Mortgage questions

[k3am]

Our mortgage company is the worst. The absolute worst. We went through a broker last April and it's been sold twice already. 

I've just spent 2 hours on the phone with them getting hung up on, dropped calls, endless holds, etc. 

We currently escrow for a lump sum PITI payment. They haven't paid supplemental taxes (because they don't), but they have been escrowing for the full amount, which is more than double than what they actually pay. We are Bay Area/CA, so this is not small amounts.

We paid our first set of supplemental out of pocket and would like the balance back.

Since we requested it, they've posted a payment to the county for the supplemental payment number 2 (after telling us they wouldn't and we need to pay it out of pocket. At least we hadn't paid it already), paid our earthquake premium (that they've never paid and aren't supposed to pay since we've always paid this out of pocket and had already paid it), posted a random "supplemental disbursement" for an amount we can't tie out to anything (and haven't received), issued us a letter saying that they're going to send us a supplemental disbursement for 2x the amount they actually posted (which also doesn't tie out to anything) 

None of the tax payments they say they've sent have actually posted on the assessor's website (one was over a month ago). The payment I made on the 1st set of supplementals was posted immediately, but it's possible the county is just a month in arrears in posting checks?

They also sent us a notice that they're going to adjust our escrow payments down by $1k/month because we're overfunding it... but once this set of supplemental taxes is paid - which they've already escrowed for - that is the amount they need to be accruing. 

I've requested to elminate the escrow account, have them refund me all the balances in the account, and I'll handle it on my own, but they're "not sure if that's possible." And even then, I'm not sure what the right amount to be refunded is because it's a MESS.

I'm really bothered about this because... I work in financial services. I *should* be able to figure this out. If I ever provided this kind of documentation and service to my clients, I would be out a job. But I'm just stuck with these guys - and they're guys that I didn't even pick. 

Is there any way to get an escrow account removed without refinancing the loan? Is there anyway to convince them to bundle and sell my loan? If I went through a bank vs. a mortgage broker, would that bank keep my loan and not resell it to some even shittier company than them? 

TL;DR: If you have the choice of sitting on a cactus or having Shellpoint as your mortgage provider, sit on the cactus and smile about it. 

[madisen]

Is there any way to get an escrow account removed without refinancing the loan? This will depend on the type of loan you have (FHA, VA, Conv, etc), the LTV of the loan, how it was originated, and your servicers specific rules which could include how old the mortgage is etc.

Is there anyway to convince them to bundle and sell my loan? No.

If I went through a bank vs. a mortgage broker, would that bank keep my loan and not resell it to some even shittier company than them? Not necessarily. Even banks and credit unions at times sell the servicing to loans they have originated. You would have to find a bank or credit union that specifically advertises that they won't sell your loan, not sure if any do.

If you continue to get the runaround from the servicing group, I recommend sending an email to the president of the company or posting something on social media about it. There are compliance rules in place that dictate attention and resolution to complaints like these.

[k3am]

madisen, It's a conventional loan. We are at ~62% LTV.

Everything about this scenario frustrates me.

I have seen their yelp and social media reviews online. No one has anything good to say about them. And they don't seem to care because... it's not like they're getting people to sign up based on their reputation. They buy the loans from someone else and then people are just stuck.

[madisen]

Apr 4, 2019 11:54:40 GMT -5 k3am said:

madisen , It's a conventional loan. We are at ~62% LTV.

Everything about this scenario frustrates me.

I have seen their yelp and social media reviews online. No one has anything good to say about them. And they don't seem to care because... it's not like they're getting people to sign up based on their reputation. They buy the loans from someone else and then people are just stuck.

The fact that it's a conventional loan and your LTV is that low are in your favor. So it will depend now on your servicer's internal rules.

Ultimately they do care though. They have to buy these loans from the mortgage originators and those originators more than likely have more than one option as to who they sell their loans to. On our correspondent side, we get customers that tell us our servicing reputation and quality affects if they sell us loans or not. 

I would escalate your complaint like I mentioned in my previous post. Servicers are pretty regulated and have to adhere to certain standards of customer service regardless. At the very least, it can't hurt.

[HitchedIn2006]

There are banks/CUs out there that keep the mortgages and don’t sell. Some have higher interest rates, but others are competitive with their rates. They are few and far between, but our current house (purchased 2018) and last house (2015), has mortgages kept local. I would never recommend a broker or bank that sells; we had such a nightmare on an insurance claim with a mortgage held with one of the big 3 banks that I refused to ever do business that way (non-local bank) again. The broker was even sorry not sorry that he sold us to a shitty bank months prior. If only I knew.

Our realtor was awesome and patient with us using a CU several hours away. I wish we were mortgage free and could have done the 100% down payment plan—- that will happen for the next house cause I just can’t love this place we rushed into buying with DHs new job. Also, no escrow!!! I love having that control. Local credit unions forever!!

Definitely escalate your concern to get the escrow removed. You have too much LTV for them to fight.

[elcjet]

This would annoy me to no end -- I had Bank of America take money out of my escrow to pay homeowners' insurance only to get notice that my policy had been canceled! So I refinanced and make sure I don't have to escrow anything, as I'd rather be in charge of it all. Most banks are okay as long as you have more than 20% equity, although you may pay a slightly higher interest rate.

Could you look into refinancing, or are you locked into a great rate? I would try calling again and speaking to a supervisor so you can get it straightened out. They clearly have no idea what they are doing.

[kadams767]

Good luck! I tried to get the escrow requirement removed from a prior mortgage, and even though our loan was conventional and our LTV was well under 80%, they would not drop it. The reasoning was that it was a change in my loan terms, since I had closed the mortgage with an escrow account requirement. So when I bought my new house, I made sure that I requested no escrow up front immediately. That is the only success I've had in not having an escrow.

[sandandsea]

We quit escrow after the company messed up. There was some paperwork to be done and they said “let me see if we can do that” and then came back and said “yes you’ve been approved for it”. There was some hemming and hawing but we didn’t have to refi to do it.