Consumer complaint received 2021-05-27
Company: FIFTH THIRD FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: OH
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
Without my authorization, Fifth Third began a recurring auto-withdrawal on my mortgage account that was in addition to my regular auto-bill pay mortgage payment. This was in the amount of {$430.00} and these withdrawals occurred in XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, and XXXX XXXX. These funds were withdrawn from my XXXX XXXX checking account, which is not my primary checking account, so I didn't realize this was happening until XXXX of XXXX. I called customer service and after a lengthy hold, I told them that I had not authorized this " curtailment '' payment. The rep told me to call auto-bill pay. After another lengthy hold, the rep told me that I had, in fact, called the bank and authorized the {$430.00} curtailment and she gave me a specific date of when this phone call occurred. I believe she said it was XX/XX/XXXX when I called. I asked if that call was recorded and was told that all calls were recorded. I asked to have that call reviewed and asked to be able to review that call myself, also. I was put on hold while the rep looked into the situation further. The rep came back and said that the reason I was getting the delinquent payment letters from the bank was that I had insufficient funds to make my mortgage payment. I told her that my funds were entirely sufficient and had never been otherwise. She also told me that she looked into whether the phone call could be reviewed and that it would not be reviewed because everything had been done in compliance with bank policy. I asked to speak to a supervisor and, after a lengthy hold, had to re-tell the entire sequence of events. After answering several questions, the supervisor hung up on me. She didn't hang up on me because of any conflict we were having. I was calmly explaining the situation. I assumed she would call me back but she did not which led me to the conclusion that she had hung up on me rather than being disconnected. At some point during all of this, I requested to be reimbursed for the funds in the amount of {$1300.00} for the three unauthorized payments. On XX/XX/XXXX I received a check from Fifth Third in the amount of {$1500.00}. I called customer service and told the rep that I was still receiving delinquent payment letters and the rep said it would be escalated to " the resolutions department. '' A rep from this department named XXXX called me and I told him the sequence of events. He said he would look into it and called me back a couple days later. He explained what happened which, in a nutshell, was that the bank dropped the ball and he assured me that it had been corrected. I asked that he confirm with me that the credit bureaus had been updated to reflect that I did not have any delinquencies. He assured me he would do that. I left him a message about a week later and said that I did not hear back from him and he never returned my call. At this point I went to my local branch and told them the story. The branch manager, XXXX, assured me that he would get it corrected. Three weeks later I had not heard back from him and I left him a voicemail that was not returned. I called a rep at the branch, XXXX, who looked into it and told me that the regional manager XXXX would be contacting me. XXXX contacted me and I told him that I wanted it in writing that the credit bureaus had been notified that there were no delinquent payments. Additionally, I told him that I wanted to be compensated for my time and for the damage to my credit score which, at this point, was significant. My credit report was showing three delinquent and unpaid mortgage payments. He said he wanted to get it resolved and then he would compensate me and we would discuss it then. He left me a voicemail, I left him a voicemail, and did not hear back from him. I have left him four voicemails in the past 10 days and have not heard back from him. I left XXXX, the rep at the local branch, a voicemail three days ago and have not heard back from her. Attached is a screenshot of my online account history. You will see an entirely confusing amount of red ink.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation