Consumer complaint received 2022-01-19
Company: TRUIST FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: NC
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: FHA mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
From XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX, BB & T ( now Truist ) engaged in deceptive practices among other things which violated my and my wife 's legal rights. In XX/XX/XXXX my wife contacted our mortgage lender, then BB & T to inquire about the forbearance option allowed under the CARES ACT. I was sitting beside my wife and could hear both her speaking and much of what the agent on the line was saying as well. After verifying our account information, the agent asked a few basic questions, such as whether we were experiencing a financial hardship, to which my wife responded, 'Yes. '' The agent responded with " okay, you're all set. '' My wife looked at me confused and then had to probe the agent with questions in order to get ANY information concerning the forbearance, including the general terms, whether we needed to submit any documentation or submit an application, and specifically how the repayment would work once the forbearance ended. My wife informed the agent that we would not put ourselves on the forbearance program unless they were going to set up our account for a balloon payment at the end of the mortgage as we would never be able to pay any lump sum to them at the end of the forbearance. The agent confirmed that we were set up for a balloon payment option and we ended the call. 

My wife had 10 or so conversations with BB & T throughout the 18 months we were on the forbearance, during which time she told me that the bank continuously confirmed that we were set up for a balloon payment and there would be no lump sum payment due at the end of the forbearance. I was skeptical, so I called in to confirm for myself. I spoke with an agent at BB & T in XXXX of XXXX for the purpose of confirming that the mortgage was set up for a deferral of the total amount due during the forbearance and that that total would be added as a balloon payment at the end of the loan. The agent confirmed this information and even stated that the balloon payment option is a default and that we would have to select another option at the conclusion of the forbearance if we didn't want the balloon payment. My wife 's last communication with BB & T occurred on XX/XX/XXXX, she called in to see if we could extend the forbearance past XXXX as we were set to resume payments on XX/XX/XXXX. A copy of our phone records denoting the 10+ calls with BB & T are attached. 

She called me directly after speaking to BB & T on XX/XX/XXXX and told me that we had 2 months remaining of the 18 available and that the agent confirmed once again, that the monthly payment amounts that would have been due during the forbearance would be added to the back end of the mortgage as a balloon payment and that the mortgage would be due on XX/XX/XXXX. We received a letter on XX/XX/XXXX from BB & T denoting that the forbearance was ending on XX/XX/XXXX and states " At the end of your Forbearance period, you have the following options. '' It then lists 4 options, option 3 being " Modify the loan so your suspended payments are added to the end of your loan as additional payments or as a large sum, such as a payment deferral, '' As of XX/XX/XXXX and with full knowledge and admittal that the forbearance period was for 18 months, BB & T continued to inform us that we were able to put the balance due on the back end of the mortgage as a balloon payment. 

In XX/XX/XXXX, we received a statement advising us that a payment was due on XX/XX/XXXX. We attempted to make the payment online, but were locked out and also attempted to contact BB & T several times and kept getting an auto message that told us that the office was temporarily closed. On XX/XX/XXXX, my wife was finally able to reach someone about how to make the payment due of {$180000.00}. While asking the representative how to make the payment and why the statement seemed to claim that we owed a lump sum of {$34.00}, XXXX, the agent informed my wife that we were not eligible to defer the amount due to the back end of the mortgage and that we were never set up for a balloon payment as we were told during no less than half a dozen phone calls with BB & T, including the most recent phone call that took place on XX/XX/XXXX. We were informed that because we were on the forbearance program for 18 months, that we would now have to make 3 payments, a total of over {$5400.00} in addition to making our normal monthly mortgage payment in order to be eligible for a balloon payment option. My wife and I were exceedingly nervous that BB & T was misleading us and therefore continued to confirm during each and every phone call to BB & T throughout the duration of the forbearance that we were confirmed to be set up for a balloon payment. Each and every representative gave a concrete " Yes '' as their response. At no point did anyone ever inform us that we would have to wait until the end of the forbearance to determine what we were eligible for, or that there may be limitations to what options are available based on the length of time in which we were on the forbearance. Instead, BB & T engage in deceptive practices- telling us repeatedlXXXX that we were already set up for a balloon payment when that was blatantly false. We were intentionally mislead in a manner that is both negligent and malicious. 

During my wife 's phone call on XX/XX/XXXX, she informed the agent that she intended to speak to an attorney to protect our legal rights through the CARES ACT and other applicable law and told the agent that she wanted this complaint kicked up to the highest authority in their department as this is a serious matter. During the phone call, we were advised that the only option available to us now is a modification of the loan to reduce our mortgage payment- something we are not interested in and do not want as it will negatively impact our credit, ability to sell our home and ability to obtain a loan of any kind for the foreseeable future. 

Yesterday, on XX/XX/XXXX, I received a voicemail from BB & T asking us to contact them. Upon contacting them back on XX/XX/XXXX, we were informed that the purpose of the call was to provide their " apology for the miscommunication '', referring to us being lied to by the bank for the duration of the forbearance. BB & T engaged in illegal conduct and provided their " apology '' while offering to do absolutely nothing about the fact that we were mislead for 18 months and are now in a dire situation due to the bank 's conduct. During the call, the agent once again informed us that we will need to make a lump sum payment of over {$5400.00} in order to put the remaining balance on the back end of the mortgage on top of making our normal monthly mortgage payment.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation