Consumer complaint received 2017-11-08
Company: M&T BANK CORPORATION
State: CA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
I applied for a loan modification earlier this year with M & T Bank. The modification process was being serviced by XXXX XXXX XXXX. The purpose of my request for the loan modification is that my mortgage payment is {$770.00} with an interest rate of 6.750 %. I live on Social Security and can not afford the payments. The bank is willing to adjust my mortgage by only {$84.00} per month while keeping the interest rate at the same rate of 6.750 % .. The reason they gave was that I had equity in my home. They said my " loan to value '' ratio exceeded 80 % and they valued my house at {$100000.00}. I completely disagree with their valuation as the price opinion based on erroneous information. The broker noted my home as being a 2 bedroom, 2 bath home with a pool. This is false. I have a 2 bedroom home but only 1 bath and no pool. I live in a rural area. The 3 comparable listings they used had either more bedrooms or more bathrooms than my home. These other homes all have more rooms than mine and are priced above {$110000.00}. Since my home is smaller with fewer rooms it should be valued at significantly less than that. It 's noted that the average time on the market is 120 days. The 3 homes were listed for 4 months, 5 months and the 3rd at more than 7 months so the 120 day figure is inaccurate. Additionally since those 3 homes have not sold their list price should not be used as a barometer for what my home is worth. Of the comparable sales they cited only 1 property sold in excess of {$100000.00}, the other 2 were at {$74000.00} and {$75000.00} respectively. The high sale had a 3rd bedroom and was 1800 sq. ft. My house is only 1122 sq ft. I 'm not sure why they would say my house that has fewer bedrooms and is significantly smaller would be valued at nearly the same price!. Finally their report shows the condition of my house to be good. I live in a log cabin. The logs need to have a varathane coating for protection every couple of years. I have not been able to do this. I have a septic tank that needs attention and the home has a well pump and pressure tank that has not been replaced since the house was built over 20 years ago. There is other deferred maintenance including tree removal and roof repair. I live in a mountainous are and have no central heat..I use a wood burning stove for heat in the winter. None of this was factored into the valuation of my home and the only house to sell over {$100000.00} is not nearly close to what my house is. The other sales make much more sense. We disputed the price opinion in writing but XXXX did not listen and did not order a reappraisal Finally, XXXX referred my loan to an attorney to start foreclosure which while I was disputing the inaccurate price opinion and continuing to get my loan modified. This was in violation of the California Homeowner 's Bill of Rights as it is considered dual tracking

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