Most of us can only dream of retirement someday, but a North Texas man closing in on it ran into trouble when he tried to pay off his mortgage before that happened.
Home sweet home for Pat Marshall is where all the grandkids come to visit.
"That's another reason why I'm retiring," he said. "I'll be retiring when I'm 64 instead of waiting until I'm 66. I'm missing so many ballgames and band concerts, school activities. Working nights, I can't go to them and that's where I want to be."
Marshall wants to be mortgage free before he retires this fall. He has less than $5,000 to go and it should be paid off by June.
"In December and January, they made my insurance payment and my tax payment," he said. "And I said, 'Well, I should be paid off before those come due again.'"
So Marshall sent a form and paid money to stop monthly payments from going into the escrow account used to pay his insurance and taxes. But he said he kept getting escrow payments taken out.
"It's been over two months," he said. "I sent secure messages through their website, saying, 'Hey, I don't want to do this. I want that money to go toward the principal.'"
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But Marshall said he heard nothing. That's when he contacted NBC 5 Responds.
"The frustration level was growing," he said. "Right before I sent that email, I looked at the account again and there was another escrow payment been pulled out and I just said, 'Yhey're not gonna listen to me, so I'll call Deanna.'"
Within 24 hours of us contacting Colonial, the problem was fixed. The company stopped the escrow payments coming out and sent out a refund check of $1,357. The company told us it was human error and sent this statement:
"We certainly regret that it occurred, but appreciate it being brought to our attention so that we could immediately make it right for Mr. Marshall... Mistakes happen in life and in business. It's how we respond to mistakes that makes the difference and distinguishes Colonial's service."
