Consumer complaint received 2023-08-29
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — Escrow, taxes, or insurance
Company: Mr. Cooper Group Inc. (MN)

My complaint is with mortgage servicer Mr Cooper. 

My complaint regards an uncharacteristically large escrow deficit in XXXX. 

In XXXX, my taxes and insurance combined increased {$480.00} over last year. However, I am paying {$1800.00} more than last year for the 12 months beginning XX/XX/XXXX. 

My escrow history since its inception in XX/XX/XXXX is as follows : XXXX XXXX escrow review = {$10.00} surplus XXXX XXXX = $ XXXX shortage XXXX XXXX = $ XXXX shortage ( top 3 reviews by XXXX ) XXXX XXXX review = $ XXXX surplus XXXX XXXX = $ XXXX shortage XXXX XXXX = $ XXXX shortage, later corrected to $ XXXX. 
( last 3 reviews by Mr Cooper ) Last month, I communicated about this with Customer Relations Specialist XXXX XXXX at Mr Cooper. ( Case # XXXX XXXX XXXX ) In her XX/XX/XXXX response XXXX XXXX XXXX provided calculations into the future based on my XXXX tax + insurance increases + cushion requirements to arrive at a projected shortage of $ XXXX in XXXX of XXXX. 

In addition to the shortage, my monthly payment also increased by $ XXXX ( $ XXXX ), presumably to cover the XXXX tax/ins increases. Overall, I am paying {$1800.00} for XX/XX/XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX. 

A HUD rep told me that escrow shortages refer to past escrow activity, not future activity, so XXXX XXXX 's shortage explanation is perplexing. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I spoke with a real estate attorney at MN Legal Aid who told me I can request an escrow analysis for the *origin* of my escrow deficit. I am requesting that analysis, as neither XXXX XXXX nor anyone in customer service has been able to tell me *how* this enormous deficit happened to my escrow account. 

For instance, after my escrow review was completed in XXXX, did some sort of perfect storm occur where my cushion ran out at the same time that my taxes and insurance increased and then my XXXX review was grossly undercalculated for the next 12 months? All that would seem highly unlikely, yet there has to be a logical explanation or possibly some mistake that occurred to make this shortage make sense. 

Mr Cooper 's escrow transaction history shows a hazard insurance payment of {$1300.00} made to XXXX in XXXX XXXX. However, during a XX/XX/XXXX phone call to customer service about my account, the representative volunteered the information that {$880.00} had been paid for my XXXX XXXX hazard insurance and that a new analysis should have been generated at that time. These are 2 separate stories about my account. Is it possible that Mr Cooper paid XXXX  twice, both {$880.00} and {$1300.00}? That would go a long way to explaining my ballooning deficit. 

Either that, or perhaps my insurance rate changed in XXXX following my XXXX review? Something irregular seems to have happened around this payout. 

I have talked to Mr Cooper customer service numerous times since my first call on XX/XX/XXXX when I learned a check I'd mailed to replenish my escrow account after changing insurance companies in XX/XX/XXXX had been " misapplied. '' It took two attempts to get that straightened out, though it still does not explain why my remaining shortage is so huge. 

My greatest concern & criticism about this experience is that Mr Cooper is probably so large that when mistakes happen, they are difficult to trace, no one really gets to the bottom of it, and I am left with zero adequate explanations to my questions, and even less confidence about the process going forward. 

Thank you.