Consumer complaint received 2021-05-10
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: AmeriHome Mortgage Company, LLC (CA)

AmeriHome Complaint to CFPB AmeriHome was our mortgage servicer. This complaint is about their handling of our escrow account between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. The sequence of events was as follows : Item 1 : Property Tax Payment At the end of XX/XX/XXXX, we started a refi and needed to know whether AmeriHome planned to pay our next property tax installment before or after the projected closing date. The website showed 1 ) the wrong amount, and 2 ) only the month of XXXX, without a specific date.

We called AmeriHome, discussed our situation, and were told that, per our request, they would NOT pay the next installment. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, we received an email that they had paid property taxes of {$6500.00} on XX/XX/XXXX anyway. ( attachment 01 ) We called them immediately on XX/XX/XXXX, and a customer service rep ( XXXX ) told us that they could recall the payment from XXXX. She placed a work order that was supposed to be completed about two weeks later on XXXX. 

We called again on XX/XX/XXXX. Another customer service rep ( XXXX ) told us that a work order to research/track/return the payment was put in on XX/XX/XXXX ( not XX/XX/XXXX ), and now it would take 30 days to complete. 

We called again on XX/XX/XXXX. A customer service rep ( XXXX ) told us that the money had been received from XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX more than 30 days after the original disbursement. She also said that now it would take another 7-10 business days for the money to be sent to us. 

Even though this item was unresolved, on XXXX we discovered that our on-line account was disabled. All loan information was removed with the message this function is no longer available because your loan has been paid in full.

We called three times on XXXX. Because the on-line account was disabled, customer service reps could not access any information, so they re-routed our calls to the Closed Accounts Department which then disconnected the calls. 

On our last call on XXXX, another customer service rep ( XXXX ) took down our info and told us that she would get in touch with someone that could access our information, and that she would call back in a few days. That never happened. 

We called again on XX/XX/XXXX. This time we were able to reach a customer service rep (  XXXX XXXX ) in the Closed Accounts Department. He recognized our account but could find no trace of our prior calls or any information related to the missing property tax payment! He opened a new ticket, sent a confirmation email with a direct number, and told us that he escalated the issue and would get back to us 2 days later. Again, nothing ever happened. 

On XX/XX/XXXX we finally received a check in the mail, from XXXX, not AmeriHome. The check was dated XX/XX/XXXX, but the postmark was XX/XX/XXXX. ( attachment 02 ) The attached letter had no date on it but claimed that the refund was from the taxing authority. That statement is obviously incorrect the County did not receive that payment.

Item 2 : Escrow Reimbursement Our refi closed on XX/XX/XXXX. The escrow reimbursement was also held for a month, namely until XX/XX/XXXX ( attached ). However, even though the letter and check were dated XX/XX/XXXX, they actually didnt arrive until XXXX. There was no postmark on the envelope (? ), but it is very unlikely to have spent a full 3 weeks in the mail.

Item 3 : Fees on Payoff Statements As part of the refi, our new lender requested payoff statements from AmeriHome. Those payoff statements included a charge of {$120.00} for the preparation of payoff statements. When questioned, customer service insisted that there were 4 such statements ( {$30.00} each ), but AmeriHomes own website showed only three. ( attachment 03 ) Another payoff fee of {$180.00} was alternately labeled Miscellaneous Expense Repayment and Recoverable Corporate Advance Balance. Questions to customer service revealed that they also had no idea what this was. It wasnt until we received our County Recorders documents that we were able to confirm that these were in fact the correct recording fees, but no customer service agent was able to explain how they came up with {$180.00}. 

Frankly at some point in time we just gave up on any questions regarding payoff, since AmeriHomes customer service was obviously unable/unwilling to help.