Consumer complaint received 2022-08-09
Company: Innovative Mortgage Services, Inc.
State: FL
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: VA mortgage
Issue: Closing on a mortgage

Complaint:
I contacted Innovative Mortgage, XXXX XXXX Mortgage regarding a VA loan for the purchase of the Property. After receiving the initial loan estimate, I noticed that the broker fees were twice the Veterans Administration maximum allowed per the Veterans Administration guidelines. Specifically, the broker fees were in the amount of 2 %, whereby the maximum of allowed per VA guidelines is 1 %. When I notified the mortgage broker of this error and that the VA maximum 1 % percentage, the lender improperly conspired with XXXX to revise the purchase terms so that the mortgage paperwork would demonstrate a 1 % broker fee while still ultimately charging me the equivalent of a 2 % broker fee from my own funds. They " artificially '' reduced my initial deposit and coordinated with the seller to say that the funds were from the seller when in fact, they reduced my deposit in order to have the seller use my already deposited funds to a the 2 % broker fee. So, on paper, it would look like they abided by the law, but in reality they just forced me to pay over the maximum 1 % rule. 

At this juncture, I was left with no choice but to execute the Property purchase documents, under duress, as my Client had to close on the Property purchase by XX/XX/2022, or compensate the seller an additional {$12000.00} for the purchase price. As a result, I was coerced by XXXX Mortgage and XXXX to execute the Purchase paperwork with the improper brokerage fee that is in clear violation of Veterans Administration guidelines. This resulted in me paying an additional {$3200.00} for improper broker fees. 

Moreover, Innovative failed to lock in the loan at the appropriate rate when instructed to do as such. Accordingly, the quoted rate went from 4.75 % to 5.5 %. This equates to an additional {$180.00} in payment over the life of the loan which could be well over {$50000.00} during the loan period. 

I notified the lender and they have responded saying that they did not do anything wrong, when clearly they concocted a scheme to make me pay a 2 % broker fee when the VA doesn't allow this. Further, they caused me financial harm. After initially signing a floating lock dislcosure, I notified the broker to lock the loan, they said they would, they forgot and texted me saying that the rate had gone up from 4.75 % to 5.5 % - causing my payment to be {$180.00} higher per month. 

The response from the lender does NOT show the attached initial CD which shows they were charging XXXX points. And then they do not communicate in their response how they coordinated with XXXX XXXX to falsely show that XXXX XXXX paid 1 % seller credit. They did not. They used smoke and mirrors to reduce my deposit by {$3200.00} and show a fantom 1 % seller credit that XXXX homes did NOT pay for. They simply used my deposit of {$10000.00} and reduced it and had XXXX show a phantom credit only to make it look like XXXX homes paid a 1 % seller credit when in fact they did not. Which is in violation of the VA maximum 1 % borrower origination fee rules.

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