So far I haven't used this blog to spout off about an issue with a particular company, but I am making an exception now.
When I moved across the country 15 years ago, I chose a small bank called First Charter for my accounts. I loved First Charter. Then a couple of years ago it was bought by Fifth Third Bank out of Cincinnatti. Everything was still going along fine, so I saw no reason to move my accounts. A few weeks ago I thought I might look into refinancing my townhouse (which is under condo rules), so I went to my local bank branch and put in an application for what they call an Easy Home Refi. Well, in the first place if you happen to live in a condo, it's not easy, but that's not my main complaint. I had provided them with a copy of my last two years' W2s (from a company I've worked for for 10 years), as well as copies of my last two paycheck stubs, as requested. Come to find out they also wanted me to spend over $200 to get a copy of my condo association's financials. That on top of the fact that they wanted to add an additional 1/4% onto the interest rate just because it was a condo and not a traditional house was enough for me to decide to kill the application, which is what I did.
A few days after stopping the application I get a letter in the mail stating that they were denying my application because they couldn't verify my income! Now, keep in mind that a) I have a credit rating that is just a couple of points shy of 800; b) I've been with this bank, or the bank they purchased for 15 years, c) the place is worth more than double what I owe on it; d) my income is way more than sufficient for this transaction; e) I had already cancelled the application, and f) they apparently couldn't figure out how to call one of the largest corporations in the country to verify that I worked there! Here's the kicker - for the last several years my paycheck has been directly deposited into their bank every two weeks!! Yet they say they can't verify my income??
So, here's what's going to happen. I am going to shut down all my Fifth Third Bank accounts and I'm taking my banking business elsewhere. Now I'm sure they won't really care much about that, after all I'm not exactly rich... but hopefully someone looking for a new bank to park their money in will see this post and think twice about doing business with this bank.
Sayonara, Fifth Third - and no, I won't let your door hit me in the ass on the way out.
