Consumer complaint received 2023-09-26
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — Escrow, taxes, or insurance
Company: Rocket Mortgage, LLC (IL)

am filing a complaint against Rocket Mortgage for incorrectly calculating my escrow payment for two consecutive years. These miscalculations have caused an increase in our mortgage by more than {$1200.00} in 2 years. The company has mismanaged my escrow account and not charge the proper amounts in our mortgage payment. 
I have called the company about this issue, but the seem unwilling to understand the real issue at hand is mistakes on their end caused an {$8000.00} shortage in our escrow account. 
Issue This began in XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  when my husband and I decided to refinance. After receiving several cold calls from our mortgage servicer, Rocket Mortgage, we decided to refinance. Interest rates were considerably lower at the time, and we took the opportunity use some of our equity to pay off some high interest debt. The number of calls coming in from Rocket to refinance should have been a red flag for us at the time, but they were already our mortgage servicer and our account was fine After working all the numbers, we were told our mortgage would be lower by a little less than {$200.00} after the Refi. We would not have a car note and some high interest credit card debt. It seemed like a good deal to us. 
I reviewed the paperwork and told the mortgage person ( XXXX XXXX at Rocket Mortgage ) that our tax amount looked low. He assured me that the current amount in our escrow plus the amount being charged would cover the amount needed for our taxes and insurance. We closed and all was well until XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  when we received the mortgage analysis. At that time, we learned we had a shortage of {$4800.00}. The shortage amount was because Rocket only charged a total of {$6100.00} for taxes during the year when the amount should have been {$10000.00}. We escalated the issue and explained that an error was made in our tax amount when we closed the Refi in XX/XX/XXXX. After much back and forth, I received a call from XXXX on the Executive team. She explained to me that an error was made and the person who worked on our mortgage had been reprimanded. Because of the error, I was given 24 months to spread the shortage. My mortgage increased from {$1600.00} to {$2100.00}. We were not happy, but received some assurance that our mortgage would decrease after the shortage was paid. 
Here we are in XX/XX/XXXX, and I receive a mortgage analysis stating that we again have a shortage in our escrow, but this time the shortage is {$8600.00}. The amount charged for taxes this past year was also not enough just like in XXXX. Rocket Mortgage only charged {$8800.00} for taxes during the year and our tax liability was {$11000.00}. We are now facing a mortgage of {$2800.00}. Due to being given the option to spread the shortage over two years, we are facing a compounded shortage due to consecutive years of inaccurate escrow charges. 
In two years, our mortgage has gone up by {$1200.00}. We moved into this house in XXXX and during that time our taxes have never been below {$9000.00} ; I am providing a chart below with our tax history and the amounts that were charged by Rocket for the two years they were incorrect. 

Tax YeaXXXX XXXX XXXX Tax Amount Amount Charged by Rocket Mortgage XXXX  {$9400.00} Used for comparison purposes XXXX  {$9500.00} Used for comparison purposes XXXX  {$9200.00} Used for comparison purposes XXXX  {$9300.00} Used for comparison purposes XXXX  {$9600.00} Used for comparison purposes XXXX  {$10000.00} ( billed in XXXX  ) {$6100.00} XXXX  {$11000.00} ( billed in XXXX  ) {$8800.00} XXXX  XXXX XXXX Rocket Mortgage states they are using the XXXX XXXX tax amounts, but they have not. The amounts they charged were arbitrary and not in line with the amounts that are viewable on the county tax assessor website and what is sent to my home annually. 
I spoke with XXXX XXXX on the Executive team at Rocket Mortgage today. She empathized with my concerns but assured me that Rocket Mortgage would not remedy the situation. She also stated that she was the highest I could escalate my concerns within the company. Her superior would back her analysis ; we are short because of our taxes increasing and any miscalculation on their end is our responsibility for payment. She also stated that they paid the taxes without adequate funds in our account and are allowing us to pay them back interest free. The fact that the lack of funds what the companys fault seems to be lost on the staff.