Consumer complaint received 2021-02-05
Company: AMERISAVE MORTGAGE CORPORATION
State: FL
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
Subsequent to conducting some interest rate research on XXXX, my wife and I contacted Amerisave on XX/XX/XXXX, and were connected to loan originator # XXXX. Amidst looking at condo units for a vacation property, our goal was to get pre-approved in order to make an offer on a property we had found. We spoke with the originator for a lengthy period, during which time we answered every question openly and provided an enormous amount of information about our company ( self-employment ), our income, our savings, our lack of debt, and our desire for a 15-year conventional mortgage. From the start of the conversation, Amerisave was quick to convey that they could help us and everything looked and sounded good. We continued to provide information and were told that we needed to pay their {$500.00} application fee to initiate an application and get our rate locked. For reference, the conventional rate that was offered was 2.000 % with {$460.00} for a loan discount fee. This was slightly lower than any of the other companies we had spoken with and, as such, we paid the fee that same night. Shortly after XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, we were provided with a pre-approval email and an eight ( 8 ) page Amerisave Loan Detail Report that spelled out the loan in excruciating detail. Also, for reference, the Amerisave rate lock was valid until XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX. The shorter lock is due to the fact that Amerisave is quick to tell you that purchase loans move through a lot faster than refis. 

With the letter in-hand, we made an offer that evening on the unit we were interested in. Later that same evening, we were informed by the sellers realtor that an offer had already been accepted by the homeowner and our offer would be regarded as a backup contract. In the meantime, we were already working on providing lots of documents to Amerisave via their my.amerisave.com portal. Please be aware that you will only like their portal if you enjoy doing the same tasks over and over again. Example : Youll upload a tax return, submit it, and the system will ask you to upload and submit the exact same tax return again. Now, multiply this by 40-50 documents ( over time ) and youll see a portion of the headaches encountered. Anyway, even with the backup contract in-place, we kept looking in the same building, managed to find a different unit on XX/XX/XXXX, and made another offer that was accepted. Based on the accepted contract, we immediately contacted our loan originator at Amerisave and asked to reduce the loan amount by approximately 10 % based on the new purchase price. That request was taken care of and we were presented ( via the portal ) with a new loan estimate that was no longer 2.000 % with {$460.00} in fees. At no point was the premise of ANY change whatsoever covered with us on the phone. In order to keep the 2.000 %, we NOW had to pay Amerisave {$3400.00} in points. Confused and upset, we called the originator and asked where the new and substantial fees came from. We were told that the modified loan amount was now under {$300000.00} and that the 2.000 % interest rate was no longer available and the only way to get it was to pay the points. It was clear to us that the Amerisave Rate Lock means absolutely XXXX as the rules are re-written as you go. We explicitly asked to speak to the originators manager as we felt it was a bait and switch. We were provided with his name and phone number, and to this day, we have yet to receive a call back from anyone. With no option but to pay, we continued down the road with a contract closing date of XX/XX/XXXX or earlier. Over the next several weeks we continued to provide everything that Amerisave asked for ( often within minutes of the request ), but the communications from their end just got worse and worse. Heres what we encountered : ( a ) we had no answers as to where our loan stood process wise ; ( b ) we became very accustom to leaving messages on voicemail and never getting a call back ; ( c ) we sent emails that were not responded to until 24-hours later at best ; and ( d ) we got used to our questions not being answered no matter how many times we asked and/or rephrased the same question. Now, heres where the FUN started. The appraisal was completed on XX/XX/XXXX. Amerisave uses a company called XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX for their appraisal activities. Bottom line, do your homework on XXXX and youll see some serious matters. We received the results of the appraisal on XX/XX/XXXX and the appraised value was drastically lower than any prior comparable sold properties. There were a multitude of issues in the appraisal and we did challenge it with well researched facts and a prior appraisal from XX/XX/XXXX. Bottom line, the appeal went nowhere and Amerisave flat out refused to conduct a second appraisal, even if we paid for it. Again, the only answer from Amerisave was more money out of pocket, only in this case to the tune of $ XXXX more. As the days moved on, we asked time after time if everything was on track to close on the XXXX. Again, to this day we never received a response to the questions. On XX/XX/XXXX, at XXXX ( the same day the HUD was theoretically due to us ), we received an email from Amerisave stating that our file had been submitted to underwriting for approval. Contract with the seller was set to expire on XX/XX/XXXX, of which Amerisave clearly knew. Further, our rate lock ( I use that term loosely for reasons above ) was set to expire on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX. We crafted an email and sent it 12 minutes before our rate lock expired. The email expressed that we did not believe Amerisave was going to complete our loan, conduct the mandatory disclosures, and close our loan this week. We asked what was going to happen to our rate lock at XXXX. Somehow, we received an email response ( within 9 minutes ) that indicated : Lock extension approved and being sent out now. My manager is pushing the upper management team to help get the loan through our system. Stay positive! We did not receive the rate lock extension, but my wife did receive a phone call at XXXX requesting bank statements that Amerisave already had and 2 months of credit card statements. During this same call, my wife was informed that all of this was necessary even though our debt-to-income ratio was extremely low at 12 %. We were also told that our XXXX income was completely unusable due to our XXXX taxes not being filed yet. As such, Amerisave was only willing to use our XXXX income, and if we choose to do that, we would need to provide XXXX financials. Lastly, the loan originator expressed to my wife that we should have never been approved based on our XXXX income as taxes have not yet been filed ( who files their taxes 30 days after the XXXX XXXX? ). Made zero sense but bottom line, Amerisave was incredibly unprofessional and dishonest, played games every step of the way, and at XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX ( 4 minutes before the deadline for providing us with the HUD disclosure ), denied our loan via a phone call. While we were still able to close on the home ( via conversion to a cash deal ) on XX/XX/XXXX, it was not until shortly after XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX when Amerisave finally produced a denial letter with a reason of " Excessive Obligations in Relation to Income. '' Clearly, this was/is not the case as a result of the aforementioned 12 % Debt to Income ratio, but Amerisave obviously needed some reason. They are by far the worst company we have ever dealt with and our hope is that this filing saves just one person/family from the nightmares we encountered.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief