Consumer complaint received 2021-05-14
Company: CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP, INC.
State: CT
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
I applied for a conventional refinance loan of my existing mortgage with XXXX Bank, XXXX. that was initiated in XX/XX/XXXX. I paid {$750.00} for an appraisal fee. I responded within XXXX hours each time the loan officer, XXXX XXXX, requested documents. This included my income verification in the form of my XXXX most recent pay stubs, retirement account statements to substantiate that I had at least 6 months of PITI ( Principal, Interest, Taxes and Insurance ) reserve ; and my mortgage and bank statements to further substantiate my assets qualification. I provided all those documents that was requested on time and as expected per the bank 's criterion. The next key item to execute was my home appraisal. The loan officer took almost three months from the application initiation date to order my appraisal report. I kept emailing, calling and requesting for her to order the appraisal in the interest of time so that I could take advantage of the historically low market interest rates. 

XXXX kept making all sorts of excuse on those several occasions telling me that due to covid-19 their company was unable to request an appraisal report and that she would get back to me as soon as possible. An appraisal was finally ordered in XX/XX/XXXX almost 3 months from the application initiation date. XXXX then received my appraisal report which came in significantly higher than expected and of course, this was favorable on my end. The loan officer and her manager then came up with a new rule stating that my basement that was included in the house when I first bought it in XXXX needed to be removed completely in order to move forward with the application. They indicated that this was a new guideline that they received from XXXX XXXX. 

I contacted XXXX XXXX directly to find out more about this guideline. A representative at Fannie Mae indicated that given my house type ( a XXXX-unit home ) and the fact that to access the basement XXXX must go through the primary dwelling ; and I quote, it would not be classified as an Accessory Dwelling Unit ( ADU ) and thus, my basement does not need to be removed to qualify for a refinance loan application given that I meet all other required criterion. I emailed this message including the supporting documentation from XXXX XXXX to the Independent Appraiser ( XXXX XXXX XXXX, the Loan XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and the Loan Officer 's Manager ( XXXX XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX called me on an unrecorded line XXXX days later after that email was sent indicating that the bank could not move forward with my loan with no further explanation as to the reason why. I then escalated the matter to his Manager, XXXX XXXX who did not respond or reach out to me to hear my concern or even respond in an email. XXXX then emailed me back a day after and said that he would get back to me in early XX/XX/XXXX. I haven't heard back from him since. Additionally, the bank has not mailed me any formal correspondence as to the rationale for the denial of my application. As a result, I am filing this formal complaint as I firmly believe that I am experiencing Financial and/Other Discrimination by the bank given that I have met all the required criterion for a mortgage refinance of my existing home. Furthermore, the appraiser, XXXX XXXX told me that the appraisal fee was {$600.00}. I was told by XXXX XXXX that I would be reimbursed for the {$150.00} excess amount that was charged upfront. I never heard back from her and she has not reimbursed me for the overage to-date. I am kindly asking the CFPB to conduct a thorough and complete investigation into the lending practices and in particular, the loan refinance processes of XXXX XXXX Enclosed, are a copy of my supporting loan application and the appraisal report that were received. Please let me know whether you have any questions. 

Sincerely, XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation