Consumer complaint received 2026-05-28 00:00:00
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — Escrow, taxes, or insurance
Company: Selene Holdings LLC
State: RI

Complaint narrative:
I am filing this complaint against Selene Finance LP regarding forced escrow, inaccurate and misleading tax-payment records, refusal to remove escrow after all stated cure conditions were met, unnecessary prepayment of future tax installments, and failure to provide clear, direct, and meaningful communication. Selene used unclear, inaccurate, and possibly mischaracterized tax-payment activity as the basis to force escrow, increase my monthly payment, deny escrow removal after cure, and then apparently prepay future tax installments after I had already paid my current installment directly. My mortgage does not require escrow management, and I have historically paid my own property-related obligations directly. I do not consent to Selene continuing to manage my taxes through a forced escrow account that has been inaccurate, misleading, poorly explained, and financially harmful. Selene previously closed my escrow account at my request in XX/XX/XXXX after I raised concerns about its escrow handling, and is now refusing the same basic request in XXXX despite the fact that I cured every issue it identified and despite continuing concerns about the accuracy of its tax and escrow records. On XX/XX/XXXX, Selene states that it paid {$400.00} to the XXXX XXXX XXXX for parcel 023-0129-D09/1909, consisting of a {$360.00} base amount and a {$35.00} penalty, satisfying the second and third installments. It also states that it separately paid {$820.00} to XXXX XXXX by check. Based on this, Selene converted my account to escrow. Selene 's explanation of these alleged " delinquent taxes '' is vague, imprecise, and misleading. It does not clearly identify what was actually delinquent whether the only delinquency was the {$35.00} XXXX XXXX XXXX penalty, whether installments were prepaid before they were due, or whether my regular XXXX of XXXX real estate taxes were actually due at the time it acted. The XXXX XXXX XXXX item is not the same thing as my regular XXXX of XXXX real estate tax installment. Selene 's own records label the {$400.00} item as " Special Property Tax Assessment / Misc. Taxes. '' If Selene is relying on " delinquent taxes '' to justify forced escrow, it must identify each tax item separately whether it was a Town real estate tax, a Fire District assessment, a penalty, or a prepaid installment. This matters because Selene used this unclear tax activity to raise my monthly mortgage payment from {$1300.00} to {$2000.00} an increase of {$740.00} per month. Its XX/XX/XXXX escrow analysis identified a shortage of {$2300.00} and added both a monthly escrow amount and a monthly shortage repayment amount. If the actual delinquency was essentially a cured {$35.00} XXXX XXXX penalty, Selene 's position is unreasonable and unsupported. I paid my XX/XX/XXXX real estate taxes myself, on time, and I have the receipt to prove it. A small, cured penalty can not fairly serve as a continuing basis to force escrow, collect an additional {$740.00} per month, and deny escrow removal. On XX/XX/XXXX, I requested removal of escrow. On XX/XX/XXXX, Selene denied the request and identified three cure conditions : an escrow advance balance, a late charge balance, and delinquent taxes. I addressed all three. The escrow advance was repaid. The late charge was paid. The tax issue was addressed. On XX/XX/XXXX, I sent Selene a certified letter confirming that the stated cure conditions had been met and requesting escrow removal. It received the letter and did not respond for XXXX days. On XX/XX/XXXX, Selene responded through the CFPB and again denied escrow removal. It acknowledged that I no longer had an escrow advance balance or late charge balance, but still denied removal because it had " previously paid delinquent taxes. '' Selene did not identify any current delinquency, unpaid escrow advance, unpaid late fee, or specific legal, contractual, investor, or policy authority stating that a prior cured tax issue permanently bars escrow removal. Selene set the cure conditions. I met them. It then moved the goalposts and continued to deny escrow removal anyway. Selene 's own cited mortgage language does not support its position. The language it quoted says that if a borrower fails to pay an escrow item, the lender may pay the amount, require repayment, and revoke the escrow waiver. That language gives Selene a remedy when an escrow item is unpaid it does not authorize permanent refusal to reinstate direct payment after the issue is cured, the advance repaid, the late charge paid, and the account current. No legal authority, mortgage provision, investor guideline, or written policy has been provided to support that position. The situation became even more alarming after I paid my XX/XX/XXXX real estate tax installment directly to the XXXX of XXXX. After making that payment, I checked my Selene online mortgage account and was shocked to see that it appeared to state that Selene had paid XXXX the quarterly amount due. I went in person to the XXXX tax office to verify. The tax office confirmed there was no payment from Selene for my property at that time. I had paid the taxes directly myself, and I have the receipt to prove it. Since then, the situation has become even more concerning. The XXXX tax record now shows that I paid {$1300.00} by eCheck on XX/XX/XXXX. It then shows a separate check payment of {$3700.00} posted on XX/XX/XXXX, along with an adjustment of {$100.00}, bringing the XXXX real estate tax balance to {$0.00}. Selene appears to have paid the remaining XXXX XXXX of XXXX real estate tax balance after I had already paid my current installment directly. This is overreaching and financially harmful. Selene did not merely pay a delinquent tax item to protect the property it appears to have paid future installments after I had already demonstrated that I was paying directly. I can not afford to pay hundreds of dollars extra each month because Selene chose to prepay installments that were not yet due. As of filing, I have paid Selene approximately {$4400.00} in escrow-related amounts since XX/XX/XXXX, including XXXX months of the {$740.00} monthly escrow increase and an initial shortage payment of {$1400.00}. Once my XXXX payment is made, that total will reach approximately {$5200.00}. I also paid my own real estate taxes directly in the amount of {$1300.00}. I am being forced to pay thousands of dollars into escrow while simultaneously proving that I am capable of paying my taxes directly. This is financially unsustainable and destabilizing. The XX/XX/XXXX payment makes Selene 's conduct worse, not better. It shows that Selene is not simply protecting the property from delinquency it is taking over tax payments I am already handling and using its own actions to maintain control over escrow and raise my monthly payment. Selene must not be allowed to create an escrow advance by voluntarily prepaying future installments and then use that self-created advance as a basis to continue forced escrow, increase my escrow payment, or manufacture an additional shortage I am forced to repay. I demand that Selene immediately reverse, recall, recover, refund, or otherwise correct its XX/XX/XXXX payment of {$3700.00} to the Town of Cumberland, restore my ability to pay my own tax installments as they come due, and cease using its own unnecessary prepayment as a basis to continue forced escrow or create any additional escrow shortage. RESPA / Regulation X Servicing Concerns I am requesting review under RESPA and Regulation X, including 12 CFR 1024.17, 1024.35, and 1024.36. Each provision maps directly onto specific conduct by Selene. Selene has failed to provide a complete, accurate, and coherent escrow accounting. Its records do not clearly distinguish between Town real estate taxes, Cumberland Fire District charges, penalties, delinquent installments, and prepaid installments. It forced escrow and raised my monthly payment by {$740.00} based on tax activity it has never clearly explained, then prepaid future installments on XX/XX/XXXX after I had already paid my current installment directly without explanation, authorization, or disclosure of how it intends to treat that payment going forward. This violates 12 CFR 1024.17, which requires servicers to conduct accurate escrow account analyses and clearly account for all deposits, disbursements, advances, shortages, surpluses, and refunds. Selene must provide a complete escrow statement from the date it began servicing my loan through the present, and must explain how the XX/XX/XXXX payment is being treated and whether it intends to use it to increase my escrow payment or manufacture an additional shortage. I am treating this complaint as a formal notice of error under 12 CFR 1024.35. Selene maintained inaccurate and misleading tax-payment records, forced escrow based on unclear and possibly mischaracterized tax activity, denied escrow removal after I satisfied every cure condition it identified, prepaid future installments I was already paying directly, and its online account records appeared to misstate who had made the tax payment. Each of these is a servicing error under 1024.35. Selene is required to either correct each identified error or conduct a reasonable investigation and provide a written explanation. A form denial citing " previously paid delinquent taxes '' without identifying the specific error, the specific authority, or the specific basis for continued escrow does not satisfy that obligation. I am also submitting a formal request for information under 12 CFR 1024.36. Selene must produce all records, payment confirmations, escrow analyses, tax disbursement records, communications with the Town of Cumberland and the Cumberland Fire District, and internal notes and authorizations supporting its decisions to force escrow, deny escrow removal, and make the XX/XX/XXXX payment after I had already paid the current installment myself. Selene has consistently failed to provide documentation that explains or supports its conduct. That obligation is not satisfied by repeating conclusions without producing the underlying records. Selene 's conduct appears punitive, retaliatory, overreaching, and financially destabilizing. Once I cured the issue and demonstrated that I was paying my taxes directly, there was no reasonable basis to continue treating me as an ongoing tax-payment risk especially while creating additional escrow activity by prepaying future installments. Prior Escrow Accounting Pattern This is not the first time I have raised serious concerns about Selene 's escrow accounting. In XX/XX/XXXX, I demanded termination of escrow management because its records reflected that I had paid {$13000.00} into escrow while only {$9700.00} had been disbursed an apparent surplus of {$3900.00}. I also challenged Selene 's anticipated tax figure of {$9400.00} because my actual tax bills had been significantly lower, including approximately {$5600.00} in XXXX and {$5400.00} in XXXX. I requested documentation showing how those inflated figures were calculated and a complete escrow activity statement. Selene closed the escrow account in XX/XX/XXXX. Now, in XXXX, I am again seeing unclear, inaccurate, unsupported, or misleading tax and escrow records. Communication Failures Selene 's communication has been unacceptable. It operates with one main phone number and a circular automated system that makes it extremely difficult to reach a live person with authority. I have called repeatedly without meaningful assistance, requested a callback that was never returned, and sent a certified letter that went unanswered for 49 days. Selene 's escalated responses are signed by XXXX XXXX of the Executive Resolution Team, yet no direct extension, email, or way to reach her is provided. The only contact number leads to a circular automated system. If Selene is going to identify a specific individual as the respondent on regulatory complaints, that person must be reachable. Requested Response and Resolution I request that the CFPB require Selene to provide a complete, direct, and specific written response addressing : The exact tax item or items that justified forced escrow in XX/XX/XXXX, including whether each was a Town real estate tax, XXXX XXXX XXXX charge, penalty, delinquent installment, or prepaid installment. Whether the actual delinquency relied on was the {$35.00} XXXX XXXX XXXX penalty, and if so, how that cured penalty justifies continuing forced escrow and collecting an additional {$740.00} per month. The exact legal, contractual, investor, or written policy authority relied on to deny escrow removal after the escrow advance, late charge, and tax issue were all cured. Why escrow closure was approved in XX/XX/XXXX after my prior escrow-accounting concerns, but removal is refused in XXXX under substantially similar circumstances. Why Selene 's online account information appeared to indicate that Selene paid XXXX after I had already paid the XX/XX/XXXX installment myself, and after the XXXX XXXX XXXX confirmed it had no payment from Selene for XXXX XXXX XXXX. Why Selene paid {$3700.00} toward the remaining XXXX XXXX real estate tax balance on XX/XX/XXXX, after I had already paid {$1300.00} directly on XX/XX/XXXX. Whether the {$3700.00} represented future installments not yet due, who authorized it, why it was made despite proof I was paying directly, and why Selene believes it may use its own voluntary prepayment as a basis to continue forced escrow or create an additional shortage. A complete, itemized escrow accounting from the date Selene began servicing my loan through the present, including all deposits, disbursements, advances, shortages, surpluses, refunds, tax estimates, and the basis for each calculation. Why my XX/XX/XXXX certified letter went unanswered for 49 days, and why Selene identifies XXXX XXXX as the signatory on regulatory responses while providing no practical way to reach her or any empowered representative. I further demand that Selene be required to : Immediately terminate forced escrow management on my account ; Reinstate my right to pay my own property-related taxes directly ; Reverse, recall, recover, refund, or otherwise correct the XX/XX/XXXX payment of {$3700.00} to the Town of Cumberland ; Produce a complete, current escrow statement and itemized accounting immediately ; Refund or credit all escrow funds collected in excess of actual, necessary, properly documented, and valid disbursements ; Refund or credit any escrow funds collected because Selene unnecessarily prepaid future installments after I had already paid the current installment directly ; Correct any inaccurate records suggesting Selene paid taxes that I actually paid directly ; Provide proof for every tax-related payment claimed ; Provide the legal, contractual, investor, or policy basis for continuing escrow after cure ; Prohibit any escrow payment increase based on the unnecessary prepayment of future installments ; Confirm that no further tax payments will be advanced while this complaint is pending and while I am paying taxes directly ; Provide a direct, working contact method for an empowered human representative. I am attaching supporting documentation, including Selene 's XX/XX/XXXX CFPB response, the prior XX/XX/XXXX Escrow Closing Notice, account activity records, escrow analysis records, proof of my direct tax payment, XXXX XXXX records showing my XX/XX/XXXX payment and the XX/XX/XXXX check payment, and documentation showing that I attempted to resolve this directly with Selene. I have also notified the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation Banking Division, the Rhode Island Attorney General 's Office, and the Federal Trade Commission regarding Selene 's conduct. I am also working with the office of XXXX XXXX XXXX on this matter. Selene 's conduct has caused unnecessary financial hardship, stress, confusion, and loss of time. At its core, this complaint is simple : Selene used unclear and possibly mischaracterized tax-payment activity to force escrow, increase my monthly payment, and deny removal even after every stated cure condition was met. Then, after I paid my current XXXX tax installment myself, it appears to have paid the remaining future installments anyway. I do not trust Selene to manage my taxes through escrow, and I should not be forced to allow it to do so under these circumstances. I respectfully request that the CFPB keep this complaint open and require Selene to terminate forced escrow, reverse the unnecessary prepayment, refund excess escrow funds, correct inaccurate records, and provide a complete, specific, and documented response.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation