Consumer complaint received 2024-02-06
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — Trying to communicate with the company to fix an issue while managing or servicing your loan
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. (TX)

Chase mortgage made a double payment of my property insurance premium for XXXX. Chase then demanded I recover the double payment from insurance company and reimburse Chase for that double payment. I got the insurance company to refund the extra payment but the insurance company sent the funds in check payable to me. I went to Chase branch after receiving the check from insurance company to pay Chase by endorsing the insurance check making it payable to Chase and getting a receipt that indicated the overpayment had been returned to Chase. The branch manager refused to accept the insurance company check, refused to allow me to pay the money out of my own checking account, and refused to provide a receipt in exchange for funds. Basically the branch manager insisted that mortgage payments can not be paid at a branch.

I then contacted Chase by phone to arrange for repayment and obtaining a receipt showing that the funds were going to be properly allocated for by Chase to remove what Chase was calling a " shortage in escrow account ''. No one at Chase could do that but advised that I could return the funds to Chase by paying out over time with added funds to my regular monthly payment of principal, interest, tax escrow and insurance escrow payments. The monthly pyment that included funds to restore Chase 's account for overpayment of the insurance was {$4700.00} versus the regular monthly payment of {$3100.00}. Beginning with the XX/XX/XXXX payment I paid the {$4700.00} amount. Despite the overpayments being made each month betweeen XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, Chase has failed to recognize that the double payment to the insurance company ahd been fully reimbursed to Chase and that Chase was actually showing a positive balance in my escrow account of {$4800.00}. Chase has also failed to include in my escrow balance accounts monies that have been paid each month for the actual insurance premiums paid to the escrow account over XXXX months before Chase is required to pay the insurance carriers for the XXXX property and wind insurance that is due in XX/XX/XXXX and the escrowed funds I pay in advance for property taxes that will be owed for XXXX. 

I have spent hours and hours attempting to have Chase correct this matter because Chase is now showing on the escrow analysis for XXXX that I must continue to pay over {$500.00} per month to supplement my escrow insurance payments that was is actually owed so that Chase can recoup the XX/XX/XXXX double payment it had made in error and that has already been reimbursed through the additional {$1500.00} each month between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. 

I have repeatedly asked for Chase to have an escrow account representative to meet with me in person to discuss this problem and correct it. I have repeatedly asked Chase to provide for a complete accounting to show how the monthly payments have been allocated each month since XX/XX/XXXX through today but have not been able to get them to do that. I have attempted to escalate the matter to someone who has actually authority to address and correct the problems with the account but Chase insists that there is no such person available. I have attempted to escalate the matter to the legal department to speak with someone who might have a better understanding and been refused. I have notified Chase on multiple occasions that because their behavior is consistent and appears to actually be a pattern and practice it is fraudulent to basically extort people into paying more into their escrow accounts that is actually required under the terms of the mortgage. I think it also is a matter of fraud that Chase placed the burden on me, the mortgagee, to obtain the refund of the double insurance premium that Chase made while acting as a fiduciary for me by holding my funds in the escrow account and misapplying the funds to my disadvantage. 

As a result of Chase 's fraudulent behavior, I have now had to liquidate stocks to pay property taxes on an unrelated property because Chase has funds it is not entitled to have that I would have been able to use to pay those taxes. Chase appears to have absolutely no interest or incentive to correct this problem. Strangely, and as evidence that I really owe Chase nothing regarding the double payment of the insurance premium is that I did notify Chase that going forward I will be paying for insurance and property taxes directly rather than through Chase. Despite Chase maintaining on written documents and demands on me that I may owe in excess of {$6300.00} for the " shortage in the escrow account '' no additional payments will be charged to recoup that amount and my new monthly payments will only reflect the amount owed for principle and interest. If I actually owed Chase any additional money to recoup the double insurance premium payment Chase would reasonably make demand for the exact amount still owed. Instead the new escrow analysis says that I must pay for what may be owed. This is all in violation of the terms of the loan agreements. I spent years working for the FDIC and before that as a litigator of financial fraud cases in large complex bankruptcy cases. At the FDIC I worked in the department that dealt with fraudulent and negligent bank officers, board members and outside professionals. I have represented bankruptcy trustees as an attorney in
cases involving financial fraud. Everything about how Chase has handled this matter and its system to wear customers down to the point most will simply continue to pay the excessive charges out of fear of being held in default and risking the lose of their property indicates to me, a former investigator of financial fraud, to be a fraudulent scheme by Chase. This must not be allowed to continue. I am going to be XXXX XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. I do not know if Chase has targeted me and my loan due to my age and the assumption that I would be easy prey or perhaps Chase has targeted my loan because the XXXX anniversary of my loan was XX/XX/XXXX and because my mortgage has hit a certain age it is not as profitable for Chase to continue to service the debt and they want to force me to pay it off or refinance it. There are multiple reasons why Chase can be motivated to engage in the wrongful behavior, including simple greed, knowing that after carrying on in the illegal practice at some point Chase will be called to account and will agree to pay a fine and penalties of a few XXXX XXXX dollars which will most likely be less than the amount Chase forced out of consumers and so Chase comes out financially ahead even when accounting for the cost of the settlement at some point down the line. I have records that support this and I have also notified Chase that it must preserve all recorded conversations and all documentation including call logs and activity logs that have been generated regarding my loan.