ComplaintsforEquity Resources, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  02/06/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Equity Resources, Inc processes my mortgage, along with my escrow associated with my mortgage. I received the property taxes from my county back in October. The same notices were sent to Equity Resources, per my county’s tax assessors office. It was for two parcels of land.

  I received notice in mid-December that one notice had been paid, but not the other. I called Equity Resources on 12/22/2023 and subsequently emailed a copy of the tax notice that was not paid. I emailed again on 1/10/2024 as to the status of the payment, but got no response.

  I called 1/11/2024 to find out the status. I was told that an inquiry was being conducted, and I would receive the results by 1/26/2024. I also informed the woman I spoke with of late charges and was told that Equity Resources would pay those, if they felt like it was their fault. I never received notification of the status of the inquiry.

  I called 2/6/2024 and was told, again, that an inquiry was being conducted, and I would receive notification in about 5 business days.

  The penalty has now increased to $163.75 for being late. Given the previous inaction by Equity Resources regarding this process, I have very little confidence that the inquiry will be completed within 5 business days, if one is even being done at all. Furthermore, I expect that Equity Resources will come up with some reason as to why this isn’t their fault and refuse to cover the late fees.

  All I want is to have the outstanding taxes paid (the escrow has more than enough in it), and Equity Resources to cover the late fees, and get it together. These are important matters that affect real people.

  

  Business response

  02/09/2024

  ************
  

  Dear ****** ***********
  

  We have reviewed your concerns and our response is indicated below.
  

  In your review of your message, we identified an issue with the parcel number provided by the closing
  attorney at loan origination. This caused our servicing system to be looking for taxes on the wrong
  parcel and why you saw the tax bill not being paid. Thank you for providing a copy of the tax bill. We
  have updated our system, and we are paying the base tax amount of the tax bill from your escrow
  account as of 2/8/2024. Our office will pay for any late fees, penalties or interest associated with this
  tax bill. Thank you for your time and patience with this matter.
  

  At Equity Resources we pride ourselves on offering superior service and solutions, and we regret when
  your expectations are not met. We make every effort to serve all in a prompt and professional manner.
  Therefore, we were disappointed to learn of your displeasure with the service provided to you. We
  value your relationship and will work towards regaining your trust moving forward.
  

  We believe this fully addresses the concerns outlined in your BBB correspondence. If you have any
  questions concerning this response or require additional assistance, please contact our Customer
  Service Department at ###-###-####, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern
  Standard Time (EST), or our Loss Mitigation Department at ###-###-####, Monday through Friday
  8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. CST.
  

  Sincerely,
  Equity Resources, Inc.

  Customer response

  02/09/2024

  I accept the business's response to resolve this complaint.
  
  Regards,
  
  ****** ***********

• Initial Complaint

  07/18/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I'm in the process of buying my first home. Equity Resources came highly recommended from a good friend of mine. I had initially tried a different mortgage company and Equity Resources assured me that there would not be a Hard Inquiry on my credit since I had already done one 15 days prior. The date of the transaction was 5/15/2023. I paid no money to the business. They told me they would be getting in touch with me after I provided all necessary documentation, letting me know what my loan amount would be. I reached out to them on 5/26/23 to ask for an update. Unfortunately, the person helping me with this, suffered the loss of a family member. I was completely simpathetic and instructed her to reach out to me when she could. I again tried to reach out to them on the following dates: 6/9/2023 6/27/2023 7/18/2023 The nature of this dispute is for Equity Resources Inc to take off the hard inquiry off my credit report since nothing came from it. I'd like to still be able to find a home in the near future and need my Credit Score to be in top shape.

  

  Business response

  07/21/2023

  We have reviewed the concern of Mr. ****** and phoned Mr. ****** to review his concerns on 7/21/23.

  Unfortunately, we are not able to remove an inquiry as requested, because credit was indeed pulled for Mr. ******** request for review for a mortgage loan.  This does require Equity Resources to pull credit and review credit information which results in an inquiry on the credit report.

  At Equity Resources we pride ourselves on offering superior service and solutions, and we regret it when your expectations are not met. We make every effort to serve all in a prompt and professional manner. We value your relationship and will work towards regaining your trust moving forward.

  Customer response

  07/27/2023

  It seems that only after I filed the complaint, did somebody finally reach out to me to to get more information. I thank everyone for their time but I will no longer be utilizing this company.
  
  Regards,
  
  ***** ******

• Initial Complaint

  03/01/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My Husband and I were in a forbearance. Within the time of the forbearance I applied for assistance from the NCHAF and was awarded over $14,000. Equity resources help the money from June of 22 to just recently when it was given back to the NCHAF program. I was awarded my deferment amount as well as three months of future payments which would have been for July 2022, August 2022, and September 2022. I started making my normal payments in October when I was supposed to. Equity resources closed my forbearance and deferred the amount of $9442.00 plus some other escrow amount. They never contacted us to tell us the money could not be used and when we called all we received was statements that our account was under review and we were now behind. We were told they hadn't received the money. We asked for a supervisor to return our calls many many occasions and never received a call back from them. It was to the point that I reached out to a Supervisor from the NCHAF program and Equity will not even answer them or give them the info they need n a timely manner. Now I am stuff behind and on a loan modification. The window for NCHAF to help me or to see if they can help me is closing and Equity resources will not send them a debt verification. Our mortgage is going to $950.00 at this point because of escrow not being paid in. I requested they send debt verification last week on 2-22-2023 after NCHAF requested one on 2-1-2023. They literally screwed me out of the award. They said the forbearance was closed that is why they couldn't apply the funds. We called them and told them we were applying and they knew we were applying because they sent the info the first time. So I am not understanding why the forbearance was deferred they just didn't apply the money. Or at least to the payments that were meant for future ones. I filed a complaint with CFPB as well and they did not give a response other than what I said in my complaint.

  

  Business response

  03/06/2023

  March 3, 2023**** ***** ********* ******* * ***** *************** ** *****RE.: Loan Number: 1472090651BBB of Central Ohio Complaint 19519071Dear **** ***** **** and ***** ****,We have reviewed your concerns and our response is indicated below.On June 21, 2022, we received verbal acceptance to proceed with a deferral of your loan. The loan deferral was processed on your loan on June 28, 2022.  Our records show on August 6, 2022, we received a payment from NCHAF in the amount of $12,245.90 for reinstatement and $830.86 for unemployment.  The payments were not applied to the loan as your loan is in a deferment status making you ineligible for participation in the NCHAF plan.On January 17, 2023, a trial modification plan was setup for February 1, 2023, through April 1, 2023, in the amount of $771.82. The first trial payment was received on January 16, 2023. On February 16, 2023, the second trial payment was received and posted as of February 15, 2023. We have also received an updated application from NCHAF on 2/7/2023.  We have processed and returned the record back to NCHAF on 2/23/2023.  At this point we are pending a response from the state on your application.At Equity Resources we pride ourselves on offering superior service and solutions, and we regret when your expectations are not met. We make every effort to serve all in a prompt and professional manner. Therefore, we were disappointed to learn of your displeasure with the service provided to you. We value your relationship and will work towards regaining your trust moving forward.We believe this fully addresses the concerns outlined in your BBB correspondence. If you have any questions concerning this response or require additional assistance, please contact our Customer Service Department at ###-###-####, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST), or our Loss Mitigation Department at ###-###-####, Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. CST.Sincerely,Equity Resources, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  12/03/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I received my annual mortgage reassessment in the mail in early November. It jumped from ~$900 to ~$1400. When I looked closely at the monthly breakdown, I found that they had charged me four separate times for my annual flood insurance premium. This was why my payment was so high. I called Equity Resources the day I received this notice (11/12/21) and after extensive conversation and an escalation to a manager, they explained that a computer error had led to this and they would run a reassessment to fix it; my actual new mortgage payment should be $944 -- I would not be charged the ~$1400. I received a notification from my Credit Union (PSECU) this morning that my checking account had been over-drafted. When I looked into it, I discovered that Equity Resources had charged me the wrong amount. When I called in and spoke to another manager, she informed me that no one had actually run a new reassessment, thus leading to me being charged an excessive amount. This will now not be resolved until February. I will not be refunded the overpayment for at least 45 days, as that is how long it takes to do the reassessment. So they are holding money that does not belong to them, accruing interest in their own accounts, and I am missing that money from my account and it is not accruing the interest it should be in my account. This could have been avoided had the company filed the reassessment when I called and brought their error to their attention a month ago, as they said they would. I can provide the original, incorrect reassessment and/or permission to access the notes on my account documenting my 11/12/21 phone call and my 12/3/2021 phone call.

  

  Business response

  12/08/2021

  We researched *** ********** file and called and I personally talked with her today. I advised her that she was correct that a mistake was made in her escrow account that caused her monthly payment amount to increase. We processed a partial refund on 12.3.21 in the amount of $285.46. However, an additional amount of $205.89 is due to her and is in process. I explained that I would follow up with her when this is complete so she can look for the refund. 

  I also requested that she send me the details on her bank fees related to this issue so we can reimburse her for those as well. We understand that this issue was a mistake on our end and she should not have to incur any bank fees due to our error. 

  We discussed the error that happened and how it was handled and I have committed to using the example as a teaching moment to our customer service representatives. 

  We strive to create raving fans out of all of our borrowers and it is disheartening that this happened to *** ********. We are committed to fixing this issue as quickly as possible. 

   

• Initial Complaint

  11/19/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Despite having enough funds (actually excess funds) in the escrow account, Equity Home Resources has failed to pay my property taxes and now the school district is trying to collect an extra 10% penalty for taxes unpaid. I did not know this tax was unpaid until I received an escrow analysis that Equity completed themselves, which shows the tax was unpaid. They paid out $133.79 dollars, which is nowhere near enough in taxes for a $280,000 property. I contacted Equity via phone on Sept 24th and spoke with an agent that said the issue would be looked into and I would received confirmation via mail. I never received any confirmation or followup from equity. Since I never heard back after the phone call, I contacted Equity via their online chat on Nov. 1st. ****** the chat agent told me to email the documents and they would take care of it. I immediately followed up the chat by sending the email with the details needed to resolve the issue. Equity failed to take action on this email as well. This tax incident is a continuation of neglect from Equity Resources. Our first issue with Equity started when we buying our home. We were conditionally approved on 3/24 and Equity failed to get employer verification until 4/9 and then didn't schedule the closing until 4/16. We provided them with all the required information and the direct website AND phone number to use to get the verification. **** ** confirmed that Equity resources did not follow the correct procedure and instead emailed a random HR agent instead of using the approved process. This led to negative financial impacts of nearly $3,000 at that time due to the delay. We also had issues with our interest rate, as we couldn't get the original rate were we told without paying for points, which we ended up doing. We need these taxes paid immediately. We also need in writing from Equity that if there's any future errors, our $1120 in points will refunded back in cash so that we can switch to another lender.

  

  Business response

  11/22/2021

  We have started to research the items that were brought to our attention in Dr. *****' complaint. We phoned Dr. ***** this evening but we weren't able to go through the information in detail as he was working. We both agreed to review the information in detail on November 29th when we are both back from vacation. I did let him know that we discovered the issue with his tax bill and are working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible. From what we can tell, only one of his two parcels were accounted for as far as paying the taxes. It appears that the second parcel's funds were returned to him instead of being paid out. We will work with Dr. ***** to rectify this issue and get the taxes paid. If penalties are assessed, we'll take care of those as this was of no fault from the borrower, Dr. *****. 

  Regarding the verification of employment, I think there is a misunderstanding. We did follow the correct procedure regarding the employer's steps to obtain a verification but we also emailed HR to confirm some details in the offer letter which is something that The Work Number system would not verify for us. This is a normal step when someone starts a new job and we don't have enough work history, paystubs, etc. to confirm they are working fulltime. I plan to discuss this with Dr. ***** when we talk on the 29th. 

  Regarding the interest rate, on the initial Estimated Cash To Close Worksheet, we disclosed the rate of 3.25 with no points. Those estimates do have this notice on them "Your actual rate, payment and costs could be higher. Get an official Loan Estimate before choosing a loan." The market conditions changed from the time he received that worksheet to the time we received the actual purchase contract and locked their rate.  The estimate was given on 3.3.21 and we received the contract on 3.22.21. When the rate was locked on 3.22.21, the points were needed to receive the same rate of 3.25. Again, I can discuss this with Dr. ***** when we talk. Unfortunately, we can't control the rate environment but we do try our very best to educate borrowers on the possibility of rates fluctuating until they are actually locked in. 
  

  Lastly, I'd like to discuss the timing of this loan with Dr. ***** when we speak as the original closing date in the contract specified 4.16.21 and we closed on 4.15.21. This is an 18 day business day turn time which is lower than our normal, average turn time for a purchase file. We apologize to Dr. ***** for any misunderstanding around the closing date or file time frame. It is always our goal to provide direct, constant communication. If this was not done to his satisfaction, we truly apologize. 

  I look forward to talking with Dr. ***** and hope to clarify the loan items mentioned above and to resolve his tax bill issue as fast as possible. 

   

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩