PNC Bank Mortgage Holders Overcharged After Enrolling in Deferral Program During Pandemic, Says Class Action

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PNC Bank Mortgage Deferral Class Action Lawsuit Overview: 

• Who: Homeowners lodged a class action lawsuit against PNC Bank, N.A. 
• Why: Plaintiffs claim PNC Bank overcharged homeowners who entered into a mortgage payment deferral agreement with the company during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Where: The class action lawsuit is pending in Maryland federal court.

PNC Bank double charged homeowners who entered into a mortgage deferral agreement with the company during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new class action lawsuit alleges. 

Plaintiffs Robert Roy Akins and Rachael Latini claim PNC Bank double charged consumers and increased the size of their mortgages by tacking deferred principal payments on outstanding principal balances. 

Akins and Latini want to represent a nationwide Class and Maryland subclass of PNC Bank mortgage holders who entered into a COVID-19 deferral agreement with the bank during the pandemic and subsequently had their deferred payments added to their outstanding principal balances. 

Plaintiffs also want to represent a Maryland subclass of consumers — covered by the Maryland Consumer Protection Act — and a subclass of consumers who have already paid off their mortgage.

PNC Bank Mortgage Holders Say Bank Won’t Fix, Investigate Errors

Akins and Latini, a married couple, say they began to struggle paying off their 30-year fixed amortized loan with PNC Bank because of the COVID-19 pandemic and decided to enter a mortgage deferral agreement with the lender. 

While the terms of the agreement forbid PNC Bank from changing any of the terms of the original mortgage agreement, Akins and Latini claim they had more than $10,000 in deferred payments added to their outstanding principal balance. 

Akins and Latini say they ultimately decided to refinance their mortgage with another bank and 

notified PNC Bank by email that it “must have calculated the outstanding principal balance in error.” 

Despite this, PNC Bank did not correct the mistake, conduct any investigation into it, or offer an explanation for the added-on charges, putting it in violation of the federal Real Estate Settlement Practice Act, the class action lawsuit alleges. 

“PNC never corrected the error on Plaintiffs’ account, nor did it provide a written explanation for its practice,” states the class action lawsuit. 

Akins and Latini argue PNC Bank should recalculate the balances for all affected mortgages, issue refunds as necessary, and pay damages for violating the federal Truth in Lending Act by providing “inaccurate and inflated,” outstanding principal balances. 

Plaintiffs are demanding a jury trial and seeking relief in the form of actual damages, restitution, and disgorgement of all improper charges of principal and interest for themselves and all Class Members. 

PNC Bank was under the microscope last year for potential Fair Debt Collection Practices Act violations for allegedly not following regulations while placing debt collection calls to consumers regarding their student loan payments. 

Did you enter into a mortgage deferral program with PNC Bank during the COVID-19 pandemic? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiffs are represented by Charles S. Fax, Liesel J. Schopler, and Stephen Kuperberg of Rifkin Weiner Livingston, LLC, and Jason M. Frank, Scott H. Sims, and Andrew D. Stolper of Frank Sims & Stolper LLP. 

The PNC Bank Mortgage Deferral Class Action Lawsuit is Akins, et al. v. PNC Bank, N.A., Case No. 1:21-cv-02558, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

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