Product: Mortgage

My husband and I bought a new home in XX/XX/XXXX. It was a brand new community and we knew the house would not be ready until XX/XX/XXXX. 

We are XXXX XXXX  that were relocated to XXXX XXXX NV for my husband 's work. It is important to note that this is our first time buying a house in the United States and the buying process is very different in XXXX. Over the next year we travelled to XXXX XXXX a few times to see the house and to make our selections. We sold our home in XXXX in order to invest our profits as a down payment on our home in XXXX XXXX. It was always clear that even though we were on a temporary visa that allowed us to be in the US, we were permanently relocating with our young children. 

We were referred to a lender by the builder which we worked with. Throughout the purchasing process we were asked to complete numerous different forms in order to qualify for a mortgage and to provide a gamete of documents as proof of funds. At the beginning of the process, we were asked to complete a Uniform Residential Loan Application ( URLA ). Months went by as the house was being built. I spoke to our lender in XX/XX/XXXX where I asked numerous questions about the lending process. XXXX of the questions I asked was about refinancing our mortgage as we were purchasing our home at a time when rates were quite high. The lender confirmed that there are no penalties for refinancing. *I have my personal handwritten notes from this call. 

Over the summer of XXXX we sold our home in XXXX, packed up our belongings and were ready to move to our new home. Once our home was officially sold in XXXX we were asked to provide proof of funds as well as confirmation of our final numbers ; which we provided. Keeping in mind that the profits from the sale of our home had to be converted to US dollars as well as wired to our US account. We provided all documents that were requested and had sufficient funds to close on the house. Our closing date was set for XX/XX/XXXX. 

We asked our lender when we would know our final numbers for our monthly mortgage payments. We were told that we would only know the final numbers once we sign at the title company. It is important to note that we do not know the process of buying a home in the US and nothing was explained to us. We asked what a title company was, what did escrow mean, and numerous questions around insurance. We also asked why we needed an appraisal, everything was new for us. Finally on XX/XX/XXXX I received a text message from our lender that we would be receiving a XXXX of the last disclosures. Upon reviewing these documents I texted the lender advising that the dates on the document were not correct and asked when we would be going over the numbers ( monthly payments, fees, insurance ect. ) We were told the date can be changed if funding goes smoothly and that we need to sign the documents due to a 3 day recission period and that if we were trying to close on time for the XXXX, they need the signed documents asap. We felt pressured to sign the documents right away as we were living in a hotel with our kids and dog waiting to move to our new home. We were still asking at this point when we would be receiving information about our home insurance, and asking how much the insurance was going to cost. We were never explained any of the financial numbers, we were told by the lender that all this would be done at the signing at the title company. Regarding our insurance the text message said that our insurance policy was done as an investment property due to our type of loan and that as soon as we close they would email the insurance agent to have him change it to a primary. I confirmed by text again that once we close this would be changed to primary and asked if we needed mortgage insurance. We were asking these questions the day before we were to sign at the title company, clearly feeling uninformed. We later discovered that we were sold tenant insurance! 

The lender asked us on XX/XX/XXXX by email to print, sign and date the Intent to Proceed with the date of : XX/XX/XXXX and return it to them as they had received the wrong form from the investor as they were supposed to have been sent XXXX in the initial disclosures in XX/XX/XXXX. This is another example of the lender not being honest and not acting in our best interests. 

The next day, on XX/XX/XXXX we arrived for our appointment at the title company. We are anxious for numerous reasons but also because we wanted to understand our numbers. As we were signing document after document I told my husband, I don't even know what we're signing. I asked the person who was having us sign the documents why the documents say that this is an investment property and I asked them when we would be getting to the final numbers and when they would be explaining the numbers to us. They informed us that this is not done at title and that that is done with our lender and that we could call them if we wanted to. We called them and they were on the phone so we texted them and asked them why our property is documented as an investment property when this is not an investment property, this is our primary home. We received a text back stating that this is the type of loan we had to get in order to have us approved and that they used the rental income to offset the mortgage to qualify. It was either that or a foreign national with a foreign national rate so both are done as investment properties. I then replied asking what rental income? They responded with the market rental income from appraisal. At this point, we were signing documents we clearly had never been explained, we had no idea what was going on and I was physically not feeling well because we did not understand what was going on. This was never an investment, this was and still is our primary home. We never had any intentions on purchasing this home for an investment. When we had seen the term investment in the documents prior to arriving at the title company we thought the term 'investment ' was referred to as home ownership in the US - an investment. We did not realize that this was a type of loan or loan program. 

XX/XX/XXXX was our closing date. We found out that afternoon that we would not be able to close from the builder. Our lender never told us! We reached out to them and asked when they were going to tell us we were not closing that day and they apologized as they were in training and did not have access to their phone.

Our property is registered with the county treasurer as our primary home, we signed a document at closing from our HOA confirming that this was our primary home and that we would be living there and we told our lender that this was our primary home and confirmed this on our URLA. 

About a month ago we started to look into refinancing our mortgage as we have a very high interest rate. As we were about to have our mortgage paid by a new lender, we were advised that there was a prepayment penalty of {$18000.00}. We had no idea there was a penalty as we had been told there was not going to be one. Due to our current loan we have a prepayment penalty if we want to refinance within the next 3 years! 

On XX/XX/XXXX I called the investor in order to confirm the prepayment penalty as this was the first time I was hearing of this. I asked them how this was possible and that we were needing to refinance to a better interest rate. They advised that it was not likely possible for me to get a better rate in this market. I advised them that I had secured a better rate of 1.75 % less than what we currently have. I was told that I should jump on it then ; which is a horrible thing to tell someone that you just confirmed to that they are locked into an {$18000.00} prepayment penalty. 

We have since sent an email on XX/XX/XXXX requesting our initial disclosures and loan application and followed up on XX/XX/XXXX and have still never received a response. 

It is clear that we were never explained anything about our loan or the loan program, we never once met with our lender. We were taken advantage of because we are foreign and no due diligence was done with our loan. Above our prepayment penalty we incurred additional expenses on our home appraisal as there was a need for extra forms to compare rental income in the area. 

We do not feel that the lender or the investor did their due diligence on our file and we were taken advantage of and put into a terrible situation. No one reviewed our file for accuracy or compliance. This is a clear case of occupancy fraud. Our lender knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was our primary home, NOT an investment property. They then locked us into a program for an investment property with a massive prepayment penalty. We were put in a predatory lending situation as we asked for explanations of costs and our insurance numerous times which were met with silence. 

I have text messages as well as emails and documents to confirm everything that I have mentioned in my complaint is factual. A prepayment penalty of over XXXX XXXX dollars is a massive financial hardship to have to pay off just to refinance to a lower rate. The lender was aware that we would be refinancing as soon as we could due to our high interest rate. We were not treated fairly or responsibly by the lender or the investor. 

We are concerned on how to approach this situation because of not knowing the lending process we also do not know how to complaint process works. We are simply looking for assistance and a friend referred us to CFPB because the lender and the company we are making payments to are both of no help and have been brushing us off and we are urgently needing help. 

We are requesting for our situation to be reviewed and investigated because we would be horrified if this was happening to others as well and feel it is only right to report what has happened to me and my family. We are now in a horrible payment and fraudulent program and would like this to be rectified as soon as possible. The lender knowingly forced us into a fraudulent situation. We have not been able to get anywhere with the lender or the investor and this is why we are reaching out to the CFPB for help because this is the only other hope we have in getting some resolution to this tragic situation. 

Thank you,