Consumer complaint received 2026-05-18 00:00:00
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage — Fees or costs during the application process
Company: PNC Bank N.A.
State: OH

Complaint narrative:
Over the past year or so, my girlfriend and I have been coordinating with branch bankers to get our credit in line to properly get a home loan at a good rate and in the terms we would hope for. We discussed our finances and everything was in line and good to go. We spoke of my girlfriend 's college loans which were currently in forbearance, of which we were advised and planning to take out of forbearance once we were in our new home. After extended planning, through which we've both been made to open several new credit cards and refinancing an existing car loan, we arrived at a point in time where we were finally deemed to " be there ''. We were given the greenlight to be in a good spot to apply for our pre-approval. We filled our application and were given a pre-approval for a {$350000.00} loan. We worked with our loan officer, XXXX on submitting all paperwork around our existing debts, including the afformentioned student loans. Everything continued to be approved and authorized as good to go. Weeks go by. We're looking at houses, we've listed our own current home for sale. Our house gets an offer and we accept. We find a home we're happy with and enter into contract to purchase as well. The closing dates for both homes were set for XX/XX/year>, so as to align and allow us to sign and move immediately. We pay for the appraisal and inspection, and everything continues smoothly. Everything 's good, until suddenly we're met with an email from XXXX that says " Wanted to confirm the monthly payment for your student loans is {$3600.00} monthly? '' We explain again that they're in forebearance. XXXX doesn't reply to this email for 4 days, and after a few back and forths, she informs us that suddenly the student loans actually are an issue and that due to the calculation being used, there is no way to let the loan go through with her cosigning. We express frustration and dissatisfaction with this coming up only now after she has known about the loans since we did the pre-approval process as well as having specifically asked about whether or not they'd be an issue in forbearance several times prior to the pre-approval. XXXX informs us that there is no way to accept the loan with just me on it, which isn't surprising since we're supposed to both be factored in, and tells us the only way to do this is that we're going to have to push to take her student loans out of forbearance right now. So we panic rush to get them refactored. Typical estimated turnaround on approval for the payment is 14 days according to the studentaid website, which brings us to ... 2 days before our closing date. Solutions offered by XXXX over the phone include " these things tend to work out, it'll be fine '', " Call the student aid support number and request an expediting '' and " you can live with a friend or parent until the student loan repayment is authorized ''. So, we're being told we're at the mercy of a government timeline if we don't want to be homeless in two weeks. So we had no solution available to us at that point other than " maybe it'll work out '' because calling their support line, all we were told is there's nothing that they can do to speed it up. They are currently being overloaded by requests due to an old plan being retired and they're cycling all of those people at the same time to the same plan she's applying for. Worst part? Just after we actually closed on the house in the end, we are informed that her loans were put back into forbearance temporarily because they can not handle all of the requests. So ... in any attempt to regain control of this situation, we scurry to find a solution to something we can actually do. Luckily, we found a local mortgage officer who got us a better interest rate and approved us with the pending loans. We got the house in time, all is good in the end. Great ... except we had to pay another appraisal fee for the separate loan application with the other company. So, given the situation, the misinformation levied at us, the negligence in telling us that the student loans would not impede us, telling us we were good to go, and then pulling the plug only after we were under contract... we requested a refund of both the appraisal fee ( {$550.00} ) and the credit check fee ( {$75.00} ). We were initially rejected a compensation when we asked for only the appraisal fee since it was paid to another entity, but ... in my observation, this fee was only paid and unutilized due to misguidance on PNC 's part. XXXX forwarded our request on to XXXX XXXX, a local area manager who, after we were told he was to contact us, made no attempt until we went out of our way to pester him through multiple paths. On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX told us she forwarded the complaint onto XXXX, and we waited for any response. On XX/XX/XXXX, we followup with XXXX about XXXX. She informs us he is planning to reach out soon. On XX/XX/XXXX, we follow up again and XXXX replies including XXXX in as a CC with " Please connect with XXXX at your convenience. Around and about the same time, we decided to contact a manager at one of our local branches since XXXX was not replying to us. That manager, XXXX, was very helpful and communicative. She understood our problem and was seemingly happy to help get it resolved, but... also needed to escalate through XXXX. She told us that she also contacted XXXX, and he'd be following up with us soon. XX/XX/XXXX, we inform her that we have still heard nothing from XXXX ( 11 days waiting now ). XXXX tells us she has instead filed a formal complaint and escalated it for us. XXXX finally contacts us at this point. He's a bit short on the phone and is much less understanding of the issue, bordering on rude. Regardless, the confirmation is given that the issue was escalated through a formal complaint and we'll have a reply from escalations ASAP. Four days ago, on XX/XX/XXXX, my girlfriend is informed by XXXX over the phone that our request for refund of the appraisal and credit check were denied. So I email XXXX back my dissatisfaction with this and push back about their responsibility to fix the problem they caused. He has yet to reply. I also emailed XXXX, who told me she would reach back out to escalations to renew the complaint. And in an attempt to just be a squeaky wheel, I also found contact info XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX Sales Manager, XXXX XXXX XXXX online. Considering she was higher up than XXXX, I sent her an email, most of which I copy/pasted to be the first five paragraphs of this complaint. She surprisingly does reply, positively so. She apologizes for the experience and explains that the problem is that the appraisal and credit check fees are non-refundable with no exceptions due to their need to maintain consistent delivery to avoid fair treatment concerns with their regulators. She said that despite that, she will also be pushing my case into a higher level of consideration. Today, XX/XX/XXXX, I am informed once again by escalations that the dispute is denied. I inform XXXX and XXXX, both letting them know I appreciate their help, but this is likely to be my end for business with PNC. I am currently intending to move my checking and car loan accounts out of PNC following today 's update, and I figure making this complaint with the CFPB would hopefully be the right move as well. I know {$620.00} isn't a huge amount in the grand scheme, but that's half a paycheck for me. It doesn't seem right that PNC can go through a year long process with me to explicitly get our finances in order to get a loan through their own internal processes, with us questioning several times along the way if they're sure that keeping the loans in forbearance is the okay and the right move, only to end up having us nearly denied and homeless at the last second for that very reason. The loans only remained in forbearance by their own advice, and likely would have been returned to a payment plan a year ago if they hadn't told us otherwise. It's a somewhat stupid equivalent metaphor, but they basically told me to leave a rake in the doorway, and, when I asked if they're sure, they say " absolutely ''. Then when they enter the door later, they smack themselves in the face with the rake and blame me. They're the ones who told me to lay the rake there, even if it's my rake to do with as I please.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation