Consumer complaint received 2016-08-18
Product: Mortgage — Conventional fixed mortgage
Issue: Loan servicing, payments, escrow account — 
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. (NJ)

On XXXX XXXX went online to process my monthly mortgage payment. The payment dollar amount had increased more than two and a half times ( 2-1/2 ) what it normally would be, and I had no knowledge of why this happened. I have a fixed-rate mortgage and have had no prior communications with Chase, so I was unaware of this increased dollar amount. Not only did I not know about the increase and why, I was never notified by Chase that this would take place at this specific time, nor for how long it would continue at that enormous dollar amount. At this point, I am unable to make my usual mortgage payment, thus making it now a late payment, so I call the XXXX number to try to get an explanation for this dollar amount. The operator told me that it was regarding my escrow account and they increased the payment for escrow. I explained that I do not have an escrow account because I pay my own property taxes and insurance. I was then transferred to the XXXX XXXX to speak to an operator. I was told that my city tax department had notified Chase that there were some delinquent taxes and Chase paid them a month ago and this is the result. I asked why Chase did not contact me first to verify this information and no plausible explanation could be given. When I tried to get specifics about this entire process that took place, I was told to go to my transaction history on-line. This neither gave details of the timeline of this situation nor did it explain who made this decision or why. I asked the operator what branch I could go to and speak with a live person face-to-face to get this resolved and she said there was no one and that I had to do it on-line. Because that made no sense, I told her that I would go into a branch office tomorrow XXXX XXXX. On XXXX XXXX I went into a local branch office seeking assistance and the person that I spoke with immediately picked up the telephone to call the XXXX number again. The same phone situation took place again with the exception that I was sitting in the bank. The operator just kept repeating information that I somewhat knew, but could not go further than what was on her computer screen. She kept saying that SHE would help me, but when I asked her to give me a direct number to her or an email address that we could work directly together to get this corrected she told me to call the XXXX number. Our conversation ended because she had no solutions or answers to the issues of : why was I never contacted and notified by Chase of this payment increase and payment amount ; why was I not asked before-hand if the amount paid to the City was a legitimate amount that was owed ; for what length of time will this astronomical amount be expected ; the false information that was noted on my history regarding speaking with a person that I did not speak with? All these questions and more were never addressed. Can Chase legally do this without my knowledge and or permission? What happens next because I can not pay this monthly amount? Who do I speak with that can offer me a solution and see this through until it is resolved and not be relegated to different operators at the XXXX number? How will Chase Bank handle this with a human approach and not as a calculated risk that can be resolved through on-line banking? the XXXX number operator can not move me past what I actually told her on the phone, thus leaving my monthly mortgage unpaid and this situation left to fester and potentially explode. I am left baffled as to where to go from here contrary to the writing history of an XXXX number operator who claims to represent Chase Bank.