Consumer complaint received 2024-10-10
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — Escrow, taxes, or insurance
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. (IL)

Slightly over a year ago ( XX/XX/XXXX ), Chase Bank ( who holds my mortgage ) lowered my monthly payment. ( From {$1400.00} to {$1100.00} ) When I questioned it, I was told there was too much money in my escrow account. When I questioned it again, I was told not to worry about it and that I was not allowed to continue to deposit that amount into the escrow account. Beginning this month ( XX/XX/XXXX ) Chase has refigured my monthly payment and is now asking for {$2600.00} ) When I questioned this, they informed me that my escrow account was behind by over {$8000.00}. ( This number has now risen to more than {$10000.00}. ) When I asked what the issue was, I was initially told that I had failed in my responsibility to question XXXX XXXX regarding an incorrect tax bill. Further investigation revealed that this incorrect tax bill had nothing to do with my or my account. It is not the PIN associated with my property and it is not now nor has it ever been associated with my name. Chase attached this PIN to my account and evidently used this information for the refiguring of the mortgage in XXXX of XXXX. When asked how I could have been aware of this error, as XXXX XXXX would not have informed me of information regarding an account that did not belong to me in any way, Chase still insisted that I should somehow have known because my payment was not enough to cover my own taxes. 

( Please note that I did check and my taxes had been paid. Also, the balance in my escrow account always shows {$0.00}. I have asked about this and the explanation seems to be that it's how it is done. ) Chase has now realized their own error and wishes to recoup their outlay of funds. ( The person I worked with was insistent that escrow accounts are a " service they offer but that Chase can not take responsibility for them. '' However it is not an optional service and I am required to participate. The purpose of an escrow account is to pay taxes and insurance, and Chase was liable to cover those bills as they came due. If I had been informed at any time that the account was falling in arrears, I would have made arrangements to change the payment structure, but I was not allowed to do so. 

On XX/XX/XXXX after XXXX phone calls ( during which Chase admitted to the error with the incorrect PIN that caused the issue with the payment being lowered ), I visited a local branch in person to get to the bottom of the issue. During the time that the escrow account is said to be in arrears, Chase claims to have issued a refund of money in the account ( {$5100.00} ). However I never received the money. After six months, the money was refunded to the account after six months because no one cashed the check ( that I did not receive ). 

Chase now claims that the account was in arrears already when they lowered the payment and issued the refund. This seems to hinge on the PIN that they incorrectly associated with my account. They are unwilling to offer extended time to pay the money Chase paid toward my taxes, insisting that in spite of their error, I should have known that they made a mistake and have the money easily available. They have repeatedly told me that although they acknowledge their error, it is still my responsibility to have known. 

At the in person meeting, Chase agreed to review my escrow account and to rush the process. They have not done so. They said the process would take a week. It has been two. They also suggested that I not pay my XXXX mortgage until this is resolved, assuring me that it isn't actually late until XX/XX/XXXX. They refused my request to put this in writing multiple times saying that they could not offer this advice except verbally. 

Chase has not offered any assistance in resolving this situation regardless of being informed that their new calculation places my monthly mortgage out of my price range on a teacher 's salary. They have told me that I do not have to use their " free and helpful '' service to maintain an escrow account but admit that the escrow is mandatory. Evidently there is a way to opt out of escrow if I have met certain criteria, but although they offered to share that criteria, they have not. 

It should be noted that there is no evidence that Chase paid the tax bill that they attached to my account incorrectly. So if they believed that I owed that amount, they have failed in their primary legal role as a mortgage company. When I asked about this, I was informed that they can not share information on that bill because I am not associated with the PIN.