trying_2do_rite
Junior Member
Hello,
We are caught in an escrow trap and could use some help navigating out of a mess!
In August we were met with a $500 a month surprise increase to our South Mississippi investment property escrow payment. The increase traces back to a change in insurance in March/April of this year, which lead to a number of major failures on the part of our lender:
1. Our lender ignored multiple communication attempts from our selected insurer, notifying us instead that they would place lender placed insurance (LPI).
2. Our lender failed to actually secure LPI and did not notify us of that failure. They even appeared to be unaware of this failure until we inquired about it recently.
3. The lender sent documentation indicating that not only had they placed insurance but that the insurance was cheaper than what we had acquired on our own.
4. The lender performed an escrow analysis overstating the hazard insurance by 200% (three payments instead of one). While they have acknowledged this mistake, they still have yet to fix it and are billing us the exorbitant amount.
5. The lender is now wanting to penalize us for the gap in insurance coverage. As I said, they didn’t even know we didn’t have coverage until we inquired about it!
6. Lender supervisors in the escrow, “research,” and insurance departments have failed to keep their promises to resolve the issue and return our phone calls. They now appear to be avoiding us and are unreachable by phone.
7. Since the bank will not let us acquire our own insurance and they are still having trouble securing LPI, the house is currently uninsured.
We have been trying to affordably resolve this since the middle of August with no progress.
This of course is on top of the multiple and increasingly exhausting phone calls, frequently met with unresponsiveness, apathy, and a sometimes a prescribed sermon on how the bank needs to protect its interests. (I don't know how an uninsured house protects anyone's interests!)
My wife and I live in South Alabama and are financed through a bank based in South Mississippi. They outsource the management of their mortgages to a company in Illinois.
Any advice/help is greatly appreciated!
We are caught in an escrow trap and could use some help navigating out of a mess!
In August we were met with a $500 a month surprise increase to our South Mississippi investment property escrow payment. The increase traces back to a change in insurance in March/April of this year, which lead to a number of major failures on the part of our lender:
1. Our lender ignored multiple communication attempts from our selected insurer, notifying us instead that they would place lender placed insurance (LPI).
2. Our lender failed to actually secure LPI and did not notify us of that failure. They even appeared to be unaware of this failure until we inquired about it recently.
3. The lender sent documentation indicating that not only had they placed insurance but that the insurance was cheaper than what we had acquired on our own.
4. The lender performed an escrow analysis overstating the hazard insurance by 200% (three payments instead of one). While they have acknowledged this mistake, they still have yet to fix it and are billing us the exorbitant amount.
5. The lender is now wanting to penalize us for the gap in insurance coverage. As I said, they didn’t even know we didn’t have coverage until we inquired about it!
6. Lender supervisors in the escrow, “research,” and insurance departments have failed to keep their promises to resolve the issue and return our phone calls. They now appear to be avoiding us and are unreachable by phone.
7. Since the bank will not let us acquire our own insurance and they are still having trouble securing LPI, the house is currently uninsured.
We have been trying to affordably resolve this since the middle of August with no progress.
This of course is on top of the multiple and increasingly exhausting phone calls, frequently met with unresponsiveness, apathy, and a sometimes a prescribed sermon on how the bank needs to protect its interests. (I don't know how an uninsured house protects anyone's interests!)
My wife and I live in South Alabama and are financed through a bank based in South Mississippi. They outsource the management of their mortgages to a company in Illinois.
Any advice/help is greatly appreciated!
