Consumer complaint received 2017-02-10
Company: CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP, INC.
State: IL
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional fixed mortgage
Issue: Application, originator, mortgage broker

Complaint:
I am filing a complaint against Citizens Bank of XXXX. Citizens Bank currently holds the primary mortgage on my home. 
Approximately 6 months ago, I received an unsolicited call from a Citizens Mortgage Loan Originator named XXXX XXXX out of XXXX, XXXX in regards to refinancing my current mortgage. She provided a rate approximately 3/4 point lower than my existing loan. She sold me on the refinance based upon lowering my monthly payment in addition to providing a no-cost closing. I started the process. A couple of weeks later, I received a call from her boss, XXXX XXXX, sharing that XXXX was a new employee, I was her first client and she miss-quoted the 30-year fixed mortgage rate. It was 1/2 point higher than what she quoted. He explained that it was still close to 1/2 point under my current rate thus it was a good idea to move forward. He assured me that he would make it " worth my while '' to move forward based upon the error and would make some additional adjustments on the closing documents. 
I explained that I would still move forward but since Citizens Bank holds my current mortgage and as a business owner I understand the amount of paperwork normally involved, I asked if Citizens Bank could expedite the process. Both XXXX and XXXX assured me of this from a time and paperwork standpoint. 
Six months later the process has been anything but expedited from either standpoint. No less than 50 emails, numerous calls and more than a substantial amount of documentation needed, the loan was denied on XX/XX/2017. 
This denial came as an extraordinary surprise based upon the facts as I am aware of them and I believe there is more to this. XXXX told me many times during the process that the closing was imminent. Both XXXX and XXXX also shared on numerous occasions that this was the worst case of errors, miss-handling, and an uncalled-for length of time by Citizens Bank that they had ever experienced. XXXX explained that they switched underwriters more than once due to inadequacies. I can not begin to share all of the issues they apprised me of in this writing. Communicating that this has been a frustrating experience would be putting it mildly. XXXX had to extend the rate lock several times to accommodate. Regardless, I continued with the process. 
Finally, I contacted XXXX for the closing date as XXXX was not returning my calls. XXXX informed me that XXXX was denying the loan based upon a greater than 60 % liability to asset ratio and that they would be returning the fees that I had already paid. I can assure you that the reason given is not correct and I suspect this outcome was concluded for some other reason such as letting the rate lock expire in the current rising interest rate environment due to so many extensions, or due to something else. 
Due to the level of frustration and miss-handling experienced, in addition to the denial letter ( I 've never been denied anything monetarily ), I wanted to pursue an investigation and resolution. In a highly-regulated environment such as this, I 'm not sure how XXXX could make such an initial gross error in quoting me 3/4 point under the market. To be blunt, I have not dealt with a more incompetent group at a bank within the realm of this circumstance. 
In conclusion, Citizens Bank should review this case and follow through with the refinance that was presented. If I had any idea it would have taken this long and with so many issues, I could have refinanced with my current business bank, XXXX who also offered the same rate at that time. It is obviously too late to accomplish this due to the rate situation. This denial will cost me {$150000.00} in savings over the 30-year fixed rate mortgage. Two, I want to make sure this denial is not reported to my credit agency as my credit score is near perfect and I did

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation