Consumer complaint received 2022-12-05
Company: FIFTH THIRD FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: OH
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Home equity loan or line of credit (HELOC)
Issue: Closing on a mortgage

Complaint:
I applied for a HELOC back in XX/XX/2022 at Fifth Third Bank in XXXX. After doing research I decided to go with them because ~ Offered an introductory rate of 2.9 % for the first 6 months ~ No closing costs ~ Drive by Appraisal ( That was important since I have tenants living at that house and would be inconvenient for them ) ~The application process will take about 3 to 4 weeks ~ I travel for work and it may be difficult to travel back to Ohio for closing. The personal banker told me that she could work everything out electronically so that I dont have to show up in person.

I thought I had a great chance of getting a HELOC because : -The house is fully paid off- no mortgage attached and the market value was over XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXMy credit score is above XXXX -I have great income I applied for the HELOC with the personal banker and shortly received an email from the loan officer on XX/XX/XXXX asking for a information and documents. I submitted her the documents that she requested. At first she was responsive but later I emailed her to confirm that she has received the last couple documents that I sent but she didnt respond. After XX/XX/XXXX, she stopped responding to my emails and disappeared. I asked the personal banker what happened but she was also unsure. Instead of the bank replacing the loan officer with another one, the personal banker took over my application.

My application went to underwriting and after awhile they came back saying that they have to do an actual house appraisal. I was initially told that it was only a drive by. I didnt want to disturb my tenants but since a couple months went by and submitted all my documentation they requested, I decided to comply. I arranged for the appraiser to communicate with my property manager to set up a date and time. The appraisal was completed mid XXXX. 

After the appraisal, I get notification that the underwriting team decided to offer less money. From XXXX to around XXXX. I called the appraisal for a report but she said she can not give me that information to contact my banker. I sent an email to my personal banker but she never addressed it. At this point I just wanted to close on the HELOC. 

After nearly 3 months. My application finally got approved late XXXX. The personal banker told me to open up a checking account so they can send the funds to that account. I opened a checking account on XX/XX/2022, and emailed the personal banker with the routing and account number. She called and wanted to schedule a date for closing. During that conversation she told me that I have to come in person after she said in the beginning that she can do everything electronically. I was upset because I wasnt planning on traveling last minute and she gave me false information. I already have such a busy work schedule. She said I had til the XX/XX/XXXX to close on the loan. I planned on being in town the following week for XXXX so I asked her due to the situation if she can ask her boss for special permission to push it out one more week. The banker said that she will see what she can do and get back to me. 


I waited and the personal banker never got back to me. I sent an email on XX/XX/XXXX following up and still no response. I decided to call a couple days later and finally spoke to her on XX/XX/XXXX. She told me that my application closed on XX/XX/XXXX since I failed to schedule closing. I told her that I was waiting to hear back regarding pushing the dates out and was told that I had til XX/XX/XXXX. She admitted to giving incorrect information and not having much experience with HELOCs. She thought that I had 120 days after the start of the application but it was 30 days after approval. I was angry because I didnt receive any communication about my loan closing. I spoke to the bank manager and she also said that she had no idea that you have only 30 days to close. They told me that I can do a new application but I refused. After 4 months of being patient and complying with their requests I was not going to start all over again. Plus I wouldnt get the low introductory promotional rate back in XXXX. I asked the manager to escalate the situation to see if the bank is willing to work it out with me. The following week she emailed me saying that there is nothing that they could do and that I have to start a new application. 

In Conclusion, I was being discriminated. The bank made the process more difficult and longer than it had to be so they won't give the HELOC to me. They never replaced the original loan officer, they told me that an appraisal wasn't necessary, they changed the requested amount to a significant lower amount, and being told that everything could be closed electronically. Also finally they decided to close my application without any notification or notice. The banker failed to communicate with me after I reached out to her making time pass by for the loan to close. They deliberately didn't get back to me on a timely matter because they didn't want me to close on the HELOC. The bank wasn't willing to help me by sending someone local to close on the documents ( have done that refinancing with other financial institutions ). Doesn't make sense how a qualified candidate with a fully paid off house in a popular surburban neighborhood could be treated this way. Because I didn't get the funds from the HELOC it has caused a great inconvenience financially because I started home improvement after getting approved. 

*I can send all the emails that was sent*

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation