Consumer complaint received 2024-05-07
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage — Applying for or obtaining a modification, forbearance plan, short sale, or deed-in-lieu
Company: CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP, INC. (DC)

On XX/XX/XXXX, I requested a 90 day forbearance from my mortgage lender, Citizens Bank. This was the first month last year I could not afford to pay my primary mortgage on the property in question, and needed some help. 

I never heard back and chased them for solutions to resolve, starting a mortgage assistance application in XXXX of XXXX upon the recommendation of a low level call center employee within the bank 's Loss Mitigation department. 

Today, nearly nine months later, that assistance application process has failed twice, the bank communication has eroded significantly, and my home is at risk of foreclosure. 

-- - Last year, I lost my job in XX/XX/XXXX with no warning or severance. After 6 months of applying for work, managing family expenses, and tapping savings/credit, I could no longer afford to pay the lien in question ( XX/XX/XXXX ). 

After failing to activate a 90 day forbearance with Citizens in XXXX ( unknown reason for denial ), I focused on new client consulting work. 

By XX/XX/XXXX, I was able to begin paying my monthly mortgage, and two of the three noncurrent lien months ( XXXX  ). The bank would not allow me to do so. I asked for other options and was NOT offered a repayment plan, which at that time I qualified for and would have solved my noncurrent lien issue outright. 

Note : I did not discover this option until calling Loss Mitigation on XX/XX/XXXX despite numerous requests for other options to solve. Very frustrating. 

-- - In XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, I did my best to communicate with the bank to resolve and push forward a mortgage assistance application despite speaking to someone different every time I called the bank 's Loss Mitigation department, dealing with egregious misinformation regarding the assistance application 's inputs. I corresponded with the bank at least 12 different times ( documented ) in those two months. 

-- - Since then, and the initial denial of my mortgage assistance application : - I've been offered no other solutions by the bank despite asking ( recorded calls )- I've been denied visibility on the inputs used to calculate my debt-to-income ratio despite numerous requests and confirmation the bank would provide ( recorded calls )- I've interacted with the bank and its collection agency at least 100 different times ( documented )- I've accrued a lien balance of $ XXXX, which was totally avoidable at numerous points along this journey including XX/XX/XXXX when I was able to resume monthly payments. 
- I've been locked out of my online mortgage account throughout this process and had to request XXXX tax documents and other lien statements through multiple bank layers/calls- I've not been allowed to make any payments of any kind during this process despite having the ability to do so since XX/XX/XXXX ( recorded calls ) - Citizens has sent numerous collection and demand letters from a foreclosure attorney, and dinged my credit report for non-payment despite my near constant attention to the resolution process - the collection agent, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX has stopped responding to my requests for account status and info, stating the bank 's Customer Service department should be my primary point of contact - I have a bank Service rep ( my fourth since last year ) I have never talked to who I believe does not actually exist - and is not the first person I've been assigned to at CitizensBank who does not actually exist ( no XXXX profile, no online presence... ) -- - I've documented this journey in a XXXX sheet ( attached ) which can be accessed below : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX