Consumer complaint received 2022-05-31
Company: CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP, INC.
State: FL
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Sub-issue: Investigation took more than 30 days

Complaint:
Hello, I am writing regarding a 30-day late penalty that has been applied to my credit score due to misinformation given by Citizens.

I took out an installment loan with Citizens One Auto Finance in XXXX. Since then, my father has been making the payments for me every month on time. The final car payment was made on XX/XX/XXXX. Since then, I continued to receive numerous letters from Citizens dated XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX each stating that the Vehicle Loan is now paid in full.

The Lien Statement, certifying that the lien in favor of Citizens Bank NA has been fully satisfied is signed by a Citizens Bank Agent and was sent out on XX/XX/XXXX. 
I am currently in the process of trying to purchase a home and had been preapproved in XXXX for a $ XXXX loan from XXXX XXXX. I thus have been extremely attentive to ensuring that all my finances are in order. I then found my dream home! As I began to talk offers with my relator and loan officer, I was notified by XXXX that my credit score has dropped almost one hundred points. I instantly called my loan officer in a confused panic. 
When my loan officer and I called Citizens for clarification on XX/XX/XXXX, I was informed only then that the payment made over the phone on XX/XX/XXXX bounced due to an incorrectly inputted routing number. Citizens states that they sent out a letter through USPS notifying of the bounced payment. A letter which would have been mailed out AFTER Citizens sent the multiple confirmation letters stating that my loan is paid off in full. I did not receive said letter. 
On XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX  I spoke to a supervisor who confirmed the mistakes, inputted a credit dispute, and asked me to pay my final amount of {$730.00} over the phone in order to resolve all issues and pay off the loan in its entirety. 
I began to call again in order to gather understanding on what happened with my payment and to ensure that it is being addressed and working towards a resolution. I called citizens bank over 2 dozen times in attempt to gain more understanding of the situation as well as the status of my case. There have been 3 occasions which the Citizens Bank call center has given me fake escalation numbers as well as over 8 times that I was abruptly hung up on after being on the line for 40+ minutes. This is very unprofessional and unbecoming of a federal banking institution. The handling of this has felt like a bad transaction in a third world, foreign country, not the United States of America. It gets worse. 
I called XX/XX/XXXX and another credit dispute was inputted on XX/XX/XXXX ( case # XXXX ) for the mistake. After talking with multiple Citizens supervisors, each agreed on a recorded line that all late fees would be waivered due to error on their end. 
On XX/XX/XXXX I received a letter in the mail from Citizens stating that my final and total amount due is {$750.00}. 
On XX/XX/XXXX I received a letter in the mail from Citizens stating that my final and total payment is {$660.00}. 
On XX/XX/XXXX I received a letter in the mail from Citizens stating that my final and total payment is {$640.00} and that I must pay by XX/XX/XXXX. 
When calling for a better understanding given the confusing and contradicting letters, I was told by one supervisor by the name of XXXX, that my payment was rejected due to Citizens Banks requirement to have all final loan payments paid by mail, that if a final payment is attempted online or over the phone, the system will automatically reject the payment and that is what happened with my account. I asked XXXX to break down everything that the system is showing for my account and what was mistakenly done by Citizens, as well as a breakdown of the final payment needed. On I believe XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX provided me with my dispute case number ( XXXX ) and told me that my final payment needed is {$710.00}. Due to this being another new amount, I stated that I did not yet feel comfortable making the payment before consulting with my financial officer. Once again, my mortgage lender who I authorized to be on every conversation, is in disbelief of the contradicting information given and the refusal of further assistance in understanding or clarification of a loan process. Something that I, being in the mortgage industry, also have extensive knowledge regarding the laws and rights of a loan. 
Given the above information I called back the next day to clarify further. I spoke to supervisor XXXX XXXX on XXXX XXXX who provided me with my credit dispute case number ( XXXX ). XXXX XXXX then information me that the information given to me the day before regarding payment method of my XX/XX/XXXX payment bouncing because it was taken over the phone was indeed false and that all final payments can be taken in any form. When asked why no other form of contact was attempted, I was informed that Citizens only uses USPS mail. 
On XX/XX/XXXX XXXX informed me that the final payment amount needed was {$770.00}. 
Due to the inconsistency of employee company knowledge and professionalism, I was skeptical and consulted with my financial officer before paying. He advised that this is indeed illegal activity and began to take action writing to Citizens Bank CEO, XXXX XXXX, as well as wrote disputes letters to all credit reporting bureaus to ensure that the false 30-day XXXX late fee would be removed and for clarification on what on earth is happening with my account. 
At this point in the process, I have been given 3 different dispute case numbers, given incorrect and contradicting payment process information by different supervisors of the company. In addition to having now been told 5 different pay in full amounts that I am expected to pay immediately. 
Unfortunately, I was running out of time due to the payment due date approaching and the housing markets interest rates rising by the day, I am terrified that my credit score would be negatively affected again if I did not pay by XX/XX/XXXX even though I had no clue what my true payment was and had no true way of finding out. 
I called and spoke to XXXX XXXX the morning of XX/XX/XXXX for another attempt to desperately ask for clarification on what I need to do to end this nightmare once and for all. XXXX XXXX informed me on XX/XX/XXXX that if I paid the final amount BY the due date of XX/XX/XXXX then loan in its entirety would be paid off in full for {$710.00}. I informed her that that was not the amount stated on the letter however she assured me that that was indeed the correct amount needed to be paid. I made the payment over the phone with XXXX XXXX the morning of XX/XX/XXXX for {$710.00}. XXXX told me that the payment would process if paid today, no fees will be attached and that she will reach out immediately if she runs into any issues. 
The payment was taken out of my account on XX/XX/XXXX for {$710.00}. 
An additional charge of {$45.00} was taken out of my XXXX XXXX account on XX/XX/XXXX labeled REGULAR PAYMENT. I have never received this charge before and was uninformed of it. This payment was unauthorized. 
When my XXXX credit score was posted, XXXX notifies me, I look eagerly only to see that a new 30-day late fee had been reported by Citizens Bank for the month of XXXX. 
At this point, I am baffled at the second late fee. The payment IS NOT LATE. 
Citizens bank is NOT a company which I entrust with my personal information nor my money due to the blunt lack of federal, financial, moral, a legal knowledge which they have used to take advantage of me by giving out false legal documents, false payment information, and inaccurate personal record data. 
How am I to pay a company when they can not even tell me what my final loan amount is? 
I received a call from XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX from the initial conversation on XX/XX/XXXX to the conversation had on XX/XX/XXXX with XXXX at Citizens who stated she is the highest level accessible and there is no further contact above her. XXXX called to notify me that they will NOT be disputing the 30-day false late fee due to the companys requirement to abide by the ethics in standing by the reporting of only accurate information to the credit bureau . 
When XXXX was responded to with the inquiry on why an agent signed lesion statements and numerous letters of confirmation that my loan payment has been paid off in full letters which were sent days after the payment was made and days after the payment bounced as well as the 5 different amounts told due, Citizens IS sending out signed inaccurate information by reporting false information to not only the customer but it is also false credit information being reporting to the bureaus. When asked this XXXX XXXX stayed silent for 8 seconds and finally stated that this is the final determination. Thanked us for our time and ended the phone call.

I am writing to you directly due to the time sensitive severity of removing the past due payment from my records. As I mentioned briefly, I am in the process of trying to buy a home and this has been detrimental to the process. I ended the lease to my 2-year apartment because I was supposed to be moving into my dream home. Now, thanks to Citizens, I lost not only my dream home but also due to the time that this has taken on top of ruining my credit score, they have also ruined the opportunity for me to become a homeowner. 
I am writing to plea as my last resort. The bounced payment was not due to lack of funds. I would have corrected the error instantly if I was made aware and would have made the final payment if the final payment amount was given to me with accuracy. 

Respectfully.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation