Consumer complaint received 2019-02-25
Company: CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP, INC.
State: PA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Home equity loan or line of credit (HELOC)
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
I had a home equity line of credit with Citizens Bank, which I tried to close in late XX/XX/XXXX by sending them written notice. I had no balance on the account at that time. I received a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, acknowledging that they received my request, stating that I needed to pay a {$150.00} recording fee in order to close the account, but that no further advances would be honored on the account. I reviewed the paperwork I signed when opening the account, and the documents did not state that I would need to pay any fee in order to close the account. I called and asked a representative at Citizens to show me where it was disclosed that I would need to pay a fee. He could not find any such statement, agreed that I shouldnt have to pay anything, and said someone would call back if there was any issue. I thought things were solved at that time. More than five years later, on XX/XX/XXXX, I received a letter from Citizens Bank, providing an updated address for loan payments. I called their customer service number to ask why, and spoke with their representative XXXX. She told me the loan was still open and that I needed to pay them {$410.00} in order to close the account. When I asked her to explain, she said the amount was comprised of a {$160.00} recording fee ( up from {$150.00}, and Im still not sure why ),  along with {$250.00} in annual fees. I asked why they charged annual fees on an account I asked them to close, she acknowledged that I asked to close the account, and that they set my credit limit to XXXX dollars, but said that since the account was not really closed it was subject to annual fees. So, in reality they disabled the account, so that even if I had known it was still there, I couldnt have used it anyway, but continued to charge fees for five years as if it was still open. And I didnt receive any communication from them during this time or any disclosure that I was being charged fees. Ive always understood that charging someone for a service and not providing that service was the very definition of fraud. I just wanted to cut ties with these people so I said that if they reversed the {$250.00} of annual fees, I would pay the {$160.00} recording fee. They said they would look into it and call me back. I received no call, so I called them on XX/XX/XXXX and spoke with their representative, XXXX. She put me on hold and checked with some people, then came back on and said that she had been told that the {$250.00} could not be waived until the {$160.00} recording fee was paid. I wanted to be sure I understood so I asked specifically that, if I paid the {$160.00} fee, would the {$250.00} in annual fees be waived. She said that yes, it would. Citizens claims to record all of their customer service calls, so there should be evidence of this. I sent a formal letter along with a check for {$160.00}, which was cashed by Citizens on XX/XX/XXXX. I checked online for the status of the account a couple weeks later, and saw that there was still a payoff amount of {$250.00} listed. I called again on XX/XX/XXXX, and spoke with XXXX. He stated that even though the account had been disabled it was still Citizens policy to charge fees and that they would not waive them. I asked to talk to his supervisor, and he transferred me to XXXX, who seemed more reasonable. She noted that previously Citizens had rejected the request to waive the {$250.00} fees. I explained that her colleague had promised me the fees would be reversed if I paid the {$160.00} recording fee, and that this was the only reason I had paid it. She said she would refer the matter to her research team and that they would call me in one to two business days. She gave me a case number, XXXX. I still havent heard form the research team and it has been longer than two business days. I dont believe they intend to address my concerns, and their intent is to hold for ransom the deed to my home. I know {$250.00} isnt that much money but I feel that what they have done is outright theft. Can something be done about this, before more people are victimized?

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation