/XXXXthe mortgagors would have been responsible to notify M & T of the status change of their parcel. Therefore, M & T was not responsible for the penalty and interest incurred. As M & T was not aware of the change, the tax information on file reflected that the taxes were paid current when the disbursement of {$2700.00} was made to the XXXX XXXX Tax Collector onXX/XX/XXXX. '' XX/XX/XXXX I received another letter from M & T stating, " This letter is to acknowledge receipt of your recent mortgage account request and to inform you we have begun processing it. '' I had not contacted M & T sinceXX/XX/XXXX, so I do n't know what that letter was about. 
XX/XX/XXXX, I received a call from M & T, so I called them back and she was calling about this letter and I had to explain everything to her again. She did n't seem to know what was going on, and said she would look into it. I never heard back from her. I clearly made several attempts to clear this matter, and they knew it was owed. I am disputing all fees, except actual taxes owed for {$2700.00}. 

XX/XX/XXXX I sent M & T another email to ask what my balance is on the escrow shortage, and how much longer will it be until it is paid. Here is their response : " Dear XXXX XXXX, Thank you for your inquiry. 

Please be advised, there have been seven ( 7 ) payments made towards the escrow shortage. The remaining balance of the escrow balance is {$4400.00}. The escrow shortage has been spread over a thirty ( 30 ) month period beginning with the XX/XX/XXXX payment. 

If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact our Customer Service Department at XXXX. 

Sincerely, XXXX XXXX Mortgage Customer Support Retail Loan Servicing '' I have emailed them back today, XX/XX/XXXX and let them know this is incorrect, payments for escrow shortage beganXX/XX/XXXX. 

Finally, M & T has stated in a letter to me dated XXXX, that they were not aware of a parcel change. This is not true. Again, I sent them the actual tax bills - numerous times! They did know, they chose to ignore. 

M & T also states that " the mortgagors would have been responsible to notify M & T Bank of the status change of their parcel. '' I would like to know where that is written in our loan documents that anyone signed and agreed to this? Perhaps I 'm overlooking it. 
I can however find where we signed an agreement that taxes and insurance are included in monthly payments.