Consumer complaint received 2021-07-12
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: FL
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: False statements or representation
Sub-issue: Attempted to collect wrong amount

Complaint:
I am an independent contractor who works as a XXXX, I am incorporated as a P.A. I have a business account with Bank of America. Because I did not qualify for unemployment during the pandemic I applied for a PPP loan with Bank of America. I submitted my income to them and filled out their application through their own portal in XXXX of XXXX. I received a call from a Bank of America Representative that I needed to upload a balance sheet of expenses, I said that I was not an accountant but would provide one. I had not yet had my XXXX taxes completed. I was approved for {$32000.00} and signed the promissory note on XX/XX/XXXX. I received a call from Bank of America in the fall of XXXX, the man on the phone said that I needed to give back {$10000.00} of the money I received from the PPP loan. I was not provided any written correspondence from Bank of America regarding the matter so I said that I would call the SBA. I contacted the SBA and they knew nothing about the matter. I called Bank of America back and told the representative they did not know anything and the man said if he were me he would not return the money. 
I received an email from Bank of America on XX/XX/XXXX basically saying that my PPP loan would not be forgiven and an explanation of " the correct maximum loan amount/maximum forgivable loan amount '' and I would owe {$15000.00}. I called to the customer service line and the woman could not find anything regarding this email and directed me to the homepage of my 2 accounts to review my ppp loan information but there was nothing there. I no longer had access to the application I completed for them. I explained to the woman that when I applied for the PPP loan it was with the guidance of a Bank of America representative. She made numerous complaints that she said would be escalated. I said how can they already tell me I would not be forgiven for the PPP loan when I had not yet applied for forgiveness. A few days late I received a phone call from a woman with Bank of America whose title was PPP Triage Representative trying to encourage me to apply for forgiveness. I told her why would I apply for forgiveness when I received an email stating that I would not be forgiven for the loan. Her tone was to sympathize with me and to pretend like Bank of America really wanted to help me in these difficult times. I have not applied for forgiveness, my net income in XXXX was around {$16000.00} and Bank of America made an underwriting error with the amount that I was approved for and they want me to take responsibility for their mistake. I am XXXX years old and they are saying I need to pay back basically what I made in XXXX. I know that many businesses that did not need the money were forgiven for the full amount and I would expect the government to forgive a loan that was to provide basic living needs to someone who truly needs it. I have provided the correspondence, Promissory Note and the income I submitted when applying for the loan. No where in the Promissory Note does it talk about incorrect loan amount.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation