Consumer complaint received 2017-12-05
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: U.S. BANCORP (OH)

In XX/XX/XXXX, US Bank encouraged us to refinance our mortgage in order to lower our interest rate and reduce the length of our mortgage term. After coming in to apply and begin the process, having confirmation from the banker that our credit rating was very impressive, it took literally months of repeated contacts to both the local branch where we applied and also the corporate level to conclude this process. It took over four months to do this. And it took multiple attempts to contact them by phone, email and in person during this period. The manager at the local US Bank branch in XXXX, Ohio was XXXX XXXX. The delays were ultimately supposedly resolved by XXXX XXXX after she took on our issues in XX/XX/XXXX. 

Upon signing and closing the mortgage papers, US Bank required that we open a checking account with them in order to acquire the mortgage loan. They stated that it was not a requirement that we do anything with this account, so we agreed to it despite the confusion over why it was necessary. Our mortgage payments had been extracted from our existing checking with XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX for many years prior during the previous mortgage arrangement with US Bank. 

It was understood to us that our mortgage payments would be extracted from our checking the first week of each month at a set rate. I adjusted our checking balance accordingly, but it turned out these payments were not ever being withdrawn. Instead, US Bank was attempting to take these from the checking account they forced upon us. Since no money existed in that account, they rolled into our home equity credit line with US Bank without us knowing. Then we started getting overdue payment notices in the mail and by phone. 

On two occasions, in XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, I made payments over the phone to US Bank to cover these now delinquent overdrafts. After the second payment was made, we received two notices by mail from US Bank : one stating that we 'd paid the overdue amount, and the second stating that it was still delinquent. By this point, I had also made arrangements to have US Bank start taking payments from our long established checking with XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX. 

I contacted US Bank today - XX/XX/XXXX - to attempt to clear this up. Even though I could see in my online checking account that they 'd taken the payment, I spoke with multiple departments at US Bank that could not even tell which department had attained the payment. Now we have to fax papers to the bank that prove they took our payment, even though US Bank extracted the payment themselves. 

This has been exemplary of every bad experience we 've had with US Bank. We agreed to refinance at their suggestion. And ever since it has been a nightmare of lacking accountability from every single department of the bank. Not one department knows what the other is doing. And none of them will take responsibility and attempt to solve our problems with them. And in the meantime, their ongoing mistakes threaten to damage the great credit rating we had before ever making the mistake of dealing with US Bank. 

I am quite confident that many other consumers have had to suffer through mishandling like this at US Bank. I want a responsible government agency to help us hold them accountable for their ridiculous grasp on their own business.