[Yoshiko Yasui]

insurance for last year that we didn't know about ? WE just got a letter telling us that for 2009/2010 we don't have sufficient home/wind isurance and they will add it to our mortgage payment, doubling it, unless we pay them $6,000. My husband went immediately to our insurance agent, got the SAME COVERAGE for $3,000 and we thought that was that. Then we got the monthly mortgage that doubles our payments anyway and called !! We were told that this was to pay for the insurance for 2008/2009 that they, GMAC had written and paid for us - even though we didn't know it, had no idea, and were never advised that according to GMAC, we didn't have the insurance they want us to have for last year either. We made no claims on any insurance, obviously, we didn't need to, but we also had no idea that GMAC had done this - if they really did. I don't think it's legal, and it's certainly not moral, for a mortgage company to write home insurance without the owner being advised and in agreement. We never were either of those. When we learned that GMAC wanted to charge that $ 6 thousand for this year, we went within 24 hours to our own agent and we would have done that exactly last year also, had we been advised of it. I don't believe this is legal . I have called an attorney and am waiting for a call on this issue but wonder if anybody else has ever heard of such a thing ! One mortgage company , NOT GMAC, told me that he's been in the business for years and this sounds like a high class scheme to rip off the mortgage customers and that they can't charge for last years insurance costs that the customer never took out or knew about. I hope some body has some valid info to give me. I am also calling the State Insurance Comm. 's office but WOW. This has us in shock. GMAC is demanding we pay $6,000 dollars in one lump sum right now or they are doubling our mortgage payments starting this month & we already received the statement with the doubled amount on it. WE called and spoke with the Insurance dept and also Customer Service but the phone agents said over and over in one way or another that this is the way it is. We always thought GMAC was a reputable company but we don't any more. Hope somebody has some good info for me. I wish I had the telephone to call our president but - oh, well. We don't. WE could lose our house now on account of this.

[little78lucky]

I believe it says in your loan that if you do not keep proper insurance on it at all times the loan company can provide it at any fee they see fit. And you were advised all you had to do was read the terms on your loan.

[Been There, Done That]

Well, I read that you weren't advised that you didn't have adequate insurance for 2008/09 until they advised you that you needed more insurance for 2009/10 also ? Am I reading this right ? And only then only when you went out to get your own insurance at half the cost ? Right there ? So they didn't come up with this cost for 2008 until they found out that they couldn't get you for the 2009 year. That really smells rotten to me !It sounds to me that when they didn't get you for the 2009 year that they went back to get you for the 2008 year, and that is just not legal to charge you now for insurance that didn't happen then. They would have had to advise you at that time. Call your lawyer.

[Komaraconsulting]

This is a very common thing that happens. I worked for Wells Fargo in there servicing department about 10 years ago and this came up a lot. First thing I would do is order an escrow analysis history that breaks down what was paid over the last 5 years. If they put that insurance on your account it is legal for them to do it but they have to notify you with some type of correspondence. If you already had insurance I would get a policy with the same dates of the forced place insurance and fax it to the GMAC Insurance department. Its not a guarantee but they should write if off of your account. We did that at Wells Fargo that if a borrower can show they were covered, then we reversed it off there account. If you succeed with that then have them run another escrow analysis to lower your payment.