I went to the April "Home Show" at the State Fair Grounds and see a Countrywide mortgage booth. I went to it, as they have my primary mortgage and the gal asks if I want to investigate getting home insurance through them and save a lot of money. Sure, I say, send me info on how much I'd save, etc. So, what does this person do? She sends me an information packet AND a policy which has apparently already signed me up, and which threatens that if I don't send my payment promptly in ten days my insurance policy is cancelled. So, despising those type of tactics, I throw the whole thing in the trash, even though I would save money, if they are truthful, which I doubt based on the unscrupulous tactics of the saleswoman. Thinking, that's the end of that, I get a letter 10 days or so later saying my insurance is cancelled from Balboa Insurance company due to lack of payment. Well, good.
THEN, I get a letter from Countrywide, a week after that, saying that Balboa told them Balboa was now my new home insurance company, and so Countrywide tells me they took money out of my escrow account to pay for the new insurance. Now I am told I don't have enough money in my escrow to have TWO home insurance policies, so I should cancel my OLD one with State Farm. I then get another letter from Countrywide/Balboa saying my insurance with Balboa has been reinstated, although I had NOT signed up for it, had NOT sent any paperwork in to that effect, and the first payment had been made. That's because they stole money from my escrow account!
I call Countrywide, and have the agent call State Farm to ensure my insurance with them is still up and running, and call me back; my insurance with State Farm is fine, still standing. I then get Balboa's phone number and FUMING, call them and say "Here's the deal. I am THIS CLOSE to filing a serious report with the Arizona Dept of Insurance for unscrupulous and fraudulent behavior, so you BETTER MAKE THIS RIGHT."
I have to admit they are very attentive to my needs, and assure me they will cancel the policy and begin the process of returning the money, ALL OF IT, to my escrow account. I tell them I cannot believe they had the audacity to go BEHIND my back, when I clearly did NOT want them as my insurance company, can get money from my account WITHOUT MY OKAY. They cannot explain how that happened, but I wonder how many other folks get scammed like this and have to go through this aggravation to get things taken care of? I have not yet gotten my money back into my escrow account, but they seem to moving along in that direction.
The point is, DO NOT even THINK about looking into getting insurance through Countrywide Mortgage. Don't even THINK of ever getting connected to Balboa insurance. This is sad as I've found Countrywide Mortgage up to now to have been a very exemplary company with excellent customer service. That's why I'm so disappointed they contributed to this type of scammy behavior.
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