Consumer complaint received 2016-08-16
Company: CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP, INC.
State: NY
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional fixed mortgage
Issue: Application, originator, mortgage broker

Complaint:
I applied for mortgage with Citizens One Home Loans XX/XX/XXXX. I was approved on condition that my prior home was listed on the market. Based on this information the bank got us into contract for the new home. There was an offer on our prior home about two weeks into the listing and I forwarded to commitment letter to the bank. Shortly thereafter the prospective buyer pulled out. I immediately notified the bank. They gave me the go ahead to continue our process of purchasing the new home. The mortgage agent stated to me my loan was already approved. My lawyer then took it over and worked with the bank with the subsequent process. Then a few days to the closing date the agent called and said the loan could not be released because it was contingent upon sale of our home. This came as a surprise to us all as both my attorney and I had documentations to prove that was not what was said. Right after that they stopped answering phone calls and responding to emails and left us to be in default of the contract. Our deposit was at stake. 
The seller was kind enough to give us additional time. He was also kind to rent the house out to us while we waited. 
Within a couple of months we had an offer on our house. We reached out to another bank for a new loan application and then called Citizens One to inquire about the process if we came back to them. The loan agent promised us that the process will continue from exactly where we left off and he will have us close on our house 1 week after we closed on the old house. He lied. 
He dragged us along, delayed in getting back to us, lost multiple documents, asked for the same documents multiple times, failed to respond to us nor our attorney multiple times and essentially got us in a position that we could not start a new process without being in default again. We had our old home in contract on XXXX XXXX and closing was set for XXXX XXXX, XXXX. He promised that was enough time to get everything done. Our extended contract had a hard end date of XXXX XXXX. We went into default again. With several threats from my attorney the managed to get us to the closing table on XXXX XXXX. 
The closing documents did not get to us till the night of XXXX XXXX. The closing cost was twice what they had on the work sheet given to us and our monthly escrow was twice the stated amount on the work sheet. The final mortgage payment was XXXX % more than the amount on the work sheet. We had no choice but to proceed with it as there was no time for questioning and our deposit was at risk. 
Once we had our first bill I called the bank and was told they were aware the escrow " was off '' and it 's being looked into. Now 5 months down the road I am still being hit XXXX % more mortgage payment than what was advertised to me. I called the bank several times but no resolution. I reached out to the mortgage agent and he said it was out of his hands even though he was the one who actually misled us. I threatened to take legal action and then he finally responded telling me to reach out to the escrow department. It took me several tries over several days and different times to finally get someone to speak to. The person told me they are looking into it. So I said I want it to go on the recorded line that I am not paying the next bill until there is resolution. Based on my county confirmed taxes etc, in five months I have actually payed more than what I owe a year. I am curious to hear what they have to say. This is a TERRIBLE bank, they lie, they do not have the customer 's interest. This is the worst experience ever. I wrote this on their feedback site and responded to the request for feedback and they never called to follow up. 
THEY DO N'T CARE. AVOID THIS BANK. THEY WILL RIP YOU OFF

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation