Consumer complaint received 2025-10-22 00:00:00
Product: Mortgage — FHA mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — Fees charged
Company: M&T BANK CORPORATION
State: IL

Complaint narrative:
Dear M & T Bank : I am writing in response to your correspondence dated XX/XX/year>, regarding the legal fees you have charged to my FHA-insured mortgage account under the description corporate advance balance. Your response, while acknowledging that these fees are tied to HOA litigation, fails to establish any lawful authority for debiting my personal mortgage account prior to a final judicial determination or apportionment. 

This letter serves as a formal rebuttal and a final demand for removal of all unauthorized legal fees from my account. 

1. Legal Contradictions and Procedural Violations Your letter admits that : There is a legal action associated with the HOA, and we have an interest in your property, [ so ] our attorneys fees and costs have been charged to your mortgage loan. 

This position directly contradicts HUD servicing regulations and established legal ethics principles. 
Under 24 CFR 203.552 ( a ), a lender may collect only those charges that are reasonable and customary fees actually incurred in servicing a mortgage and that relate solely to the borrowers individual loan. 
HUD Handbook XXXX, XXXX XXXX, further prohibits charging a borrower for corporate or third-party litigation that is not the result of the borrowers default or a lien against their property. 

Because the receivership litigation concerns the XXXX XXXX ( HOA ) as a corporate entity, and no court order or lien has attached to my specific unit, any attempt to recover your attorney fees from me personally is premature, unethical, and outside HUD authority. 

2. Absence of Judicial Determination There is no final outcome, judgment, or apportionment order from the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX establishing individual owner liability. Charging my mortgage account prior to such determination violates both : FHA servicing regulations, which require all costs to be necessary to protect the lenders security interest ( HUD XXXX XXXX ), and Basic legal due process, since liability can not be presumed before adjudication. 

Until and unless a court orders individual assessment, your unilateral action to post nearly {$3900.00} in legal fees to my FHA mortgage account constitutes an unauthorized taking and breach of fiduciary servicing duty.

3. Ethical and Regulatory Misconduct You also claim exemption from the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ( FDCPA ) while simultaneously including a disclaimer that M & T Bank may be considered a debt collector. This dual language is inconsistent and misleading. If you are asserting collection rights and posting charges, you are by definition engaged in debt collection activity, and thus subject to the FDCPAs provisions of fairness, verification, and truth-in-billing. 

Moreover, your claim that these fees are reasonable and customary is unsupported. The attached invoicesoriginating from attorneys representing the XXXX and not M & T Bankcannot be lawfully passed through to an FHA borrower absent a contractual lien or a servicing event tied to the individual loan. 

XXXX. Demand for Immediate Action Accordingly, I hereby demand that M & T Bank : 1. Immediately reverse and remove all corporate attorney-fee charges from my loan account ; 2. Provide written confirmation that no future fees related to the XXXX XXXXeceivership will be assessed absent a final judicial order ; and 3. Correct your records to reflect that no default or servicing event justifies these advances.

If you fail to comply within 10 calendar days of receipt of this letter, I will : File a formal lawsuit in the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX seeking recovery of all improper charges, damages, and legal fees ; Submit a renewed complaint with the CFPB, HUDs National Servicing Center, and the Illinois Attorney Generals Consumer Protection Division ; and Seek further relief under 24 CFR 203.500 et seq. and 12 U.S.C. 2605 ( f ) ( RESPA ), for violation of federal servicing standards. 

5. Conclusion M & T Banks continued use of an obsolete contract version, its failure to provide a valid legal basis for charging these fees, and its reliance on a pending corporate litigation to debit an FHA borrowers account collectively represent a clear breach of HUD policy, RESPA compliance, and basic consumer protection law. 

I strongly urge immediate removal of the disputed {$3900.00} from my mortgage balance. Failure to act will compel me to seek judicial enforcement of my rights and all applicable penalties under state and federal law. 



Sincerely, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX FHA Loan # XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief