Consumer complaint received 2020-07-10
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: Fay Servicing, LLC (FL)

Fay Servicing LLC is a second small mortgage I have on my condo. 

On or about XX/XX/XXXX, I noticed that Fay had placed an escrow account for Hazard Insurance. I had noticed that my monthly payment had increased slightly a while back, but because I was very busy, I let that go at the moment to be dealt with later on. I suspected though, that once again, they had forced placed insurance and created an escrow account for same. It's not the first time that this has occurred. 

However, this time, when I finally had some time to address the issue, I contacted them and spoke to one of their customer service agents, " XXXX  '', and after several emails back and forth with my condo association, Fay Servicing was provided with the proof of insurance they required in order to remove the escrow account for same and reimburse me for whatever moneys they had collected towards said hazard insurance. 

It's been several weeks, and as I prepared to make my XXXX payment, I noticed once again that the escrow account had not been removed and that the payment continued to force me to make said insurance payment. 

I called again, and after several attempts to reach someone, including waiting and multiple agents disconnecting me after realizing how complicated this had become, I was referred to one of their supervisors, XXXX XXXX. 

After leaving a couple of messages, and many emails to the previous agent " XXXX  '' who had assured me that the issue had been resolved, the supervisor finally returned my call. After a long conversation with her, explaining the issue, and additional information I had obtained from another customer service agent, including two more important points : 1 ) the fact, that although Fay Servicing had already been reimbursed by the insurance company back in XXXX, when I had already provided them with proof of insurance, they had not removed the escrow account, and more importantly, they had not reimbursed me for the money they collected towards said insurance. 2 ) During this whole challenge, and after looking in more detail at my account and previous years, I also noticed that Fay Servicing, had forced placed insurance for the year XXXX as well. Even though, once again, they had proof that insurance was already in place for that year. 

To this date, Fay Servicing, has forced placed insurance for two years in a row, not resolved the issue of removing the escrow account and reimburse any moneys they've collected towards said insurance, although they have been provided with proof of insurance for both years multiple times. I have spent numerous hours, talking to agents who continue to assure me that issue is being resolved, although my account reflects otherwise. I was once again forced to pay another month of insurance that I do not need in order to make XXXX mortgage payment for XXXX. The supervisor, who in her condescending and rude tone continues to tell me, that the issue is with the escrow department and she can't do anything about it until she hears from them. 

I refuse to continue to pay for insurance that I do not owe, specially when Fay Servicing has been provided with proof that insurance is already in place several times. I question their escrow practices and find same untrustworthy. I have found through some research that this is not the first time that Fay is facing issues with forced placed insurance on borrowers and in fact, there are instances of class actions lawsuits against Fay Servicing in the past due to this exact same issue. 

To date for the year XXXX, I have paid a total of {$240.00} in hazard insurance to Fay Servicing through the escrow account they forced on my account profile. For the year XXXX I unknowingly paid a total of {$440.00}. These amounts may seem small, but once again, I question their escrow practices and the number of people they have in their portfolio that have been forced to pay for insurance they do not need.. I suspect, that the number of people start to add up. Specially, if their practice is, like in my case, to get reimbursed by the insurance company once they've obtained proof that insurance is in place by the borrower, but never reimburse the borrower for said insurance. I also suspect that many borrowers, just like me, are too busy to notice because the amounts are small and some may never notice, so they don't call to complain. 

The supervisor 's answer to the above when I brought it up was " Well then maybe is a good thing you noticed and called. '' I'll leave you with that last remark from one of Fay Servicing 's fine employees.