Consumer complaint received 08/16/2017 about Mortgage (Home equity loan or line of credit (HELOC)) with PNC Bank N.A. (OH).
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint: To Whom It May Concern : Please help me resolve a very troubling issue with PNC Bank regarding my home equity loan application. I believe they have denied my loan because it is a rural property. They have stated they are just not comfortable with the property even though the property meets all guidelines for condition. I do not know what to do and can not get a straight answer. This has had a major impact on my life as we have not been able to move forward with planned upgrades to the property. Please see below a timeline of events that have occurred to this point. XX/XX/XXXX Started Home Equity Loan Application prior to closing on a cash purchase of a home XX/XX/XXXX Signed closing docs for new home and paid cash for home XX/XX/XXXX Title for new home transferred with county XX/XX/XXXX Informed by PNC representative that my home qualified for a desktop appraisal and the results would be in by XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX Informed by PNC representative that because the home is on more than 5 acres, it was upgraded to a full walkthrough appraisal XX/XX/XXXX Full walkthrough appraisal completed XX/XX/XXXX Informed loan was denied because appraisal stated home is vacant. Had not received a copy of the appraisal report yet. Shared with lender that was not accurate, home is occupied and I had provided proof of residency. Offered to provide any additional information needed to correct error. Requested copy of the appraisal and was told it had been mailed on XX/XX/XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX Received loan denial letter and copy of the appraisal. The appraisal stated on one page the home was vacant and on another page that it was occupied. The appraisal envelope was not postmarked so not able to determine when it was actually mailed. Lender appealed the denial and sent appraisal back for correction of the conflicting occupancy information. XX/XX/XXXX Loan denied for a second time. Appraisal returned with corrections. Instead of correctly stating in both places that the home is occupied, it now incorrectly states in both places that the home is vacant. Loan was again denied prior to my receipt of the updated appraisal, which arrived in mail XX/XX/XXXX, again not postmarked with a date so not able to determine when it was actually mailed. XXXX Spoke with appraisal company and they said the lender could send the appraisal back and they would correct it again to state in both places the home is occupied. Lender said they could not do that and needed to wait for an internal review. Unable to get any updates or information regarding the status of the loan between XXXX and XXXX despite repeated requests by phone and e-mail. XX/XX/XXXX Received a voicemail from supervisor stating that they were not willing to send appraisal back for correction and would not proceed with the loan. XX/XX/XXXX Phone call with supervisor. Requested reason for loan denial and was told underwriters just not comfortable overall with condition of the home. Home met condition rating requirements and passed appraisal without exception and was valued well above the requested loan amount. The only issue previously identified was the conflicting information about occupancy status. Requested specific information about what the underwriters were concerned about. Supervisor was not able to provide that information and I have not received that information to date. I am very concerned that throughout the process rather than ask a simple question to clarify information, PNC has instead repeatedly denied the application without providing me an opportunity to review and/or correct information and when I have questioned the process, they have come up with new and increasingly flimsy reasons for the denial. It seems apparent that they were looking for any reason to deny the application and at this point I can only assume that the denial is based on the rural location and characteristics of the home since all they will say is that they are not comfortable with the home.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation