Consumer complaint received 2022-02-03
Company: CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP, INC.
State: VA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I logged onto my online banking account to view my mortgage that I have with Citizens Bank. I followed the link on their site that directs customers who have been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic to request a mortgage forbearance. I created a profile on the XXXX XXXX XXXX and submitted a Request for Assistance ( RFA ) on the same day. I was under the impression that I would be receiving communication within a week or so regarding next steps. I never received that, but reached out via online banking messaging near the end of XXXX to validate that I was enrolled in the forbearance plan ( I am currently unable to provide. Via a message response, I was instructed to contact loss mitigation at XXXX. I waited until XXXX to see if my autopayment was stopped, as in forbearance, that would be the case. However, the payment was debited, I called XXXX XXXX  on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX EST and spoke to a representative who stated she had no record of my RFA. At that point, she said she would enroll me at that time, but that I should cancel my auto-debit just to be safe. Another XXXX months went by, and having stopped auto-payment, I thought everything was finally set up appropriately. Then, I received a bill stating my account was delinquent and that I was responsible for paying the last XXXX months payments ( plus late fees ) immediately. I wrote back in via online messaging, and inquired as to whether this was just a formality that all homeowners receive while in forbearance. The response I received was that there was, once again, no record of me being in forbearance. I responded by giving them the details I have since provided in this complaint. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a reply stating the appropriate code was used and it is unclear why the forbearance plan did not initiate. I was informed at this point that the code has been set again and a ticket has been submitted to the System Administrator to research the issue and provide guidance to get the forbearance plan initiated. They stated the would reach out by email to provide an update. I have not received such an email, but have been receiving almost daily solicitation calls from what appears to be a Citizens number XXXX. When searching this number online, I saw nothing but complaints, so I determined to wait for the email response I was promised. Additionally, this number never left a VM until the day of this writing, XX/XX/XXXX. Another month went by and there had been no email communication from XXXX XXXX, so once again I believed the issue resolved. I sent a message online stating I would like to extend the plan for more time, but was told I would have to call XXXX  XXXX  to do that. I called XXXX  XXXX  at XXXX EST on XX/XX/XXXX and was once again told that my account had never been put into forbearance! The man on the call stated he would need to put it in manually ( not sure what that meant ). I asked for verification of some sort be provided to me but he stated he could not do that and instead requested I call back in a few days to validate. It appears the number I received today, XXXX, which seems to be legitimate. However, at this point, I would prefer this to be resolved without me involved because there has been entirely too much stress, unprofessionalism, and miscommunication for me to effectively communicate to the parties involved.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation