Consumer complaint received 2019-04-11
Product: Mortgage — VA mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: LAKEVIEW LOAN SERVICING, LLC (SC)

In XX/XX/XXXX I was notified by my mortgage company that they would disburse in excess of {$10000.00} for property taxes. My tax assessor sent the wrong tax amount initially and did not notify the mortgage company that a reassessment had been done making my tax liability {$3800.00}. I called the mortgage company and was told to e-mail the escrow department the updated tax assessment. I e-mailed escrow on XX/XX/XXXX explaining the mix up, providing the new assessment and requesting they not disburse more than the {$3800.00} owed to the tax assessor. I followed up on XX/XX/XXXX with a second e-mail and a phone call. I was told the {$10000.00} was already disbursed. I called multiple times to the mortgage company and tax assessor in XXXX to clear the situation up. I was told by the mortgage company there was nothing they could do since the money had already been disbursed and that the tax assessor would likely send the overage back. Despite the refund and providing the updated tax assessment, the mortgage company projected my upcoming taxes at over {$10000.00}. Therefore, when they did the escrow analysis at the end of XX/XX/XXXX, the calculated my new escrow payment to be {$1200.00} per month including a {$200.00} payment per month for an escrow shortage that doesn't exist. My total projected escrow disbursements is {$5500.00}, accounting for insurance and taxes. I called as soon as I got the letter. I was told the my inquiry would be sent to the escrow department for review. I called back a week later and asked for the status. I was told escrow looked at it and didn't see any reason to correct the payment. They were still showing my property tax would be over {$10000.00}. A very nice customer service representative realized that what I needed was the " tax line '' adjusted and my initial inquiry was sent to the wrong department. She stated she would get the taxes adjusted. She was true to her word and did that. I honestly thought the issue was resolved at that point. Despite the taxes being adjusted, my monthly escrow payment was not adjusted. I e-mailed the escrow department on XX/XX/XXXX, again, expressing my concern with the amount of my escrow account. I, again, requested an escrow analysis. I received an e-mail acknowledging my request and asking I give 5 business days for a response. I called back to check the status on XX/XX/XXXX. I e-mailed for a status on XX/XX/XXXX. I received an e-mail from the escrow department on XX/XX/XXXX stating my inquiry had been resolved and closed with no other explanation. I called on XX/XX/XXXX to ask about the closed inquiry. I was told that escrow was in the process of completing the analysis and these things " take time and we can't rush the escrow department. '' I have given the escrow department time. In fact, I have given the escrow department 4 months at this point to fix the problem. I asked to speak to the escrow department and was told there they had no way to take a phone call ( I guess there are no phones in the escrow department ). I asked what processes were in place to elevate this issue. I was told there were no elevation processes in place. I asked why the customer service rep couldn't call the escrow department since I couldn't. I was told she also had no way to call the escrow department and only a team lead or a supervisor could do that. I will admit to not being a patient with this rep as I could have been and I am sorry for that, but this is very frustrating. What kind of customer service industry company doesn't have an escalation process or a way to speak to someone who can actually help? I genuinely need this fixed. I am not in a position to pay an additional {$800.00} plus toward my mortgage payment each month? Does Lakeview want me to default? That seems to be the only explanation I can come up with to explain the complete disregard of my requests. At most, my escrow balance should be {$6500.00} per year or {$540.00} per month ( and that is high considering there is still over {$2000.00} currently in my escrow account ). This includes the XXXX cushion allowed by RESPA. To require me to pay {$14000.00} into escrow is a violation of RESPA.