Continuation of The Wealth Extraction Industry.
It’s been a few weeks since I was told Universal would refund my escrow at US Bank. So far there has been no action. I contacted both the the BBB and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. I also contacted the North Carolina Department of Insurance.
I initially submitted a fraud complaint to the NCDOI but didn’t get a response. So I sent an email and was called by a person who gave me a lot of useful information. But he said this would be a consumer complaint instead of fraud. He essentially said that usually individuals commit fraud; companies just make errors. Under that definition, it sure makes it difficult to prove a company had malicious intent. But I didn’t argue. He told me to resubmit the complaint to the consumer division, which I have done.
In the mean time, I contacted US Bank and Universal again. This time I was told by a representative at Universal that a check would be sent tomorrow. We’ll see.
I also just received a response from US Bank to the CFPB. The following was OCR’d from the PDF file.
U.S. Bank Home Mortgage is in receipt of your letter to the Better Business Bureau dated February 22, and to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, dated March 1, regarding the servicing of your mortgage loan. I have been asked to provide you with a response, as your concerns involve my direct business line.
Please be assured the concerns which led you to submit your communication were reviewed and addressed with the appropriate response team in U.S. Bank Home Mortgage.
The response team determined U.S. Bank Home Mortgage purchased your loan on December 26, 2010 from Nasa Federal Credit Union. A notice of renewal was received on April 25, 2010 from Universal North America which was a continuation of your existing Allstate policy; the insurance carrier we had on file at the time your loan was purchased. Letters were mailed to you by Universal advising if you would like to discontinue coverage with them to contact them as soon as possible.
U.S. Bank Home Mortgage received new policy information on April 25, 2012 reflecting State Farm as your new insurance carrier. At this time, your account was updated to reflect the new policy information effective from April 30, 2012 to April 30, 2013. The yearly premium amount was updated to $405.00.
On May 10, 2012 a cancellation notice was received from Universal advising if payment was not received insurance coverage would cease on May 20, 2012. We contacted Universal and spoke with Donna, who confirmed the premium of $604.00 was due. This was disbursed from escrow and mailed on May 10, 2012.
During our research, we determined an error occurred when the renewal notification was received from Universal. On April 25, 2012, we should have placed a call to your State Farm Agent to confirm the status of the current policy on record; however, this did not occur.
We received a phone call from you on January 28, 2013 advising us the only policy that should be listed on your account is through State Farm Insurance. At this time, research was initiated in regards to the active policy on your account. On February 4, 2013, we contacted State Farm and confirmed your policy information. The premium amount of $403.00 had been disbursed April 25,2012, with coverage effective dates of April 30, 2012 through April 30, 2013. Please be advised,there was no lapse in coverage during the transition from Universal to State Farm.
On February 4, 2013, the Universal policy was removed from your account and we spoke with Jeremy who advised in order for Universal to issue a refund to you, they will need a signed cancellation request. We have submitted the required declaration page and a copy of the paid receipt;however, you will need to send in a signed cancellation request. You may email your information to underwriting@UIHNA.com or fax 817-348-7961. A refund for the premium will be sent directly to you, as we do not receive refunds from insurance companies.
Once the refund is received, you may send the funds back to us to be placed into your escrow account. Currently, there is a shortage of $598.78 on your account. Beginning with the April payment, $49.90 will be added to your monthly payment in order to collect for the shortage. By sending in the refund at your earliest convenience, the shortage will be paid in full. This will eliminate the increase in your monthly payment amount.
We regret any inconvenience or frustration the hazard policy error may have caused. We place the highest priority on providing excellent customer service and relating back to our customers in a timely manner. We wish to assure you this is an exception and does not indicate the quality of service provided by U.S. Bank Home Mortgage.
Please be assured that we truly value you as a U.S. Bank Home Mortgage customer and we consider it a privilege to serve your mortgage needs. Should you have any further questions or concerns regarding this matter, please feel free to contact our Customer Service Center at 800-365-7772 or by visiting our website at usbankhomemortgagecom.
My response is below.
Hello, as of this time, I have been told multiple by times by Universal North America that a check will be sent to US Bank to refund my escrow. I am still waiting. Please keep this complaint open until the escrow is refunded. I have also contacted the North Carolina Department of Insurance. The following are omissions and inaccuracies in US Bank’s analysis.
Universal North America and I are in dispute that I have a policy with them. I have written notification by Allstate that my policy was terminated April 30, 2012. I had never had any direct communication with Universal until US Bank initiated a three way phone call this past February. Any solicitations for business I may have received from Universal would have been discarded with the rest of the junk mail.
I notified US Bank that State Farm was my insurance company on April 23, 2012. I informed them, again, that my insurance company was State Farm, and not Universal, on April 30, 2012. I also called to make absolutely sure they understood that Universal was not my insurance company. You can see from the attached email on April 30, 2012, that a representative of US Bank acknowledged the phone call and that the issue was supposed to be fixed. This was prior to any disbursement from my escrow.
I have also sent the declaration page and receipt of payment for my State Farm insurance to Universal the day we were on the phone with US Bank. I sent the required cancellation request as well. I am still waiting for the refund to be sent to US Bank.
And here is the email thread.
[From US Bank]
Thank you for your recent request regarding your mortgage loan with U.S. Bank Home Mortgage. It is always a pleasure to assist you with any request you may have.
Our Insurance Department is in the process of updating your account to State Farm and disbursing the premium. The premium should be sent to State Farm in a few days.
If we may be of further assistance or if you have any further questions, please contact our Customer Service Center by dialing 1-800-365-7772 or you may send an email through our website atusbankhomemortgage.com and select “CONTACT US” to email a U.S. Bank Home Mortgage Specialist.”
04/23/2012 06:04 PM
[From me]
Created: Apr 23, 2012
Comments: Hello, My insurance has recently changed to State Farm. You should have received notice from State Farm, but the escrow information shows the insurance company as AllState.
[From US Bank]
Thank you for your recent request regarding your mortgage loan with U.S. Bank Home Mortgage. It is always a pleasure to assist you with any request you may have.
Your account reflects you have spoken with a representative regarding your below inquiry. However, please respond to this email if you need any further assistance.If we may be of further assistance or if you have any further questions, please contact our Customer Service Center by dialing 1-800-365-7772 or you may send an email through our website atusbankhomemortgage.com and select “CONTACT US” to email a U.S. Bank Home Mortgage Specialist.”
04/30/2012 11:52 AM
[From me]
Created: Apr 30, 2012
Comments: Hello, Have you paid my insurance? It is due today (April 30). The escrow still shows UNIVERSAL NORTH and State Farm as my insurance companies. State Farm is the only company with whom I have an agreement. Please call me [number removed].
After I sent the response, I got the following from the CFPB.
We regret that the company’s response did not fully address the issues in your complaint, and have noted your dispute in our records. While we’re likely done working on your individual complaint, here’s what’s next:
We’ve sent a copy of your complaint to the Federal Trade Commission, where they’ve added it to a database for state and federal law enforcement agencies.
The information you shared with us will inform our work to supervise companies, enforce federal consumer financial laws, and write better rules and regulations..
Details about your complaint are available at https://help.consumerfinance.gov/app/account/complaints/list..
We welcome feedback on how our complaint process has worked for you. If you would like to share your story, go to https://help.consumerfinance.gov/app/tellyourstory.
It seems to me that the regulatory agencies are just too weak. I’ve contacted the OCC, the NCUA, the CFPB, and now the NCDOI about a number of different issues. Except for the NCDOI, from whom I have not yet received a response, the most I’ve ever gotten out of a regulatory agency is that they asked the offending company to send their side of the story. Then nothing happens. Nothing happens. There’s a response (we didn’t do anything wrong), and then nothing. We don’t need 50 regulatory agencies. We just need one with some teeth.