Consumer complaint received 2019-11-04
Company: Lima One Capital, LLC
State: GA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Other type of mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
This complaint is against XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, South Carolina. This lender financed the purchase of a Buy and Hold Rental investment property I acquired back in XXXX of XX/XX/XXXX 
They also approved a $ XXXX construction loan for the property. XXXX my down payment of $ XXXX - They rolled both loans into a single note, so I make a XXXX mortgage payment ( principal and interest ) each month. The problem is with the construction loan. 

1. Once I got approval for the loans, I asked my loan XXXX and the broker who found this lender several times for the terms and guidelines for draw on the construction loan. No response- which should have been a red flag at the time but I chalked it up to them being busy. I asked a final time just before closing day and the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX responded saying " After you close you'll be able to login to your dashboard and get those details ''. After closing, I did what he said and to my surprise I found out the construction loan was actually a Reimbursement Loan. My contractors were waiting for a XX/XX/XXXX % down payment before they could start, I had no money after dropping $ XXXX and a construction loan that seemed worthless. I called and spoke to a representative at XXXX XXXX explaining the bind these terms were putting me in and how much it would delay my project if I had to find money to pay for the work first, then wait for them to re-imburse me. All I got was a recital of their policy and the rep telling me there was nothing he could do. 
2. The other problem was they had pre-populated a list of construction line items with amounts they would re-imburse me for them. The numbers were way off and several items didn't seem to account for labor just materials. I called back and spoke to my rep to let her know and she said, " I'll give you one time to change the list but whatever # XXXX you put in you'll have to live with it. '' I asked, but what if we come in under on something or go over the amount allotted? Will I be able to reconcile and move excess cash to other categories. She said no. I pleaded with her to give us the flexibility we needed and allow me to plug in actual cost after the work is done and in the end as long as we didn't go over the $ XXXX there shouldn't be a problem. She said no, " Our policy doesn't allow us to do that. 

3. When I tried to get a draw for over $ XXXX - she sent an email saying she could only reimburse for about $ XXXX because what I indicated had been finished was not. This is according to photos sent by an inspector they send to the house each time I request a draw whom they deduct a {$200.00} fee from my loan to pay. I had to get my contractors on a call with her to clear it up and it turns out the bank 's definition of finished differed from my contractors -- yet no where did the bank have in writing what any definitions were. It just seemed to be whatever my rep thought she saw in the pictures and it was apparent during the call she didn't even understand what she was looking at. She agreed to increase the re-imbursement amount by a few thousand dollars but it still was not the full amount. Using consumer credit lines, I purchased cabinets and appliances that were deeply discounted because they fit into the budget designated by XXXX XXXX - only to be told that although they are on site at the property, I can not be re-imbursed until they are installed. Without the full reimbursements, that was more cash I had to find somewhere to keep my contractors going and to pay on the credit lines. 
4. I wrote an email and sent to XXXX XXXX managers and my loan XXXX explaining that the terms of this loan are going to cause my project to come to a halt and I pleaded with them to help me by adjusting their policy and releasing the funds. They refused. 

5. Then on the next draw request - it happened again - the loan XXXX refused to reimburse me for the amount I requested. This time my construction project did stop because my workers could not continue without payment which was already slow. It became painfully clear to me that this lender was not the real estate partner they advertise. And although I have not missed a payment -- I feel they are trying to set me up to fail so they can take my property. 
6. The final straw happened a few days ago, when after I was finally able to get more money to get things moving again - I submitted request for a draw. The inspector came on Thursday. Friday I called XXXX XXXX to ask if they could XXXX me a reimbursement that day because my contractors were willing to work on the weekend if I could send payment for some materials. My loan XXXX recited policy again and said she would get me the reimbursement Monday or Tuesday of the next week. In real estate, time is money and this lender has purposefully cost me time and money again and again. My contractors said they would have been finished in 3 months had the money situation been correct. We are now at the 7 month mark and counting. My project is in limbo because the bank is still holding over half of my construction loan funds ... meanwhile I'm paying principal and interest as if I have all the money -- when I don't. This is grossly unfair for any business calling themselves a lender and partner to ANY customer.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation