Consumer complaint received 2024-07-26
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — Escrow, taxes, or insurance
Company: Shellpoint Partners, LLC (VA)

I've just completed my first year of a 30-year mortgage that is being serviced by NewRez LLC ( c/o Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing ). When I opened the mortgage, I made a minimal down payment while awaiting the sale of my previous home, which required that I pay PMI until I was able to increase my equity. I was able to sell my previous home soon after, put the proceeds toward equity and completed the loan payment recast and PMI waiver process with NewRez. I have a letter from them dated XX/XX/XXXX that states in part " PMI is no longer a requirement for your loan, and you are no longer responsible for the premiums, payments or fees associated with PMI. Your monthly payment amount will be adjusted to reflect the removal of the PMI preumiu and the revised amound will be included in the next monthly billing statement. An escrow payment adjustment will be completed within approximately thirty ( 30 ) days of cancellation to determine the new payment amount due. '' As expected, my next payment was recast to reflect the additional equity and the removal of PMI.

When I received my first Escrow Disclosure Statement, dated XX/XX/XXXX, they indicated the account was underfunded by {$2400.00} and that my monthly payment would increase by {$220.00} to cover the difference. Upon further investigation, I determined that this is because they continued to deduct PMI from my escrow account and intend to continue deducting PMI in the amount of {$87.00} every month. I called NewRez on XX/XX/XXXX and the customer service rep recognized and admitted the error, putting in a request for the escrow to be revised. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a second Escrow Disclosure Statement labeled " Final '' and dated XX/XX/XXXX ( 7 days following my call to alert them of the issue ) with identical contents of the first statement. I called again on XX/XX/XXXX, spoke to an apologetic customer service agent who acknowledged documentation of my first call and that the issue had be researched by their escrow department. She connected me to what I understood to be a more specialized agent. This agent seemed to contradict statements of the first and was generally more defensive of the situation and process than the first. I left the call highly uncertain about the status of the escrow and indicated to both agents my intent to file this complaint. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email from NewRez indicating that may payment would be increasing. The email contained a link to a " personalized video '' that cheerfully indicated to me that my escrow account was underfunded by {$2400.00} and that my monthly payment would increase by {$220.00} to cover the difference.

By virtue of my education, employment and experience with mortgage issues, I consider myself a more savvy consumer with regard to these matters. My biggest concern involving NewRez 's systems, procedures and processes is the potential impact on other customers who have NOT caught similar issues and will begin paying, or are already paying, higher payments than are in fact owed to NewRez due to similar accounting failures as I have experienced with the company.

My complaint involves three concerns : 1 ) NewRez has demonstrated critical flaws in the accuracy of their Escrow Accounting process that have resulted in critical inconsistencies in the information provided to me and that have repeatedly represented that I owe more money to them than I in fact owe. This has also led to the depletion of my Escrow account over the past year for PMI charges that both parties admit I do not owe.

2 ) NewRez has failed to prevent the continued relaying of inaccurate information about my escrow status in the 16 days following my initial call to bring the matter to their attention, resulting in my continued distress, confusion and time wasted calling their servicing department.

3 ) NewRez 's initial failure and subsequent handling of the situation make me concerned that this may be part of a broader issue with their accounting policies and procedures, which could only be rectified with an audit of these processes.