Consumer complaint received 2018-01-24
Product: Payday loan, title loan, or personal loan — Personal line of credit
Issue: Problem with fraud alerts or security freezes — 
Company: U.S. BANCORP (CA)

My husband and I applied and were qualified for a home equity line credit XXXX 2015 in preparation for any home improvement project in the near future and we set up all the accounts in Paperless and online viewing. So when we withdrew {$1000.00} in XX/XX/XXXX and did not get any email or notification about the payment. Suddenly in XX/XX/XXXX, we got a call from debt collection agency about the past-due payment for the balance of {$1000.00} we owed. So by the time we got that call, our Home Equity Line of Credit ( HELOC ) account has been closed, and our {$1000.00} debt is sent to the debt collection agency, and our credit score went down for a couple hundred points! 
We figured that it is just a small misunderstanding and we will make the payment right away. Unfortunately our nightmare of dealing with US Bank just began. 

1. Disorganization and Wrong information : The collect agency said we ca n't pay them right away over the phone which is a strange thing! Then we called the branch, they also said that they ca n't accept a check or cash at the branch for the past due balance of {$1000.00}. Because we do our personal banking with another bank. So US Bank made us send a wire to them for the balance. But then the following week when we talk to them about it, they deny that is the only way to do so. And after 2-3 weeks, they can not find the money we wire to them!!! 
2. Difficult customer service : When we asked how can we have our HELOC account reopen, the branch manager told us that it is not reversible due to the federal regulation. So basically we went through the HELOC process for nothing, we could n't access the loan ( except {$1000.00} ) and now our credit card score is being sacked! When we try to contact anyone from US Bank that is in charge of Loan and Credit Line, we can not find any phone number and can not reach anyone, no one!! So we did not get to talk to anyone at all from this department for this matter. The branch gave us a phone number for customer service, but it turns out to be a joke. It 's a low quality voice recording of the address of customer service and they asked us to send a letter ask for the review of our account. They made it so difficult for the customer to review their case by snail mail!! I wrote and sent the letter anyway to ask them to review our case, and of course I never heard back from anyone from US Bank, not even a phone call or email. Just nothing! 

3. After a month of hearing from no one and we also can not reach anyone in the US Bank in charge of the loan and credit department to help us. We decided to close all our account with US Bank. Then we found out that the {$1000.00} past due balance that we had paid through wire was not reflecting on our account. Basically our account still show that we owed {$1000.00} after we had paid the bank. When I talked to the bank manager, he dare to ask me to show receipt of my payment!! Is n't that his job to check and make sure the book is correct?! Even after I show them the receipt of the wire and called the collection agency who confirmed our balance is XXXX, my account on US Bank still shows the past due balance. After many weeks of waiting for the branch manager to clear things up for, they did not do anything and they just keep telling me that they do not know what is going on. When does " I do n't know '' is an acceptable answer for doing your job! Finally after several weeks of dealing with their incompetency and deceit, they finally update my account. It is ridiculous that the bank manager dare to tell me that they do NOT know what is going on with my money!! Someone is not doing its job or someone is doing something fishy! 

4. Questionable practice of handling the customer 's money and account information : The most suspicious thing that we notice is that through out the mixed up of our {$1000.00} balance online. All the changes were not on the record of our transactions. They freeze the account and once they reopen the account, it did not show the balance we owed, it would not show the date we sent in the payment. Basically it seems like someone has purposely erase all the records of all the transactions to cover the issue of not updating our payment. 

5. Ultimately a scam : After painfully dealing with the US Bank for another 6 weeks, our HELOC account miraculously reopen without any explanation! The branch manager tell me again that he does not know why ( he is either incompetent or deceptive ). And after what we go through with US Bank, who would want to bank with them?! When we told them that we are done banking with them and we want to close the account, then they tell us the condition on the " fine print '' of HELOC is that we will be penalized for {$500.00} if we closed the account within 3 years and the 2nd and the 3rd year they will continue to charge us {$65.00} service fee per year. So again we are screwed by the US Bank. 

I suspect US Bank do not practice ethically and legally and they made it so easy to take our money but made it so difficult to help the customer. Remember the whole time of 3 months of dealing with US bank, we could not get anyone from the loan and credit department to help us. And the branch manager just play dumb and lied to us all the way through. At the end, they erase all the transactions online seem to cover things up.