Consumer complaint received 2024-03-17
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — Escrow, taxes, or insurance
Company: Mr. Cooper Group Inc. (MD)

We, XXXX XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX, are complaining about the non-payment of our property taxes from our escrow by Nationstar Mortgage LLC d/b/a Mr. Cooper ( " Mr. Cooper '' ), a mortgage company that the CFPB successfully sued in XXXX in federal district court for the same practices. See CFPB XXXX Nationstar Mortgage LLC, XXXX ( XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX, XXXX ). Further, Mr. Cooper is charging us overdue interest for the non-payment, even though Mr. Cooper indicated to us in writing that Mr. Cooper would make a timely property tax payment on our behalf after we timely notified Mr. Cooper about the property tax bill. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, Mr. Cooper assumed our mortgage from XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX ( " XXXX '' ). See Attachment 1. Mr. Cooper maintains an escrow account for us, which is intended for the timely payment of all property taxes and insurance. In XX/XX/XXXX, we received a tax bill from XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, Maryland, in the amount of {$3900.00} for a levy period of XX/XX/XXXX, until XX/XX/XXXX. The tax bill was not for a special assessment, and the tax bill specified that overdue interest would start accruing in XX/XX/XXXX if the tax bill was not paid. See Attachment XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, we wrote to Mr. Cooper and provided them with the tax bill. In our written communication on XX/XX/XXXX, we specifically indicated that the tax bill was due in XX/XX/XXXX, and we expressly indicated that the tax bill was for an amount that exceeded our escrow balance. See Attachment XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, Mr. Cooper replied to our written inquiry through a written letter on Mr. Cooper 's letterhead. Mr. Cooper 's letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, explicitly stated that " Mr. Cooper will issue payment for taxes, on [ our ] behalf, prior to the due date '' and also specifically stated that it had " updated [ our ] taxes in the amount of {$3900.00} '' in the escrow. See Attachment XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX sent us a notice from XXXX XXXX indicating that our property tax was overdue and unpaid. Furthermore, since our property taxes were delinquent, XXXX XXXX began charging us overdue interest of {$170.00} on top of the tax bill of {$3900.00}. See Attachment XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, we called Mr. Cooper to inform them that they had failed to pay our property taxes from our escrow. In response, Mr. Cooper indicated over the phone that our taxes will be paid in full and that Mr. Cooper will pay any overdue interest on our behalf since this tax payment error was made by Mr. Cooper. Mr. Cooper instructed us over the phone to email information regarding the delinquent taxes to an email account maintained by XXXX, a company that, to the best of our understanding, remits property tax payments on behalf of Mr. Cooper. See Attachment XXXX. During our phone call on XX/XX/XXXX, which was recorded ( to the best of our understanding ), Mr. Cooper stated that the issue would be resolved within XXXX week. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, we called Mr. Cooper again, and Mr. Cooper informed us over the phone ( XXXX ) that no tax payments have been made on our behalf and ( XXXX ) that Mr. Cooper has XXXX ( XXXX ) days to complete any research and issue any needed payments. On XX/XX/XXXX, we received a notice from XXXX XXXX that our property would be subject to a tax sale if our property taxes plus the overdue interest was not paid. See Attachment XXXX. On the morning of XX/XX/XXXX, we called Mr. Cooper to inquire again about the payment of our property taxes and to suggest that Mr. Cooper complete the payment through XXXX XXXX website. On the same morning ( XX/XX/XXXX ), we also sent an email to XXXX and Mr. Cooper indicating ( XXXX ) that our property taxes were not paid, ( XXXX ) that we intended to file a complaint with the CFPB if our property taxes remained unpaid by the weekend, ( XXXX ) that Mr. Cooper previously assumed responsibility for paying the tax bill plus any overdue interest on XX/XX/XXXX, and ( XXXX ) that Mr. Cooper stated in writing on XX/XX/XXXX, that it will issue payment for taxes, on [ our ] behalf, prior to the due date. See Attachment XXXX. 

In the afternoon of XX/XX/XXXX, we received a phone call from Mr. Cooper indicating that it would remit payment of our property taxes plus overdue interest through a check delivered through XXXX Mr. Cooper indicated that any overdue interest was our responsibility because the tax was a special assessment. On the afternoon of XX/XX/XXXX, we called XXXX XXXX, which indicated that the tax was not a special assessment and that XXXX XXXX does not typically levy any special assessments. On the afternoon of XX/XX/XXXX, we called Mr. Cooper and informed them that the tax was not a special assessment, per our prior phone conversation with XXXX XXXX. In response, on XX/XX/XXXX, Mr. Cooper indicated over the phone that the overdue interest on the tax bill was our responsibility and that we should not hold Mr. Cooper accountable. The Mr. Cooper representative who stated that the overdue interest was our responsibility and that we should not hold Mr. Cooper accountable was XXXX, with a phone number of XXXX. In addition, XXXX and one of his other colleagues provided a USPS tracking number for the tax payment remitted to XXXX XXXX. As of XX/XX/XXXX, USPS indicates that it is still awaiting any item to be shipped under the tracking number. See Attachment XXXX. Further, as of XX/XX/XXXX, the XXXX XXXX XXXX tax status website indicates that our property taxes remain unpaid. See Attachment XXXX. 

Only after numerous attempts to inform Mr. Cooper that they have been delinquent in their legal obligations to timely pay our property taxes from our escrow, did Mr. Cooper show on our mortgage web portal that they have begun the process to disburse our escrow to XXXX XXXX. The disbursement, however, was in the amount of {$4000.00}, which includes both the tax payment of {$3900.00} and the overdue interest of {$170.00}. See Attachment XXXX. We accrued the overdue interest only because Mr. Cooper failed to fulfill its obligations under federal law to pay our property taxes from our escrow in a timely manner. 

As our remedy, we would like Mr. Cooper to assume sole responsibility for any overdue interest, which is currently {$170.00}, and to reimburse us for that interest, which has currently been deducted from our escrow, likely in violation of federal law and basic Maryland contract law ( including promissory estoppel ). To the extent the tax bill is still unpaid by XX/XX/XXXX, we anticipate being forced to pay the tax bill ourselves, instead of relying on our escrowand, in that case, we would like ( XXXX ) reimbursement for {$4000.00} to our escrow, which will allow those funds to be applied to future tax payments and ( XXXX ) reimbursement for any transaction charges that XXXX XXXX might charge for an online payment through a personal check.