My story has some similarities to most of those reported here at usacomplaints.com, but it has some differences.
In June we refinanced our mortgage with Ameriquest. The refi took over 5 months and nothing went right from the beginning. Problems with the deed, problems with appraisal, problems with interest rate (which seemed to go up every time I talked to the loan officer).
When we get to the first closing, the interest rate and fees are wrong and the property taxes were double what they should have been. We are told by the closer that these will be corrected and a new closing date set. Three days later, we arrive to find the title office in a frenzy to get all the documents together which took over an hour.
Seems that all the docs were not sent in the packet and some would have to be faxed. Finally, all docs arrive and we still have a problem with interest rate and property taxes. Another five days goes by. Third closing, all docs are there, but the interest rate is still wrong.in the fury of the closer with Ameriquest and the desire to close this loan, I forget to check the property taxes (this comes back to haunt me). Ameriquest finally gets the interest rate right and we sign all docs and close.
In the past two and a half years, I have never seen a company who's departments didn't communicate with each other. I have been in contact with customer service, who never has the correct amounts no matter what it pertains to (insurance premium amount, property tax amounts, escrow payment amount, etc.); Correspondence, who can only be reached by mail or fax (no phone to talk to a real live person); tax department, they have the actually property tax amounts, but for some reason their info is not updated in Ameriquest's computer system for customer service.
In August of I decide that it would be a good idea to set up an escrow account to pay property taxes. It was offered to me at closing, but at that time, I decided not to open an escrow account. Setting up an escrow account proved to be easier said than done.
I called every month from September to November to see why my escrow account had not been set up and lost count of how many times I faxed or mailed my escrow account form. I was told every excuse in the book. I had several CS reps tell me that my loan did not require that I have an escrow account; therefore, I would not be able to open one. Funny, but it was offered to me at closing.
I had several tell me I was responsible for my property taxes, which was what I was trying to do. I also assumed that Ameriquest was going to pay the property taxes for 2004 since they were included in the contract I signed at closing. Wrong! This is where the haunting comes in. I forgot to double check the property taxes on the docs when we closed and assumed that they were included and would be paid. They were not.
By November I realized two things. My property taxes for 2004 were never paid and 2005 taxes were due and for some reason Ameriquest could not or would not set up my escrow account.in a panic, I start paying property taxes as quickly as possible, but before I can even pay half of what I owe, Ameriquest finally steps in and pays the remaining balance for 2004 and 2005. This got me the escrow account I wanted, but with a negative balance.
In January of I get a letter from Ameriquest telling me that my monthly payment was going to double in order to repay the negative escrow. I called and talked to CS and they told me that once I paid off the negative balance in escrow property taxes were my responsibility. I excepted those terms and when September arrived, I had a negative balance of $444.95, so I called CS and told them I wanted to pay off the negative escrow and asked for the address to mail my payment.
The CS rep told me that since I was going to pay off my negative escrow, my payment needed to be adjusted and told me that she would request that my payment be reanalyzed and I would receive a new statement from which I needed to make my payment. I asked if I could just pay my regular mortgage payment and she told me no, my payment would be held in suspense or returned to me until they received the full amount, both regular payment and escrow payment together, at one time. I never did understand that, but I took her at her word, didn't send in my regular payment and waited for the adjusted statement, which I never received.
This is where it gets strange. I decided that I was going to start paying 2006 property taxes starting in October, since I was told that was what I was expected to pay 2006 property tax. I called each tax office and requested my actually tax amount. I paid City and County taxes and will be paying School taxes in December and January under my usual schedule from years past, but it seems Ameriquest had different plans.
After waiting a month for an adjusted statement and calling CS several times, I mailed my final negative escrow payment to Escrow Deposit in October. I requested that the escrow account be deleted. Escrow Deposit said no and I discovered to my complete dismay that I was expected to pay the escrow payment that almost doubled my mortgage payment thru January. I really didn't understand that, since I had been told that 2006 taxes were my responsibility. This would result in an overpayment of over $1,600.
I actually had one CS rep tell me that I needed to stop complaining and make the payment, since Ameriquest would refund me any overpayment. Why should I have to over pay and wait for a refund? That was so ridiculous, I asked to speak to her supervisor. He was of no help and they both acted like they didn't believe me when I told them I had paid two of the property taxes and had receipts. Neither one of them told me that all I had to do was fax the receipts to the tax department.
I found the tax department's phone number on my statement and called them. Low and behold, all I had to do was fax a copy of receipts to them and they would adjust my taxes accordingly. The tax department actually had all my tax info and to my surprise, it was correct. They also told me that CS has totally different info concerning my tax amounts since their amounts are estimated. This didn't even make sense to me and was getting to the point of being totally unbelievable. I got on the phone and started calling lenders to refinance.
I get the refi process started with a lender and in a few days, I get a call from an appraiser. He wants to set up a day and time appraise my home. We set a date and time, but thirty minutes later, he calls back and tells me that I need to speak to my loan manager. There is a problem with the appraisal. I call my loan manager and waited over an hour for him to call back. I got tired of waiting and called the appraiser back and he gives me the full details.
It seems that he can not even get the appraisal anywhere near what is needed to refi my home. The best he can do is $92,500. I am floored. This is much lower than what Ameriquest appraised our property in 2004. This appraiser was so nice. He had a good idea what was going on and he was tremendous help. He asked me what my property was appraised for in 2004 and I tell him. He tells me that in May/June of my home should have appraised at $89,000. Ameriquest appraised it at $109,000! He tells me that my property was over appraised, which is instantly obvious to me. He gives me the name of an attorney who handles property law.
I call the attorney and he gave me some excellent advice. He admired the fact that I have the determination to make sure that I do not pay Ameriquest anymore than what I owe, because there is a very good possibility that they would apply the over payment to 2007 taxes. He also told me that no matter what Ameriquest says, always pay at least the regular monthly payment, while waiting for them to adjust my payment. It at least shows that I made an attempt to pay, whether they suspense it, send it back or whatever. He also told me to document everything. I record dates and to whom I spoke concerning my account. If I mail anything, I send it by Return Receipt and staple the receipt to my paperwork. If I fax, I staple the fax report to my paperwork and I keep a diary.
To this date, I have done exactly what I told Ameriquest I would do. I am paying my property taxes myself just to make certain they are paid and have kept Ameriquest informed every step of the way.
Nancy
Irving, Texas
U.S.A.
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