Consumer complaint received 2023-07-28
Product: Mortgage — VA mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP, INC. (NY)

The options for type of complaint in step 1-5 of registering where not one of mine, this is a Restricted Escrow account issue dealing with property damage/claim. Please read below. 

I sent the below letter to XXXX NY XXXX and they have informed me that they do not have oversight over the Financial Institution referencedin the letter and recommendedthat I send it to you. Please note the update at the end. 
My name is XXXX XXXX XXXX. I served this country for 24 years and held a XXXX XXXX Clearancefor my entire service. Never has my integrityor my honor been questioned. I am starting with that statement because what you are about to read is the truth, I am not embellishing it, making it up or otherwise exaggeratingthe details. I am frustratedbeyond belief, my blood boils and my anxietyis at an all timehigh. 

I will try and make this as short as possible. I am having an issue dealing with my Mortgage Company ( Citizens ) regarding an Insurance Claim for damage to a barn that is on my property. This barn was damaged fromtwo winter storms that hit myarea on XXXX XX/XX/XXXX within 24 hours of each other dumping 7+ feet of snow on theroof causing it to collapse. I contacted my Insurance Company ( XXXX ) who let me know it would be covered under " Other Structure '', with a XXXX cap minus my deductible, depreciation plus some for clean-up for a total of {$53000.00} ( amount of check from XXXX ) XXXX They came out, inspected it and wrote it up as a " Total Loss '' and told me they would send me a check in a week or less. XXXX called me back the next day and told me they are required to send the check to my XXXX. who would endorse the check and send it to me. 
This is where my troubles began. I spoke with Citizens Claims folks who told me they would not sign the check, that they will mail it to me and I would have to sign it and mail it back to them and they would put it in a Restricted Escrow Account, I would have to submit documents each time I wanted to make a repair to my house. They would approve it in part, send part of it, they would send an inspector out when the work was halfway completed before paying 1/2 the costs and send the remainder of the check to me to pay the contractor once the final inspection was done. This statement was read to me time and time again, all through my dealings with Citizens and every time I would ask them to look at my claim packet and tell me what type of claim it is, and they would put me on hold, come back and say it is for a Total Loss. Every time I would reply with " then there are no repairs to be made. '' I can not count how many times I have had this conversation with them except to say I had it every time I spoke with them on the phone and to this day they stillcall it Repairs for myHouse. After a week of arguingwith them over the phone I signed the check and sent it to them. 
The date on the check was XXXX XXXX XXXX towards the end of XXXX I gave up trying to get Citizens to release the funds to me. They outright told me I can only use the funds to repair or rebuild the structure. I continuouslyexplained this structure is not part of my mortgage and that the " Barn '' listed on my mortgage is still intact and standing. Originally there were 3 barns on my property, the main barn, which I still use, a smaller one that was really used as a tractor stall, not attached to but next to my main barn and a XXXX which I pushed over the day I closed on the purchase of the house because it was a hazard. So, I got an estimate for 4 construction debris containers and sent it via fax on Friday, XXXX XXXX  XXXX in the amount of {$5800.00}. On the XXXX I received a check from Citizens for {$10000.00} dollars. From this point on my phone calls to citizens have been to try and get them to release the remaining funds to me, after applying a sum of it to my mortgage, to no avail. They are insisting that I rebuild the structure and I ask repeatedly under what legalgrounds are they requiring that when it is a total loss of a structure not part of my mortgage. Months have gone by and I am still no closer to closing this issue out with them. They keep insisting I rebuild. I became frustrated and upset one day on the phone with a rep and said, more to myself then to her, " I guess its time I get a lawyer involved '' this prompted the rep to say " You can always request an exception to policy to have the funds released. In all this time, that was the first I heard of that option. I told her to go ahead and submit it but I am sure you will deny it like you do everything else. '' Two days after that phone call I received a call from a person named XXXX with the Office for the Chairman of Citizens and she wanted to talk with me about some issues that crossed her desk. I still have that voice mail that was on XXXX XX/XX/XXXX. 
XXXX works for Citizens, I understand this but she told me she was goingto try and get me the answers I wanted and after 1.5 hours on the phone with her while I recapped the above and so much more she asked me what I wanted. I told her I want answers as to why I am always lied to or given disinformation, I want written apologiesfrom those that have lied to me or only told me half truths when talking with me ( which I know I will never see ) and I would like this claim issue resolved and the money left over sent to me after applying {$14000.00} of it to my mortgage. I have gotten nowherewith any of that. Each time she tells me she is working on this piece or that piece we both come up with nothing. Example : the " Requestfor Exception to Policy to have my funds released '' I called the claims office at one point and was told the request was not acted on after a week and a half. I called back a few days AFTER talking with XXXX about it and I was told it was denied, I asked when it was denied and they stated it was denied on the XXXX of XXXX, this was the day after I mentioned this to XXXX and she had told me she would look into it. I requested a copy of the denial letter from both XXXX and the Claims office. The claims office stated they would send it out. I just got off the phone with them ( today is XXXX XX/XX/XXXX ) to see why I have not received the letter as of yet. The claims rep put me on hold and came back on the phone and told me my request was denied, Confused, I stated I know the request for the release of the funds was denied. I am asking for a copy of the letter stating so. She informed me there is no document and that my request for the document has been denied. Meaning they are refusing to send me a document stating my request is denied, I argued with her asking, if there is no document for you to send to me then how was it denied. she just repeated what she already told me. From the start of this I asked for a statement each month which tells me how my money is being used while they sit on it. I was simply told it's in an escrow account and is not being used. I asked her how can they write a check on those funds if those funds are not sitting in a checking account of some sort, she told me they are not in a checking account. I asked does it not have to be in a checking account to draw the checks from, is it yielding any interest, don't I have a right to know these things? I was told no. 
Frustration does not even come close to how I feel at the moment. I spoke with an attorney last week and he suggested I notifyyour office of this issue and the other issues I have had with Citizens. 
Long story short, I bought this house in XXXX of XXXX. I lost my business due to the Pandemic. When I spoke with Citizens they told me the only option I have would be a COVID Forbearance. That I could come out of it at any time once I got on my feet and that if I did not notify them to take me out of the forbearance I would be automatically extended. I called the 2nd to the last business day of the XXXX month to inform them I had a job and wanted to come out of the Forbearance. I was told I was automatically extended for another 3 months and that was their policy. Try as I might, they would not let me come out of it. I put in a request at that time to have the 3 months deferred to the end of my mortgage. I called every day for 2 weeks to check the status of that request. Each time I was told it has not been looked at by that department yet. A month later I started calling twice a week, same reply. XXXX XXXX came and went and I stopped calling but once a week and told them I am no longer making a mortgage payment until they acted on my request. .6 months later I stopped calling completely. About a year later ( I can check if you need the date ) I was taking a trip for work to XXXX in XXXX XXXX leaving out on a Sunday. The day before leaving I received a registered packet from an attorney stating he represents Citizens in my foreclosurecase. I spoke with that lawyer while in XXXX and he could not believeit when I told him I have an open Defermentrequest from a year ago that I was still waiting for a response and that I had no knowledge of being in foreclosure. He told me he would make some calls, look into the matter and return a call to me in a day or two. The lawyer called me back the next night and told me I am no longer in foreclosure and that I would have to talk with Citizens regarding the defermentrequest. I could tell by his voice that something was not sitting with them very well and gave me the feeling Citizens had messed up. I spoke with Citizens when I returned home to find out they canceled my De. Req in order to start the foreclosureprocess. The poor rep I spoke with was constantlyapologizing to my wife and I and that was the only time I had a pleasantphone conversation with Citizens. I told her I was still waiting for them to act on it, that is when she told me it was canceled and that I would have to submit a new request all over again, I refused to resubmit because I did not ask for it to be " canceled '' told her to get whoever canceled it to uncancel it. I was told that will not happen. I caught up on my payments with them and now I am once again getting nowhere with Citizens. I do not know what my Legal rights are, I do not understand how one person tells me I have to rebuild on a total loss and another person says I don't have to. My insurance has no advice to give me and the lawyer passed me off to you guys telling me to treat it as I would a negotiation. I have since submitted an estimate for a rebuild. When I called to check the status I was told that it has been forwarded to higher management as a request for an exception to policy to have the funds released. The estimate is for {$66000.00} dollars of which I asked for {$13000.00} to have a concrete slab poured, {$30000.00} for lumber/materials and 30 % of the labor costs ( {$5000.00} ), which is more than what they currently have left. I would bet my paycheck that it will be denied and if It does, then what? They just keep the money? Should I sue them? Can you guys help me out at all? I only mentioned that last part so you would see there areotherissues I have had with them. I trulyam at my wits end here. 
Thanks for taking the time to read this, I hope you had a cup of coffee in hand, It took me XXXX cups to write it. I work 3rd shift so you can call me from XXXX - XXXX as I am in bed by noon up and out the door at XXXX. 
UPDATE : With regards to the Estimate submitted to Citizens for a completerebuild of the structure. I submitted this request for funds on XXXX XXXX, It sat with no action taken because they said they were waiting for me to call them and request an exception to policy request to be forwarded to higher management. Please note they never contacted me to let me know this, I found out by callingto ask for an update on the status at the end of the first week. They also told me that by not asking for a specific amount it prevented an automatic forwarding of the request to " higher management '' for review. In the notes of the estimate it clearly defines what is needed to get the ball rolling for the rebuild. Today ( XXXX XXXX ) there is still no action taken and they can not /will not provide me with an estimate on a timelinestating I simply have no other options available to me other than wait. They also stated to me that there is no way for anyone in the department to contact the individual ( s ) that do the review and make the decision and ask them to provide a decision. On XXXX XXXX I had called to get an update to no avail. I asked the representative to speak with her supervisor and was told one was not availablebut one would give me a call back within two days. Today ( XXXX XXXX ) the rep I spoke with told me there is no indication that such a request was made and asked me who I spoke with, I provided her the name and she said that maybe she just didn'tsee the request. Regardless I am sure I will never hear from one. I am frustrated beyond measure at this point. They are requiring me to rebuild a structure that is not covered under my mortgage policy yet will not release the funds. The reps at Citizens tell me I have no other options availableto me in resolving these issues. Please, provide me with some options or advice. 
RespectfullyXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX NY XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX