PNC Mortgage

In February 2013 I applied to refinance my home loan with PNC. After the loan officer took my application and entered a rate lock, my application was transferred to the loan processor. The processing department was slow to act on the application. PNC was the original lender (in 2007) and the refinance was for an amount well below the current market value of the house, so I expected the refinance to be straightforward. This was not the case. After some weeks the loan processor informed me that I would need to secure flood insurance for the house. I sent the processor a copy of the original flood zone designation from the time of purchase in 2007 which designated the house outside the flood zone. She told me there was nothing she could do, as the current designation placed the house in a flood zone, and that I needed to talk to the company that made the designation. I called this company (the same company that had designated the house as being outside the flood zone in 2007) and was told that I could ask PNC to request a recheck of the flood designation. I did so. More time passed. Out of the blue I received a document package informing me that the recheck verified that flood insurance would be required for the house. I called the processor again, and when she returned my call (I was never once able to call her and reach her at her desk) she explained that, while the house itself was outside the flood zone, a detached shed downslope from the house was in the flood zone, and consequently FEMA had designated all structures on the property as being in the flood zone, and that I would have to petition for a change in designation from FEMA. I called FEMA, and they explained to me that it was the bank's discretion whether to apply the shed's flood zone designation to the other structures on the property, including the house (on the hill). I called the processor again, and (when she finally returned my call) she told me that I would need to call PNC Customer Service. At this point I was 8 days from the expiration of the rate lock. Customer Service informed me that they would submit my request for clarification on the flood zone status of my home to the Flood Department at PNC (with whom I was not allowed speak directly) and I would receive their answer by letter in 10 days. When I explained that time was running out on my rate lock, the Customer Service agent said they would try to get an answer to me in 72 hours. I called the loan officer and asked her assistance. When I called her back the next day, she told me that she had contacted the Flood Department at PNC and had been told that it was PNCs policy now to require flood insurance for all structures on a property if any structure on the property were within the flood zone. I cancelled my application and refinanced through another company.

PNC Mortgage had good rates and they were a bit slow on getting their paperwork done, which may be because of the workload. They were very courteous and very helpful.

Because of fraud involving my checking account, I needed to change my automatic payments. When I contacted PNC Mortgage, I was dismayed to learn they are using social security numbers for identification on telephone calls. I wrote them a letter of concern and complaint. Their reply is that it is their policy to use social security numbers for identification purposes. BE VERY CAREFUL!!!