Consumer complaint received 2021-11-03
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: HIGHLANDS RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE (AR)

My wife and I closed on a mortgage on XX/XX/2021. At the closing with XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX, AR XXXX XXXX ) we were told by XXXX XXXX the escrow officer, that our monthly payment would be {$1300.00}. As she told us this, she pointed to the first page of the Note document at paragraph 3B which says, ( B ) Amount of Monthly Payments, My monthly payment will be in the amount of {$1300.00}. I then pointed to that same figure and said, So that is our monthly payment ( XXXX )? And she stipulated that it was. Indeed, it was the essential figure of which I was concerned on that document. That was perfect for us and indeed what we had anticipated from our conversations with the loan officer/originator XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ). 

Subsequently, we received a payment statement from Highlands Residential Mortgage ( XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX NJ XXXX with corporate offices at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, TX XXXX phone XXXX ). From XXXX until close to XXXX on XX/XX/2021, we talked with customer representative after representative ( one of which was said to be a resolution person ) and finally after 4 or 5 people we managed to contact their corporate office and chat with a very cordial XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ) at around XXXX or so the same day. Our conversation lasted until approximately XXXX where she promised to call us the next day with the resolution. 

XXXX XXXX seriously took ownership of our problem though it appeared obviously that she was not in the position of making a decision. She referred it to an unnamed higher-up with whom she communicated via text during our conversation. She relayed what was being said by the higher-up in real time. During that conversation she finally was able to help us understand what escrow meant on our mortgage. We thought our prepayment monies that were part of the closing were to pay our taxes and home insurance ahead of time. To clarify, on our previous home we paid our taxes and home insurance in full every year in one lump sum, paying the tax office and insurance company directly. We chose to do so because we pay it from an annuity that pays out once a year and since we are living on Social Security and pensions that keeps our monthly budget lower. So, that is precisely what we thought this was. In fact, the words prepay were used by the mortgage initiator XXXX XXXX. 

Consequently, when we agreed to the loan and were told that our monthly payment as it appeared on the front page of the Note would be {$1300.00}, this is what we had anticipated it should be and that we would pay our property taxes and home insurance after this initial prepayment at closing in one lump sum as we had done for over a decade with our previous home. We assumed that our monthly payment would be {$1300.00} and that when it came time to pay our property taxes and home insurance that we could once again utilize our annuity to pay them in one lump sum for the entire year. 

We admit to being ignorant of what escrow meant but we certainly would not have agreed to it had we understood fully that it would increase our monthly payment by {$290.00} ( total payment {$1600.00} instead of what the first page of the Note said, {$1300.00} ) and to which we were very specific in asking if indeed that would be our monthly payment. It was not made clear to us by XXXX XXXX or the mortgage company or the title company that escrow meant that we would continue to pay an additional amount each month in perpetuity. 

In our initial conversation ( my phone was on speaker so my wife could hear ) with XXXX XXXX, she stated that the escrow could be removed because we had paid for mortgage insurance ( in full in a lump sum I might add ). She stated that they could simply refund the escrow amount and we could pay our taxes and insurance ourselves. As I mentioned, we began our conversation around XXXX and at around XXXX I said that it seems that little can be decided today so she promised to call back or email us the next morning. She did not but we did call her back the next afternoon. In that conversation the higher-up said that they would not be able to simply refund the escrow ( which would make my payment be {$1300.00} the amount on the first page of the Note ) even though I had paid for mortgage insurance. To explain, we paid for mortgage insurance so that I could reduce the down payment from 20 % to 10 %. We did this so that we would have additional funds to invest. I expressed my disappointment and concern that such arrangements could not be made and we ended our conversation. She was quite courteous throughout our conversation but all she could do was apologize. 

Subsequently, I informed ( by phone text ) XXXX XXXX ( the loan originator ) of our disappointment and that we would probably try to refinance. At those remarks he called me and strongly stated that there was no reason to do that and that something could be worked out. He said he would call me the next day. I texted him the next day and asked if there was anything and he called me and basically said there was nothing they could do. I told him I would not have taken out this loan had I known that my payment was going to be higher than {$1300.00}. With that he said again he would try to see what he could do. 

And that is where we are. No resolution.