Consumer complaint received 2019-08-26
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP, INC. (MA)

Summary of issue: Franklin American wrongfully paid XXXX XXXX XXXX, a company that I do not have an account with, for home insurance over a month after we closed on our home when I already purchased and paid for home insurance with XXXX on the closing date. I was not made aware of this until I received a letter stating I needed to request a refund from my prior insurance carrier in XX/XX/XXXX. Confused, I called Franklin American and learned that my net escrow balance was extremely low ($XXXX) and my mortgage payments were increasing from $XXXX to $XXXX. Upon further investigation, I learned that Franklin American negligently paid XXXX XXXX $XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX for home insurance XXXX- XXXX (we bought our home on XX/XX/XXXX). This was negligent because I paid the XXXX XXXX XXXX premium when we closed on our house on XX/XX/XXXX. We have NEVER had an account with XXXX  XXXX   XXXX, but Franklin American paid them $XXXX and cannot explain how this happened. They have asked that I request a refund from XXXX on multiple occasions, but because I have never had an account with this company there is absolutely no information in their system to be able to take part in this process. The company has been “investigating” for nearly 2 months now, and my mortgage payments are set to increase dramatically in XX/XX/XXXX. I have requested they send certain documentation to XXXX to resolve this issue and for supervisors to call me back, but the company has been negligent on multiple occasions (outlined in greater detail below) and this has forced me to take many hours out of my day to try to resolve this issue before my mortgage dramatically increases (in error) in XX/XX/XXXX. To this date, there is still no resolve of this issue.Below are dates and Notes of Correspondence from all contact with Franklin American:XX/XX/XXXXAfter receiving several notices for payment from XXXX XXXX  XXXX  (our home insurance company, which is the only home insurance company we have used for our home since purchasing it on XX/XX/XXXX), I emailed Franklin American to ensure they would make this payment by its due date. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email that it would be paid by the due date of XX/XX/XXXX. However, it was not paid until XX/XX/XXXX. XX/XX/XXXXI received a letter in the mail from Franklin American stating I needed to request a refund from my prior insurance carrier in order to prevent a shortage in my escrow account. I did not receive this letter until XX/XX/XXXX because I was away on my honeymoon. XX/XX/XXXXI spoke with XXXX  from Franklin American, who said Franklin American had to put a lenders place policy into effect because the broker at closing “probably didn’t send over the XXXX XXXX policy information.” XXXX said that Franklin American opens their lenders place policies with a company called XXXX, and told me my policy number was XXXX********. I asked why I never received anything in the mail from them about this, and he said he wasn’t sure. He told me to send my XXXX XX/XX/XXXX-XX/XX/XXXX policy information over to keep with my records, and recommended I file a refund with XXXX XXXX   to have this money put back into my escrow account. XX/XX/XXXXI faxed Franklin American my XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX- XX/XX/XXXX coverage information, along with the letter from Franklin American dated XX/XX/XXXX stating I needed to request a refund. XX/XX/XXXXI spoke with XXXX from Franklin American to confirm that Franklin American received my fax and were processing the refund. She eventually transferred me to her supervisor, XXXX. I was informed that I never had an account with XXXX, nor a lenders place policy. On XX/XX/XXXX, Franklin American paid $XXXX to XXXX XXXX, policy #XXXX********. I was told I needed to ask XXXX  for a refund. I never had an XXXX home insurance account, and this policy number is not connected to anyone in the XXXX XXXX  system. Therefore, it was not possible to request a refund. I was also told that the increase of $XXXX in monthly payments was due to increased taxes and insurance, which is not the case. XX/XX/XXXXMy independent insurance agent contacted Franklin American after I shared news of my prior phone call and spoke with XXXX (ID #XXXX). Her notes are as follows:Spoke with XXXX @ Franklin Mortgage ID #XXXX- they advised the insured that her escrow is low and that her mortgage payment is going to go up due to payment they sent to XXXX  in the amount of $XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. Advised XXXX that ht e insured was never with XXXX  for her new home located at ***********. I asked for a copy of the cashed cancelled check. XXXX  researched this and come to find out that check was never cashed. Confirmed also with XXXX  that the insured did have an active policy with XXXX  with no lapse in coverage from XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX and continuous coverage effective XX/XX/XXXX and current effective today. Also the insured sent them proof of coverage on XX/XX/XXXX for the XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX policy term. Franklin Mortgage Tele #XXXX loan #********.XX/XX/XXXXSent email to Franklin American, Reference # ********:Hello, I was supposed to receive a credit to my escrow for $XXXX for an insurance policy that did not exist with XXXX  that I was billed for. The check was never cashed and I already had an insurance policy with XXXX  that has never lapsed since buying this home in XX/XX/XXXX. My agent was advised by XXXX #XXXX that this would be credited to my account by today but I do not see this has transpired and would like to inquire. Thank you.XX/XX/XXXXReceived email from Franklin American, Reference # ********:Loan Number ******* Dear Borrower, Thank you for your recent inquiry regarding your mortgage loan. Please be advised the check can not be stopped as we confirmed XXXX XXXX   XXXX has cashed the funds on XX/XX/XXXX. Please contact a representative at (XXXX) XXXX XXXX to request the funds be refunded directly to you...XX/XX/XXXX (XXXX XXXX)I spoke with XXXX, ID #XXXX (extension XXXX***) to follow up to the email I received.XXXX said there was no way to know if XXXX cashed the check because Franklin American sends bulk payments to XXXX. I asked to speak with her supervisor. She said her supervisor would call me back either today (XX/XX/XXXX) or the next day at the latest. I never received a return phone call. XX/XX/XXXXMy independent insurance agent contacted Franklin American and spoke with XXXX   XXXX. Her notes are as follows:The insured received email from Franklin Mortgage re:  the $XXXX was sent to XXXX   and was cashed on XXXX. Franklin mortgage stated that she needs to request a refund from XXXX....Spoke with XXXX  Customer Service XXXX XXXX - she researched the payment and found that the money was applied to another insured....She stated that the insured needs to contact Franklin Mortgage and they need to send something on their letter head to XXXX stating that the payment was not intended for that insured and that it was their mistake and the payment was intended for ****....the payment of $XXXX was sent to the wrong Company it should have been XXXX.XXXX XXXX XXXXMy independent insurance agent contacted Franklin American and spoke with XXXX. Her notes are as follows:SPOKE WITH XXXX @ FRANKLIN MORTGAGE REQUESTING THAT THEY SEND A LETTER TO XXXX ON THEIR LETTER HEAD INDICATING THAT THIS WAS THEIR ERROR AND THE MONEY THAT WAS CASHED BY XXXX ON XX/XX/XXXX IN THE AMOUNT OF $XXXX WAS NOT INTENDED FOR THE POLICY THAT IT WAS APPLIED TO....XXXX STATED THEY WILL SEND A LETTER OVERNIGHT TO XXXX WITHIN 24 HOURS. THEY DO NOT PUT INSURED’S NAMES ON BULK CHECKS THEY ONLY LIST POLICY #’S.XX/XX/XXXXMy independent insurance agent contacted Franklin American and spoke with XXXX.. Her notes are as follows:Spoke with XXXX @ Franklin Mortgage re:  XXXX has not received the letter they were suppose to overnight on XX/XX/XXXX per XXXX  she does see that there is open research on this....she stated she cannot get into account details with me, she could only discuss the insurance end of it and advised me to have the insured call them.  She could not confirm with me whether or not the letter was sent.  She kept mentioning double payments I told her there were no double payments your Company (Franklin Mortgage) made a mistake and it needs to be resolved.XX/XX/XXXXI spoke with XXXX. She said no letter was drafted or sent, but that that they did call XXXX since Tuesday and found out XXXX refunded the $XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX. She asked if I remember getting a check in the mail, to which I asked how that would have happened if I didn’t have an account with them. She said Franklin American probably gave XXXX my information to send me the check, which I said is a violation of my privacy because they shouldn’t be giving my information out to companies I don’t have business with, ESPECIALLY not to send large checks of money I know nothing about. She couldn’t tell me if the check was sent to my house for sure. Her resolve going forward was to recommend we ask XXXX to send me another refund check so I could then deposit it into my account. I asked why this should fall on me when Franklin American is responsible for this error in sending $XXXX to an insurance company I have never had an account with. She told me Franklin American didn’t necessarily make a mistake but it may look that way according to the notes. I asked to speak to a supervisor. XX/XX/XXXXI spoke with XXXX, supervisor. Extension XXXX*****. He sent an email to insurance department to open up line of communication and ask that insurance money be refunded to escrow (which is what we’ve been asking for for over a month now). I said a call was placed on Tuesday asking for a letter to XXXX  on Franklin letterhead stating their error and asking for a refund. XXXX did not see any information on letter sent out either. He sent an email to Franklin American’s insurance department about letter that needs to be sent to XXXX so we could put the refund directly back into my escrow account. I don’t know why Franklin can’t just cover that money until it is returned so my payments won’t go up by $XXXX each month until it is resolved but I was so annoyed at this point I didn’t think to ask. He said if I wanted to just pay what we usually pay while this is being investigated, Franklin can apply “manual payments” for a lesser amount until they finish research but I would need to call about this and ask them to refer to notes in system from Friday (XXXX  states this is okay in the notes). Will also waive the $XXXX  phone payment fee (noted in the notes). More work for us. They’ll probably screw that up too. I said I would follow up later this week to see if anything has transpired.