Consumer complaint received 2018-10-11
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: TX
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Home equity loan or line of credit (HELOC)
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX purchased the home at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX , TX XXXX as XXXX XXXX, an unmarried female ( maiden name ). XXXX XXXX married XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX a Home Equity Line of Credit was acquired through Chase Bank, XXXX, TX. At time of application I was a full-time XXXX and the loan was solely approved based on his income ; please see attached Loan Equity Application. 
Throughout the application and approval process, I dealt with a specific banker at the branch named XXXX. However at the time of closing for the HELOC we did not sign the documents with XXXX or in his presence. We signed all HELOC documents solely with an outside notary, not affiliated or employed internally by Chase whatsoever, therefore any questions or concerns that arose could not be clarified or answered, as the notary described herself as a traveling notary. At time of application I fully intended and believed that my husband would be added to title to the property, as stated on the first page of the Home Equity Application ; Real Estate Section Property is titled in the name ( s ) of : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX 

In XX/XX/XXXX, I applied for a Texas Cash-Out to pay off my HELOC and credit card debt. The application was completed in R******s name only, as he qualified for the loan based solely on his income and the qualifying rate being less if his name was sole applicant. 5-7 days after application, the proposed new lender received title work stating XXXX XXXX as the sole listed on title. At this time, that lender stated that I had to be added to the new Texas Cash-Out Loan or we would have to wait 6 months after R****** was added to title to be able to meet Texas Cash-Out guidelines. I immediately contacted Chase Bank, HELOC department, whereupon they offered to add him to title right away, perhaps less than a few minutes after the recorded phone call began. I promptly made another phone call to the Chase Bank Branch and spoke with the available Mortgage Specialist. It was at that time, that I was told by that same employee that Chase legally does not have to add the only qualifying borrower even though borrowers do not know and are not informed of this. No conversation ever took place involving XXXX or notary, XXXX or myself stating that we needed to add him to title after closing. This is an assumption, stated by Chase that a borrower on the note and deed should have to be added to title after closing, hence why Chase HELOC department asked no questions and immediately suggested they could mail paperwork out right away to have XXXX added to title. 

As a result, I was forced to be added to the new loan. Because of this, the interest rate for the loan increased from 5.0 % to 5.625 %, which is a difference of {$64.00} monthly, amortized over 30 years for a total amount of {$23000.00}. 

After much research, it is my understanding that Texas State Law requires all cash-out transactions to be signed in front of a title company or a representative of the loan company. Now knowing this, I contacted several loan officers and title companies to confirm whether Chase had followed all legal guidelines and laws. It was then that I was told by everyone, all of whom have more than 15 years experience in the lending industry that they had never seen nor heard of a lender having a spouse on the note as the sole qualifying borrower and not be added to title. The new lender stated that this cash-out transaction can not be signed by a mobile notary and the closing must be executed at the title company. 



Sincerely, XXXX XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation