Consumer complaint received 2020-02-11
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF OMAHA (NE)

I previously submitted a complaint on XX/XX/XXXX related to the same incident. However, First National Bank of Omaha ( FNBO ) issued a response on XX/XX/XXXX that has led to more troubling issues. I called CFPB regarding these issues and my concern that the complaint was closed. I was told to file an additional complaint regarding these issues. 

My initial complaint related to my property taxes not being paid even though my mortgage payment increased by {$300.00} sometime after XX/XX/XXXX. FNBO indicated the increase was as a result of my escrow being underfunded due to my property taxes being underestimated. This lead to me having difficulty paying my mortgage ( which can be seen by all the late fees assessed on my account afterwards ). I attempted to refinance with FNBO but was told they were the originators of the initial mortgage so they would not be able to help me refinance. Naturally, after all of this I was shocked to receive a letter from the XXXX County Treasurers Office ( Nebraska ) advising none of my property taxes had been paid in XX/XX/XXXX ( for the XX/XX/XXXX fiscal year ). 

On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX, Manager of Mortgage Servicing at FNBO,  provided a response to CFPB related to my initial complaint. XXXX and I had spoken in depth about this case on two separate occasions, once on XX/XX/XXXX and another time on XX/XX/XXXX. I will address my concerns with things said during both of these conversations as well as my concerns related to her response to the initial complaint below. 

XXXX first addresses a phone call I made on XX/XX/XXXX to inquire about the substantial increase in my mortgage payment. She fails, however, to point out that it was during this call that I said I would not be able to afford the new mortgage payment and would therefore need to refinance. She also fails to point out that I was told by the representative on the Mortgage Servicing Team that they were the originators of the mortgage and therefore would not be able to assist me with a refinance. Now I would assume she got the information she put in the response from their internal system where employees ( call takers ) take notes about the call. XXXX was not privy to this conversation and would not have the first clue as to what was said. What troubles me most isn't just that she left this information out of her response but that I told her during both of our conversations that this was said to me and to this day I still can't understand why they would refuse to help me refinance. So XXXX was aware of this information before writing her response but failed to address it at all. 

Also while talking about this XX/XX/XXXX phone call, XXXX says I was told the increase in my monthly payment related to an increase of {$1200.00} in my property taxes and an increase of " nearly '' {$700.00} in home owner 's insurance. She goes on to say I was provided with my loan officers name and phone number to contact regarding refinance options. I was never provided with this information, period. Then XXXX says in XX/XX/XXXX my payment increased by {$300.00}. The " tax error, '' which is her way of down playing their mistake, was responsible for {$130.00} of the increase and the remaining {$170.00} was a result of my " actual taxes '' and my insurance increase. Well we know from her that my home owner 's insurance went up by nearly {$700.00} so that equals out to {$58.00} a month over a 12 month period. So the remaining {$110.00} of the increase was from my " actual taxes. '' I have several problems with all of this! First, XXXX told me on XX/XX/XXXX that the company they contract with to pay my property taxes, XXXX, mixed up my parcel and the parcel of another client, XXXX XXXX. She indicated XXXX used my money to pay XXXX XXXX XXXX property taxes and used XXXX XXXX XXXX money to pay my property taxes. Now if this is true ( and I have reason to believe it is not but I will address that later ) why in the world would my mortgage payment increase because of their " tax error '' and my " actual taxes '' both. Wouldn't it make sense that if I was paying XXXX XXXX XXXX taxes and his taxes were actually more than anticipated that I would only get one increase. Additionally, if XXXX XXXX was paying my taxes and my taxes were actually more than anticipated wouldn't he then get billed with the increase. But instead, I somehow not only got billed for XXXX XXXX XXXX underfunded escrow but also for my underfunded escrow. How is this even possible given the fact they did not know this was even a mistake until I brought it to their attention? 

Second, and even more concerning to me, is that the increases XXXX reported of {$700.00} for my home owner 's insurance and {$1200.00} for my property taxes are not anywhere near the same numbers I was provided by the XXXX County Treasurer 's Office and my XX/XX/XXXX Agent. After receiving her response to my initial complaint, I called my XXXX XXXX Agent, XXXX XXXX. XXXX told me in XXXX my home owner 's insurance increased by {$33.00} a month. That equates to {$390.00} a year not the nearly {$700.00} she reported. I then called and spoke with the XXXX County Treasurer 's Office. They told me my XX/XX/XXXXproperty taxes payments ( for the XXXX  fiscal year ) totaled {$3100.00} and my XXXX  property taxes payments ( for the XXXX  fiscal year ) totaled {$3500.00}. That is an annual increase of {$470.00} which is a far cry from the number she reported of {$1200.00}. That is also a monthly increase of {$39.00}. So where XXXX says " the remaining {$170.00} was a result of my " actual taxes '' and my insurance increase, '' based on the numbers provided by XXXX XXXX and the XXXX County Treasurer 's Office, that number should have actually been {$72.00}. Based on those numbers, my mortgage payment should have went up by {$72.00} a month not {$300.00}. Yet, XXXX in her response would like CFPB to think their " tax error '' was only responsible for {$130.00} of the increase. I have no idea where XXXX or FNBO got their numbers from but it has been a constant that the things XXXX tells me during our conversations, when fact checked with the agencies responsible, do not check out. When I have brought these discrepancies to XXXX XXXX attention she has repeatedly told me she gets her information from XXXX and can only go on what she is told. What is ironic about that is that she and FNBO contracted XXXX to pay my property taxes, a task they clearly did not do well. However, XXXX and FNBO are apparently incapable of picking up a phone and calling the XXXX County Treasurer 's Office to fact check any of the information XXXX is providing to them. You would think you would do this given the fact that XXXX herself has told me XXXX has made " colossal mistakes '' in this case. 

Next, XXXX says on XX/XX/XXXX, I received an escrow refund of {$2800.00} which included the tax refund of {$2200.00} from XXXX County which was issued due to the incorrect parcel XXXX reported to the county already being paid. XXXX fails to point out that this refund was issued to me after my refinance with XXXX XXXX  went through and my loan with FNBO was paid in full. Additionally, she fails to point out when I received the refund, I was under the assumption my property taxes were paid in full. I was not told this money needed to go to pay my taxes. Like I previously explained to XXXX ( and she agreed by the way ) nobody in the country can be expected to keep escrow money refunded to them for months on end just in case their mortgage company failed to pay their property taxes. This is ridiculous. However, XXXX and FNBO would like CFPB and myself to believe this money somehow shows their willingness to fix their mistake. Again, when they issued the refund they hadn't even discovered the mistake. I pointed it out to them months later when I was threatened with a possible tax lien for unpaid taxes. 

Next, XXXX discusses a conversation I had with their " XXXX XXXX   Team. '' She says my wife told the XXXX Team that we hoped to keep our mortgage with FNBO but were told Student Loans would hinder this and she says my wife told the XXXX Team that XXXX XXXX had offered a rate of 3.75 %. Again, I assume XXXX learned this from notes in their internal system cause this is not at all what happened. Both my wife and I were on this call with XXXX XXXX who was the initial loan officer we worked with at FNBO when we got the mortgage on the house in early XX/XX/XXXX. We called XXXX, not the other way around, and we called her because the Mortgage Servicing Team did not help us on XX/XX/XXXX. We called her after talking with our real estate agent, a friend of XXXX XXXX, and he told us to call her. We have text messages of all of this if needed. When we called XXXX she failed to even look up our loan. She said " if she could remember right '' there was a credit issue that made it difficult to get the initial loan in the first place. Both my wife and I told her she must be mistaken and told her we did not have a credit issue. We told her we put 20 % down on the house and the only issue we had was that I was going to be working in XXXX  and living in XXXX  when we applied for the loan. XXXX said she may have us mixed up with another client. We also told her XXXX XXXX  had offered us 3.75 % and we were hoping FNBO may provided us with the same rate so we wouldn't have to change. Additionally, we told her XXXX XXXX   was working through a Student Loan issue which was holding up our loan. The student loan issue was that I had not been out of school long enough to pay on the loans yet but XXXX XXXX was working with underwriting to determine whether or not that would have to estimate a minimum monthly payment for each student loan or not. XXXX never said anything to use about student loans, never looked up our credit report to even know I had student loans, and never even looked up our loan information. Again, all of this can be verified through text messages and with XXXX XXXX. Again, XXXX relied on notes in their system because she was not involved in this call and again the information she provided is completely false. Information which is placed in the response to suggest FNBO did everything in their power to help us. 

Next in her response, XXXX again downplays how much money I am out by saying I paid the higher mortgage payment of {$130.00} for XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXXand XX/XX/XXXX which totaled {$520.00}. However, like I stated before these numbers do not add up at all with the number provided by the XXXX County Treasurer 's Office or XXXX  XXXX. 

XXXX actually says, after research they learned, " your taxes were originally paid on time but, unfortunately, incorrectly posted to another parcel due to an error in the tax identification number. '' Now how in the world are my taxes paid on time when they aren't even paid on my parcel number? XXXX goes on to say, " In XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX was notified of a change to the tax identification numbers for XXXX County, Nebraska. This required a change of the tax IDs on record from a 10 digit Assessor ID to a 9 digit Treasurer number. Unfortunately, an error was made in the modification of the tax IDs for two properties under our service, resulting in erroneous tax reporting to us and thus incorrect amounts being disbursed from your escrow account. XXXX has assured us that the tax IDs have been corrected within the tax servicing system and that they are engaged with XXXX County to cure your unpaid taxes by Monday, XX/XX/XXXX. '' Now this again is something that really bothers me. XXXX previously told me this information during our XX/XX/XXXX phone call. After speaking with XXXX, I called the XXXX County Treasurer 's Office and asked them about this. They told me and I quote, " XXXX and First National Bank are trying to pass the buck. '' I was told these changes were made in XX/XX/XXXX not in XX/XX/XXXX as XXXX and FNBO would suggest. Also, the XXXX County Treasure 's Office told me they suspected this involved another customer in addition to myself and XXXX XXXX. They believed this because my property taxes are {$1700.00} every six months and XXXX XXXX XXXX are just a little bit more. However, XXXX was sending {$2200.00} from my escrow accoun. This number did not match my property taxes or XXXX XXXX XXXX property taxes so they said somebody else has to be involved as well. I did not even get my mortgage until early XXXX  after these changes had already been in affect for over a year. After learning of this information I called XXXX back and told her. XXXX again told me she was only going off of what XXXX was reporting to her so she was unable to determine why there were discrepancies in what they were saying and what the treasurer 's office was saying. Again, she and FNBO could have called the treasurer 's office themselves but again they did not. Also during this conversation, XXXX told me this entire situation is something she has never seen before and she and XXXX are putting things in place to make sure it never happens again. She said that does not help me but said XXXX and FNBO would be offering me money outside of paying my property taxes in full to make me " whole. '' XXXX stated this situation was convoluted and there were a lot of moving parts so she didn't think there was any way me or anybody else would know what exactly happened here so there was no use in trying to figure it out. She didn't even address the fact that the treasurer 's office believed a third person was involved because the numbers do not add up. Now as a " reputable '' business wouldn't you think you would want to know exactly what happened, why these numbers don't add up and how you could have allowed this to happen to a customer. Additionally, XXXX talks about how XXXX has assured her they have fixed these mistakes but nobody addresses the fact that this does nothing for me in my current situation. 

Finally, XXXX says XXXX has agreed to pay my unpaid property taxes in full and FNBO will be issuing me a check in the amount of {$2300.00}. This amount is for the {$2200.00} taken from my escrow account to pay somebody else 's property taxes in XX/XX/XXXX and {$75.00} late fee assessed. I guess this is how XXXX, FNBO and XXXX intended to " make me whole. '' However, they have failed to address the drastic different in the numbers which lead to my mortgage increase and ultimately lead to me having to refinance or lose my home. The other thing is they seem to be downplaying the fact that their mistake led to an increase in my mortgage payment. They say it is only {$130.00} but those numbers don't add up either as I have stated several times. But even if it was only {$130.00}, that {$130.00} when uncorrected would have led to an increase of {$44000.00} on my mortgage payments over a 28 year span not including interest. So this is no laughing matter. This is something that was their mistake. Something that never should have happened but it did and when it did it caused me to make a decision. The decision was do nothing and lose my house or refinance. I really had no chose here. 

However, refinancing my house came at a massive cost. My closing costs were {$12000.00} after a {$570.00} credit from XXXX XXXX. All of those fees had to be rolled into my current loan. When factoring in the interest rate of 3.75 %, I have to pay {$450.00} a year in interest on the {$12000.00}. Over the life of the loan ( 30 years ), I will have paid {$13000.00} in interest on that money for a total of {$25000.00}. 

Additionally, the refinance of my house caused me to go from a conventional loan to an FHA loan. As a result, I now have to pay {$100.00} a month in mortgage insurance that I was not having to pay when I had a conventional loan. This is an additional {$1200.00} a year added to my mortgage payment. Over the life of the loan ( 30 years ), I will have to pay a total of {$37000.00} in mortgage insurance that would not be a fact had I not had to refinance. 

All of this was explained to XXXX and was explained to XXXX XXXX   employee before her. XXXX stated she understood how the property tax mistake led to an increase in my mortgage payment which lead to me having to refinance and take on all these additional charges. It was after this XXXX told me FNBO and XXXX were going to make me whole. Well {$2300.00} is a far cry from the {$12000.00} I had to pay in closing costs, or the {$13000.00} in interest I will pay on it, or the {$37000.00} in mortgage insurance I will pay over the life of this new loan all because of the mistakes of FNBO and XXXX.