In XXXX 2014 I went through taking out a mortgage with US Bank. I used them simply because I had banked with them for 20 years and thought it should simplify the process. It did not. The process was painful, rattled with errors and lack of accountability on part of anyone at the bank or in the mortgage underwriting/processing division. Part of the mortgage was taking out a HELOC so we could avoid the PMI insurance and keep some money in our savings account versus draining it. When discussing with the mortgage advisor at US Bank ( XXXX XXXX ) he gave us the option of a HELOC since the interest was only about 30 % the cost of what the PMI would have been. We agreed and discussed that we only wanted the loan for a year/wanted to be done with it quickly vs dragging it out. He assured us that was n't a problem and that it was an interest only loan allowing us to pay it back on our own timeline/as long as we needed. Two weeks ago we went into the bank to pay it off/close it down to release the lien from our home ... and they told us that since we were closing it so soon we had to pay a {$500.00} penalty for paying it off early. A {$500.00} penalty for paying off a loan early?? This is something the CFPB should focus on with big banks. That should be beyond illegal. This encourages debt/the debt cycle. This also goes against the mortgage seller at the bank and what he told us. Either he lied ( frankly most likely considering the process and how I ca n't believe that team is allowed to lend large sums of money ) or he was uneducated. Either way, it is the responsibility of the bank to deal with it. I received a customer service response to my complaint saying that they are sorry and they forwarded my note to XXXX and his Manager to respond to/address. It has been nearly 2 weeks and no response. Not that I expected it but did ask for it. 
