Consumer complaint received 2018-11-20
Company: HUNTINGTON NATIONAL BANK, THE
State: MI
Product: Payday loan, title loan, or personal loan
Sub-product: Personal line of credit
Issue: Problem with the payoff process at the end of the loan

Complaint:
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Complaint XX/XX/XXXX What is this complaint about? 
The predatory nature of a promissory note signed in XX/XX/XXXX. My Parents signed the note for a {$12000.00} line of credit. The amount of credit was ( and still is ) at {$110.00}, at 2.74 % plus Prime, interest ONLY, paid monthly with a balloon payment due in XX/XX/XXXX. Interest rates are increasing every day. Huntington has made well over {$32000.00}, in six and one-half years, ( if not much more ), the with a current balance at {$11000.00}. My Parents immediately drew on most of the credit line, making the monthly payments large from the start. When the ten-year balloon payment is due, Huntington will have profited approximately {$50000.00} with no equity having been accrued. Ive been living in their house, and making the payments, and trying to rectify this misdeed since my Parents died late in XX/XX/XXXX. 
Heres what my attorney stated in writing : This mortgage deal may well be in violation of the Home Ownership and Equity Protection. The fact that the loan was interest payments only was highly suspicious. The Act provides some civil rights of action that you might pursue as trustee. You could also make complaint to the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau which has authority to investigate this bank. That step would force the bank to deal with you. 
What type of problem are you having? 
The Title to the house and lots were then and still are in my deceased mothers   Trust. It is the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX XXXX ), and I am the sole Trustee. The bank wont recognize my authority and will not lend any of the remaining credit, refinance, nor negotiate with me on any terms. 
What happened? 
In XX/XX/XXXX, my Parents consulted with XXXX XXXX, Huntington Bank Branch Manager of the XXXX, Michigan. They were looking for an instrument in the {$100000.00} to {$120000.00} range and wanted to use their home as collateral. The house and its two lots were valued at {$100000.00} by Huntingtons own appraiser. I use quotation marks around their because my Parents did not technically own that property or any other real property adjacent. The title to house and its lots, including adjacent lots, were / are held by the XXXX XXXX. 
Let it be known that : 1 ) My mother and father had no income except Social Security, barely enough to pay taxes, take care of my fathers failing health and pay utilities. Their only asset was the house and lots, which were not really assets since the bank had encumbered them. 

2 ) Amongst the XXXX  XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX with XXXX   XXXX, my father also suffered from XXXX XXXX XXXX and had to read through front focusing XXXX with his XXXX XXXX to the side, not to the front. Why would a bank provide an interest only loan to someone with no income and no chance of living to the term of the contract, confirmed by his death XX/XX/XXXX. ( My mother passed XX/XX/XXXX. ) 3 ) The Promissory Note and Credit Line Note were printed in 4-point font. My father could not read that size of font, let alone eight pages. The books he read were printed in much larger font. He could not read a newspaper. Even if Ms. XXXX offered to read parts or all the documents, it would be difficult or impossible to comprehend all the elements collectively and their relationship when read to him, and not read by himself. 
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Complaint ( continued ) 4 ) During the signing ceremonies, my father offered what is called Exhibit A, a document used for a previous mortgage on the same property. Exhibit A delineated the real property ( previously 22 lots ) and their house. It was offered only for reference only to Huntington, but by XX/XX/XXXX, many material changes had occurred, and Exhibit A did not reflect the current property assets of my Parents. My father   naturally expected Huntington to perform a Title Search to sort out the changes, as any reasonable person would expect. Since Huntington defined the genre of the loan as a Home Equity loan, they subsequently stated, that a Title Search was not needed or required. The problem was that the XXXX XXXX, ostensibly my father and mother, did not own sixteen of the twenty-two lots encumbered. My Parents never noticed the discrepancy, further supporting the assertion that they did not read the important elements of the transaction. This faux pas was rectified in XX/XX/XXXX. But how ethical was the rapid, probably illegal, grab for approximately {$300000.00} of property as collateral on a {$120000.00} credit line? My Parents were sure to default in ten years or sooner, as fate has proven.

What credible bank would do this in this moneylending climate? No Income/ with little or no, unverified assets. Worse than an out of favor, predatory, illegal NINA loan. 
What company is this complaint about? 
Huntington Bank originated the loan at their XXXX, Michigan office. 
Who are the people involved? 
XXXX XXXX, Huntington Bank Branch Manager of the XXXX, Michigan   office was the original advisor/loan originator that steered my Parents, and eventually me, into this untenable financial position. 
Also, XXXX XXXX, Huntington Bank Branch Manager of the XXXX, Michigan ( XXXX XXXX Branch ) assisted with some of the informational transfers after my Parents deaths in order to update some documents. 
Both were very cordial but insisted there was nothing that they can do unless the deed was in my name for six months. There is so much compartmentalization at Huntington, that trying get information, let alone a fair is frustrating and, seeming impossible.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation