Since the implosion of Ocala-based home lender Taylor Bean in early August, borrowers have complained of a litany of problems: lack of confirmation after payments were made; home-owners insurance and taxes not paid out of escrow on time; and bounced checks from closed Taylor Bean escrow accounts.
Taylor Bean, which was in the midst of transferring much of its loan portfolio to other companies, blamed the problems largely on frozen accounts held by Colonial Bank.
In turn, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., as receiver for the recently failed Colonial, accused Taylor Bean of holding hundreds of thousands of home-owners "hostage" by refusing to release their loan information.
The FDIC has control of the home owners escrow accounts in federal bankruptcy court. The BoA knows this but is is trying to collect the missing escrow funds from the home owners. The BoA has tried to increase the home-owner mortgages by 50 per cent or more to cover the escrow shortfall that will eventually be resolved.
In a filing in Taylor Bean's bankruptcy case in Jacksonville, the FDIC said that mortgage payments from hundreds of thousands of borrowers have been "sitting in limbo" as a result.
The Bank of America has been trying to get mortgagees to pay for the missing escrow monies that are tied up in bankruptcy court by raising mortgagees to cover the shortfall.
What you can do is to file a RESPA complaint if the Boa is gouging you. Start with your bank, then the state and finally HUD.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development suggests irate customers consider filing a complaint through the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). First, customers have to send a formal complaint to their new lender and wait 20 days for a response.
For details on the process, go to
www.hud.gov/respa
• Various lenders have taken over different parts of Taylor Bean's mortgage portfolio in Florida:
• For customer service issues with Bank of America or Saxon, the primary regulator is the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency; the Florida Office of Financial Regulation oversees RoundPoint and Ocwen; and the Office of Thrift Supervision oversees Cenlar.
Here is an example of a sample RESPA complaint:
Director, Office of RESPA and
Interstate Land Sales
US Department of Housing and Urban Development
Room 9154
451 7th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20410
US Department of Housing and Urban Development
Room 9154
451 7th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20410
Subject:
Bank of America Account no. nnnnnnnnn, RESPA Complaint
Dear sirs:
I have attempted to resolve a RESPA
complaint with the Bank of America (B0A) on several occasions. My
wife and I have met with the Bank of America representative and the
corporate office has researched out account.
This
is a "qualified written request" under Section 6 of the
Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA).
I
am writing because:
- The
Bank of America have (BoA) raised my mortgage payment because of a
Taylor, Bean & Whitaker (TB&W ) escrow shortfall. Apparently
there was a problem transferring our escrow funds when BoA took over
TB&W.
- According
to the St. Petersburg Times, the escrow payments are being worked
out in Bankruptcy Court. I do not wish to pay monies to Bank of
America that I have not formally agreed to pay in any legal mortgage
agreement. I have already paid $nnnn.nn of monies that were put in
escrow by TB&W.
For reasons that the BoA cannot explain, it only received $nnnn.nn in escrow funds from TB&W. The BoA should consider accepting the normal payment of $nnnn.nn that my mortgage loan requires with TB&W until this matter is resolved between the FDIC, the bankruptcy court and TB&W.
- I
have talked to Bank of America customer service about this matter on
9/14/2009 and received its Notice of Assignment letter, dated August
25,2009. I met with January 15 and January 29, 2009. My wife also
had a phone conference with my insurance company and the Bank of America on January
22, 2010 regarding the insurance escrow. This issue started when our insurance company advised us on Sept. 14, 2009 that the TB&W had not paid
the insurance escrow.
- My
wife and I met with BoA and paid the January 2010 mortgage after the
bank removed an excess charge of $700. The BoA did not credit the
account correctly and then tuned us over to a bill collector. We
have already paid $nnn.nn in additional escrow monies to BoA.
- So
far the BoA's position it that we should pay for the missing escrow
funds that we have already paid to TB&W. Our position is that
this an internal bank matter between TB&W and BoA that should be
settled in bankruptcy court.
- A
local BoA employee, ____________, believed, the amount of money
that is missing is the escrow amount that was owed to the insurance company. My insurance company
denies that it was paid the escrow twice. Ms. __________ can be
contacted at 727.789.7900 X4.This BoA employee eventually discovered that the missing escrow money is under litigation with he FDIC in Federal Bankruptcy Court.
- Please
contact me at nnn nnn-nnnn after 10am EST.
- I
understand that under Section 6 of RESPA you are required to
acknowledge my request and must try to resolve the issue within 60
business days. I have also filed a complaint with Florida Office of
the Comptroller of the Currency.
Sincerely,
Contact Jeff Harrington at jharrington@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8242. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/jeffmharrington.
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4 comments:
I have had a similar problem with Cenlar. Cenlar took over my loan from TB&W in August 2009. Mysteriously in September 2009, Cenlar increased my monthly escrow amount from $221.33 (which it had been for 2 years) to $498.54 to "cover escrow shortages". i have had no significant increase in real estate taxes or homeowner's insurance premiums to warrant such an increase. I have paid the extra $277.21 per month since September and have called Cenlar to have them eplain the increase...they cannot. i am currently gathering original loan documents to prove my case and send to the Cenlar Escrow Research Dept by fax. no telling how long this process will take.
It is defintely an escrow problem. The FDIC has the escrow accounts frozen in banckuptcy court. All of the banks know about it, but are screwing with the mortgage holders anyway.
File a RESPA complaint to protect yourself. Keep a copy of any escrow documentation from the original bank on your escrow payments. There will probably be class action lawsit on this before too long.
Once the escrows come out of bankruptcy which was supposed to be around Septemeber 2009, the new banks will have to refund the overage after the 2010 escrow is paid. In Florida, the escrow payments are made to your insurance company and tax collecter in November.
My God...this is happening to me too. I just opened my mail and saw this. I don't know what to do.
File a RESPA complaints with the bank, your state office responsible for RESPA complaints and HUD. Once the case leaves bankruptcy court, the problem will be resolved assuming your old bank antes up with the missing escrow finds.
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