Consumer complaint received 2021-03-01
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage — 
Company: ALLY FINANCIAL INC. (NY)

My husband ( co-borrower ) and I have submitted an application to refinance our current mortgage, which is with Ally Bank, and transfer it to XXXX XXXX ( a/ka/ XXXX XXXX ). When we applied for the refinance, we requested that XXXX XXXX obtain a Consolidation Extension and Modification Agreement ( XXXX ) from Ally Bank, which would avoid us having to pay an additional {$10000.00} in New York State transfer/mortgage recording taxes. These are taxes that we paid when we originally obtained our mortgage in XXXX, at the time we purchased our condominium unit. 

I was advised a few weeks ago by XXXX Loans that our current lender, Ally Bank, is refusing to provide the documentation that would enable us to avoid incurring these mortgage recording taxes, which could simply be done by assigning them to the new mortgage through a XXXX ( we were able to accomplish this when we previously refinanced our mortgage in or about XXXX ). 

We never chose Ally Bank as our mortgage lender, as the bank with which we had originally refinanced our mortgage subsequently assigned our mortgage first to one bank, then to another, and finally, to Ally, about one year ago. 

We should not have to suffer the consequences of being denied the ability to assign our mortgage recording tax via a XXXX when we were never in privity in the first place with the bank that is denying us this ability to save substantially on refinancing costs. We view this refusal as an effort to take advantage of consumers like us. Paying a tax that we have already paid will add to our mortgage principal, which we think is completely unreasonable. Essentially, Ally Bank is holding us hostage to a mortgage at an interest rate that would be reduced substantially if we are ultimately able to consummate the refinance. As we are consolidating our mortgage with a home equity line of credit, the refinance will enable us to save approximately {$500.00} per month. Adding the additional tax amount to our closing costs would require that we incur an unnecessary expense in a year when we are about to send our two daughters to college. 

In XXXX, I made several phone calls and was bounced from one Ally representative to another, neither of whom was able to address my issue. Instead, I was told that I needed to talk to someone in " Servicing. '' When I was finally connected to Servicing, I was placed on hold for more than 30 minutes and then forced to leave a voice mail message without speaking to a representative, which has, to date, never been returned ( or, if it was, no voicemail was ever left for me to return the call ). 

Following these efforts, on XX/XX/XXXX, I submitted a secure message to Ally Bank through its website, requesting that they promptly address my issue. On XX/XX/XXXX, they responded that they were researching my claim and would respond within three to five business days. When I followed up again on XX/XX/XXXX ( without having received any response to my inquiry beyond the initial acknowledgment of receipt ), they advised me that they were researching the matter. 

I am now concerned that I will not be able to close with the favorable rate that has been locked in on our refinance. Ally has failed to adequately address our concerns.