Consumer complaint received 2021-06-04
Company: FIFTH THIRD FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: PA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
I would like to file a formal complaint and investigation against Fifth Third Bank for improperly evaluating and mismanaging all financial documents for a re-finance application that began on XX/XX/XXXX and still has not been formally resolved. I have a current, good standing, mortgage with Fifth Third Bank and excellent credit. My existing mortgage originated with MB Financial in XXXX which later was bought buy Fifth Third Bank. ( In XXXX, I had removed my ex husband from the mortgage per a divorce property settlement agreement and as I had just opened a new business, I added my father on as a co-signer to ensure my employment change would not be a problem ). 

I applied for a refinance with Fifth Third Bank on XX/XX/XXXX. I have owned my own business since XX/XX/XXXX and currently still own the company. I also applied with my child support as income ( which has been consistent for 4 years and lawfully continues for at least 8 more years ) and other income as an XXXX XXXX XXXX. I applied for the re-finance with my father as co-signer as he is currently on the mortgage and to ensure there was more than enough income on the application. He is also self-employed, owns multiple businesses for 35 years, owns a farm and owns multiple properties with no mortgages and has made in excess of XXXX yearly. 

I currently owe approximately {$190000.00} on my property at 3.875 % and the appraisal done during this process valued my home at {$470000.00}. I requested a cash-out refinance of {$90000.00} to cover home improvement repairs and to remove any remaining loans I had. I was quoted a 3.275 % with XXXX points for a 30 year fixed mortgage with the cash out bringing up my payment approximately {$75.00} extra per month. 

Self-employed individuals have much more complex financial and tax documents to understand, especially when there are multiple large scale businesses. It is a much more complex document collection and underwriting review and it is my opinion based on dealing with multiple people including managers at Fifth Third Bank, that they are not adequately educated and able to request and review the correct and complicated documents of self-employed individuals and engaged in illegal responses to me during the process. 

I still have yet to receive an official written document on Fifth Third Bank letterhead stating where my application stands however I have been called twice by an employee ( XXXX XXXX ) telling me there will be a denial. I filed an internal complaint with Fifth Third Bank after she first called in XXXX, and suddenly they started to review my application again. Her reason that time was that we did not submit the proper documents. I received email correspondence that my files were " misplaced '' and that I was being difficult. They also did not seem to open the two large XXXX XXXX packages that were sent to them with documents a month prior. We again submitted documents and restarted the process however the woman collecting documents was not even sure what she was looking at ( XXXX XXXX ). Many documents were submitted two or three times, I was told the documents kept expiring ... when in reality, they had never requested them. The woman at the company who handled that first complaint was XXXX ( her phone XXXX ). I also tried to get help from XXXX and XXXX XXXX boss, XXXX XXXX with no solution. 

Now after re-submitting everything they asked for both signers, I was emailed by XXXX XXXX that they had everything on XX/XX/XXXX to review only to receive a letter asking for more documents on XX/XX/XXXX. Some of which were completely inaccurate documents relating to me. ( For example, they asked me for tax return from a company I don't own something named XXXX and have never heard of ; and asked for a mortgage that my father has ... he has no mortgages. In addition to another slew of new documents they hadn't asked for before. 

After I questioned every line item on the XX/XX/XXXX letter, I received a phone message from XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX stating I would be denied of an approval because my employment job has changed. It has not changed. I own the same company I own and have owned since XXXX. I then questioned why if they took my income out of the equation, that they didn't count my father 's income. I then received an email saying there were trials and tribulations with my re-finance given the complexity of the documents and that since my job had changed, they could not list any income. 

It is my belief that not only did they violate the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and not provide a written, explicit factual explanation ; but they mishandled my application from the very beginning. They did not have the expertise to request the proper documentations from the beginning, lost my files, and I feel improperly calculated my income ( because they refused to count it ) and did not properly count my father 's income ( because they don't know how to read and/or request the proper documents ). 

As I mentioned above, in XXXX when I removed my ex husband and placed my father on as my cosigner with MB Financial, I had just started a XXXX and was only 3 months in. They didn't discredit my income and were able to review all of my father 's documents properly and I received the mortgage. I purposely went with my current lender instead of shopping around this time and it was a HUGE mistake. 

I would like my entire file returned to me and my father, I would like an official letter I am rightfully owed by law with a legitimate reason for denial and I would like to officially have their team investigated for mismanagement of financial documents. They are not staffed properly to evaluate self-employed individuals.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation