Consumer complaint received 2025-02-25 00:00:00
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — Escrow, taxes, or insurance
Company: SERVICEMAC, LLC
State: IL

Complaint narrative:
Filing Complaint Against : XXXX XXXX  XXXX ( more specifically ServiceMac , LLC ) XX/XX/XXXX : Mortgage payment jumped to {$1700.00} without any electronic or written warning/notice given. The prior payment amount had been {$1100.00} and we had never made a late payment following our closing date on XX/XX/XXXX. Escrow was established to fully cover taxes and insurance. After checking our account and seeing our escrow balance was severely negative ( around - {$12000.00} ), I immediately contacted the servicer, ServiceMac , LLC, and was connected to an escrow agent and later connected to a rep in the tax center that assured me these disbursements were made improperly. I was told I'd be receiving a refund to both my overcharged bank account as well as my escrow account, and that my payment would revert for the following cycle. The incorrect payment amount of {$1700.00} was made a total of 3 times with payments occurring on : XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Reached back out to the company to get clarity regarding expected timelines for resolution, etc. Received automatic reply. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Reached out again after not hearing anything the day prior. Received automatic reply. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Reached out again after not hearing anything still. Received automatic reply. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Reached out again after still not being responded to or taken care of. Had been XXXX full business days since the original call at this point. Finally get a response from " XXXX '' essentially contradicting everything I was told about how this would be resolved. She attempted to explain the disbursements, which were in an amount well above actual property tax assessments on the property, and then told me there was no refunds due on the account or to my bank account on file. She then confirmed the new incorrect escrow analysis and apologized for any miscommunication I'd received. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I responded to " XXXX '' and tried to explain that everything she was telling me was in contrast to what I had been told before. Received automatic reply and no response. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I reached out to my loan agent, XXXX XXXX, as well as my Realtor, XXXX XXXX, who had never seen a situation like this in their careers where funds were improperly exchanged at no fault of the borrower, and the borrower was then the victim in a situation that they should have been largely insulated from. 

XX/XX/XXXX : My loan agent, XXXX XXXX, and myself took a conference call with a couple of representatives from ServiceMac including XXXX from the Escrow Department and XXXX from the Tax Center. They assured us that there was an improper parcel on the property 's file, which was the reason for the improper tax disbursements and severely negative escrow balance. Our payment was then raised by about 50 % ( again without any sort of notice ) to begin making up this shortfall. We were told that they would need to get refunds from the assessor and credit the escrow account to get things back in line. We were also told that money would be refunded to our checking ( which never happened ) and that our payment would revert to a new correct amount following a new escrow analysis. They acknowledged that the improper parcel was overlooked and was entirely a mistake on their end and were even told " It makes me very sorry to see this '' as XXXX was previously responsible for the avoidance of errors like these in the tax department. We were told the timeline to get this resolved would be around 30 days or less as we were " escalated '' with every group in the company. Our escalation case number was : XXXX XX/XX/XXXX : Case XXXX, XXXX XXXX, was assigned to us and said she'd be right by our side " from now until resolution '' providing updates. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Had heard no new updates at this point, so I reached out on my own. First call went unanswered, XXXX returned it, said she had no new updates for me other than waiting for Escrow refunds. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Again no updates, calls, emails, anything from XXXX, so I again took it upon myself to reach out and ask. Received automatic reply to my email on XX/XX/XXXX. Mortgage payment made on this date was {$760.00}, which was significantly lower than the last XXXX incorrect payment amounts. Again, this was without notice or explanation. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I was sent a new Escrow Analysis, which turned out to be incorrect. No other details were sent with this and I received no email or call updates. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I was sent another new Escrow Analysis, again with no other details. No call or email updates again. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I reach out again, first call was unanswered, XXXX finally answers the second call. I explain my frustration for being so left out of the loop this entire time to which she responded, " myself and others were out of the office during the holidays ''. We then talk through the new payment details, she lets me know I'll need to send another {$100.00} to cover XXXX, and explains how escrow credits were applied to reverse the negative balance ( rather than be sent in a check or distributed to my bank account as I was told ). She also explained how I'd still be at a $ XXXX shortage throughout XXXX and that this would be paid over the course of the year, reflected in my new payment amount. I again stressed that this still didn't make sense given escrow was established to fully cover taxes and insurance ( I understand these will go up typically annually ). At this point, I ask for a detailed transaction history, which was provided 2 days later on XX/XX/XXXX. 

XX/XX/XXXX : {$100.00} payment was made to the servicer as I was told this would " cover the rest of XXXX '' in addition to our scheduled payment coming up on XX/XX/XXXX. 

XX/XX/XXXX : ANOTHER new Escrow Analysis was received, this time stating a payment amount of {$1400.00}. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Payment of {$1400.00} was made to servicer to round out the XXXX balance. This payment has been made 3 times thus far on : XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX.

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