Consumer complaint received 2021-10-12
Product: Mortgage — VA mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: GUARANTEED RATE INC. (FL)

I purchased a home, on XX/XX/XXXX. The loan was a 30-year VA loan with Guranteed Rate , Inc ( `` Mortgagee '' ).

The Mortgagee, during the course of XXXX, failed to update the original address given to my homeowner 's insurance company XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX ( " XXXX '' ). XXXX invoiced the Mortgagee at the address provided to them at closing and the Mortgagee did not pay the invoice. In XXXX of XXXX, we received a notice from XXXX that our insurance would be cancelled imminently if payment was not made. We made numerous phone calls to the Mortgagee and XXXX in order to facilitate this payment, which is not the responsibility of the Mortgagor but the Mortgagee via the escrow agreement.

The Mortgagee, by error, issued three checks to XXXX, from our escrow account. Each check was for {$5500.00}, totalling {$16000.00} the amount due under the insurance policy. The checks were dated XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, one check was refunded for {$5500.00}. One check was accepted as payment for our policy and one check was cashed by XXXX but not returned to our escrow account, representing an overpayment of {$5500.00}. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, Guaranteed Rate, as servicer, sold our loan to XXXX Mortgage. The loan was transferred with the overpayment of {$5500.00} still outstanding, leaving our escrow account short for the new lender. As a result, XXXX increased our total loan payment ( Principal, Interest, Taxes, and insurance ) by hundreds of dollars to account for the shortfall. No further action was taken by Guaranteed Rate to recoup this mistaken payment. 

I was not made aware of these transactions until I received the notice from XXXX that my escrow accounts were short after the mortgage was transferred. 

I called the guaranteed rate on XX/XX/XXXX and was told to contact XXXX. XXXX informed me the servicer would need to request the refund of {$5500.00} in overpayment. On XX/XX/XXXX I called Guaranteed Rate again and after XXXX hour on the phone and speaking to XXXX separate people about the issue, I was told by a supervisor that she had put in a work order and that Guaranteed Rate would reach out to Orchid, recoup the funds, and cut me a paper check in the mail. She even asked me if I wanted a wire or a check. She said to call back on Monday the XXXX of XXXX, XXXX to check on the status of the refund. 

When I called back to check on the status, I had to speak to three other people, some of whom reiterated that it was not Guaranteed Rate 's issue and that I should take it up with the insurance company, I spoke with another supervisor. She insisted she could not do anything since the loan had been sold/transferred. We then had a conference call with XXXX and the Guaranteed Rate supervisor where the guaranteed rate repeatedly asserted that it would not accept the refund and issue me a check, even though it was their mistake and that the new servicer would need to do that. I asked the supervisor for the contact information for her general counsel, which she said she did not have. 

Guaranteed Rate made this overpayment in error, and despite being informed of the error, has not corrected it. It has also failed, per regulations, to transfer or refund my escrow accounts within 20 days of being paid off and if not for my intervention, would have failed to make my homeowner 's insurance payment on time in XXXX per the terms of the escrow agreement. They have cost me time and money due to their incompetent service. 

On Monday, XX/XX/XXXX, I refinanced my mortgage with XXXX Loans, paying off XXXX Mortgage, in part because the monthly payments for my mortgage under XXXX have gone higher than I had budgeted for because of the Guaranteed rate 's mistake. Part of what I had to finance was the replenishment of the missing {$5500.00}. Guaranteed Rate refuses to accept responsibility for their mistake and I still do not have a clear understanding of how I will be able to recoup the {$5500.00}. I also had to pay over {$10000.00} in state transfer taxes and fees in order to refinance. 

Guaranteed Rate needs to pay a price for their negligence and lack of responsibility as a servicer in this case. Their error has cost me money and time and they have violated regulations and the terms of the escrow agreement.