Consumer complaint received 2025-03-21 00:00:00
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — Escrow, taxes, or insurance
Company: TRUIST FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: NC

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/XXXX, my husband and I ( " we '' ) obtained a mortgage from Truist Bank ( " Truist '' ) and XXXX XXXX was the loan officer. Prior to accepting Truist`s offer, we compared their offer to two additional mortgage companies ' offers and was literally a " tug and war '' but decided to go with Truist given the " attractive '' buy down offer outlined as follows : 1st year monthly mortgage $ XXXX 3.99 %, 2nd year {$1700.00} ( approximate )@ 4.99 % and 3rd year and for the life of the loan $ XXXX. We asked XXXX XXXX repeatedly throughout the process is there any way the payments can change and he repeatedly assured us that the payment is fixed and in no way will change. We felt comfortable and at ease. 
On or about XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX I received via XXXX mail the monthly statement with a new payment of {$1900.00} effective XX/XX/XXXX - I thought this was a mistake! 
My understanding was that our mortgage would increase according to the buy down outlined, i.e., {$1700.00} approximate ( I will provide the exact amount ). This amount actuallu exceeds the third year of the buy down payment. I immediately called Truist and was advised to contact the loan officer as they were not familiar with the buy down arrangement. 
I then reached out to XXXX XXXX who advised me that he was heading out of the country and to contact the servicing department. At this point, I was getting nowhere and therefore decided to wait until XXXX XXXX 's return. 
I called XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, and he told me that " the reason for the increase was due to home insurance and taxes and as a result caused a shortage in escrow funds which he has no control over and there's nothing that he could do ''. How disappointing! 

I reminded XXXX XXXX how he reassured us repeatedly during the closing process, and even emphasized that the payment is fixed and won't change for the life of the loan. 

My husband and I understand that home insurance and taxes may increase and possibly affect a shortage in escrow funds. As a matter of fact, when we purchased the subject property, it was contingent of us selling our home of 7 years. That said, during those 7 years we were notified when an increase occurred so that we can adjust accordingly. 
However, Truist failed to communicate this important information to us despite XXXX XXXX letting me know on the call that this information was provided to him in mid XX/XX/XXXX. 

We literally put down {$130000.00} to mortgage the property and the proceeds of selling our home was over {$120000.00}. That said, we would have undoubtedly put additional money into escrow had someone informed us. You would think that someone at Truist with experience in this area would convey such critical information to us. This unavoidable situation is extremely stressful and very frustrating, disappointing and disheartening! 
We feel unrepresented and undervalued, not to mention the possibility of financial hardship.

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