Consumer complaint received 2021-06-17
Company: U.S. BANCORP
State: CA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Home equity loan or line of credit (HELOC)
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
We are writing this letter as an official complaint against USbank and their employees based on age ( both over 65 ), race ( both XXXX ) and financial discrimination. On XX/XX/XXXX we had an appointment with XXXX XXXX, Client Relationship Consultant, and XXXX XXXX, General Manager at the USbank branch at XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX, California XXXX. Phone number XXXX We asked how long the loan process would take. XXXX and XXXX said that it should close by XXXX birthday ( *XXXX XXXX ). We went ahead and applied for a Home Equity Line of Credit ( HELOC ) with USbank. XXXX and XXXX were sitting side by side with us and they explained the loan would be based on equity, credit, income and debt ratio. We requested a copy of the guidelines from them, however, XXXX could not locate it on her computer. We agreed to allow XXXX to run our credit report, my wifes FICO score was XXXX and mine was XXXX. ( See exhibit A ). 

XXXX explained that we needed to open a checking account for automatic payment. We went ahead and completed the required application, submitted the required financial documentation and opened a checking account for {$2000.00} XXXX see exhibit B ) We wanted the maximum line of credit we could get and XXXX said we could get {$130000.00} if our home was valued at {$450000.00}. We told him that we had an existing loan of {$210000.00} and he said we could qualify for the Home Equity Line of Credit for {$130000.00}. The home appraisal that was ordered by USbank, dated XX/XX/XXXX and showed an appraised value of {$450000.00}, ( see exhibit C ). 

The reason for wanting a ( HELOC ) was to do some home improvement and remodel including installing an electric chair lift on our condo because my wife has balance problems. Our reason for wanting a HELOC so we could only take the money we needed and hopefully pay it back sooner. 

Now, we had to refinance the entire condo for {$330000.00} ( for which we qualified ) it now makes it more difficult to pay off the loan and we had to incur additional loan fees. ( see attached closing statement, ( see exhibit D ). On numerous occasions afterwards we did request a copy of the loan guidelines but never receive a copy. My wife has a real estate license and has NMLS license in California and knows how to calculate loan ratios. During this whole process with USbank, we requested the guidelines so we could see how they were calculating our income and expenses, but never received a copy. In addition, every time that they would request documentation we would supply it the same day it was requested and they kept on saying that they did not have it.

After about eight weeks of waiting we were informed by XXXX that we did not qualify for the loan because our financial ratios and that the insurance and taxes were too high. We received a loan denial letter dated XX/XX/XXXX ( see attached exhibit E ) which did not make no sense and again we requested a copy of their guidelines. We petitioned the denial and they sent us another letter of denial dated XX/XX/XXXX ( see attached exhibit F ). XXXX told us that we would be receiving another denial letter by XX/XX/XXXX and we never received the letter. In addition, USbank ran another credit report without our consent. 

We submitted our rental agreements along with our bank statements showing the deposits and mortgage statements showing no late payments and our credit reports showing no late payments as well. All of our mortgage impound accounts pay the taxes and insurance. 

Attached is ( exhibit G ), a summary of finding FNMA approval showing our debt ratio, 20.19 % / 25.82 % on our refinance on our condo on a much larger loan amount. 

We request an investigation for being denied a home equity loan based on race, age, and financial discrimination. 
We were never given a good reason for the denial that made any sense and caused us to refinance our home with a 30 year with fees the HELOC did not have and pay for an appraisal. 

Because we had our existing loan with Guild mortgage since XXXX. We were at a point that we were paying down our principal loan amount and by refinancing with this new loan we are now mostly paying interest and not being able to lower are principal, ( exhibit H ).

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