Consumer complaint received 2021-12-22
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: Onity Group Inc. (IL)

I contacted PHH mortgage numerous times to correct the anticipated tax disbursements for XXXX. This information needed to be corrected for my escrow. My escrow should be calculated on a total tax of {$7200.00}. For starters, PHH had the disbursements wrong, which could have negatively impacted my escrow. The original disbursements they had were for {$1800.00} in XX/XX/XXXX and {$5300.00} in XX/XX/XXXX. They modeled this strictly from the payments they made in XXXX, which were lopsided, due to my not being allowed to have a homeowners exemption this year. I just purchased the house last XX/XX/XXXX, which had both homeowners and senior exemptions for XXXX. I was paying an anticipated {$8900.00} into escrow for taxes based on the XXXX taxes without exemptions. Therefore my property taxes actually decreased. Taxes for my county are always paid a year in arrears. 

The way my county operates, you pay 55 % of the previous total tax bill in XXXX, then you pay the remainder in XXXX or XXXX. That is when exemptions are applied, or in my case taken away. I have had to contact this company numerous times about my tax payments, as they were going to send the wrong amounts for both payments. In both cases in XXXX, then again in XXXX, I had to send them a copy of my tax bill and tell them to pay the correct amount. On top of that, I was charged a {$7.00} fee for doing so. This is something they were messing up. I should not have to pay a fee for their screw ups. 

PHH only corrected my first disbursement, but left my second disbursement at {$5300.00}. Even though my total tax is stated in my account and on my tax bill to be {$7200.00}. So, on XX/XX/XXXX, I faxed a letter to the tax department stating that the first disbursement should be {$3900.00} and the second should be {$3200.00}. I also faxed the tax bill and circled on the tax bill the total tax of {$7200.00}. 

Based on an email I received on XX/XX/XXXX, PHH stated that they corrected the first disbursement payment and sent it to escrow for my escrow analysis. What they sent to escrow was a first payment of {$3900.00} and a second payment of {$5300.00}, leading the escrow department to supply a statement on XX/XX/XXXX increasing my escrow based on approximately {$9300.00} in estimated taxes. I have already been paying {$8900.00} into escrow for taxes that ended up being {$7200.00}. So my payment should not go up. My taxes are not going to increase $ XXXX, and escrow is supposed to be based on total tax on the tax bills. Also, I did not get the message in my account that this happened until XX/XX/XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I also sent a letter to the escrow dept stating that my escrow for taxes should go down to {$600.00} a month from the {$740.00} that I have been paying. Again this is based on my taxes being {$7200.00} and not {$8900.00}. I have tax bills that say {$7200.00}! 

I have asked numerous times to be allowed to communicate with the tax and escrow departments. I am always brushed off. I was supposedly sent to an escalation manager, but my emails were never answered promptly and my letters were apparently ignored. I spelled out the monetary details with bills very clearly. 

If this does not get fixed and its been over a month now, I will have to look into refinancing my house at a higher rate just to get away from this mortgage servicer. I have already talked to other lenders who confirm that PHH is not calculating my escrow appropriately and need to calculate it according to my last known total tax which is {$7200.00}, and what was paid out. My estimated tax is not {$9300.00}! 

One last complaint, I was on the phone with a PHH rep back in XXXX who was in the park. I could hear he was outside, and I asked him where he was. I let him know I was concerned about the security of our phone call and my information with him being outside in the park.