Consumer complaint received 2023-06-29
Company: GUARANTEED RATE INC.
State: CO
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
I signed a purchase agreement with KB Homes XXXX XXXX at the XXXX site ) and told the sales agent that I XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX  and would be going with my own lender. He suggested that KB Homes offers a very lucrative builder 's incentive for going with their own preferred lender, which is also their sister company ( KB HS Home Loans ). His exact words were " It couldn't hurt to try it out. '' It actually did. They gave me a contract to sign that said I would owe them for a rate lock if I changed lenders but the actual amount was left blank. I didn't think this would be a problem. I received a loan disclosure from their lender and the origination fees easily dwarfed the builder incentive. My credit union also offered a lower rate with origination fees around 20 times less, easily negating any advantage to the builder incentive. We chose not to sign the disclosure acknowledgement or any documents that followed and, instead, notified our sales agent that we would not be going with their lender. When I gave them notice that I was changing lenders, they said I'd have to pay back fees for the rate lock and it would be very high ( no amount given ). It took many exchanges to find out that it was {$4400.00}. I said that I did not agree to paying this amount. At closing, my credit union notified me that they received a strange notice from the title company that an additional {$4400.00} was due to be wired to them per KB Homes. My credit union said that they could not wire money without documentation and so they were sent the original document that I signed with the blank amount. That just confused things further. I spoke with XXXX at KB and she said it's their policy to do this. My suggestion that I never even signed a loan agreement or a rate lock could not be a factor. 

Because our closing was moved over and over ( we're not on our fifth closing date but are still under contract with no closing in sight ), she offered to drop that fee as a good will gesture due to our other many issues with the builder. Because they've rescheduled the closing so many times, we were unable to maintain the contract with the buyer of our current home and I've had to restructure my loan without a contingency and a lower downpayment. This put us under increased scrutiny and just after final approval, I did purchase furniture and appliances just ahead of our planned move. With the closing only three days away, I did not foresee a possibility that they would cancel it again. They called me with 20 hours notice ahead of our closing appointment to let me know that closing, in fact, would not happen after all and that plans needed to move out at least a week. They've been claiming weather-related issues but this last one had nothing to do with weather ( attic ventilation, in this case ). I asked XXXX at KB if losing my loan now would result in my earnest money being returned and she said no because it would be considered my fault and my actions leading to it.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation