Consumer complaint received 2022-05-14
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. (CO)

On XX/XX/XXXX I submitted a payment of {$150.00} over the phone to Chase Home Finance in order to start the process of PMI removal based on home-value appreciation and the fact that I had purchased ( not leased ) a rooftop solar system valued at over {$19000.00}. 

When I spoke with the customer-service representative for Chase as I made this payment, she indicated that I would be contacted within approximately two weeks in order to schedule a broker-price opinion ( " BPO '' ) so that Chase could confirm the value of the house and the presence of the new solar panels, which were contracted in XX/XX/XXXX and completed installation in XX/XX/XXXX. I did not record my phone call from XX/XX/XXXX with Chase, but the CSR made it sound as if this next step would occur without me having to do anything - I might receive something in the mail but I would not have to watch closely or worry about anything. 

I did receive a form from Chase in the mail sometime later in XXXX or XXXX, asking for details on improvements to the house. Based on my initial conversation with the CSR, I did not return it. I believe that I made two follow-up calls to Chase - XXXXne in late XXXX and one in the first quarter of XXXX - in order to ask about the status of my request. Each time, I was advised that my request had been sent to the " escalations team '', and I never heard back. 

Finally, in late XX/XX/XXXX I decided to dig up the form I had received 3-4 months prior and submit it. I started corresponding with Chase via their online portal and receiving replies, although the replies were mostly unilluminating and unsatisfying. Once I had submitted the description-of-improvement form, I was told that I needed to submit proof that I had purchased the panels. I submitted a purchase contract for the panels dated XX/XX/XXXX and a credit-union statement from XX/XX/XXXX ( for the exact same amount as the purchase contract ), and was advised that this was inadequate - that I had not shown the panels were bought versus leased. I then went back to the solar-panel company, and fortunately they were able to provide me with a one-line document that said " Paid in Full '', which Chase indicated that it would accept. 

After Chase agreed to accept this proof of purchase, they then said that they could not proceed because they had already refunded my initial payment of {$150.00} for the BPO in late XX/XX/XXXX. I asked which account they had refunded it to, and Chase replied that they had sent a check to my home address. I advised Chase that I had not received a check, and they agreed that whatever they might had sent had not been cashed or deposited. I told Chase that I had cleaned house and opened all my old paper mail in late XXXX, so I was pretty sure that I was not in possession of the check, but that if I did find the check I would either destroy it or mail it back - whatever they preferred. 

At this point, I feel like I'm being given the runaround, and that Chase does not want to fulfill its side in evaluating my primary residence for removal of PMI. I understand that mortgages can be complicated and that there are some fraud-committing " bad actors '' out there. I feel like my actions have been aboveboard, and that Chase is trying to avoid losing a revenue stream. I am deeply frustrated, because ( 1 ) I feel that I am being treated poorly ; ( 2 ) I doubt that there's any way to recoup the PMI payments for the months that Chase has been giving me the runaround ; ( 3 ) I suspect that there are a not-insubstantial number of people out there who will be treated similarly by Chase and who will give up or be unable to find recourse. 

The only good things that I have to say about Chase during this saga is that their online correspondence has been polite and they haven't tried to edit or delete any of the messages in the online portal ( so they haven't tampered with the evidence/history regarding my issue ).