Consumer complaint received 2018-02-07
Company: TEAM USA MORTGAGE L.L.C.
State: IA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: FHA mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
> My husband and I have been renting our house for six years. We finally are in a position where we wanted to look into purchasing our first home together. I was referred to team USA mortgage and came in contact with a loan officer named XXXX XXXX. 
> XXXX contacted me on XX/XX/2018 and I gave him all my information over the phone to start the process. He was also given my bank statements and check stubs and I told him I was working on getting my XXXX collected. 
> On Friday, XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX, he asked that I sign a release form. I ended up calling him and we discussed that my credit score was a XXXX and I needed to be at a 620 so to do that I need to pay off two credit cards and my credit score could be ran by a rapid rescore so we can continue on with the process. He then informed me I needed to pay a medical bill and since it was over {$2000.00} due to interest I would need to come up with that at the time of closing. That is the first Ive ever heard of that as most places dont look at your medical history when determining a mortgage loan. I reached out to my realtor and discuss the issue with him and I wrote XXXX back the same day at XXXX XXXX in an email that we will have that at the time of closing and move forward with the process. 
> On Saturday, XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX XXXX text me stating he needed the authorization form signed and completed. I text back at XXXX XXXX  and informed him that I was out of town for my sons basketball game and will get that to him ASAP. 
> > On Sunday, XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX I received an alarming text message from number XXXX. This is not a number I know and ended up being a complete stranger who wrote the following : > Hey XXXX, Team USA mortgage has your mortgage file up in a giant window in the skywalk, everything with SSN > Just FYI so you know, we told the security guard at XXXX XXXX > As anyone would do I thought about this for a moment because I really thought it was a scam of some sort. And as I really got to processing what the words were they had my name they knew I applied for loan at a particular company and decided to look into this further. 
> On Sunday, XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX I called the number back gave them my name and told him I received a strange message and wanted to know what it was about. This gentleman stated he was walking in the skywalk and happened to walk past team USA mortgage and seen a 45 to 50 inch TV monitor with information on it. He stopped in his tracks and said to his partner he was walking with and said can you believe that is someones mortgage information on that screen piercing through a glass window oh my XXXX. This person took my phone number and name off of the screen and contacted me to give me a heads up that my information was displayed in that security was alerted. This person did state that he contacted security and they were uncertain as to what to do for this incident. The gentleman said shouldnt you just unplug the screen so her information isnt viewable anymore? 
> On XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX I decided to go to XXXX XXXX and visit USA team mortgage myself. I had to investigate this on my own and see what and how this person was talking about. When I arrived And seen how big the TV screens were and the set up of this location my heart sank. I started taking pictures and videos and XXXX who was the security officer on duty interrupted me. I told her my name is XXXX not my information was present on two different screens. She stated yes I am aware of that I was notified and one screen was unplugged yet the other screen was still plugged in with my information showing. She said I can let you in the office and I said please I want the other screen that was unplugged to have it plugged back in so I can see what contents were viewable so I could take additional pictures and get additional footage of what everyone was able to see. I do want to inform you that my information stayed up on one of the screens from Friday around XXXX until Sunday at XXXX when I arrived and had them take down the additional screen which had all my confidential information. This was a golden ticket for somebody who wanted to take my identity and now I am at risk for the next several years of my life. This information can change my date of birth my marital status Social Security number address phone number loan amount and files on the left-hand side of the screen along with the footprints on the top of the screen of who was in the file which confirms it was XXXX XXXX XXXX. 
> I did asked to speak to head to security to get additional details as to when this was reported why the information on the second screen wasnt taken down but was removed on one how something like this was not identified earlier and that a stranger had to come to me with this information clearly was able to get it by how was displayed is very disturbing. This is a hub in the skywalk for several businesses downtown. Not only are there businesses but people visiting these businesses but a lot of homeless people that roam these buildings constantly. 
> While I was there I reached out to my realtor and sent him pictures and messages while I was there. I wanted to get footage and see things for my own eyes so that way when I contacted the mortgage company they couldnt go back and say that this never happened. 
Once I send the information my realtor wanted to talk to the branch manager first names XXXX XXXX. My realtor called him and never returned his call. Come Monday morning, I called XXXX myself and surprisingly he answered the phone. When he pick the phone up I told him who I was and then I had a very serious issue I needed to address with him and he informed me youll have five minutes to talk to me because I have a customer that is going to be coming in here and I wanted to let you go. I told him what had happened with my information being displayed and he said that was not his issue and I needed to contact XXXX who was the one who had the information displayed. He said at this point there was nothing he could do for me personally. I informed him how unprofessional that was and how something like this should never have been displayed on the computer screen even for a matter of seconds due to the high level of confidential information and the setting of the location. He threw XXXX under the bus and said that hes never had authorization to even go onto those computers but regardless no business should be conducted on those screens. If its happening to me its happening to other people as well and they just haven found out about it. XXXX finally said OK what I will do just for you, its {$79.00} per month but Ill add XXXX onto your account for the next couple months and nothing happens to your information. I told him it probably will need to be longer than a couple months because these people that take information can sit on this for several years and then decide to use the information. XXXX made it seem as if he was doing me a courtesy for the issue that happened at hand. Once I said thats all youre going to do he then said I really dont need your business! I said you dont need my business? This appalled me. I said Wow how unprofessional I decided to go elsewhere with my loan. I refuse to use your company. He said my appointment is here, Ill have to let you go and youll need to call XXXX. Hell have to explain this to you. I said before you let me off the phone I do want you to know that I did go get my own video footage and pictures so you cant come back and say that this never happened so you might want to get security on the information because I was also escorted into your office and have them unlock it to get additional footage I needed. He said you did what? I told him again and he said XXXX would be reprimanded. He let me go off the phone. 
On XX/XX/2018 at XXXX XXXX messaged me via text and said he told you got a hold of XXXX ? I tried calling you back and it went straight to voicemail. 
Unfortunately there was no missed call from XXXX not a voicemail left that he tried to call back. 
Then, at XXXX XXXX did try to call me. I missed the call. 
I returned Chads call later that evening around XXXX. XXXX said look I dont know how to say this because I dont have an answer as to how this happened but I truly am sorry. I mustve hit the Ault in control tab and something happened on the computer and it locked up. I informed him regardless if he hit a wrong key he should never have done business on such a computer. He totally agreed and said I can help you with the rest of your loan and told him that XXXX said he didnt need my business and threw you under the beds that you shouldnt have even had authorization to go in that room. He said he did but was sorry and told him we were pulling our loan and going straight to the lender. He said Im sorry I messed up. It will never happen again. 

On XX/XX/2018 later in the evening, I left an message for XXXX XXXX who is the CEO of Team USA Mortgage. He called me the next day and we played phone tag for 2 days. I left a voicemail saying something serious happened and wanted him on the phone for details and wasnt going to leave it in a message. By the time we talked, which was XX/XX/2018, he got to hear from XXXX and XXXX on the issue. 
Sadly XXXX wasnt too empathetic towards the situation. He did say he was sorry and that that shouldnt of happened and that they both were getting a write up for the incident. I said just a write up? How about move your set up so this doesnt happen again? Clearly business is being conducted on XXXX screens and should never be! I did get confirmation from the CEO that that has already been addressed and that they had already took action on the situation. He told me that they had move the screen so that way this didnt happen to anybody else. I stated put yourself in my shoes if this were to happen to you what would you do and he said that he would murder somebody. I said I wouldnt go that far and Im actually being pretty cool about the situation but I did say I wanted some kind of document sufficing that XXXX was put onto my account as agreed-upon by XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. He informed me that it was never set up. Wait ... what?? You mean to tell me that XXXX was never put on to my account when I got his promise that he was doing it that day? XXXX ended up paying for a one year subscription to XXXX for me and set it up on XX/XX/XXXX. That mean since when the incident happened my information was exposed at risk for an additional five days. Apparently XXXX got the XXXX for 2 days the day after he talked with me and he couldnt do this. If he reported this like he should have then I wouldnt have had to suffer even more! Im upset by the lack of carelessness and action to do anything. 
XX/XX/XXXX, at XXXX, I met XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  news. She is a journalist. We sat down and went over all the facts and shared my story and evidence with her. Once we were done, we decided to go upstairs and see their changes they made since they promised me they took actions moved the screens. To both of our amazement we went upstairs and the set up is in the exact same place! They never change the thing. In fact as we got there the news crew ended up taking pictures of two individual desks that had files all over them along with loose papers that were exposed and she said XXXX that is somebodys drivers license sitting right there. She took pictures herself and which if you need them you could always reach out to her and she can give you the time and date stamp for the new pictures to show that this was never taken care of. This is sickening nothing can be done about this. This is a very serious and big deal and nobody seems like they care. Im treated as if oops Im sorry, this happens all the time. I want people aware this business is not safe and information is exposed and at a huge risk. More importantly mortgage brokers get to work from home day take your information to XXXX they can also go work out of their home imagine how many places your information truly is and the lack of carelessness here. This is very scary! Some changes need to happen and laws need to be enforced to keep customers information safeguarded. 
Im hoping you can intervene and make this business practice safe for others because thousands of other people are at risk and they just dont know it. They do business on these screens! There are a few other computers and laptops but no protected by confidential glass. The glass is crystal clear and you can see every action theyre doing. Im fortunate enough that a stranger told me about this and I get to take action. From my heart, they shouldnt be in business and the guys who did this at the branch shouldnt work there. I also told the CEO XXXX, that XXXX has a very unfavorable reputation in the area and he gets people in the door by saying theyre credit score can be a XXXX and we can get you a mortgage. When people apply, they find out they have to bring it up considerably. So many wrong things on their behalf and done on so many levels! 
For more details please reach out to me and I will be happy to explain in further detail about my experience. Please see attached videos and pictures to justify my claim. Some of the videos won't load as they are over your 10MB requirement. I would like to send these in an additional file if possible to add to this claim. Please address how to do this. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX

Company public response: Company believes complaint is the result of an isolated error
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation