Date Received: 2015-08-09
Issue: Application, originator, mortgage broker
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: On XXXX XXXX, 2015 I applied for a housing loan with XXXX XXXX, the loan officer at Citizen 's Bank in XXXX, PA. I had already pre-qualified and found a property to purchase as an investment. I have great credit and was able to provide documentation as to the sources of income that would be used for down payment, closing costs, etc. The closing date was to be XXXX XXXX, 2015. But then, the bank decided to change the terms. On XXXX XXXX, XXXX called and said that I needed to have fire insurance on the property. I did obtain insurance even though I had been forced to sign an extension and at this point, we no longer had a closing date. After submitting more financial records, I was then informed that, since this was an investment property, I would need to have additional funds in addition to a 20 % down payment. They wanted me to have XXXX months mortgage " reserves '' for my home residence, for the property being purchased, AND for a rental property that I already own. This was NOT disclosed to me from the start, and even if I could come up with the extra reserves, the funds would not have been " seasoned '' enough for their liking. I then came up with a solution : since this property is nicer than the home I live in now, I offered to purchase the property as a residence to live in. That would lower the down payment and eliminate the need for reserves. With the loan officer 's assistance, we drafted a letter to the underwriter, XXXX XXXX, detailing the reasons why it would benefit me to buy this house to live in. She refused to restructure the loan and inferred that I was a liar. And while trying to do whatever I could to make things work, what followed was weeks of asking for more extensions, not answering my phone calls, and supposedly waiting for " paperwork. '' Then I was told that I could apply for a " family loan '' by purchasing the home for my son to live in. I was willing to do this, but several more weeks passed with no phone calls or correspondence ; except for our real estate agent asking for more extensions. Finally, on XXXX XXXX, it was suggested that they may have another lender that could help me. At this point, the contract would expire the next day and I decided to terminate the agreement. I had already spent close to {$1000.00} to obtain a property inspection and an appraisal ( requested by the bank ). In addition to the funds lost, months of time were wasted in which I could have pursued a different lender if Citizens Bank would have been honest from the beginning. This whole process was a nightmare. The regulations in place to prevent someone from getting a loan are ludicrous. However, the situation was made even worse by Citizens Bank for stringing me along while I spent money and made arrangements to occupy this property. And the other victim is the seller who was under the assumption that their home was being purchased and therefore, lost months of time that could have been used to market the property to other potential buyers.
Company Response:
State: PA
Zip: 16601
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2015-08-09
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: No
Date Received: 2015-08-07
Issue: Application, originator, mortgage broker
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: We started a refinance process earlier XXXX with Citizens Bank in XXXX, PA. Prior to engaging with them, we were warned by another lender that Citizens is known for conservative appraisal values. We ultimately went with Citizens, paid {$500.00} for an appraisal, and the resulting value was {$5000.00} less than our neighbor 's home - which is identical to ours. Not only did the appraisal take way too long to create ( XXXX weeks! ) the appraiser intentionally left off high-valued homes in our neighborhood and included a low-ball appraisal from a community XXXX miles away. We challenged the accuracy of the appraisal, and provided additional comps from our neighborhood. The appraiser rejected all of the comps we provided for various reasons but did not make any attempt to adjust for our home value including these comps. Citizens bank hid behind reform laws and now we are stuck with what we believe to be an inaccurate appraisal, have lost XXXX months of time going back-and-forth with the bank & appraisal company. I believe that Citizens ' bank is using appraisers that devalue properties so that people will have to borrow more money than the bank otherwise wants to lend, and as a consumer we have no choice but to use their appraiser! With the internet today, we have the ability to read reviews on restaurants, contractors, mechanics, dog walkers, stores, and anytime that we are paying money for goods or services. In this case, we had an appraisal selected for us XXXX and they were awful to work with! ) and we have no say in the matter.
Company Response:
State: PA
Zip: 19426
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2015-08-07
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: Yes
Date Received: 2015-08-06
Issue: Payoff process
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: Interest was charged on my account even though I had paid the bill in full and a full week before it was due.
Company Response:
State: MA
Zip: 01757
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2015-08-06
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: No
Date Received: 2015-08-06
Issue: Problems caused by my funds being low
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: My name is XXXX XXXX and I used to have an account with Citizens Bank in XXXX CT. I had an overage back in 2012 I believe and this bank charged me like XXXX dollars a day ; in response I closed the account but they kept adding charges for over a month. Citizens Bank trumped up charges for under a {$100.00} to a {$290.00} debt which is just bank charges. I would have resolved the balance but they were more interested in getting as much as they can out of me. The bank 's behavior was predatory and I would like to have this account removed from the National banking XXXX because it is preventing me from opening an account.
Company Response:
State: CT
Zip: 06708
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2015-08-06
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: No
Date Received: 2015-08-06
Issue: Problems caused by my funds being low
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: I had overdrawn my account last month and again this month. I had alerts set up that I am supposed to get an email when there is an overdraft so I can immediately deposit funds to keep from incurring fees. I have not been receiving the alerts until the day after the overdraft has occurred which entails a {$35.00} fee for each transaction that day. My wife went the XXXX day to deposit funds via check and the teller told her she could deposit via ATM and it would cover. It did not, and it posted the next day, which results in {$100.00} of fees that day. I went and made a deposit again this morning at bank opening to cover a {$8.00} overdraft from last night ( which did not show up at XXXX when I viewed the account ) and was told that I was now good by the teller with a XXXX. I logged in and saw I am in the red again because they are now charging me {$35.00} again. I have been charged fees due to both lack of notification, which I signed up for, and for bad information from bank tellers in which the manager could only apologize and say they are not responsible for misinformation from tellers and there is nothing they could do. I have been a customer of this bank for 13 years now and am tired of these inappropriate fees ( or money grabs ) from my bank due to their bad employees and bad systems. Their repetitive fees keep me from getting back in the black.
Company Response:
State: PA
Zip: 160XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2015-08-06
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: No
Date Received: 2015-08-05
Issue: Application, originator, mortgage broker
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: Per my recorded conversation with XXXX XXXX on XXXX XXXX, 2015, I accepted Citizens Bank 's offer on Case Numbers XXXX and XXXX, for a 10-year XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX with XXXX Monitoring at no charge to me and also the offer to waive the {$620.00} processing fee on my current and only application with Citizens that I set up with XXXX XXXX, on XXXX XXXX, 2015. I followed up with a letter and email on XXXX XXXX, and have n't heard back on how to proceed. I sent a follow-up letter and email to XXXX XXXX, XXXX of XXXX on XXXX XXXX, 2015 with still no response. I 'm perplexed why XXXX has n't responded to my emails or letters and have n't honored their letter dated XXXX XXXX, 2015.
Company Response:
State: MA
Zip: 02127
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2015-08-06
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: No
Date Received: 2015-08-05
Issue: Account opening, closing, or management
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: In XXXX 2015 I responded to the XXXX, Delaware ( XXXX XXXX ) Citizen 's Bank Branch in response to XXXX $ promotion for opening a checking account. The teller explicitly told me to qualify you needed to keep the account in good standing and make XXXX online bill payments. The teller said that SHE HERSELF WILL POST THE BONUS IN SEVERAL DAYS! Of course nothing happened, and I contacted the regional manager. That manager apologized for the teller and told me even though your XXXX online bill pays were PERFECT ( this qualified ) you must wait 5 months later to XXXX XXXX!!! Yes, a FEW DAYS became 5 MONTHS! So on XXXX XXXX 2015 no bonus was received and I called customer service and the local branch manager - who said " oh you needed XXXX SEPARATE MERCHANTS on bill pay, so you do not qualify. So SERIOUSLY, they mislead me on the bonus payment date, then they mislead me into believing I qualified with XXXX bill pays, then they make me wait 5 MONTHS to tell me I did not qualify - and as frosting they failed to respond and resolve the issue on XXXX XXXX. This bank is DECEPTIVE and possibly PREDATORY, they failed the elementary rule of business - HONORING YOUR WORD. I made a complaint requesting them to execute regional managers statement that I qualified As of XXXX 2015 they have refused to reply or make the deposit of XXXX $ to demonstrate HONORING their WORD.
Company Response:
State: DE
Zip: 19711
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2015-08-05
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: No
Date Received: 2015-08-04
Issue: Credit decision / Underwriting
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: I am having issues with CCO mortgage corp sending my Escrow back on a mortgage that paid off. I have an envelope showing that I had the payoff sent to my new address and I have contacted the bank and my address has been changed since XXXX/XXXX/2014. CCO mortgage is saying that I never changed my address and they are saying I did not and even if it is changed at the bank mortgage is a separate company and have no responciblity to look in to it. I am now being told they will not reissue a check until 30 days after it was sent out and then they have additional 30 days to mail it out. Also they do not have to transfer me to a supervisor.
Company Response:
State: NY
Zip: 13850
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2015-08-04
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: No
Date Received: 2015-07-30
Issue: Settlement process and costs
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: I begin the process of trying to refinance my condo in XX/XX/XXXX 2015. I began this process knowing that I would be laid off in a few months and wanted to get it started as I stated in my original affidavit to CCO Mortgage. I submitted all the paperwork requested within a timely matter. The initial process letter stated that if I supplied all that was needed in the allotted time the process should take no more than XXXX days. It has been XXXX months and I have still have not finalized my loan modification. Throughout these last XXXX months I have had to call my relationship manager over and over again. My constant complaint is not getting any information about what programs for which I would be considered. No one at the bank would tell me about any of the programs or how long the process would take. It was not until I received the letter saying I declined the modification that I saw the list. To this day, no one will tell me what those programs are or if I ever qualified. It is near impossible to get your relationship manager over the phone. When they do decide to get back to you, they leave no message. If you do manage to catch one of those early morning or late Friday afternoon calls its only to tell you they will call you again.When I finally did catch someone the last week of XXXX of 2015, I was told I was approved for a modification for 4 %, instead of my 4.875 %. I still had yet to the acceptance paperwork which I was told was mailed. I told the representative at that time I had been laid off. She took it on her own accord to throw out my modification acceptance without as much as a word to me. XXXX weeks later I received a letter dated XXXX XXXX, but was not mailed until XXXX XXXX in the mail stating my modification was declined because I did not accept the agreement. This was a flat out lie. By the time the paperwork came, it was too late to appeal by mail because it was mailed over XXXX days after being generated and only XXXX days were given on the notice. I immediately called letting them know this was a terrible error and the representative they had no right to do that especially since she was not my relationship manager. I was told they would reopen the case and the first payment would be due on XXXX XXXX, where I would be contacted to make the new payment over the phone because that was the only way. Of course when XXXX XXXX, 2015 came I did not receive any phone call. I called XXXX times, after XXXX hours I spoke to the representative who said they were going to call me and she quickly denied everything and they told me I would have to start all over again with the process. I told them no, they were at fault not me and they were doing this on purpose trying to force me into foreclosure with this so called process. Finally they took the payment over the phone and said someone would contact me when the paperwork was mailed. No surprise I did not get a call, I had to call my relationship manager again where I was told it would be sent XXXX. Again the document date was XXXX XXXX, 2015 and I did not receive it until XXXX XXXX, 2015 and FedEx overnight back on the XXXX of XXXX. I was sent 3 copies and was told by my relationship manager that only 2 copies were needed. I missed a phone call this morning, XXXX XXXX, 2015, which no message was left and phoned back to inquire about the missed call. My relationship manager said the paperwork had to be resent because XXXX paper was n't signed and XXXX had a different date. I asked why they could not use the XXXX sets that were signed and dated properly and she did not have an answer. I also told her that my account in showing delinquent due to this long process even though I was making the payments directly to them. Now my credit would be affected it this process did not speed up because I was unemployed now. I can not afford a mortgage delinquency on my credit report.
Company Response:
State: IL
Zip: 60660
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2015-07-30
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: No
Date Received: 2015-07-29
Issue: Dealing with my lender or servicer
Subissue: Received bad information about my loan
Consumer Complaint: XX/XX/2014, I paid the student loans, for the amount of {$9000.00}. Citizens bank, told me that they will communicate withXXXX to clear my credit report, my {$9000.00}. cashiers check wascashed by the citizens bank, but they did not informed XXXX, Ihope that, they should be investigated, because they are damageiging my credit report to the XXXX agency 's.
Company Response:
State: CA
Zip: 95823
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2015-07-29
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: No