Consumer complaint received 2024-08-12
Product: Mortgage — VA mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage — Trying to communicate with the company to fix an issue related to modification, forbearance, short sale, deed-in-lieu, bankruptcy, or foreclosure
Company: CARRINGTON MORTGAGE SERVICES, LLC (FL)

I have had many, many problems with Carrington Mortgages since the moment they have taken over my loan. In fact, I've had almost the exact problems that was found by the CFPB in their investigation Of Carrington 's business 's practices ( Misleading information, false information, wrongly charged fees, etc ). However, the main purpose of this complaint is as follows : That for over a year Carrington refused to updater my escrow to reflect my exemption for property taxes, causing undue financial hardship in making the payments ( which was higher than what I should have been paying. ) When contacted regarding the issue Carrington continued to give me false and conflicting reasoning. In addition, when I filled a dispute with them they did not acknowledge this issue in their response and denied my request to remove these late payments from my credit report.

Below is a portion of the dispute letter I sent to Carrington addressing this matter : XXXXPlease note the false information I was told by the representatives, a repeated theme with this company. Of the dozen of the reps I've spoken to, the information is often incorrect and conflicting, illustrating continued practices that they were reprimanded for by the CFPBXXXX As a XXXX XXXX XXXX veteran in the state of Florida , I am exempt from property tax. This state benefit was much needed by me because, after my early forced retirement, my income drastically decreased by over 60 %, and my expenses drastically increased due to marital issues and separation from my wife. Being on a fixed income in this situation, I was aware that money would be tight, so I filed for the tax exemption in XXXX at the first moment I could. Seeking guidance from Carrington, I was informed that once I filed and was approved for the tax exemption, Carrington would see that information from the county, do an escrow reanalysis, and my payments would change to reflect this. I even called Carrington to inform them once the process was complete, and I was told I did all my due diligence, and no further action was needed. However, as I write this letter on XX/XX/XXXX, I am still being charged for taxes in my escrow. 

Had Carrington properly removed property taxes from my escrow collection, my financial situation would have been in a better place and allowed me to make the actual payments required. To further illustrate the inconsistency with Carringtons information, when I called last week, XX/XX/XXXX, to inquire about why I was still being charged property tax, I was told the following by two different representatives within the timespan of 15 minutes : 1. My mortgage was a transfer : I was told that not all the information from the previous mortgage company was transferred. However, this is false because Carrington has been servicing my loan since XX/XX/XXXX, and my approval for the Property Tax exemption as a XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX Veteran was approved at the end of XX/XX/XXXX. There were no transfer issues, and this was yet another example of a Carrington representative telling me a falsehood that further complicated my understanding of the situation and impeded its resolution.

2. Confidential status due to employment : A property tax specialist from Carrington told me that my house is confidential due to my employment as a XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX, and as such, they didnt have access to property tax records showing I was exempt. Approximately one hour before writing this letter, I spoke to the tax exemption specialist in XXXX XXXX, and they informed me that this is an absolute falsehood. Although my name is redacted for public records, mortgage companies have ways to validate tax exemption status of property. It was the tax exemption specialists professional assessment that Carrington failed to perform due diligence. Moreover, at no point was I informed of any issues, and I have continued to be assesseXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX that I do not owe.