Consumer complaint received 2019-08-23
Company: SUNTRUST BANKS, INC.
State: NC
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
In summary, Suntrust has failed to respond appropriately to my request to remove the PMI from my home although I have met the LTV of 80 % requirement and have been requesting removal since XX/XX/XXXX. My home was purchased in XX/XX/XXXX and current amount owed on the home is {$140000.00}. The appraisal done by the original mortgage holder at the time of purchase was {$180000.00}, however, my home mortgage was sold to Suntrust in XXXX where it has been held since in excellent standing. My home has qualified for removal of PMI ( 80 % = {$140000.00} ), which was achieved as of my XX/XX/XXXX mortgage statement which listed the loan amount at {$140000.00}. When I contacted the company I was told I needed to put the request in writing which I did online on XX/XX/XXXX. It took >60days to receive a letter in the mail from Suntrust in XXXX, which stated that they would need to perform an appraisal on the home in order to approve the removal of the PMI and to do the appraisal I would need to submit a check in the amount of {$100.00}. I promptly mailed the form back with the proper request and the check for {$100.00}, which was cashed within 2 weeks on XX/XX/XXXX. On XXXX XXXX, XXXX, I got a call from a XXXX at XXXX XXXX XXXX who said she would do the appraisal. I gave her the name and number of my rental management company and also told them she would contact them on the same day XX/XX/XXXX. Within 3dys I received an email from my rental management company saying " I called XXXX XXXX at XXXX XXXX XXXX and she has stated that she asked the bank to reassign the appraisal to someone else as she didn't have the availability to come to XXXX. '' I of course did not worry about it because I assumed this happens all the time. I only became concerned when received a letter in the mail from Suntrust >30 days later on XX/XX/XXXX with a check for {$100.00} stating I was being refunded the amount and would receive a separate letter with the results of the appraisal. After 2 weeks and no letter I called Suntrust to ask what happened and for next steps and I was told they did never completed the appraisal because my home was listed as a gated community. The home is in no way a gated community but is open access to yard & home, which, I stressed to the person on the phone who assured me there would be an investigation and someone would call me back with next steps. I received a call 2 days later from Suntrust with no explanation of what happened but only requesting that I resubmit my request to remove PMI and start the process from the beginning since the process had timed out in their system and was closed. This was on XX/XX/XXXX, >5 months after my initial request and I responded that I would submit another query/complaint into the issue, which I submitted via their online system on the same day. Now it is almost 6 months after my initial request, they have never responded to my complaint nor provided any additional information about what has happened with my request. I believe this is a completely fraudulent process and in violation of the law. I am currently taking steps to move my loan from Suntrust but wanted to put a complaint so that this fraudulent activity could be investigated and others would not fall victim.

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