Consumer complaint received 2019-09-12
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. (CO)

I would like to file a complaint against Chase Mortgage Services. I started my mortgage with Chase 14 years. Over the past several years, I have had many issues with the way Chase has treated me and handled my mortgage. As I will detail below, there have been several instances when I ( 1 ) received contradictory and different information from different Chase representatives ; ( 2 ) received erroneous information from Chase concerning notifications they sent ; ( 3 ) have not received important information in the appropriate time frame ; and ( 4 ) Chase continues to include and ESCROW charge every month even after I have proven to them that I am paying insurance and taxes separately. 

All of these issues have caused me a lot of stress, money, and time. I have been unsuccessful in efforts to get reimbursed for late fees that I do not feel were correct. Even after speaking to representatives on the phone and going to the branch in person, they are still not giving me the right information. It is an ongoing challenge. I will outline my grievances below, with as much specificity as I can. 

Issue 1 : Contradictory information I called Chase on XX/XX/XXXX. I first talking to representative XXXX XXXX, then my case was escalated and I talked to XXXX XXXX of the Escalation Team. During my conversation with XXXX, she said Chase should have notified me if a payment was rejected in XX/XX/XXXX. I told her I was not notified. The situation was clearly confusing to her too. She told me, I have never seen anything like this. I dont know what went wrong. 

My call then got escalated to Mr. XXXX on the Escalation Team. Here is where I got the first explanation for why I started falling behind on my payments in XX/XX/XXXX. 
Explanation A I was given for why I started falling behind in XX/XX/XXXX : Mr. XXXX told me that the reason I started accruing late fees and being a month behind on my mortgage is because there was an audit of my payment history completed and the people auditing my history claimed that on XX/XX/XXXX the mortgage payment I made was not processed. To reiterate, Chase told me that in XX/XX/XXXX a payment from XX/XX/XXXX was not processed. This was after months of statements telling me I was up to date and in good standing. It was shocking to hear that four months later, after receiving several months of mortgage statements showing me in good standing, one of  my payments was retroactively denied, putting me behind. I was told by Mr. XXXX that bills sometimes do not show the true record of events. He did not provide any explanation why a rejected payment from XXXX would only show up in XXXX nor did he provide details about the people/group doing the auditing, even though I asked for both. 

The huge lag between the supposed missed payment and the start of the chain of late fees are very problematic and was made worse by the lack of information and communication. XXXX XXXX, manager of my local Chase Bank in XXXX told me that the bank has 3 to 9 days to give people information if a payment was rejected. No such notification was provided to me. During a phone call with Chase, a representative ( whose name I did not record ) told me that checks sometimes get lost. This is disturbing to me, because I do not use a computer at home and rely on writing checks to Chase ( in the  actual bank itself ) to make my monthly mortgage payments. 
Chase did not notify me at all about this audit which found months after I believed I had made the payment-that I was in fact behind. Mr. XXXX said that a notification was sent in XX/XX/XXXX detailing the situation. That is unacceptable because it is about a year a half after the initial late that they charged me with. The amount of late fees at this point was already around the size of an entire monthly mortgage payment. I repeatedly tried to fight these late fees, spending hours on the phone and even getting the support of a Financial Coach to help me ( from the Colorado nonprofit mpowered, XXXX XXXX ). The Financial Coach, who called Chase with me on numerous occasions, was also surprised and confused by the situation. 

What made things worse and harder to resolve is that I got a different story from Chase in later phone conversations. 

Explanation B from Chase on why XX/XX/XXXX started a chain of lates : On XX/XX/XXXX, I once again called Chase with my Financial Coach in the hopes of getting a reimbursement for one year and a half of late fees. This time we spoke to a Mr. XXXX XXXX to better understand the timeline of events. 

Mr. XXXX told a different story. He said that on XX/XX/XXXX I made a payment over the phone, and that it was rejected for insufficient funds five days later on the XX/XX/XXXX. This is different than the first explanation from Mr. XXXX because it did not involve a rejected payment from several months earlier triggering the late. 
Another incident involving incorrect information : In XX/XX/XXXX I got a letter saying I made that months payment on BOTH the XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX of the month. This is incorrect information from Chase. 

Issue 2 : Not communicating with me once the series of late fees started in XXXX. 
The late fees have cost me over {$1500.00}. I believed they were in error because I always prioritize my mortgage payments. I almost always make payments in person but I will also make them by phone once in a while. 

As mentioned earlier, I was told by my local Bank Manager XXXX XXXX that Chase would notify me 3 to 9 days after a payment was rejected. I did not realize that there was any issue with my payments. I am very regular about going to the bank and filling out the payment. 

There was not timely communication about this. The explanation of my lates was only sent in XXXX ; like I mentioned, I do not believe I missed a payment in XXXX. 

Issue # 3 : Chase falsely claims it returned a check to after declining payment for insufficient funds I never received a returned check or notice for being late. This would have Issue : I am still getting incorrect information Chase told me I paid on the XX/XX/XXXX and the XX/XX/XXXX of last month. This is incorrect ; I only paid once. This did not affect me in any financial way, but it is another example of erroneous reporting. This makes me feel stressed and uncertain, because I am constantly worrying about whether Chase is properly handling my mortgage. 

Issue # 4 : I am still getting bills which include an ESCROW, even though I have always paid my insurance and taxes separately from my mortgage. 
This year I started receiving additional charges on my mortgage for ESCROW payments. I have never had escrow payments, nor do I need them because I pay my taxes and insurance separate from my mortgage. 

I have repeatedly sent Chase the information they requested to prove that I am paying my taxes and homeowners insurance. My homeowners insurance is paid for every month. This year I opted to pay my taxes in two installments ( taxes are completed paid for the year ). 

I went to Chase in XXXX, Co to discuss this. He said he did not see any ESCROW on the computer. 

Later in XX/XX/XXXX, my Financial Coach and I called Chase to also. I faxed Chase 9 pages of documents showing them I had paid my homeowners insurance and taxes. 

In XX/XX/XXXX, it is once again showing on my mortgage statement that I still owe the ESCROW and I am past due on it. This is infuriating and I do not know what to do because I have talked to them so many times about this problem. 

In conclusion, I am amazed at the money, time and stress the issues with Chase have been costing me. As I mentioned, I have been working with a Financial Coach from the Colorado nonprofit mpowered. He has been with me as I try to get answers from Chase and he is also amazed at how inadequate Chase has been with my mortgage. 
I would appreciate any support as I confront Chases terrible mismanagement of my mortgage.