Consumer complaint received 2015-08-09
Company: CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP, INC.
State: PA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional fixed mortgage
Issue: Application, originator, mortgage broker

Complaint:
On XXXX XXXX, 2015 I applied for a housing loan with XXXX XXXX, the loan officer at Citizen 's Bank in XXXX, PA. I had already pre-qualified and found a property to purchase as an investment. I have great credit and was able to provide documentation as to the sources of income that would be used for down payment, closing costs, etc. The closing date was to be XXXX XXXX, 2015. But then, the bank decided to change the terms. On XXXX XXXX, XXXX called and said that I needed to have fire insurance on the property. I did obtain insurance even though I had been forced to sign an extension and at this point, we no longer had a closing date. After submitting more financial records, I was then informed that, since this was an investment property, I would need to have additional funds in addition to a 20 % down payment. They wanted me to have XXXX months mortgage " reserves '' for my home residence, for the property being purchased, AND for a rental property that I already own. This was NOT disclosed to me from the start, and even if I could come up with the extra reserves, the funds would not have been " seasoned '' enough for their liking. I then came up with a solution : since this property is nicer than the home I live in now, I offered to purchase the property as a residence to live in. That would lower the down payment and eliminate the need for reserves. With the loan officer 's assistance, we drafted a letter to the underwriter, XXXX XXXX, detailing the reasons why it would benefit me to buy this house to live in. She refused to restructure the loan and inferred that I was a liar. And while trying to do whatever I could to make things work, what followed was weeks of asking for more extensions, not answering my phone calls, and supposedly waiting for " paperwork. '' Then I was told that I could apply for a " family loan '' by purchasing the home for my son to live in. I was willing to do this, but several more weeks passed with no phone calls or correspondence ; except for our real estate agent asking for more extensions. Finally, on XXXX XXXX, it was suggested that they may have another lender that could help me. At this point, the contract would expire the next day and I decided to terminate the agreement. I had already spent close to {$1000.00} to obtain a property inspection and an appraisal ( requested by the bank ). In addition to the funds lost, months of time were wasted in which I could have pursued a different lender if Citizens Bank would have been honest from the beginning. This whole process was a nightmare. The regulations in place to prevent someone from getting a loan are ludicrous. However, the situation was made even worse by Citizens Bank for stringing me along while I spent money and made arrangements to occupy this property. And the other victim is the seller who was under the assumption that their home was being purchased and therefore, lost months of time that could have been used to market the property to other potential buyers.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation