Consumer complaint received 2018-12-30
Product: Mortgage — Home equity loan or line of credit (HELOC)
Issue: Closing on a mortgage — 
Company: U.S. BANCORP (OH)

On XX/XX/2018, we applied for a home equity loan with US Bank. In a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, we received our first conditional approval with the correct loan amount and term. 
In a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, we received two more conditional approvals, both had incorrect terms and both had different interest rates from each other but with the same loan amount. On XX/XX/XXXX, we spoke with the local branch representative, XXXX XXXX, who went through the details and said the loan would take about a week to close. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, we visited the local branch to ask about payment dates. We spoke with XXXX. We said we needed the payment date around the XXXX of the month ; XXXX said that could be done. While we were there, XXXX asked us to sign the borrower authorization form so that he could gather all of the information for us. He also stated again that the loan would only take about a week to close. 
In a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, we received a letter stating that US Bank still needed two items in order to finalize our loan, which is 10 days after we signed the borrower authorization form. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, we spoke with XXXX at the local branch to inquire about the process since it seemed to be taking a long time. When he looked at our loan, he informed us that our loan was a 10-year loan with a specific rate. We only asked for a 5-year loan to which he replied, he wasnt aware of US Bank offering a 5-year loan. When we asked about the different interest rates, he informed us that the rate could vary up until the time of closing. 
In a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, we received another conditional approval with the correct loan amount and term, but with the fourth different interest rate. At the same time, we also received a letter stating that in order to be approved, we would need to include four items for payoff, which were what we had originally stated that we wanted to pay off. We called the local branch at this time to find out what was going on with our loan. We were told that they were still waiting on the same XXXX items that we received a letter about dated XX/XX/XXXX. We asked to speak with a manager but was informed he was out. We asked to speak with a district manager and we were given XXXX XXXX name and number. Before we called XXXX, we called XXXX XXXX and obtained the two items that US Bank hadnt obtained on our behalf in 16 days. When we spoke with XXXX, who identified herself as a district manager, we relayed all of our complaints about the loan and were told she would look into our complaints and get back to us. 
In a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, we received another conditional approval with the correct loan amount and term and the same rate as the last approval. At the same time, we also received a letter stating that in order to be approved, we would need to include five items for payoff, which now included an item that we did not want to include to pay off. 
In a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, we received another conditional approval with the correct term and loan amount, but with a different interest rate. On XX/XX/XXXX, once we knew about the truck being included, my wife stopped by the branch to talk to XXXX. XXXX said I mentioned including the truck when we first spoke on XX/XX/XXXX. My wife disagreed and asked for the phone records to be pulled. XXXX began stating loudly in front of an elderly couple what our Debt to Income was as well as stating that is was due to having two XXXX loans that we had to include the truck. Very embarrassing! My wife called him later to confirm that I didnt state anything about the truck being included on our 1st phone call. We discussed closing the loan on XX/XX/XXXX. He said that the payment date of the XXXX of the month but not the XXXX as we asked before. 
My wife called XXXX XXXX, the loan processor, on XX/XX/XXXX, discussing the truck being included and about the interest rate varying. She explained the truck was being included since XXXX had not added our mortgage into our loan debt until mid-XX/XX/XXXX, after we spoke to XXXX. XXXX offered us different loan options not to include the truck that had higher loan amounts or longer terms. 
In a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, we received two more conditional approvals with the correct term and loan amount, but with a different interest rate from the previous approvals. 
We called XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, to inquire why the interest rate kept changing. She informed us that the rate had the ability to be lowered by .25 % with automatic withdrawal and .25 % for opening a checking account ; this was the first time we heard this because it had never been disclosed to us. She referred us to the XXXX XXXX XXXX since we didnt get any help from XXXX XXXX, the branch manager at XXXX at XXXX. After explaining the issues to him, he only offered the excuse that he was on vacation the whole time, with no course of action. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, we spoke with XXXX again to make sure everything was in order with our file so that we could schedule our closing. As we had stated through the whole process, we wanted our payment date to be after the XXXX of the month, preferably the XXXX. XXXX confirmed that everything was set and the payment was set up to be the XXXX, as requested. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, we went into the XXXX XXXX branch to close our loan. We met with XXXX XXXX, the branch manager, to close our loan. For whatever reason, there were issues with US Bank systems and XXXX was unable to close our loan and had to postpone the closing. We dont believe there were issues since XXXX was still entering our information about payoffs into the computer. He contacted us later to re-schedule the closing for XX/XX/XXXX. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, we met with XXXX XXXX, the branch manager of another branch, to close our loan at my place of business. What we didnt know was that when XXXX rescheduled our closing, he overrode the payment date and changed it to be the XXXX of the month. Also, when XXXX wrote the checks that needed to be sent for payoffs, he did not include any account numbers on the checks, didnt include any payoff statements with the checks, and sent them regular mail instead of overnighting the checks, which is their policy. 
It was also at this time, when we were investigating all of these issues, that we found out that XXXX XXXX is not the district manager as we were led to believe ; she is only a branch manager for another branch. XXXX XXXX is actually the district manager, which we confirmed, and we started working with her to correct some of the issues ; namely, stopping payment on the incorrect checks and reissuing as well as modifying the payment date on our loan. This last piece occurred through a modification to the loan on XX/XX/XXXX. 
In order to finally complete and close this loan, we dealt with 12 different US Bank employees and spent countless hours on the phone and in person working through their incompetence. It was as if this was the first time they had ever done a home equity loan. The entire process was a 73-day ordeal ( not 7 days as promised ) in which we were continually lied to and/or mislead. We were never given disclosures to explain what was happening or what to expect, answers to our questions were never the same from one person to the next, our loan amount was changed ( we were told on one occasion by XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX that our loan was {$23000.00} higher than what we requested ), the term that we requested was changed, the interest continually changed, a branch manager identified herself as a district manager, etc etc. It is our strong belief that we were discriminated against because I work for a competitor bank. We also strongly believe that US Bank violated Regulation C for Mortgage Disclosures, Regulation K for Sales Practices, Regulation P for Privacy, Regulation Z for Truth in Lending, as well as undertook Unfair, Deceptive or Abusive Acts or Practices.