Consumer complaint received 2020-08-07
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: M&T BANK CORPORATION (MD)

In XX/XX/2020 I reached out to M & T Bank regarding any help or payment options they could offer due to the fact my income was significantly impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In an email I submitted from M & Ts message center on their online site, on XX/XX/2020, I made it very clear that I did not want any product or offering that would be associated with a forbearance. A representative then called me and explaining that I was being offered a 6 month deferred payment option. It was made very clear that I would not have to make a payment until XX/XX/2020, and that the payments I didnt make for XXXX through XXXX would be deferred to the end of my loan with no fees, penalties, or negative impact to my credit. When they assured me over the phone that this was not a forbearance and even went as far to explain that there were mtg companies out there that were offering relief but only to put customers into a balloon forbearance where all payments would have to be repaid immediately following the waiver period, they assured me M & T did not operate like that with their customers. I felt comfortable enough at that time to initiate the deferred payments. Further more, I received an email reply thru M & Ts messaging feature on their website following up on my email I had originally submitted. I replied back indicating that I had spoken to someone and that I was assured I would not be entering into a forbearance. 

Fast forward to XX/XX/2020, I am receiving calls from M & T, which I missed. Voicemail last are left so when I return the call I am led through a recording indicating my call is an attempt to collect a debt anything I say or provide can be used to collect a debt. When the representative finally comes on the other line, after verifying all of my personal information, he asks me if I am still being impacted from COVID 19. And he continues to ask me in a way as if he is trying to lead me down a road to say yes so that I will continue to not have to make payments or give him the answer he needs to hear to grant an extension of deferred payments. He indicates that Im still in forbearance and that I may qualify for an additional 6 months of payment relief if I am still impacted. I am appalled by the fact that they were trying to encourage me to answer a certain way so they could continue string me along hoping to either gain additional late fees or impose penalties if I slipped up and was not able to make payments on time. I also immediately asked if my account reflected a forbearance and after the rep answered yes I immediately informed him that I was told I was granted a deferred payment plan. He insisted that was not the case. I finally was able to have him verify with a supervisor the facts of my account and after waiting on hold he did come back on the line and assure me that yes, I was in a deferment. I informed him that my intentions were to resume payments that were due XX/XX/2020 as I was instructed to do so from the beginning. However that comment was met with a reaction by the rep that I would need to call back in prior to making the payment to make sure I was no longer impacted by the economic loss of COVID-19 and that I could still request an additional 6 months of no payments. Again I assured the rep that I would be making that payment. It was as if he knew that nothing changed on my account and M & T was still showing my account as part of a forbearance. 

I have now received a second phone call on XX/XX/2020 similar to the call I received in XXXX. Again asking me all of the same questions to almost guide me into asking for more time before repayments began. This time though I was more aware and not caught off guard by their questioning. And I demanded to know if my account showed that I was in a forbearance. The rep indicated that it was. After re-explaining everything again to her up to that phone call, she put me on hold a couple times to get more support from her supervisor. She came back on the line to confirm she saw all of my emails and notes from prior phone calls that show I explicitly asked not to be apart of a forbearance plan. I told her I felt deceived, manipulated, lied to, and misled. I think she felt genuinely upset because of the situation M & T put me in. She became very soft spoken and apologetic and insisted on transferring me to her supervisor where she asked me to re-explain my situation with the same emotion. She apologized profusely and acknowledged again the many times I asked not to be placed in a forbearance and was assured it was a deferred plan. 

Speaking to the supervisor was a complete waste of time. She continued to pressure me into believing that I would be considered to have deferred payments at the end of my forbearance but that my account would always show I was in a forbearance period/program. She continued to threaten me with statements that if I asked to be removed from the forbearance that all late charges payments and interest would immediately be applied to my account for the payments not made since XX/XX/2020. I reiterated over and over that I was assured I was in a deferred plan from the beginning. She tried to say I was notified in XX/XX/2020 XXXX even though that phone call end with assurance I was not in a forbearance plan ). It was as if nothing I said was going to change my account. After going back and forth for a long period of time and asking to speak to her supervisor, she finally indicated her supervisor, XXXX, was in a meeting and didnt know when she would be able to speak to me. The rep said that XXXX would have to call me because she had no direct line or email that I could speak to her through. As of the time of this complaint XX/XX/2020, I have still not received a call back. I feel completely deceived, I feel they manipulated me, told me one thing but set me up for something completely different and unwanted. I feel they are using predatory practices to take advantage of customers and I feel this will have a negative impact on me and my financial situation for a long time. They are taking advantage of me and who knows how many others at a time that we are all vulnerable and trying to figure and deal with extreme uncertainty. I sincerely hope you use all of your authority to do what you were enacted to do and protect consumers like myself and many others who may not even be aware of what is being done. Thank you.