Consumer complaint received 2024-05-20
Product: Mortgage — FHA mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — Escrow, taxes, or insurance
Company: PLANET HOME LENDING, LLC (CA)

In XXXX of this year, my mortgage payment unexpectedly XXXX {$470.00} a month, causing a great amount of hardship and negative outcome for me, my credit, and my family. Once I contacted my mortgage provider, Planet Home Lending, I found out the following, only after speaking with multiple supervisors. Planet Home Lending ( lender ) purchased my loan back in XXXX of XXXX, from the lender " XXXX XXXX ''. Before that transaction, XXXX XXXX had already paid for my home 's flood insurance a year in advance, through my escrow, which was to provide coverage from XX/XX/XXXX until XX/XX/XXXX. That was paid for in XX/XX/XXXX, before XXXX XXXX sold my loan to Planet Home Lending. 
According to Planet Home Lending, they failed to receive the documentation reflecting the flood coverage XXXX XXXX already had in place. Instead of reaching out to XXXX XXXX to retrieve and ensure all paperwork was received, Planet Home Lending decided to place that burden on myself, the consumer, saying that a notification was mailed to me asking for the insurance paperwork, a mailing that I never received. My insurance and taxes have always been paid by my mortgage provider and I have never had to worry about it being paid. Planet Home Lending has stated that since I did not respond to their supposed notification, they took it upon themselves to obtain flood insurance on my behalf, without my consent. Furthermore, the insurance they chose was their own companys insurance which is known to be far more expensive than other providers ( a Planet Home Lending representative told me so ), and that is reflected in the print-out provided. 
Since they decided to blame the consumer, and continue to do so, by paying for their expensive flood insurance ( again without my knowledge ), doing so for the entire year of XXXX, they were taking the money from my escrow balance, from my monies, to cover those balances, which created a significant shortage in my account. Once Planet Home Lending noticed they didn't have enough money to cover everything, they performed an Escrow Analysis outlining the shortage. Once again, I had no notification that this was happening from their end. The analysis concluded that I had a shortage on my account, and that I must now pay to make up that shortage by adding {$470.00} to my monthly payment. 
Once I learned of the lenders mistake, and subsequent actions against my account, I had to contact the company several times, taking several hours of my time by the time this complaint has been submitted. I was transferred to Planet Home Lendings Insurance Department who ultimately requested I email the supervisor proof of the Flood Insurance coverage that was already in place from XX/XX/XXXX to XXXX, and then also provide a new quote so that the flood insurance can be reinstated since it had lapsed again in XX/XX/XXXX. Therefore, I had to do the work to find that documentation that the lender should have already received from the lender they purchased my loan from. On top of that, since they didnt have this information, they allowed the flood insurance already in place to lapse, causing the need for a new quote, and yearly premium. They had already put in place their own expensive flood insurance once again on my behalf without my knowledge or consent. 
After finally obtaining all this information for them, I emailed the documentation to the supervisor helping me, who then stated it would take 15 days for a refund to be issued to my escrow account. Not my own checking account, but my escrow account, even though the money came from my pocket via my mortgage payments. After the 15 days, another analysis would be conducted. A couple weeks later, the revised analysis was done. However, a shortage was still found, and now my mortgage payment is {$96.00} more than it was before this all started. Also, the amount that the new analysis gives for the property taxes paid, does not match the original analysis for the same payment. So, the numbers are not matching up, and seem to be manipulated. Furthermore, the refund that was applied to my account was {$1900.00}, which is significantly lower that the amount that was taken from my account from XXXX to XXXX. Also, once the flood insurance lapsed in XXXX of XXXX, they continued to charge me for their expensive flood insurance every month up until XXXX when they finally renewed the insurance with the proper company for which I provided the quote. They have not refunded me for that span of time. This is reflected in the print-out provided. I understand that my Home Insurance did rise, but if my escrow account hadnt been improperly handled, I do not feel any shortage should still fall on myself as the consumer. It should be the lenders responsibility to ensure the money I am paying every month is used properly. Otherwise, a compounding affect will take place given my escrow balance will turn negative as shown in the print-out provided. 
Overall, the fact that this issue and remediation thereof was placed upon the consumer when the issue was clearly caused by the lack of due diligence on the part of the purchasing party when the loan changed hands, is unacceptable, and the hurt that it has caused to myself and my family both emotionally and financially can not not be understated. It would have been as simple as Planet Home Lending requesting the missing documents from XXXX XXXX after seeing what was needed was not received. Instead, I was blamed, verbally, over the phone for the error multiple times. I had to go out of my way to prove they had made a mistake. Even still, I have not been compensated for the {$470.00} extra I had to pay in XX/XX/XXXX and continue to believe I am still being overcharged while not trusting any of the numbers being given. Not only are they hard to understand for any average consumer, but even those above average can see a discrepancy in the numbers provided on the analyses completed. 
While this has burdened myself and family, I also dont want something like this to happen to anyone else. It is imperative that these types of issues should not be placed on the consumer, especially when it was due to a lack of due diligence on the companys part. Furthermore, something as important as insurance for the consumers home and livelihood should be held with more regard. If there is obviously an issue with something so important, more should be done to contact the consumer ( I was told that a piece of mail was sent through snail mail which I never received ; no phone call, no email, no voicemail ), and never should insurance be purchased on behalf of the consumer without consent, especially knowing that it would cost them XXXX times more a year than what they had been paying. On top of that, a representative for Planet Home Lending customer service state they chose their own in-house flood insurance as coverage, which is obviously a conflict of interest, and are essentially paying themselves. I will add that it is required to have flood insurance, so the company knew I had to of had coverage with the prior lender. It is imperative this issue be resolved, and that consumers in the future do not go through what we have gone through to try and resolve this on the companys behalf.