Consumer complaint received 2017-09-02
Company: CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP, INC.
State: DE
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Home equity loan or line of credit (HELOC)
Issue: Closing on a mortgage

Complaint:
We were charged additional fees while trying to pay off the line of credit at Citizens Bank.

1. I signed a pre-authorization form on XX/XX/XXXX for the Buyer 's attorney. It was an authorization to " please release information to the settlement attorneys '' and nothing else. Settlement was originally scheduled for XX/XX/XXXX, but was moved to XX/XX/XXXX. The attorney went into the Bank twice to request a payoff amount. Each time, the bank charged my account {$25.00}. I asked the bank to reverse these fees on several occasions, complaining that I had never granted any permission for transactions to be created against my account, but only authorized release of information.The information of " pay-off '' is available online, I could have emailed it out myself. The bank was in error to send a fax and then charge me and should have requested my permission or denied the request altogether.

2. A fax was sent to the Settlement attorney, twice, for a final total payoff of {$49000.00}. which included both fax fees of {$25.00}. each, a pre-payment penalty of {$350.00}. and an extra unexplained fee of {$29.00}.

3. At Settlement on XX/XX/XXXX, I signed a release of lien, a notice to close the HELOC, and agreement of pay-off of {$49000.00}. 

4. The pay-off amount was received by the Bank on XX/XX/XXXX, for {$49000.00}. However, the HELOC was not closed, plus a negative balance of {$380.00}. appeared on the statement. I called the Bank to inquire and they promised to return call, never did, but also stated that the pay-off amount failed to include both fax fees, that another {$25.00}. was owed. Not true! They promised to call back, never did. We called again, again a promise of call back, never did. 

5. In mid XX/XX/XXXX, I received a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, with an enclosure demanding an additional {$55.00}. discharge fee and a page for signature to release the lien. We believe this charge is arbitrary and outside the provisions of payment outlined in the contract, and we had already signed all necessary papers at Settlement, so requesting another signature made us feel trapped to stay in the loan. I called the number provided in the letter, left a message, never received a call back.

6. Since the additional amount of {$29.00} had been paid in the pay-off amount of {$49000.00}, the new demand by the Bank after Settlement, now of {$55.00}. was suspicious. I called the Bank this morning, XX/XX/XXXX, and I was told that the {$55.00}. was a recording fee for the State in which I live. I argued that it should have been included in the pay-off amount and not requested after Settlement. It was never a line item on the statement at the time of the pay off, and no such fee was mentioned at the time of the loan, never spelled out in the payoff amount shown online, and any so-called " recording fee '' would have been known here in my state, since I borrowed the money in person in XXXX, Delaware. The fee appears to be arbitrary and a punishment to me for paying off the loan. 

7. The representative argued that I should read my contract, paragraph 11, where it states : " We may charge your Credit Line to pay other fees and costs that you are obligated to pay under this Agreement, under the Mortgage or under an other document related to your Credit Line. '' I do not believe that that entitles the Bank to take fees that I am not obligated to pay under this Agreement. Which fees are " obligated '' and which are " not obligated. '' What addendum or appendix shows the obligated fees under this Agreement? Absolutely none. I owe no additional fees.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation