Consumer complaint received 2018-06-06
Company: UNITED SERVICES AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION
State: OR
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
USAA Federal Savings Bank has given my personal and private information to a 3rd party verification service called XXXX without my permission or consent during the processing of our mortgage which was initiated on XX/XX/2018.

When I confronted USAA ( I have spoken with various loan processors, managers, an escalation team member and someone from the CEO 's office ), I have been met with little more than dismissal. All representatives of USAA reference the same page in the lending disclosure document which I have included below and claim that this document somehow gives them permission to send my private information to 3rd party verification services : BORROWERS CERTIFICATION AND AUTHORIZATION The undersigned certify the following : 1. I/We have applied for a mortgage loan with : USAA Federal Savings Bank 2. In applying for the loan, I/We completed a loan application containing various information on the purpose of the loan, the amount and the source of the down payment, employment and income information, and assets and liabilities. I/We certify that all of the information is true and complete. I/We made no misrepresentation in the new loan application or other documents, nor did I/We omit any pertinent information.

3. I/We understand and agree that USAA Federal Savings Bank reserves the right to change the mortgage loan review process to expand documentation requirements. This may include, but is not limited to, verifying the information provided on the application directly with an employer and/or a financial institution.

4. I/We fully understand that it is a Federal crime punishable by fine or imprisonment, or both, to knowingly make any false statements when applying for this mortgage, as applicable under the provisions of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1014.

AUTHORIZATION TO RELEASE INFORMATION TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN : 1. I/We have applied for a mortgage loan with : USAA Federal Savings Bank. As part of the application process, USAA Federal Savings Bank may verify information contained in my/our loan application and in other documents required in connection with the loan, either before the loan is closed or as part of its Quality Control Program.

2. I/We authorize you to provide USAA Federal Savings Bank and to any investor to whom USAA Federal Savings Bank may sell my mortgage, any and all information and documentation that they may request, such information includes, but is not limited to, employment history and income ; bank, money market and similar account balances ; credit history ; and copies of income tax returns.

3. USAA Federal Savings Bank or any investor that purchases the mortgage, may address the authorization to any party named in the loan application.

4. A copy of this authorization may be accepted as an original.

5. Your prompt reply to USAA Federal Savings Bank or its investor that purchased the mortgage, or themortgage guaranty insurer ( if any ), is appreciated.

6. Mortgage guaranty insurer ( if any ) : _____________________________.

Per this document I've copied above, there is no permission for 3rd parties to have access to my information excepting that as established in paragraph 2 of the AUTHORIZATION TO RELEASE INFORMATION where is it stated that only the bank or an investor who may purchase the loan will be allowed access to my private information.

Additionally, paragraph 3 of the BORROWERS CERTIFICATION AND AUTHORIZATION section, states that USAA will verify information on the application " directly with an employer and/or a financial institution ''. Directly it says - not using a 3rd party service.

As such, I believe that USAA is in violation of the contract I signed with them and should be held accountable for knowingly releasing personal information without permission, violation of fiduciary responsibility, ignoring standard data protection protocol, and jeopardizing the security of their customers. Furthermore, USAA has admitted no wrong doing and has stated multiple times that I have given them permission to send my data to outside services, despite never being able to show in any documentation where I signed to allow them such permission.

It may be worth noting that USAA employee XXXX XXXX  ( NMLS # XXXX ) advised that since we are now down to the last minute ( just days before closing ) I should authorize the bank to use the XXXX service retroactively, despite her being well aware that I was adamantly opposed to USAA handing my private information over to XXXX. I would argue that this was a tactic that the USAA mortgage department had intended on utilizing in order to pressure me into the authorization in order to allow them to cover up the illegal release of my information.

I should point out that I am not the only victim here. USAA has admitted to me on many occasions during this debacle that they have engaged in these practices for years and I am one of the first people to complain about this issue. As such, this company must be investigated immediately. In this day and age of identity theft and cyber crime, it is unacceptable the one of the so called pillars of our economy willingly violates the privacy of Americans by allowing millions of their customers to have their data accessible by 3rd party organizations without the customer 's consent.

At this stage, I have filed complaints with the Federal Trade Commission as well as the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau. I will be contacting all of my senators and representatives and will do everything in my power to alert the public to the deceptive practices utilized by USAA.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation