Consumer complaint received 2018-10-01
Company: AmeriHome Mortgage Company, LLC
State: MD
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX i received an email from the mortgage company advertising a quick quote to refinance my existing mortgage. I clicked on the information in the email and was immediately contacted back by a loan officer.

The loan officer gave me a quote on the refinance to go from a conventional loan to a FHA loan at the same interest rate that i currently have at 4.25 %, she explained that i would need to buy down the loan points at {$2800.00} ( cash to close ) and that it would save me $ XXXX on my mortgage insurance premium ( advised not to pay my XX/XX/XXXX mortgage payment anfd to bring those funds to closing instead ). These were based on my credit score at the time of the closing of the original loan in XX/XX/XXXX. She explained that my only out of pocket cost would be the required appraisal. That seemed like a good option to do. 

She sent me the initial disclosures allowing them to pull my credit and etc. I immediately responded and we started the process XX/XX/XXXX with the expectation that settlement would happen prior to XX/XX/XXXX. 

I received the first actual loan disclosure on XXXX and noticed the cash to close amount was higher than agreed originally. the loan officer stated that the MIP up front cost was around {$6500.00} and that she had received approval from a higher up to take care of that cost. I requested that in writing and she sent me the email with her higher up agreeing to do that at the last point or at closing. so i agreed to sign those disclosures which also locked in the rate at 4.25 % until XX/XX/XXXX ( officially signed and sent back on XX/XX/XXXX ). 

After this, i did not hear anything from the mortgage company. i sent an email advising that i would be out of town starting on the XXXX so if they needed anything else from me to let me know. they advised everything was ok and still set to close by XX/XX/XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX i was contacted by phone by a loan processor needing information for a credit card for the appraisal. I called the loan processor 4 times from my vacation and had my mother call and leave a message while i was away as well to give them the information. 

I did not hear back from the loan processor again until XX/XX/XXXX in which he was given the credit card info for the appraisal. He advised again that we only needed to do the appraisal, and that was the last step so settlement would still occur by XX/XX/XXXX. The appraisal company contacted me XX/XX/XXXX and scheduled appraisal for XX/XX/XXXX. Appraisal came back XX/XX/XXXX with a higher value ( XXXX ). therefore they sent me new disclosures to update the value of property, and i sent back signed XX/XX/XXXX. AFter multiple calls and emails that i made asking about the status ( since we were nearing the end of the month and the mortgage company had been calling me for lack of payment, i was getting nervous ), i finally heard back from the processor that he hadnt been able to reach the insurance company XX/XX/XXXX. I knew that was odd and immediately reached out to them, i gave the processor the information. he came back and said he had been contacting the wrong persons so that would delay the closing until the first week in XX/XX/XXXX. So i paid the XX/XX/XXXX mortgage and requested the late fee be taken care of since they delayed the settlement. The loan officer requested the fees be removed. I was advised again not to pay the XX/XX/XXXX mortgage and to bring that to closing instead. 

After this, i heard nothing from the mortgage company for weeks. I contacted them multiple times asking what was going on. Finally heard back from the loan processor that he was working on getting my cash to close to a reasonable amount. I didnt understand that. Then i received an email XX/XX/XXXX with post closing disclosures. Since i was out of town, i could not see the records. On XX/XX/XXXX i saw the disclosures and saw that the amounts were off. It had a higher interest rate and the amount of cash to close was higher and final mortgage amount higher. i called and emailed about the changes. On XX/XX/XXXX i was sent new disclosures, so i actually thought maybe the other documents were a mistake. i heard back from the loan officer stating that they made the error that the property taxes were paid and they were planning to use that money from escrow etc etc, but never gave any info about the rate hike to 4.375 % i told her at that time, i agreed to our original agreement of 4.25 %, {$2800.00} at closing with total amount monthly at {$2600.00}. 

The difference over time would not be beneficial. I would end up having to pay the mortgage company tens of thousands of dollars more over the life of the loan and the fact that they tried to slip it to me without even advising me of the changes. just asking me set up the settlement date. 

I then requested that the original terms of the loan be honored for me to continue. 

They stated that i would need to have {$5000.00} at closing. 

At that point i advised that unless we could go forward with the agreed upon terms i could not continue. I also requested the appraisal fee to be given to me and the late fee for XX/XX/XXXX to be requested to be waived since i was advised not to pay while going through this process. I intended to go through with this refinance and it only did not happen because of their incompetence and lack of communication. Rates have increased now so i have now been put at a disadvantage and can no longer refinance and benefit me. Other companies were offering the same option but i figured that since i was already with them, it would be easier to stay with them. Now i am out f {$520.00} and still have the same mortgage and unable to refinance any where else at this time. 
They advised they would not give me the money for the appraisal and that i would either have to take a rate increase or bring an additional {$2200.00} to closing. 

There was no material facts that changed for me, and of no fault of me that this did not happen that should have affected the process ( in fact my credit score went up by 30 points from her original assessment ). I was willing to continue with the process at the original terms.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation