Consumer complaint received 2025-12-09 00:00:00
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — Payment process
Company: PNC Bank N.A.
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
CFPB Complaint Narrative XX/XX/year> : Payment Obstruction, Refund Manipulation, and Improper Contact With Elderly Borrower Instead of XXXX  This is a follow-up complaint documenting new servicing violations by PNC Bank after XXXX prior complaint. These are XXXX issues that occurred in XXXX and XX/XX/year>. 

XXXX PNC Continues to Contact the Elderly Borrower Instead of the XXXX PNC has acknowledged that : I am the XXXX XXXX XXXX on file XXXX XXXX is only an authorized viewer and can not make account changes All account-management communication must go through the POA Despite this, PNC continues to initiate communication with XXXX directly instead of calling XXXX, even after : I told them multiple times that any unexpected calls cause her confusion and XXXX  They documented that communication should go through me This continues to create unnecessary stress for an elderly borrower and contradicts XXXX  own acknowledgment of the POA structure XXXX 

XXXX PNC Issued a Refund Check Instead of Fixing the Servicing Error Instead of applying the previously held/suspense funds toward the mortgage, PNC issued a physical refund check. 
This caused : A delay in curing the arrears Additional late fees A larger past-due amount A new XXXX bill showing over {$7000.00} due The refund made curing the account more difficult, not easier. 

XXXX XX/XX/XXXX Payment Obstruction at the Branch On XX/XX/year>, I went to the PNC branch specifically to : Cash the refund check Bring the loan current immediately PNC attempted to charge a mandatory {$47.00} check-cashing fee to cash their own refund check. 
The branch XXXX tried to waive the fee but confirmed the system would not allow it. 

Because of this, I was prevented from curing the past-due balance. 

I also attempted to pay the arrears with my debit card, but the branch was unsure whether additional fees would be added, so I left to get cash. This caused further delay. 

XXXX Missing Call-Back From PNC After They Promised to Investigate On XX/XX/year>, PNC representative XXXX XXXX told me : She acknowledged the POA She confirmed misapplied payments She said she would review the XXXX call recordings She said she would call me back with findings PNC never called back. 

Instead, on XX/XX/year> ( the same date PNC requested additional time on the CFPB portal ), PNC : Issued a refund check Created additional arrears Allowed the delinquency to grow Sent a XXXX statement showing over {$7000.00} owed XXXX Pattern of Servicing Errors and Delayed Corrections PNC has : Misapplied payments Held partial payments in suspense Refunded funds instead of applying them Caused additional arrears through these actions Failed to provide accurate explanations Failed to provide required account breakdowns Initiated calls to the wrong party Ignored multiple requests to follow POA protocol XXXX Misapplication of the XX/XX/year> Payment Created an Artificial Delinquency On XX/XX/year>, the borrower made a {$2300.00} cash payment at the PNC XXXX XXXX branch after the teller told her that amount was what she needed to pay. The regular mortgage payment is {$2300.00}. She relied on the branchs instructions. 

Because the payment was {$59.00} short due to incorrect instructions from PNC the entire payment was treated as partial. PNC then : Applied part of it to late fees that were already under dispute Placed the remainder into suspense Failed to apply it toward the monthly mortgage Created a new delinquency Triggered additional late fees Caused the account to snowball into arrears Eventually caused the funds to be refunded instead of applied This is the event that directly caused : The held funds ( {$1600.00} ) PNC later admitted existed The inability to cure the account Additional fees The inflated $ XXXX XXXX statement Serious credit damage Financial instability and stress for the elderly borrowers XXXX  misapplication caused by their own incorrect instructions is the root of the continuing servicing errors.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation