Consumer complaint received 2018-08-28
Company: U.S. BANCORP
State: MN
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Other type of mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
In XXXX, I opened a business titled XXXX XXXX, XXXX. I purchased a sailboat in that name and placed it in a charter fleet in the XXXX XXXX XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, the sailboat I owned was destroyed during Hurricane Irma. The mortgage on my sailboat was held by XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, MO XXXX. My account number is XXXX. 

My sailboat was considered a business by the IRS, and it was regularly rented out to other sailors. The rental income I received on these charters paid for the mortgage and upkeep of the boat. In fact, almost every single month I owned the boat, prior to XX/XX/XXXX, I made additional principal payments on my loan. 

My insurance carrier, XXXX XXXX XXXX, contacted me immediately after the hurricane hit the XXXX to say that they would be surveying my boat to determine damage. However, I was warned that this process could take months based on the location and the amount of destruction to the region. Throughout those months, I continued to make my regular loan payments on the boat using the income I had already saved for my business. By the end of XXXX, the accrued business income had run out as the boat was no longer available for rent but I continued to make payments from my personal accounts. 

In early XXXX, my insurance company contacted me to say that the boat had been surveyed and was declared a Constructive Total Loss. And on XX/XX/XXXX, I received a check from my insurance company for approximately {$310000.00} and deposited it into my XXXX XXXX business checking account at XXXX XXXX. 

The very same day, I contacted US Bank to find out what I needed to do to pay off my loan. I was told that the payoff amount was {$200000.00}. And I was instructed to wire the money to US Bank using their account number XXXX, and routing number XXXX. When I attempted to wire this money from XXXX XXXX, I was told that I would need to wait approximately one week for the check to clear the bank. 

Several days later, I received a phone call from a XXXX XXXX representative stating that my check had improper endorsement and couldn't be deposited. Unbeknownst to me, my insurance check was incorrectly made out to both me personally and to US Bank. I endorsed the check but didn't realize that someone at US Bank also needed to endorse it before it could be deposited. Unfortunately, the teller at XXXX XXXX didn't notice this either. A few days later, on XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX contacted me and said that US Bank would need to sign an affidavit endorsing the check before they could release the funds. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I brought XXXXXXXX XXXX affidavit to my local US Bank branch and requested that someone sign it so I could access the funds to pay off my loan. The branch manager refused to sign it but spoke to someone at the corporate office who suggested she send it there for a signature. 

At this point, US Bank held on to the affidavit for almost two months but never contacted XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX or me to say that they were refusing to sign it. Meanwhile, my bank, XXXX, continued to hold on to these funds and wouldn't release them without the affidavit. So basically, for two months I had two banks working against me when all I wanted/needed to do was pay off my loan with the payoff from my insurance company. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX requested that XXXX return the funds to them so the loan could be satisfied. Unfortunately, this request languished at XXXX XXXX  for another two months before it was " expedited '' and the funds were returned. Meantime, I continued to make regular payments on my loan on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX in the amount of {$1600.00} per month, even though I was essentially out of business and had no income to cover this mortgage payment. And, on XX/XX/XXXX, I made a double payment of {$330000.00} because US Bank started harassing me for being behind on my payments. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX sent the final payment in the amount of {$310000.00} XXXX approx ) to US Bank via registered letter. I have a copy of this tracking documentation for reference. I was told by my insurance agent that US Bank would send me a check directly for the difference between the insurance amount and the loan payoff. However, I was warned that it could take a couple of months before US Bank would process the check and refund the difference to me. 

In early XXXX, XXXX, I started receiving voicemail messages from US Bank telling me that I was late on my loan payment. My husband contacted US Bank on XX/XX/XXXX, to find out why we were being harassed when we had confirmation that they had received the check from the insurance company. He spent almost three hours calling, sitting on hold, and being transferred before finding out that US Bank was refusing to cash the insurance check because it wasn't written for the EXACT amount of the loan payoff. And when he finally spoke to someone to find out what the next steps were for us to follow to pay off this loan, he was once again transferred and disconnected. Since that date, no one at US Bank has contacted us to resolve this situation other than to continue with the harassing phone calls about being past due on the monthly payment. 

I have contacted my insurance representative at XXXX to look into this matter further. I am still waiting for them to communicate with someone at US Bank and get back to me. However, I do not feel that I should be held responsible for a loan that I have, in good faith, made every effort to pay off for the past 8 months. 

To be clear, there are multiple parties at fault in this scenario. XXXX XXXX has made mistakes ( and I have filed a complaint against them ). XXXX XXXX has made mistakes. And I made a mistake back in XXXX when I inadvertently tried to deposit a check with improper endorsement. However, off all these parties, I truly believe that I'm the only one who has tried repetedly to resolve this matter. And I've continued to make payments on a loan despite being completely out of business and income. I'm a very little fish in a big pond of banks who care nothing for me and the loss I've sustained. I've now spent almost an entire year dealing with this issue on some level or another and NO ONE has stepped forward to help in any way. 

At this point, I understand that I'm not going to be compensated by anyone for the mistakes that have been made by the banks and insurance companies. However, I don't want my credit rating to suffer because these parties can't come together to figure out a resolution. And I don't think I should have to continue covering monthly payments on a loan that I have tried multiple times to pay off and should have been resolved over six months ago. I truly hope that you will support me in this effort. Losing my boat was a heartbreaking experience. Dealing with huge banks who are trying to make a buck off of my misfortune is insult on top of injury. 

Best, XXXX XXXX XXXX

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