Consumer complaint received 2024-05-01 00:00:00
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — Escrow, taxes, or insurance
Company: Shellpoint Partners, LLC
State: AL

Complaint narrative:
I used XXXX XXXX XXXX from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX for 2 years. NewRez acquired XXXX at the end of XXXX & my first payment with NewRez was on XX/XX/XXXX. 

I changed homeowners insurance this year effective XX/XX/XXXX from XXXX to XXXX XXXX. With XXXX, I had to keep separate hazard/hurricane insurance due to where I live. For this, I used XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX ) & everything was always paid through my escrow account when I paid my monthly mortgage payment. 

I switched to XXXX XXXX because I was told that I would only have XXXX payment to them instead of paying XXXX separate entities for homeowners insurance & hazard insurance. However, I was soon informed that XXXX XXXX recently changed their policy & I'd still need to get separate hazard/hurricane insurance. 

I called XXXX & was told that I no longer had hazard insurance through them. When I asked them how that was possible & for how long, I was told since XX/XX/XXXX. NO ONE at XXXX, Caliber or XXXX ever said a word to me about this situation. The only way I found out was when I called XXXX to get my insurance coverage reinstated since I switched over to State Farm. 

So, for almost XXXX straight years ( 22 months ) I was without hazard/hurricane coverage even though its a requirement in the state of Alabama. Also of note, and this is important, I paid for it the entire time through my monthly escrow/mortgage payment. 

The money I paid for hazard insurance every single month through escrow was kept by XXXX/NewRez & never paid to XXXX. Where is the money I paid for almost 2 years for this insurance? XXXX claimed they stopped receiving payments beginning XX/XX/XXXX & yet, I never stopped paying the entire time. 

Which leads me to my current situation with NewRez. Around XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted a local insurance agent who then got me signed back up with XXXX once again. He then faxed the information over to NewRez. At this point, NewRez had everything they needed as far as my switch to XXXX XXXX and back to XXXX, right? Nope. 
In XXXX I got a letter from NewRez stating that I did not have hazard insurance coverage and they were going to use lender-placed insurance coverage. So, I called NewRez & after navigating through about XXXX different menus and waiting over half an hour, I finally got someone on the phone. I asked this person what was going on & she didnt have a clue. After speaking with her & wasting my time for 15-20 minutes & waiting on hold to be transferred to someone else for what seemed like forever, I decided Id just call back to speak with someone else. Same thing, terrible menu system that seems designed to make you extremely frustrated so much that youll just hang up & forget about it. Nope, not going to happen. I finally got someone in the insurance dept & he could barely talk so he decided to transfer me to someone else in the department that was a supposed supervisor. 

Well, I waited & waited until I finally got yet another person. This guy was also clueless but was able to finally look up some of my information. He said they had placed lender insurance coverage through XXXX XXXX. When I asked him how long I had this insurance he couldnt tell me. Said that his records only go back a few months. What? How can you not tell me when you placed this insurance? Also, where has the money gone that I paid to NewRez ( and XXXX XXXX XXXX ) for almost 2 years via my escrow. 

I could tell this place was a joke and eventually I ended the conversation. 
A week or so passes & I receive a letter that they have now received my information for a switch to XXXX but they had already forced coverage & I needed to contact them ( XXXX XXXX ) so I wouldnt have XXXX separate hazard insurance coverages. Wait, what? So, NewRez forces hazard insurance on me then gets my coverage through XXXX and XXXX the XXXX thats supposed to call XXXX XXXX to cancel? 

At this point, I just wanted to be done with it, so I researched the number to XXXX XXXX to cancel the coverage NewRez forced on me. The person on the phone at XXXX XXXX stated that they could not cancel the insurance and that NewRez would have to cancel it. Unbelievable! They then transferred me back to NewRez & I sat on hold for about 15 minutes. I knew this was going nowhere so I just hung up. I couldnt deal with the incompetence anymore. 

I received a letter a couple weeks later stating that the lender-placed insurance they purchased for my house was now canceled effective XX/XX/XXXX. I thought I was good to go and wouldnt have to deal with this company anymore. Unfortunately, the story doesnt end there. 

A few weeks ago, I received another letter from NewRez stating that they received the insurance information I provided for XXXX but were unable to verify coverage from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX & would charge me {$140.00} for coverage. Again, what about the money Ive been paying EVERY SINGLE MONTH through my mortgage escrow payment? Where is the money I paid for almost 2 years and why has it not been applied to my insurance? According to my estimate, XXXX owed around {$2000.00}. 

After some research, I found out that NewRez XXXX XXXX XXXX are both located in XXXX, Michigan. Thats quite a coincidence. I also read a good bit of reviews and most of them are terrible. I can honestly say that XXXX not XXXX bit surprised. 

This company is criminal & Ive never dealt with so much incompetence in my entire life. If someone at NewRez doesnt get my account figured out real soon, Im afraid Ill have to hire a real estate attorney to take care of this madness once and for all. It shouldnt be that difficult to get this straight. Again, wheres the money I paid from XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX for hazard insurance through my mortgage escrow payment?

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation