Consumer complaint received 2022-03-24
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: Onity Group Inc. (WI)

I closed on my new mortgage with XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. Shortly after, my mortgage was sold to PHH. At closing I was given a check for my XXXX tax bill and was instructed to pay the XXXX taxes on my own. We would be escrowing for the XXXX tax bill that would be disbursed in XX/XX/XXXX. I paid my XXXX tax bill in full on XX/XX/XXXX. I noticed on XX/XX/XXXX that {$2700.00} was disbursed from my escrow account on XX/XX/XXXX to pay the first installment of my XXXX tax bill. This left me with a negative escrow balance of {$1100.00}. I emailed PHH immediately to see why they disbursed the first installment when I had paid my taxes in full 3 weeks prior. I asked them to please research what happened and let me know the resolution. I also told them I assumed they would be receiving a refund from the municipality. On XX/XX/XXXX I received a response that stated they have forwarded my request to their Tax Department and to allow ANOTHER 5 business days for a response. I had not received a response from the Tax Department within 5 business days so I emailed again ( on XX/XX/XXXX ). I told them I needed to make sure they would be receiving a refund from the municipality. I asked again for them to research what happened and let me know. They finally answered on XX/XX/XXXX with the following response " We determined that taxes are paid current. Please be advised that for XXXX taxes 1st installment of {$2700.00} due by XX/XX/XXXX paid and 2nd installment of {$2600.00} are due by XX/XX/XXXX borrower payments were applied. Hence, taxes are paid for the year. Detailed are updated in system. We have already requested for an escrow analysis to be conducted on the account, as borrower also paid for taxes. Please allow 10 business days for the process to be completed and additional time for mailing. '' I found this response to be unacceptable. They did not answer my question about my refund. I responded to them on XX/XX/XXXX with the following " You will be waiting until you receive a refund from the county for {$2700.00} before running the analysis, correct? This is the first time I've ever had a mortgage company pay my taxes in 2 installments. We like our taxes to be paid in full the year in which they are assessed ( example XXXX taxes paid before XX/XX/XXXX ) so we get credit on our income taxes. '' PHH responded on XX/XX/XXXX stating the request to reanalyze the escrow account is currently in process. They advised PHH pays taxes when due in 2 installments and told me I could fax my request to the Tax Department to change it. At this point I am frustrated. I responded on XX/XX/XXXX " Have you received a refund from the county? I don't understand why you would run a new analysis prior to receiving a refund. A new analysis will need to be run again once the refund is received. I will call the county if I have to in order to find out what is happening. Is my loan required to escrow for taxes and insurance? '' I received a very generic response on XX/XX/XXXX stating they were still reviewing my request by the appropriate department and to allow for additional time for the review to be completed. I decided to call the municipality myself and verified with two separate people that the only funds they received for my property were the funds I paid on XX/XX/XXXX. They did not receive the 1st installment from my mortgage company so they did not issue a refund. I called PHH on XX/XX/XXXX to let them know that I personally spoke to the municipality and they do not have the money. The person I spoke to said they would open a ticket to get this resolved. I also asked at that time if I could drop my escrow since they didn't answer my question in the email. He informed me he would have to open another ticket for that. I received my new analysis statement on XX/XX/XXXX showing my payment was INCREASING $ XXXX. I called immediately and spoke to a supervisor/manager named XXXX. I told her the entire story from the beginning and explained my frustrations. I told her it was ridiculous that they ran the analysis because I never asked them to. I'm frustrated they can not find the {$2700.00} but I now have to start paying them MORE money. She said she would bring this back to the Tax Department and follow up every 5 business days. I have now received an email on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX from their ERM Department stating the Tax Department is still working on the request and they will provide a follow up in a week. I received a letter denying my request to drop my escrow on XX/XX/XXXX but I have not gotten a resolution to my escrow funds issue. They send multiple emails a week soliciting refinance opportunities. My husband even received a call from PHH to discuss the possibility of refinancing. I finally had enough last night and emailed them the following " I am trying my hardest to be patient but it's wearing thin. I've been trying to get an answer on this since XX/XX/XXXX. I work in mortgage servicing. I deal with tax issues daily. We would have searched to see if the check sent for the taxes cleared. If it didn't, we'd place a stop pay on the check and get the money to the borrower. If it did, we'd be in contact with the municipality to try to find out where that money is. And it would take a week max! Two months with no resolution is unacceptable. I find it completely absurd that you lost my {$2700.00} and still expect me to pay your more money with my XXXX payment. I expect this to be resolved prior to and my payment lowered back down. I also find it ridiculous that I have to wait 12 months from origination/acquisition to drop the escrow. My LTV is below 80 % and we've never been late. I don't trust you to handle paying my taxes and insurance in a timely manor. While we're at it. Please stop sending refinance emails. I would refinance with a completely different company before I ever refinanced with you. You should take the effort being used for sales pitches and put it into finding my money. '' I'm not sure what else to do. I feel like I've exhausted my options and I still don't have a resolution.