Fifth Third Bank Mortgage Complaint

Fifth Third Bank Mortgage department,

Conventional fixed mortgage Credit decision / Underwriting Ohio

I am the - - for the City of - -. A resident, - -, came to see me last week to discuss a concern related to obtaining a fixed rate mortgage on his home to replace a home equity line that has an adjustable interest rate. Last year, - - obtained a home equity line for $75000.00 for the property he owns at - - - in - -, OH. The property has no other mortgage or lien against it according to - -. He visited our local Fifth-Third branch to apply for a mortgage loan, but he was denied, because based on a drive-by appraisal, Fifth-Third determined that the home had a market value of $44000.00. In 2014, the home received an appraisal of $94000.00 at the time the home equity line was opened. - - 's credit score is -. He has recently improved his property with a new roof and windows. The property is well-maintained and owner-occupied. We believe that - properties were used as comps in the appraisal. Property values in the area have increased over the last three years. There have been - new homes constructed on - - - street in the past - years which have sold for over $160000.00. The City has seen an increase in the number of low-ball appraisals in the past few years which cause our residents to be unable to refinance loans or obtain new loans. In our opinion, this is a form of redlining, and it is causing disinvestment in our community. The city is in the process of undertaking an analysis of our - data which will be released in -. Preliminary results suggest a large discrepancy between deposits and lending in our community.