Consumer complaint received 2021-04-11
Company: SIMMONS FIRST NATIONAL CORPORATION
State: OK
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Other type of mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
Exactly two years ago today, on XX/XX/XXXX I met with a few representatives of Simmon 's Bank in regard to a development that I was seeking financing for. 

The meeting went well and ultimately ended with them feeling very optimistic about being able to finance the deal. This was followed up with a request by the loan officer for several pieces of information that she wanted me to provide. 

I provided this documentation, and a closing date was set ; however, it had to be extended a couple times as Simmons determined that more information was needed. They then informed me of their concern that I may not be able to get the property rezoned and that the risk of making a development loan with no guarantee that the development could move forward was too high. As an alternative, they said they would be willing to lend to me in phases wherein they would first provide funds to purchase the land and that additional funds for the improvements would be conditional upon my successful rezoning of the property. They also requested that I secure the loan by offering up other properties that I owned and after agreeing to these terms, the transaction closed on XX/XX/XXXX and funded on XX/XX/XXXX. 

I was given a balloon note with one year to complete the rezoning. After several community meetings as well as a few hotly contested planning commission and city council hearings, my application to rezone the property was approved on XX/XX/XXXX of XXXX. 

Following this, I frequently inquired as to the status of the next phase of financing for the development but was simply told they were working on it. This was followed up by a few intermittent requests for information which I provided, yet I was still given no clear explanation of the status of my loan. 

Shortly after my zoning approval, I had also informed Simmons of an approval that I had received from the City to sell 4 of the lots prior to platting. I had offers on all 4 of those lots within a few days ; however, they did not close until XX/XX/XXXX due to complications with getting Simmons to release the lots along with a corresponding number of the properties I was previously required to put up as collateral.

Throughout the time I was navigating the unnecessarily complex process of getting those 4 lots closed, I had continued to seek information regarding the next phase of my development loan. I was still not given any information of value ; however, the generic responses that had become the norm began to shift as the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic reached a fever pitch. 

I expressed my concerns and my loan officer set up a conference call with the XXXX XXXX Market President on XX/XX/XXXX. The president had something come up and the call was rescheduled for later that day. Once on that call, he informed me that things were at a standstill while the bank 's leadership tried to plan their next steps given the pandemic and that the only viable solution at that point would be to either find another bank who was still lending or allow them to renew it for another year. 

I spent the next week calling other banks and on XX/XX/XXXX I informed my loan officer and the Market President that I was willing to move forward on a renewal. Over the next 60 days I reached out to inquire about the status of the renewal several times but was subjected to the same experience I had faced in months prior where I received no sufficient updates on the status of the loan. I was also asked on multiple occasions to submit documentation that had already been previously submitted. Ultimately, after weeks of expressing my fear that my loan was about to mature, I was given an extension ; however, I would later learn that it was only for a few months as opposed to the one-year extension we had discussed. 

Following this, I sold more properties to have the funds to keep things moving on the development until the financing could be completed. As with the previous transactions, the closings on these properties were also delayed / extended. This was due to Simmons experiencing internal difficulties in releasing these collateralized properties even though they had requested additional principal payments as a condition to do so. 

I continued to reach out to see if there had been any updates on being able to move to the next phase of financing for my loan, and each time I was told that there had not been. After continuing to check in regularly as it grew closer to my new maturity date, I was advised that Simmons had not expected to still be dealing with the effects of covid and that all they could do was give me an additional 3-month extension and would likely have fewer options as the pandemic went on. 

I was further advised that I should be looking to refinance with another bank since Simmons was no longer doing development loans during the pandemic. This was presented as something that I had already been made aware of, even though I had not. 

Given that such pertinent information had not been shared with me, yet casually mentioned as something that was widely known, I reached out to my loan officer to express my disappointment with the lack of communication that I was receiving. I also asked a few very direct questions. One of which was on XX/XX/XXXX where I plainly asked " Did my application for financing this development get denied? '' and was told it did not. 

An additional meeting with the XXXX Market President was set up for XX/XX/XXXX. Again something " came up '' and the meeting was pushed back. In that meeting I was informed that specific information regarding Simmons not lending on development loans was not withheld from me but rather, the bank had not booked any new business ( Outside of PPP, EIDL and modifications of existing loans ) since the pandemic had started. 

I was told that they would have the new extension docs ready in a few days ( it was a few weeks ) and that they would also begin work on a 12-month extension even though they were hopeful that at the beginning of XXXX they would be able to get my development financing done. 

I began reaching out on XX/XX/XXXX and after a few attempts, I received correspondence on XX/XX/XXXX saying that they would attempt to get the 12-month extension in place but that I would need to provide more financial info and that I would receive a follow-up email detailing the items needed. 

After failing to receive that email, I reached out again the following week on XX/XX/XXXX asking specifically for what items were needed. I received a response back with the list that same day and submitted the documentation on XX/XX/XXXX. 

Following this, an additional meeting with the XXXX XXXX XXXX was scheduled for XX/XX/XXXX but was cancelled and rescheduled after something, again, came up. We met on XX/XX/XXXX and I was told that the bank had resumed lending and that the prospects of getting to the development phase of financing was very high. 

After this, things appeared to be moving forward. My loan officer was initiating contact rather than responding to one of my emails or voicemails, I was receiving regular updates, and I was also being asked about particular details regarding my development. 

Then on XX/XX/XXXX I sent an email to my loan officer checking in on the status and I received a response back asking if I had time to meet with another lady at Simmons. I didn't know this woman 's role but she was mentioned in previous conversations, so I assumed that she was someone integral to getting my loan closed so I agreed. 

We set a meeting for XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX and it wasn't until that meeting began that I was informed that the purpose of the meeting was to introduce me to my new loan officer. My original loan officer told me that she was leaving the bank that Friday ( 3 days ) and that she was passing all of my info along to this new person. 

Blindsided, but still hopeful, I politely took turns with my original loan officer answering all of the questions ( Many were the same questions I had already answered previously for my original loan officer ) the new loan officer asked as she took notes. Before the meeting concluded, I briefly explained to this new loan officer that my financing journey had been particularly grueling and that I really wanted an estimated timeline of when I could expect to close. She said she didn't feel comfortable answering at that moment but would have a genuine answer for me in a week after she'd had some time to review my file. 

A week elapsed and I still hadn't heard from my new loan officer, so I called and left a message on her voicemail. I would go on to call her three times over the next few days leaving voicemails in two of those calls, but I never received a response. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I called the XXXX Market President and explained to him that many of the clients we had entered into pre-sale agreements with were asking for answers and that I needed to let them know sooner rather than later if financing was not going to work out. This was a message that I had shared several times in prior conversations. I shared with him my frustration of not being able to reach my new loan officer and he apologized and explained to me that my new loan officer was out of the office on a trip to XXXX XXXX that week. He informed me that he too would be out of town for the remainder of that week and asked me to send an email to them both asking to set up a meeting for the following Monday. 

I sent the email as he requested and copied my loan officer citing the Monday meeting. I also informed them that our latest presale client was a Federal Judge. I stressed the fact that I really needed some clear direction before having such a high-profile client sign an agreement that we may have to back out of later. Despite going days without returning any of my previous calls, my loan officer sent an email response in 4 minutes ( Presumably after seeing that I had been in communication with the Market President ) requesting to move the meeting to Tuesday.

I agreed and showed up at the Simmons bank office that Tuesday, but my loan officer did not attend despite having the meeting rescheduled specifically to accommodate her. The Market President invited me into his office, and we chatted a bit before he called her and had her join in over the phone. The first half of the meeting consisted of my loan officer asking me questions that I had already previously answered. The last half was filled with questions and statements that revealed the fact that neither my loan, my business, nor my time was a priority. I was asked if I had any " interested parties willing to sign contracts '' despite having already shared on multiple occasions that we have received so many contracts that our development was nearly already sold out. Towards the end of the meeting I was told, " Well, we really have some concerns about your cash flow ''. After hearing that, I felt strongly that they were simply looking for a reason not to do the loan and I reminded them of a request that I had made several times which was, " If you can not make me this loan, please deny me. '' And just as at other times, I was immediately assured that " That's not it ''. " These deals take time '' along with a handful of other recycled phrases. 

I can not say whether she failed to review all of the info in my file or if my old loan officer failed to provide current info, but it was clear to me at that moment that no progress had been made on my loan. This was further evidenced when she sent a follow-up email after the meeting where she attached the documents she had " on file '' for me. One of those documents was a preliminary plat, correctly labeled as " preliminary '' which had been replaced and shared with Simmons more than a year prior when it was amended to pass City Council. 

We concluded the meeting with me making a simple request which was that they provide me with an approval or a denial by XX/XX/XXXX. They both agreed but not before giving me the condition that I provide a plethora of new documentation including updated budgets, plat documents, out of pocket expenses to date, and copies of the presale agreements. Honestly, I knew it was busy work, but I cleared my schedule, went back to my office and did it anyway. The result was an extremely long email detailing all 16 of the attachments I had provided as well as a reminder to them of the promise they made to get me an answer by XX/XX/XXXX. 

The week went by. XX/XX/XXXX came and went with no correspondence. Another week went by and on XX/XX/XXXX I received an email from the loan officer saying that she had been trying to get in touch with me " over the last week. '' She stated " The bank is not going to be able to approve and your development deal and close within the timeline you specified. '' I was conducting a site tour that afternoon and had just missed 2 calls from her at XXXX p.m. and XXXX p.m. XXXX Exactly 5 minutes before her email claiming to have spent the past week trying to get in touch with me. ) I shared those details with her as well as the fact that I had not heard from anyone at Simmons since our meeting. I also explained that if it was her intention to deny my loan that she simply needed to deny it and that anything needed outside of that shouldn't be an issue because they already have all of my information. 

She then sent me an email apologizing for the confusion stating that the Market President was going to call me but that he ended up being released after giving his notice to leave the bank. She also offered a rebuttal to my claim that she had only called twice which was just minutes prior to her email in which she claims to have called my office phone and urged me to check my voicemail. I did check but found no voicemails from her. Additionally, my office phone rings directly to my cell and there was no evidence of a missed call from her outside of the 2 mentioned earlier.

She concluded her email by stating that she would have a " decline letter '' for me regarding the development loan and that she was meeting with an approval authority on Monday to discuss the terms of terming out my existing loan. At the time of this writing ( XX/XX/XXXX XXXX, I have not received a denial letter or any information on terming out my existing loan. I have not been contacted by her or anyone else at Simmons Bank.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation