Consumer complaint received 2018-07-30
Company: CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP, INC.
State: MA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Closing on a mortgage

Complaint:
Dear Sir/Madam, Last year, we lost a vast sum of money due to miscommunication and lack of a responsible point person in our effort to close our mortgage with a mortgage loan from Citizens bank. Please allow me to describe what happened ( the same letter was sent to Citizens bank directly ) My wife XXXX XXXX and I, XXXX XXXX, had been involved in years of long distance relationship due to our jobs in different cities. We did not have too many options due to the fact that we were international XXXX/trainees. That changed at the beginning of XX/XX/2017 with the approval of my XXXX XXXX. I had just accepted a position in XXXX and XXXX was very kind to me in supporting my application. My wife was also lucky enough to find a position in XXXX, and we thought, completely incorrectly, that we were ready to settle down after years of instability and moving around. As a result, we thought we should purchase a home. We were excited to get a physician loan special offer from Citizens bank to XXXX. 

To be clear, we had informed the loan specialist ( XXXX XXXX ) that we were nationals of XXXX, and that the first step of our XXXX XXXX had been approved but we had not actually received the cards since it takes a few months from the time of approval for the receipt of the XXXX XXXX ( usually around 8-10 months ). I have proof in terms of emails with Mr. XXXX regarding this ( email printout attached Exhibit 1 ). We had provided all the documents asked of us at the time. And with that, received a pre-approval letter. Since then, I have come to understand that Citizens gives out pre-approval letters very easily and to everyone. But please tell me how could I have known that as a first-time buyer? 

We went ahead and placed an offer on a dream home. Due to a bidding war and the current housing climate in XXXX, we could not place a mortgage contingency with our offer, otherwise our offer would not have been accepted ( I can give you the sellers information if you would like to get more details about ours and other offers on the condo we desired to purchase ). Our offer was then accepted with a closing date of XX/XX/2017. 

To say we had one issue after another would be an understatement, but we kept pushing because {$37000.00} deposit was on the line. Mr. XXXX and his assistant are extremely poor at their job they kept asking for documents over and over again, without an explanation for why they werent able to keep records straight ( email printout attached Exhibit 2 ). We had a terrible experience with the appraisal, which included factual errors our explanation ( email printout attached Exhibit 3 ) is provided. Things took a turn for the worst on XX/XX/XXXX, when we found out that Citizens would not be able to close because XXXX had not received her XXXX XXXX. You can imagine the shock when finding out about such a requirement 2 days before closing. In fact, we have now realized that we were never asked about XXXX XXXX XXXX ( please ask Mr. XXXX if he has an email asking us of that before XX/XX/XXXX ). Mr. XXXX then communicated with the head of HR at XXXX hospital regarding this. We even explained that we had already shown 6 months of reserve funds ( not to mention XXXX was continually employed ) and that even if the work permit was delayed, we should not have any problems because we could have rented out the second bedroom and borrow money from our parents. Rest assured, XXXX XXXX XXXX arrived at the end of XXXX and she was able to start work in XXXX ( 4 months from the date of closing, well within the 6 months reserve ). We know how to take care of our financial, please look at our credit scores. 

While I understand XXXX concern about our inability to pay the mortgage without XXXX XXXX XXXX, what I do not understand is why was such an important document not requested before preapproval? As a first time buyer, please tell me how could we have known about what is required by Citizens for closing. Ms. XXXX even sent us a loan commitment letter on XX/XX/XXXX ( document attached Exhibit 4 ), and an email with congratulations in the subject line ( email attached Exhibit 5 ), which still did not state the requirement of XXXX work permit. 

Surprisingly, the rejection letter we received after the whole fiasco stated that our loan could not be approved because our finances were not in order!! You would think Mr. XXXX would inform of us something so basic BEFORE providing the pre-approval letter and loan commitment letter! We later found out that our funds in an investment account are NOT acceptable as liquid funds by Citizens. Please tell me how in the world could I have known that myself without the guidance from Mr. XXXX. 

As a result of this and several other mistakes at the hand of Mr. XXXX, we lost {$37000.00} of the deposit money. Not to mention the additional amount in interests ( for closing date extension ), appraisal fees and immeasurable amount of stress and sleepless nights. Of course, we are ourselves partly to be blamed for not putting in a contingency and for trusting XXXX to guide us thoroughly through the process. Mr. XXXX lacks complete knowledge regarding the issues of a foreign applicant ( email attached exhibit 6 ) and it is hard for me to believe that he is a loan specialist.

Dont get me wrong Mr. XXXX is very friendly and easy to talk to, and I truly dont think he meant to cause us any of the financial or psychological distress. Nonetheless, his lack of knowledge regarding the subtleties of a foreign applicant cost us a steep price. We have lost our lifes savings due to the incomprehensible incompetency of a Citizens employee. I beg of you to tell me how does Citizens plan on making this right. 


In response, all we received was a generic response about we had some documents missing and this was not Citizens fault ( letter attached ). We have not received what document were we missing. And not to mention, why was this not made clear to us before closing. What we believe really happened was that they completely missed asking us for XXXX XXXX XXXX ( and obviously they have no record asking us for that document ) and now they are making up excuses about other documents not provided by us. 

Please help us out to resolve this issue. 

Thank you, XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation