Consumer complaint received 2018-09-11
Company: U.S. BANCORP
State: MT
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Home equity loan or line of credit (HELOC)
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
I had been a loyal US Bank customer for approximately 11 years, when I entered the bank one day in early XXXX of XXXX ; I believe it was either XX/XX/XXXX or XXXX, and I was probably there to make a deposit, but I don't remember for sure. XXXX XXXX casually mentioned that they had a great rate on loans right now if I was interested, and because I had just come back from a three week vacation where I had run up some credit card debit I thought this might be a good way to save some money by using a low interest loan to pay off a higher-rated credit card. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I received an email from XXXX stating that my paperwork was ready to be signed. I believe it was the morning of XX/XX/XXXX that I actually stopped in to sign the paperwork, but it may have XX/XX/XXXX ( according to the email I am attaching, I had stated that I would be in on Thursday ). It wasn't until I was in the office reviewing the paperwork that I realized this wasn't a loan kind of transaction- where I could pay it off early and be done with it- but that it was a line of credit that I would be locked into for a minimum of three years or I would have to pay a {$500.00} fee. But XXXX and the loan application both stated that I had three business days to change my mind, so rather than make a rash decision, I decided to review the paperwork over the weekend before making a final decision. 

After reviewing the paperwork over the weekend, I came to the realization that I definitely did not want to go through with the home equity line of credit. Because I had to work dayshift for the next few days and knew I would not be able to get to the bank, I emailed XXXX the evening of Sunday, XX/XX/XXXX to advise her that I had changed my mind about the HELOC and didn't want to go through with it after all. 

On Monday, XX/XX/XXXX, I received a reply back from XXXX stating that she would check into a few things and get back to me. On Thursday, XX/XX/XXXX I received an email from XXXX asking me to confirm that I did not want to go through with the HELOC, and I confirmed that I wanted to cancel my application and not go through with the loan. 

Shortly thereafter, I began receiving frantic emails and phone messages asking me to contact her at the bank right away. After receiving the messages and calling her back, I was informed that it was too late to cancel the HELOC as the application had already gone through, and the only way to cancel it was to pay the {$500.00} cancellation fee. 

I believe it was either XX/XX/XXXX or XX/XX/XXXX I called the bank to talk to XXXX, who was president at the time. ( I can't recall his name right now, and he is no longer there. ) I was informed that he was in the XXXX, Mt office so I contacted him there. He advised me that the loan couldn't be cancelled without paying the {$500.00} fee because that was how much the title company charged the bank. He further advised me that the only way I could have cancelled the application was to go to the bank in person and put it in writing within the three business days. 

I explained that nothing in my HELOC application did it state that my three day window to cancel required my physically being present in the bank, only that it had to be in writing, and that my email was a form of written communication that his staff was well aware belonged to me. Furthermore, I explained that his staff knows that I work out of town and that I am unable to just stop into a branch office unless I am on my days off. I also stated that when XXXX received my initial e-mailed request to cancel the HELOC application, she never gave any indication that my emailed notification was insufficient. 

He stated that he would look into the matter and get back to me, but I never heard from him again. 

All of this had me very upset and it was several months before I could even discuss the matter with anyone. Every time I would start to calm down about it, I would get another piece of mail or email requesting proof the property was insurance or " convenience checks '' or a statement. Although I wanted to go to the bank to discuss it, I knew there was no way I could do so without totally losing my temper. While I happened to be in a neighboring town, I went into their branch of the US Bank and I cancelled all of my accounts except my REI credit card and the checking account that I am required to keep open as per the terms of the HELOC- and I keep a minimal amount of money there. 

I believe it was some time in either the summer or fall that I heard that the bank president was gone. No fanfare or retirement party, just an announcement that he was no longer the president of the XXXX Branch of US Bank and no longer in their office. 

After about a year I had finally calmed down and I decided to just let it go since I had no plans to ever use the money anyway. Then, at the end of XXXX, I logged into my US Bank account to check the balance on my REI card ( I rarely use it and pay the balance in full when I do so that US Bank isn't getting any extra money out of me ) and discovered my checking account was overdrawn due to an annual fee from the HELOC and several overdraft fees. 

This got me mad all over again. But this time I contacted XXXX XXXX, a fellow board-member of the local XXXX XXXX XXXX, and XXXX 's replacement after his departure. I was still furious enough that I couldn't go into the bank branch to discuss this matter face-to-face ( although I have been in the bank a couple of times in recent months to discuss XXXX  matters ), so I emailed her with a brief explanation of what had happened. 

Her response made it clear that she was aware and still recalled what had happened with my HELOC application more than a year before- this was not something I had ever discussed with her, and I had only confided in two friends, neither of whom was likely to have mentioned it to her. The fact that she knew about what had happened indicates to me that the whole incident was discussed among the bank staff, and I can see several reasons why there would have been discussion about it- including a compulsion to defend themselves because they knew they screwed up, but also a discussion in the hopes that someone would be able to find a way to fix it. 

XXXX sent me an email on XX/XX/XXXX that she was able to refund me my overdraft fees, but stated that she didn't have the authority to refund me the {$90.00} annual fee for the HELOC. She did tell me that she would refer the matter higher up the chain and asked if anything else could be done to resolve this matter to my satisfaction. I told her that I would like to be refunded my {$90.00} and have the HELOC closes at no cost to me, since it never should have happened to begin with. 

Then, in XXXX and XXXX, I started receiving snail mail from some division of US Bank advising me that I needed to provide ( again ) proof of insurance. Every piece of mail I get about this HELOC is just an angry reminder of how the bank with whom I was a loyal customer for 11 years just screwed me over with their incompetence. I went online in early XXXX and submitted a copy of the proof of insurance, but I continued to receive these letters into the first few days of XXXX threatening to get me very expensive coverage at my expense if I don't show them proof my house insured. When I called them the first week of XXXX to ask whether they didn't get my proof of insurance or if I had uploaded the wrong document, I was told that they had gotten it after all, but letters were sent out to anyone that hadn't gotten their proof of insurance in by XX/XX/XXXX. 

When I feel like I am a valued customer, I can be loyal to a fault. I get that I let this go for too long- but I was so very angry about the whole thing for so long that I knew I couldn't discuss it without losing my temper. If I hadn't been a happy, long-term customer it wouldn't have upset me near as much as it did. But I am very proud of the fact that I own my house outright- or did until this HELOC came along. I am a XXXX year old single ( never married ) woman with a good job and excellent credit. 

However, it took me a long time to get here- I've always had good credit, but I used to have a lot of debt. US Bank helped me get where I am today by approving various loan applications over the years to help me get out of debt. But I feel like they took advantage of the fact that I have been a loyal customer when they didn't cancel my loan application at the time I requested it, in the hopes that I would change my mind. 

And every email or piece of mail I get about this HELOC is just a reminder of this whole incident.

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 monetary relief