Consumer complaint received 2020-06-04
Company: HSBC NORTH AMERICA HOLDINGS INC.
State: NY
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Home equity loan or line of credit (HELOC)
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
XX/XX/XXXX To the Manager Consumer Assistance Unit, Real Estate finance XXXX Dept of Financial services Dear Madam/Sir Sub ; Complaint against HSBC for imposing arbitrary charges on Home Equity. Loan Number : XXXX Sequel to earlier complaint case number : XXXX filed on XX/XX/XXXX Good day The salient points of my case are : An original agreement was signed with HSBC in XX/XX/XXXX. After many years of regular payment, there was a discontinuation of payments due to financial hardship. Subsequently a New modification was made in XX/XX/XXXX and a new amount of {$91000.00} as total payment was agreed on. An amount of {$14000.00} was added to the balance of {$76000.00} making the total of {$91000.00}, and I was asked to pay {$510.00} each month which I have been doing without any delayed payment without interruption. However eleven months later in XX/XX/XXXX, HSBC slapped in new charges, arbitrarily, of {$6700.00} and declared that it was to cover Attorney fees and other charges ( see letter attached from HSBC ). 
I OBJECT to the imposition of these additional charges of {$6700.00}. Example in a letter sent by HSBC on XX/XX/XXXX, in the Assessment charges it includes a levy of {$2300.00} as Servicing fees, This is ridiculous since the Servicing fee is paid by the Investor of the loan and I should have nothing to do with it. 
The modified agreement made in XX/XX/XXXX replaced the original Note of XX/XX/XXXX and the finalized balance payment amount of {$91000.00} holds validity. The agreement on XX/XX/XXXX clause XXXX explains that the additional sum of {$14000.00} was meant to cover Interest and other expenses. 
The modified agreement of XX/XX/XXXX includes all charges including reasonable attorney fees, as it is absolutely customary to include all legal fees in the arrears total. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX, the modification counsellor helping me, had forwarded my signed Qualified Written Request letter dated XX/XX/XXXX seeking account history since inception to find out all fees and assessments since origination. Please see attachment. This has not been provided. 
Arbitrary addition of charges opens up the possibility of HSBC having the right to impose charges at will and at any period of time during the duration of the agreement. This is illegal and unacceptable. 
I REQUEST your intervention and see that the slapped-up charges of {$6700.00} are removed and the balance of the agreed original amount, {$83.00}, XXXX be restored as the correct balance to be paid. ( See the latest HSBC statement ). 
I pray you are doing well and hopefully we will get out of the pandemic gloom and financial nightmare. I am a retiree and just celebrated my XXXX birthday. I am looking forward to an early resolution of the case so I can explore getting a refinancing done on a lower market rate. 

Thank you very much Sincerely XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX NY XXXX Attachments : a ) Loan agreement of XX/XX/XXXX b ) Modification agreement of XX/XX/XXXX c ) HSBC statement of XX/XX/XXXX showing balance of {$83000.00} PLUS the Assessment charge of {$6700.00} d ) My Qualified Written Request seeking account history since inception e ) Responses from HSBC.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation