Consumer complaint received 2018-08-04
Company: HUNTINGTON NATIONAL BANK, THE
State: IN
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Other type of mortgage
Issue: Closing on a mortgage

Complaint:
In XX/XX/2018, I negotiated a construction mortgage on rate and closing costs completely independent of each other for a {$500000.00} loan amount with Huntington Bank. The negotiations took place over the phone. The lender left voicemails ( which I still have ) explaining the deal which I still have. Initial disclosures were sent with the correct closing costs estimates/credits but an incorrect rate. I brought this to the attention of the loan officer who stated I would receive a new disclosure with the correct rate. During this conversation I made sure to state that the closing costs are correct but the rate is not. 

When I received the second set of disclosures ( a total of seven ) I only made sure to play attention to the rate and not the closing costs. I was later told they could not honor the closing cost credits. I was told the negotiation over the rate was either selecting the rate or the closing cost credit. This contradicts the voicemails left by the loan officer. I  was also later told the loan officer was given a 60 basis point negotiation limit off of pricing. I believe my rate negotiated fell well within these limits, yet they would not confirm was the negotiation limits were and simply stated they never would have negotiated that deal. 

I verified the rate sheets with a bank emloyee during the approximate time frames of the mortgage processing and discovered the rates were either lower or on par with what was stated to me as the starting rates before discounts. 

The week before scheduling a closing, I was never advised of an approximate 1,200 dollar rate lock fee. It was simply applied to my loan and was sent one of the many disclosures and expected to check. I was never given the option not to lock it. I was also advised by the supervisor this was not a best practice on the part of the bank. I verified rates during the time the lock period was no longer in effect, and was surprised to learn base rates on lending had fell from the original rates. 

Therefore, I ended up with a loan with a higher rate than negotiated and even a higher rate than would have been available to me if I had not locked the rate. 

Both my builder and I had never had such a terrible experience with such a rude loan officer.

To add to the severe inconvenience, when it came time to close, the title work and closing documents were not prepared correctly. I had to educate the closer, the loan officer, the title company employees on the proper way to prepare the deed. The incorrect legal description and parcel number were used. Even during these struggles, the loan officer had the audacity to bring up the term rate lock again on the loan should it not be able to close the day of closing due to Huntingtons mistakes. The comment was made to ensue that if I didnt close within a certain number of days I would have to pay another rate lock fee which is obsurred given the mistakes were not mine.

The loan officer never apologized. Never took blame for a failure to communicate with his client. And never took the blame for a failure to communicate the details of a deal to his supervisor who allegedly approved the deal. 

Both the loan officer and the supervisor stated there was nothing they could do given the short time to close. They placed me in a very bad situation given I already had permits to break ground which would expire before the competion of construction if I did not close ASAP. They used this against me because they knew I could not start the process of going with another bank given the time of the year and time spent already with the their mortgage process.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation