Consumer complaint received 2023-01-02 00:00:00
Product: Mortgage — FHA mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: Freedom Mortgage Company
State: NC

Complaint narrative:
To whom it may concern, In the month of XX/XX/XXXX, I received a letter from Freedom Mortgage explaining that my mortgage payment would increase due to a mortgage insurance increase. I was told by the Freedom Mortgage representative that this increase was requested in the month of XXXX for a {$190.00} increase that had been paid out until XXXX when I was finally made aware of this. Totaling a little under {$1200.00}. I then contacted XXXX my mortgage insurance company, to find out why I had not been informed of this increase. The XXXX customer service representative apologized and stated that they thought that I had received a letter informing me of this increase. That phone call took place on or about XX/XX/XXXX a couple of days before my birthday the XXXX of XXXX. In that same week I hired a different mortgage insurance provider and notified Freedom Mortgage of this change. I also informed the Freedom Mortgage representative that as soon I received the check from XXXX  that I would forward that check to Freedom Mortgage and I requested at that time that a recalculation of my escrow account be done. I received the check from XXXX  on or about the XXXX of XXXX, XXXX and I mailed the check from XXXX as I received the check to Freedom Mortgage. I had not heard anything from Freedom Mortgage for about three weeks. So, on or about XX/XX/XXXX I contacted Freedom Mortgage to find out if they had received the check that I had mailed to them and if they had done the recalculation of my account. The Freedom Mortgage representative stated that they had not received my check. Which made no sense to me. So, I called XXXX about the check. XXXX explained that my check was cashed by Freedom Mortgage on XXXX XXXX and sent me pictures of the cashed check. I again called Freedom Mortgage back and asked to speak with a supervisor. I informed her of what I had found out and she was able to locate my check. She explained that Freedom Mortgage had applied the check from XXXX XXXX XXXX written on the check to interest of my loan. The supervisor requested to have that check reapplied to my escrow account and requested a recalculation of my account again. During the months of XXXX and XXXX of XXXX, I continued to pay {$1100.00} on time as I have since Freedom Mortgage purchased my loan back in XXXX of XXXX. After the recalculation on or about XX/XX/XXXX, I found that the Insurance increase really had nothing to do with my monthly mortgage increase as Freedom Mortgage first alleged. The representative explained that there was an escrow deficit since Freedom Mortgage took over my loan back in XXXX of XXXX. Clearly Freedom Mortgage had not done its due diligence in the entire eleven months of purchasing my loan and allowed this imbalance to grow for the entire 11 months. The representative explained that after the recalculation my new payment would be {$1200.00} and in the month of XXXX and XXXX of XXXX, I paid the {$1200.00}. Freedom Mortgage clearly is not interested in facts. I have received notices that I am enclosing during the recalculation period. Before the recalculation I was requested to pay by Freedom Mortgage {$1300.00}, {$1200.00}, and {$1200.00} as my new monthly payment. It appears that after doing absolutely nothing to rectify this unmanaged mess that Freedom Mortgage single handedly created. Freedom Mortgage is now in a rush to correct the mismanagement of my account. I informed Freedom Mortgage that I am a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and that my fuel expense weekly was in excess of XXXX dollars for fuel alone. I made it clear that there was no way I could afford {$1300.00} a month especially while there was a recalculation request in process and a check was on its way from my old insurance company. It absolutely makes no sense to pull fictitious numbers out the air all the while knowing that a recalculation would be done shortly to effectively have factual numbers going forward. Please be advised that this is the second letter that I am writing to the Consumer Financial Protection Agency about Freedom Mortgage in less than 30 days. My first letter complained about this same escrow issue and XXXX Mortgages response had nothing to do with my complaint that I wrote to you. Freedom Mortgage response stated that the correspondence sent to the credit bureaus was accurate and that my account was in good standing which is what I received in XXXX of XXXX. I also received in the month of XXXX a notice that my credit score had dropped about 100 points due to the allegation of being thirty days late in XXXX and XXXX of XXXX to Freedom Mortgage. XXXX and XXXX come before XXXX, so I would have to believe that Freedom Mortgage intentionally lied to me and the XXXX. This was a malicious intentional covert act intended to stop me from departing from this incompetent and inept Mortgage company known as Freedom Mortgage. In the month of XX/XX/XXXX, I had contacted 5 Refinance companies regarding cashout options and transferring my loan to a different lender. My credit scores were XXXX, XXXX and XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, and 3 days later I was notified that my scores had dropped about 100 points due to Freedom Mortgage notifying the Credit Bureaus that I was 30 days late on my mortgage payment. This is an outrageous lie perpetrated by Freedom Mortgage. I am including my monthly mortgage payment as it deducted from my bank. It is clear that Freedom Mortgage is desperate to keep clients whom want nothing to do with such horrendous bookkeeping and their pathetic retaliation practices. In closing, Freedom Mortgage offers customer a shortage repayment faxs sheet. The first entry is ( am I required to pay my shortage in a lumpsum? ) Freedom Mortgage response is ( no the customer may elect to do so at your own discretion. ) This being the case then why is Freedom Mortgage forcing me to pay {$1300.00} when I have already informed them that I can not afford to pay that much each month even though I have increased my payment from {$1100.00} to {$1200.00} already. The shortage repayment form from Freedom Mortgage clearly states that a customer can pay their escrow shortage at their own discretion. Either this is a practice of deception or it is intentional sabotage directed towards a first-time home buyer. There is no good reason why Freedom Mortgage would contact the credit bureaus all the while knowing that I have never ever been late EVER!!!

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