Consumer complaint received 2021-09-24
Company: TRUIST FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: GA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
I was referred to Sun Trust/Truist Bank late XXXX to obtain a home loan/mortgage for a home purchase. Initially, the process started as expected. However, as time went on, it seemed more and more people got involved and started asking for the same documents I had sent to other team members earlier. There was no main lead or streamline and rather a very chaotic and clustered experience. There were probably about a half dozen people involved in document intake and processing and when they would ask me for additional docs or to clarify certain things, it would be very hard to get an explanation of what exactly they were wanting. Calls and emails would go unanswered or unreturned as we navigated through a tight time frame to closing day. It was so egregious that at one point another person 's tax document and business profit and loss statement was sent to me via email and I was asked to explain that. The breach of privacy was remarkable and if in my profession as a physician I had done that, well let 's just leave it at that. Later, it was explained to me that these erroneous documents were obtained from a mere pass through acquaintance from another bank that I briefly spoke to in my search for a home loan lender through the referral process. The lenders at Sun Trust had assumed this person was my personal banker and never asked or confirmed with me before trying to obtain documents from him, nor did I ever authorize they obtain documents from a third party when I was providing them with whatever they asked for diligently and promptly, many of which a second or even third time. Later, I was shamed or at least perhaps in an attempt to divert attention away from that incident described above, for inadvertently not including child support payments on the initial application. However, I've come to understand, according to the Equal Credit Opportunity Act Notice, child support need not be revealed if you do not wish to have it considered in determining your credit/worthiness. So that was a moot point then. Moving on, the chaos would continue as more and more higher ups got involved and there was a quality improvement or investigation that was prompted by the circumstances mentioned above. As we worked toward closing, finally we were given closing disclosures only to have the rug pulled out from underneath us on the actual day of closing after that was pushed back from the original date itself and into our 8 day extension time. The lender stated the underwriters would not approve the loan citing guidelines that defy common sense and the fact that I was more than qualified based off my income and salary. This was shocking news to everyone involved and anecdotally it was stated by several involved parties that either they had never seen anything like this or possibly the 2nd time this type of scenario unfolded in careers 20-30 years immersed in the industry. I lost {$10000.00} in earnest money that day and all respect for Sun Trust/Truist Bank . The blindside left us scattering and desperate, while already at a loss for XXXX, we pivoted thanks to the miraculous wisdom and creativity on the part of a few people involved. I will be happy to give names if asked but will leave those out in this initial complaint. 
Sun Trust/Truist turned my life upside down, put me through unnecessary stress, and harshly dismissed my case at the end after providing closing disclosures -- so late in the process that it literally left us homeless and living out of boxes. We had to scamper and luckily found a way through all this. In my field as a physician, the saying is you treat the patient and not the numbers. The latter is what Sun Trust tried to do- hide behind underwriting guidelines that defy common sense. They did a really bad job at it, however, because interestingly enough the numbers were are on my side as well. They didn't care about the human element in this. They lack the personal touch and compassion to provide a desirable product to the consumer, in my opinion.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation