Consumer complaint received 2016-04-18
Product: Mortgage — Conventional fixed mortgage
Issue: Loan servicing, payments, escrow account — 
Company: PNC Bank N.A. (VA)

My mortgage servicer is PNC Mortgage. The loan has been current since inception. 

In XXXX XXXX, as my loan neared the 80 % LTV threshold, I contacted them to determine steps necessary to remove the PMI ( costing me ~ $ XXXX/mo ). I was told by a Customer Service Rep ( " CSR '' ) that if my principal was below 80 %, I could request the removal. Additionally, two weeks later, I received a letter in the mail from their " Insurance Administration '' department stating that I could pay for an appraisal out of my pocket ( {$500.00} ) to determine if the property had appreciated such that it was now & lt ; 80 % LTV. The appraiser they require me to use is XXXX, who is jointly owned by PNC and XXXX. 

For my XXXX XXXX, XXXX payment, I included an extra payment of principal ( a {$400.00} curtailment ) to lower the XXXX such that was at 79.9 %. I then contacted PNC mortgage after the XXXX payment posted to request removal. At this time, I was advised by a different CSR that I could n't request removal until my " originally scheduled & lt ; 80 % LTV '' date, which would occur with my XXXX XXXX, XXXX payment. Therefore, I had made an extra principal payment unnecessarily. Once again, I received a letter in the mail stating that I had the option to request and pay for an appraisal to evaluate my property. 

Upon making my XXXX XXXX payment, I contacted PNC again. The LTV is now at 79.6 % and I am past the originally scheduled date as well, per the original amortization schedule. Their response both via a CSR and in writing is that I must purchase the appraisal to confirm that the value of my property has not declined since the original appraisal. This is pursuant to loan investor guidelines. 

Here are my complaints with PNC Mortgage : - I am very frustrated with the inaccurate and/or misleading guidance that I received from PNC Mortgage CSR / employees. They have said different things at each time. 
- I have called PNC Mortgage CSRs and requested to speak to a manager or someone more senior, only to hear that none are available at this time, or to be put on hold for 15 minutes or more - without ever speaking to a manager. 
- Numerous times, I have requested to speak to someone in the " Insurance Administration '' department, but have been told that they " can not be spoken to ''. There is no way to actually speak to someone who knows what the proper protocol is. 
- With the right guidance, in actuality, I could have paid for the {$500.00} appraisal back in XXXX ( or earlier ) to prove that the property had appreciated such that LTV & lt ; 80 %. I then could have requested the removal. I would have saved myself approximately {$1200.00} in PMI fees ( 4 months x $ XXXX/mo ). Ultimately, I could have saved myself even more by the time I actually get the appraisal scheduled, completed and processed through PNC Mortgage. 
- There are much more cost efficient ways to get an accurate appraisal done, such as Automated Valuation Models ( which PNC absolutely already has ), or to get a Broker Price Opinion ( BPO ) which is & lt ; {$20.00}. There is absolutely no need to require their customers to pay {$500.00} for an appraisal. And that payment is made to a company that they partially own. This is clearly poorly aligned incentives for PNC Mortgage, at the expense of their customers.