Consumer complaint received 2025-03-17 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:
In XX/XX/year>, I contacted my mortgage servicer, Newrez Shellpoint, to close and disburse my escrow account, which they did on XX/XX/year>. They acknowledged this and sent me a letter confirming the closure at that time. 

I paid my property taxes and fire dues on time but later noticed that Shellpoint had marked a disbursement of those same amounts in my mortgage account, suddenly creating a negative escrow balance. Since my escrow account had already been closed, I knew this was incorrect. I contacted Shellpoint multiple times, beginning in XXXX and XXXX, to follow up. Shellpoint acknowledged the error and assured me that the escrow amount would be corrected within a business week. However, by XXXX, no changes had been made. 

Repeatedly, Shellpoint representatives failed to conduct even basic fact-findingoften not realizing that my account was no longer escrowed. After several attempts to explain the situation, I was finally allowed to speak with a supervisor, who escalated the issue for what they called " research. '' I voluntarily submitted receipts as proof of my property tax and fire dues payments, showing that I had already paid them before Shellpoints supposed disbursement. 

Unfortunately, this so-called " research '' was merely customer service agents speaking to a Shellpoint tax department representative who did not conduct any real investigation. Initially, they rebuffed the customer service supervisor. After about another business week, I was told : " No refund is due, so you'll have to pay the escrow balance. '' At this point, I contacted the county tax department myself. They confirmed that I was the only person to pay on the parcel IDproving that Shellpoint was completely incorrect and had not investigated the issue properly. 

After multiple attempts to escalate the matter, Shellpoint suddenly decided to attempt to obtain a refund from the countya refund they had previously claimed did not exist. They informed me that it would take 68 weeks to process, plus an additional 12 months for an escrow analysis to correct my account. Meanwhile, they still demanded that I pay the negative escrow balance, even though they fully admitted that they had caused the issue. 

Multiple RESPA Violations During this process, Shellpoint committed multiple violations of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act ( RESPA ), including : Failing to respond to written information requests within 3045 days ( as required ). 
Supervisors promising callbacks within 24 hours but never following through ( at least three instances ). 
Pressuring me to make payments despite admitting that the negative balance was their error. 
Additionally, I was told that the escrow management team " does not take calls '' not even from internal employees and supervisors. This lack of accountability and transparency raises serious concerns. 

I repeatedly asked : Why should a customer be forced to pay for a companys mistake? The response was always : " This is the process. '' Additional Errors : Fire Dues Once the county tax amount was finally refunded, Shellpoint failed to refund me for the fire dues, which I had also already paid. My negative escrow balance remained, and they again tried to claim that " no refund is due. '' At this point, I contacted the fire department directly, which confirmed that : I alone had paid the fire dues. 
Shellpoint never made a payment on my behalf. 
Shellpoint did NOT send funds as part of a XXXX  payment. 
Despite this, Shellpoint did nothing until I forced them to act. They are now supposedly " working on '' obtaining a refund for the fire dues but refuse to correct my escrow balance in the meantime. 

Unanswered Questions Shellpoint has yet to provide clear answers to these key questions : Why does Shellpoint refuse to correct my negative escrow balance when it acknowledges that I did not cause the error? 
Why must I, the customer, wait for Shellpoint to obtain a refund due to its own mistake? 
What is the justification for the following process? 
Step 1 : Shellpoint makes an error.

Step 2 : The customer is forced to cover the error until Shellpoint corrects it.

Step 3 : Shellpoint refuses to manually correct the account in the meantime. 
If this is truly a " unique case, '' as Shellpoint representatives claim, why am I being forced to follow standard protocol instead of receiving an urgent resolution? 
Please provide a step-by-step breakdown of the so-called " investigation, '' including : Specific steps taken to verify my receipts. 
The number of employees involved, their job titles, and the dates of their actions. 
A timeline detailing what has caused months of delays. 
Given that Shellpoint acknowledges the error, why wont it restore my escrow balance immediately? 
Why does Shellpoint block direct communication between departments, preventing faster resolution? 
Severe Customer Service Failures While one customer service supervisor made a real effort to help, most others stonewalled me. The tax and escrow management departments were the worst offenders, refusing to answer questions or take meaningful action. 

Other troubling customer service experiences include : A supervisor hanging up on me when I asked where I could read about their procedures. 
Representatives refusing to let me speak to a supervisor, claiming it was " not possible '' or that supervisors were " busy. '' Inconsistent communication, with some agents messaging supervisors on Teams immediately, while others delayed my case for another 24 hours. 
Final Thoughts & Warning to Other Customers Had I not caught these errors and relentlessly fought for corrections, Shellpoint would have done nothing. This raises serious concerns about how many other customers may be unknowingly paying for similar mistakesespecially those unfamiliar with mortgage escrow processes. 

I will be submitting formal complaints to : State and federal regulatory agencies The Attorney General in my state My congressional representatives Local consumer protection agencies If you are a homebuyer, realtor, lender, or mortgage industry professional, I strongly urge you to avoid Shellpoint unless they make significant changes to their organization and customer service practices.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation