Consumer complaint received 2015-10-20
Company: REGIONS FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: MO
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Home equity loan or line of credit
Issue: Settlement process and costs

Complaint:
My wife and I put down {$30000.00} and secured a loan through XXXX XXXX and purchased a home in XXXX, XXXX XX/XX/XXXX. My wife passed away the following year from XXXX XXXX, and I refinanced our home with Regions Bank, in XXXX, XXXX, putting an additional {$90000.00} ( my wife 's life insurance ) toward the principle. I made every payment, on time and in full from XX/XX/XXXX until XX/XX/XXXX, when I had some financial troubles and was not able to make payments for 6 months. My home went into foreclosure, and after a few months my account was re-instated after I paid all late fees and Regions ' legal fees. At that time, a {$28000.00} " write down '' was applied to my mortgage, but I have no memory of being informed of this action in writing and did not speak to a Regions representative, who would have explained how a write down works. I made all of my payments, on time and in full, right up to the time I decided to sell the house this summer ; I remarried XX/XX/XXXX and moved out of state, and had tenants in the house. My tenants made all payments on time and in full, too. Here is where my trouble begins : I live in XXXX, and travelled to XXXX XX/XX/XXXX to see about putting my house on the market. The balance on my mortgage, according to my Regions online account, was in the area of {$98000.00}. I wanted to be sure, so I went to the Regions bank and spoke to the branch manager, XXXX, who was a friend of mine from church. I explained that I was thinking about selling my house and needed to know the balance on my mortgage so I could make a decision as to whether or not to sell. XXXX looked up my account and provided me with the payout information, which matched my account, {$98000.00}. She printed off a copy so I could present it to my real estate agent, XXXX, who was recommended by XXXX ; I met with XXXX that very afternoon, armed with the information that XXXX had given me : that I owed {$98000.00} on my mortgage. I went ahead with the plan to sell the house based on this information. Now, a month or so ago, I got a contract on the house, with a closing date of XXXX. Two days prior I received the closing documents from the title company, and the payout was {$120000.00}, cutting into my bottom line by {$28000.00}!!! I contacted Regions HQ, in XXXX, and they informed me of the " write down ''. I asked why I had not been informed of this, and they said it was a common banking practice NOT TO INFORM the customer. I asked why the branch in Florida did not provide me with this crucial information, and they had no answer, other than I should take that up with them. So far, nobody at Regions has been helpful at all, and if anything they have been quite short with me about the problem, which they feel is all mine and not theirs in the least. I feel as if I was mislead, and given false information upon which I based a crucial financial decision. I sat in the office of the branch manager, a senior bank executive, who, personally gave me a number that was {$28000.00} lower than the actual figure. Now, I am in a contract where I am going to make {$28000.00} less than I had planned ; had I been provided with this information at the onset, I would never have decided to sell my house. I am most disturbed by this. I am a XXXX and do n't need to tell you that I do n't have much money, and this loss is catastrophic.

Company public response: Company chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation