Consumer complaint received 2020-08-06
Product: Mortgage — FHA mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: LAKEVIEW LOAN SERVICING, LLC (AL)

Over the last few month 's I've spend countless hours on the phone trying to resolve and correct an XXXX tax issue on my mortgage account with Lakeview Loan Servicing , LLC. 

After reviewing my account history of payments due to recent increases in my monthly escrow payment i noticed a double payment for taxes sent to the county in XXXX & XXXX for county taxes. The payment amounts for taxes deducted from my escrow account are listed below. 

XX/XX/XXXX - {$3300.00} XX/XX/XXXX - {$3300.00} When I contacted Lakeview Loan Servicing about the issue via phone on XX/XX/XXXX they created a ticket to have the account looked at and told me i would receive a response in 48 hours. I never received a response from them within the 48 hours and only received an email days later stating the issue was still being evaluated. On XX/XX/XXXX i called them back again asking for an update and they instructed me they reviewed my account and stated that the payment on XX/XX/XXXX was for XXXX tax year and the XX/XX/XXXX was for XXXX tax year. This was obviously a mistake so I expressed that concern to Lakeview again and they told me I should contact the Revenue Commissioner and verify they didn't owe me a refund. I contacted the XXXX, AL County Tax Commissioners office the same day and asked for payment history for my taxes. They instructed me that they only received one payment from Lakeview XXXX in XXXX of XXXX for the amount of {$3900.00}. The Clerk confirmed that {$1000.00} of the {$3900.00} was XXXX taxes and the remaining balance was to cover XXXX taxes in the amount of {$2800.00}. After learning this I contact Lakeview and provided them with the information along with receipts of the taxes paid the revenue Commissioner provided me. After numerous more calls over the rest of the month with numerous discussion with Lakeview Leaders I received repeated conclusions from them that they had everything correct. On XX/XX/XXXX I contacted Lakeview again and talked to a Senior Member of Management ( XXXX - Employee number XXXX XXXX and discussed the situation with her. She again reviewed the file and told me the problem was with the County Revenue Commissioner and not them. While on the phone with XXXX from Lakieview I asked her to allow me to add the County Commissioners Office to the call and she agreed. A clerk from the County Revenue Commissioners office ( XXXX ) joined the call and the 3 of us discussed the issue. XXXX confirmed that they had only received one payment from them in the amount of {$3900.00} for the XXXX & XXXX taxes mentioned above. XXXX from Lakeview asked her if she had received 2 other checks from them and also provided the check numbers, once again XXXX confirmed that they only had one payment from them in the amount of XXXX. XXXX asked her to provide the details behind that payment and they were provided. XXXX XXXX Cashiers Check in the amount of {$3900.00} which was dated on XXXX and cashed by the county on XX/XX/XXXX. Lakeview didn't even have that payment in their system and had no idea of the transaction. At that point XXXX explained that there was obviously an issue and that she would document everything that was discussed with the myself and the County and she would once again place an escalated ticket with management at Lakeview and someone would call me in 48 hours with results. Ticket number for this was XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX i received and email from Lakeview saying the request was resolved with no explanation. When i called them back to get details and see if they corrected the issue I received the same story that I had previously received from them over the month that the taxes payments were from XXXX & XXXX for {$3300.00} each year. Once again i explained the whole situation with another leader ( XXXX ) at Lakeview for over an hours on XX/XX/XXXX. After review of the account he agreed with me there was definitely and issue with the account and that he would create another escalation in the system for review and explain the situation in more details and re-word what XXXX had previously submitted. Today XXXX, I again called them and was informed that a note on my account stated the reason behind the double tax payment was due to the fact that we had to pay taxes twice a year. I explained to the customer service rep that wasn't true and asked to talk to a leader again. The leader Mrs. XXXX explained to me that the issue was still under review with no estimate on when it would be reviewed. 

This has negatively effected my Credit Score due to having a negative escrow balance which was increased the loan balance and was picked up by the Credit Bureau. In addition they have increased my monthly payment for escrow by nearly {$140.00} for the last 6 months and today XXXX, I received an update from them that they would be raising my payment again in XXXX by another {$330.00}. 

In conclusion, this whole issue could have been resolved if Lakeveiw paid the XXXX taxes that were still due after the closing. They were notified in Late XXXX by me that i received a notice from the Tax Commissioner that we still owed {$400.00} for unpaid taxes on the property when we closed on the house for XXXX. Lakieview received the letter from me that same day via email that the county sent. They instructed me they would handle the issue and I had no further actions. In Late XXXX I was notified from my closing attorney that the taxes fro XXXX had never been paid and that the house was auctioned off for tax sale. I contacted Lakeview on this issue immediately following the call and they said they would handle the taxes and redeem the property and any late fees or penalties would be covered by them. I instructed them this had to be handled quickly because I wasn't able to file for Homestead Exemption. Taxes were never paid until XXXX for the XXXX & XXXX Tax Years.