Consumer complaint received 2023-02-04
Company: PNC Bank N.A.
State: AL
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
I suspect that PNC is purposely trying to prevent me from making payments or arrangements to bring my mortgage loan current because I have significant equity in my home and PNC would like to foreclose. My loan was in Loss Mitigation ( LM ) with PNC following my submission of a Hardship Assistance Application on XX/XX/XXXX. For over a month, I submitted documents and followed up. PNC replied stating that only " Non Borrower Paystubs '' were missing for my husband ( though I had submitted them with my initial application ). I timely submitted his most recent check stubs on XX/XX/XXXX and asked PNC to confirm the sufficiency of the submission in my email. I called PNC on on XX/XX/XXXX to confirm receipt and they were in. I also received a written acknowledgment of receipt from PNC that same day. It stated : " Please allow 1-5 business days to complete the review of the most recently submitted documents to determine if anything additional is needed. '' That would have been XX/XX/XXXX. I heard nothing from PNC and received no response to my request to confirm the sufficiency of my documents. On XX/XX/XXXX, I sent a notification to PNC that my state 's local agency for federal Homeowners Assistance Fund grant dollars would be contacting them about an application that I have pending. PNC has known for months that I have been seeking grant assistance contemporaneously with efforts to resolve the debt with PNC. I sent the latest email because I had reached the point where the agency would need to reach out to PNC and receive a timely response in order to continue processing my application. 

Inexplicably, PNC responded the very next day by kicking me out of Loss Mitigation, stating : " Thank you for your email. As of XX/XX/XXXX, your file was removed from Loss Mitigation due to an incomplete Hardship Assistance Application. At this time, your loan no longer requires a single point of contact. Keep in mind, the HAF process can take up to 45 days or more to complete. Our HAF Department will handle any requests from your state and will work them in order. They are working as diligently as possible to get through the backlog of requests. You would need to follow up with your state directly for the status of your claim. '' This was a pretext, as there was NOTHING INCOMPLETE in my file. I followed up diligently using all reasonable efforts and the only thing PNC responded that it needed were check stubs for my husband -- who is not even a borrower -- and I sent them. 

I think the law requires PNC to present me with LM option ( XXXX ) if my Hardship Application is complete. I pursued LM and HAF options at the same time, in case HAF did not work out. 

If my loan is not in LM, PNC can begin the foreclosure process and have it underway as PNC also slows around with my HAF application. All without ever even providing me with any LM options! 

My understanding is that mortgage lenders can not refuse to process a Hardship Application based upon disingenuous claims that the application is incomplete. 

It appears as if PNC kicked me out of LM immediately after I sent the message regarding HAF, in an attempt to hurry up and foreclose before my HAF process is complete, because I have significant equity in my home. This type of " gotcha '' is a bad consumer practice that is not truly designed to mitigate home loss or assist borrowers experiencing a hardship. 

Please take note of the following timeline of facts and emails : PNC reviewed my initial application and assigned me a single point of contact in the LM department. 

XX/XX/XXXX : the contact sent me a checklist of additional items. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I submitted the last of the items. 

XX/XX/XXXX : PNC confirmed receipt. 

I then called several times and could never reach my single point of contact ( POC ) again. I was forced to press " 0 '' and speak with other agents for information. My XXXX also stopped emailing me. Each email response came from another agent. Through all of this, no one provided me with information about missing items, and PNC never emailed me expressing a need for additional documents. The redacted messages below are from emails I have as proof of my own followup and my strenuous attempts to complete my file when PNC went silent after XX/XX/XXXX. 

FROM ME : Sent : Wednesday, XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX Please let me know the current status of my Loss Mitigation file and options available to me. Thank you. 

FROM PNC : Sent : Thu, XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX Thank you for your email. The account is active in Loss Mitigation at this time, it does appear we do need a Non Borrower Paystubs which is due on or before XX/XX/XXXX. Unfortunately, we arent able to advise you at this time of what option you will be approved for but we do have 5 available options within the Loss Mitigation Department 3 retention and 2 liquidation which consist of Repayment Plan, Forbearance Plan, Modification of the loan, Short sale, and or Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure. The file is review for all available options. 

FROM ME : Sent : Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX Here is a full month of my husband 's most recent pay stubs. Please confirm that these are sufficient. Thanks! 

FROM PNC : Sent : XX/XX/XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX We are in receipt of your email and attachments. The attachments have been uploaded to the account. 
Please allow 1-5 business days to complete the review of the most recently submitted documents to determine if anything additional is needed. We do recommend periodically calling to check the status of your account and ensure all documents submitted have been accepted, and nothing further is needed. 


The correspondence above confirms that I addressed the only deficiency in my file made known to me by PNC. Yet, PNC closed my Loss Mitigation file claiming an incomplete application. 

I submitted documents and PNC asked that I allow Loss Mitigation 1-5 business days from XX/XX/XXXX to " complete the review of the most recently submitted documents to determine if anything additional is needed. '' PNC recommended that I then " periodically call to check the status. '' When was that supposed to occur? Five business days ended on XX/XX/XXXX, PNC did not notify me of any missing items and then kicked me out the next day, but only after learning that my HAF application had progressed. 

Whatever happened to the POC assigned to me, and what did she do to assist? I should not be deprived of LM options because PNC ' s own employees failed to review or process my file and provide adequate follow-up, or because PNC finds it more beneficial to try and foreclose on my home, rather than offer me options. Please help. I want to keep my home. 

Thanks you for checking into this matter.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation