Consumer complaint received 2021-04-12
Product: Mortgage — FHA mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: Commerce Home Mortgage, Inc (CA)

We purchased our first home at the beginning of this year and what started out as a great experience has quickly turned into a living nightmare. We entered escrow on our home on XX/XX/XXXX with Commerce Mortgage. On XX/XX/XXXX we had a notary come to our apartment to sign the closing docs that were drafted. Within 30 minutes of the notary leaving, the realtor and lender called me to tell me we were not closing that day due to issues with the sellers. The new closing date would be XX/XX/XXXX. We were also told that due to the holidays, the docs would still be held valid for the new closing date and we did not need to re-sign. On XX/XX/XXXX escrow went through and we finally got the keys to the home XX/XX/XXXX. We were told we would not receive our first mortgage bill until XX/XX/XXXX. However, our first mortgage bill arrived 1 month early on XX/XX/XXXX. After research being done and lots of arguing back and forth about what went wrong, the lender informed us that it was her mistake and the closing docs should have been re-signed since the original date we put on the docs showed a XXXX purchase. We were not financially prepared to receive our first payment until 1 month later. Our realtor finally was able to explain to the lender the heartache this had caused us and the realtor and lender split the first mortgage payment that was their mistake. We thought this was going to be the end of our heartache, but we have been proven wrong once again. On XX/XX/XXXX we received a letter in the mail stating that our escrow account is {$1300.00} short and it is our responsibility to pay it back. We immediately called the lender and realtor to figure out what went wrong. After multiple days of waiting for a response, we learned that the home insurance company was paid out during closing costs. Then, the insurance company took a second portion of money from our escrow account leaving us with a shortage. Also, we learned that somehow the special assessment taxes were never taken into consideration for our closing documents ; therefore, that amount of money is not reflected in our monthly mortgage. We are now left with another large amount of money to pay that has nothing to do with us and is not our fault. We hired the lender and realtor to do their job and do it well ; however, they have taken advantage of us every chance they have gotten. I called and spoke with the lender to figure out what needs to happen next and she admitted that the special assessments missing from the closing docs was a mistake on behalf of her mortgage company and " there is nothing they can do about it. '' She also told me that " it would be in your best interest to hire an attorney. '' It is absolutely disgusting to me that a company is willing to treat their customers this way and take advantage of people not only during a pandemic, but during a time when money is so tight from purchasing our first home. I do not feel I should be responsible for this mistake and Commerce Mortgage should have to pay for the missing amount of money that is a result of their incorrect calculations. We agreed on the closing docs to pay $ XXXX.XX per month for our mortgage with everything included, not the amount they are saying our mortgage will be going up four months into owning the home. Please help me make it clear to Commerce Mortgage that they can not treat their customers this way and explain to them that they need to do what is right and fix their mistake. 

PS- I have proof of all documentation and signed documents if needed.