Consumer complaint received 2020-08-07
Company: CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP, INC.
State: NC
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
Complaint regarding a lost mortgage payment by Citizens One. 
On XX/XX/XXXX our mortgage payment was deducted from our bank account. The following week the shut downs due to covid19 were  enforced. At that point we contacted our mortgage company Citizens One to request forbearance. They reviewed our account. Acknowledged that it was current in its payments and approved the forbearance. They informed us that the forbearance would last for 3 months starting with the XXXX payment. They then disconnected the bank link to stop the auto draft. We received a mortgage statement from Citizens One dated XX/XX/XXXX that showed our account payment history. On this report it showed that we had fully paid for the months of XXXX and XXXX and our unpaid balance started on XXXX. However, we received our next mortgage statement dated XX/XX/XXXX and that stated that XXXX was now also unpaid. On XX/XX/XXXX I contacted Citizens One and spoke to XXXX. I explained the discrepancy and she claimed that we received a refund for our XXXX payment to which I explained that we did not. She instructed me to fax a letter and all our supporting bank statements to the Research and Fulfillment Center ( XXXX ) XXXX and they would review the problem. I called again on the XXXX and spoke to XXXX just to reiterate the issue with the account. She claimed that the XXXX payment, not the XXXX payment, had been refunded. Again I explained that no, we never received a refund. I then faxed the letter and documents on XX/XX/XXXX. I called again on XX/XX/XXXX and spoke to XXXX who verified that they did receive the fax and that the account was being reviewed and we would be contacted within the next 10 days. I called again on XX/XX/XXXX because I had not been contacted and spoke to XXXX. She stated that the account was still under review and that it was obviously a mistake because a mortgage is a contractual loan and refunds are never applied on a contractual loan. I explained that our deferment was ending in XXXX and we wanted to bring our account up to date but they were asking for an extra {$1700.00} payment that we had already paid and we did not want to pay twice. She suggested we just pay the extra and they would eventually figure it out. I called again on XX/XX/XXXX and spoke to XXXX and asked for a manager. She transferred me to XXXX, a manager, who I explained the entire story to again. He put me on hold and NEVER came back nor did he call me back even though each customer service rep asks for a call back number should we get disconnected. So I called back and spoke to XXXX who ALSO hung up on me with no callback. So I called back again and spoke to XXXX who transferred me to XXXX another manager.  XXXX promised to call me with an answer. As of today XXXX has also not contacted me with any updated info. I called again and also spoke to XXXX. Still no help. All of these reps are claiming that XXXX payment was posted in XXXX? And that XXXX was outstanding because we received a refund. I told them this was not the case. Since they broke the link to the bank they didnt send us a refund electronically and we never received a check in the mail either but they insist otherwise. 
Meanwhile they sent a letter that put us back in forbearance, even though we didnt ask for an extended forbearance. The letter they sent claims they had tried contacting us regarding our forbearance but that is also not true. No one at any time from Citizens One has ever contacted us. Ever. 
I called once again on XX/XX/XXXX and spoke to XXXX who was very helpful. He reviewed the account and saw the extensive notes that were written by the various reps. He even reached out to XXXX who claimed she was still waiting to get an answer from her XXXXanager and then would call me. Its been a month since the first time I spoke to her and she is still waiting for a call from her manager? This is completely and utterly unacceptable. XXXX did state that the notes on our account said the XXXX payment had somehow been applied to some other account and that it had to be fixed. It is now XX/XX/XXXX almost two months this has been going on and Citizens One has done nothing to fix this {$1700.00} problem. 
How can this company verify we are current on all our payments so we qualify for forbearance and then during that forbearance we are now one full payment behind with not a single rep or manager that can solve this problem in two months, nor make any attempt to  contact us to discuss the documents we faxed supporting our claim. For 2 months we have received nothing but a complete runaround. I hope that you can help us with this problem and I thank you in advance for your time and attention.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation