Consumer complaint received 2024-08-24 00:00:00
Product: Mortgage — VA mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — Escrow, taxes, or insurance
Company: PENNYMAC LOAN SERVICES, LLC.
State: SC

Complaint narrative:
PennyMac raised my mortgage amount from XXXX  monthly to XXXX  monthly. This was done without notice to me. PennyMac states they mailed a letter to me which was not received and there were no other messages. When I found out about this, I discovered that my homeowner 's exemption had elapsed. I immediately updated the info with my county accessor and furnisehd the new information to PennyMac. Their response was to tell me there was a negative balance on my escrow account which was caused by the incorrect taxation amount. I paid off the negative balance and requested that they close my escrow account and adjust my payment accordingly. I created new monthly deposits to my savings account to cover yearly tax and insurance amounts. 
Today I received a letter which stated they would not close my escrow account because my loan to value ratios were not met. In a message on their message center it read as ; Dear XXXX XXXX, We apologize for the delay in responding to your request. Unfortunately, we are unable to approve your request to delete the escrow account at this time. The reason for the denial is that your current Loan-to-Value ( LTV ) ratio of 85.93 % does not meet the minimum requirement for escrow removal, which is an LTV of less than 80.00 %. We understand that this may not be the news you were hoping for, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Please let us know if you have any questions or if there is anything else we can assist you with. 
I replied with the following ; Good afternoon, I received a letter today regarding my request to close my escrow account. Perhaps not surprisingly, I never received a direct reply to my messages in the message center. I was informed in your letter that Pennymac will not honor my request to close my escrow account. I also see that my current escrow amount has not been updated as previously requested multiple times, in spite of having paid off the negative balance. The letter states that my request was not honored because my loan to value was not met. In this case please give me your numbers on my loan to value. VA loans do not require an escrow account. VA loans also only require a loan to value of XXXX percent. I expect an answer immediately, or my next communication will be to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to file a complaint. 
To date PennyMac has not adjusted my mortage payment to reflect the paid off negative escrow balance and they are refusing to honor my request to close my escrow account. My loan is a VA loan and according to information available on the web the loan to value amounts need only be XXXX percent for no escrow and VA loans do not require an escrow. Unfortunately, with interest rates higher than when I purchased I can not refinance with an XXXX, which I would have already done if the interest rates were the same or lower than my current rate. I would only refinance with the stipulation that PennyMac never service my loan.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation