Consumer complaint received 2019-08-31
Company: VANDYK MORTGAGE CORPORATION
State: GA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Closing on a mortgage

Complaint:
XX/XX/2018, I received a mortgage pre-approval letter from VanDyk Mortgage Corporation for {$270000.00}. The actual final sales price of my home was {$470000.00}. With closing cost/etc., I needed {$210000.00} to close, which I had in cash in my bank account. I was set to close on XX/XX/2018. ( See Documents 1A :  Pre-approval letter ; Documents 1B-1K : XXXX XXXX XXXX Statements for XX/XX/2018 & XX/XX/2018 ; Documents 1L-1N : Sources of funds, coinciding with deposits to XXXX XXXX XXXX account in XXXX & XXXX ; Document 7A : Settlement Statement ). 

XX/XX/2018, my realtor called to see if I had heard from my loan officer, as she had not. She was concerned because closing was only five days away. I had not heard from him so we both agreed to try to reach him. XX/XX/XXXX, I spoke with the loan officer, who said the closing was not on his calendar. He told the realtor the same thing. The loan officer rushed my file to the underwriter, who approved me for a mortgage of {$150000.00}, substantially lower than the {$270000.00} stated on the original pre-approval letter. 

I asked the loan officer how I could be approved for two substantially different loan amounts using the exact same information. Without qualifying his statement, he said that I had made errors in reporting my income, a claim he could not substantiate, but said if I wanted the $ XXXX loan I needed to come up with additional monthly income of {$1800.00}. I told him I only had my 401K, which was included in the documentation I had provided for the initial $ XXXX pre-approval. He told me to call my 401K plan administrator and ask them to set-up a monthly distribution of {$1800.00} and that would suffice. I called the plan administrator and they said no such option exists. They said I could pull down {$1800.00} per month at my own discretion. The underwriter said that would not qualify as monthly income. For that reason, the XX/XX/XXXX closing had to be cancelled. 

The Purchase and Sales Agreement, which I signed, imposed a closing cancellation fee of {$150.00} per day until the loan closed. As well, I was at risk of losing my earnest and options money, totaling over $ XXXX, if I couldnt come up with the additional money to close my loan. ( See Doc 2A-2N : Purchase & Sales Agreement ; Doc 3A & 3B : Earnest/Options Money ; Doc 4A-4D ). 
Although not formally part of the purchase agreement, I was financially obligated to XXXX XXXX, with whom I had signed an agreement to put in a pool and complete concrete and tile work in my courtyard. The total cost was {$44000.00} with a non-refundable down-payment of {$3000.00}. ( See Documents 4E and 4F : Contract and copy of cancelled check ). 
With the loan amount reduced to $ XXXX, I now needed {$300000.00} to close my loan. Based on the initial approved amount of $ XXXX, I would have only needed {$210000.00}. The reduced loan amount created a cash shortfall of almost $ XXXX. To allow time to secure the shortfall, my realtor worked with the loan officer and builder ( seller ) to get the closing date moved to XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/2018, I withdrew $ XXXX from my XXXX XXXX 401K to cover the shortfall. ( See Documents 6A/6B :  Itemized Fee Worksheet ; Documents 6C-6G : XXXX XXXX XXXX  XX/XX/2018 bank statement ). 

XX/XX/2018 ( XXXX XXXX ), I received a text from the loan officer stating that I was cleared to close. I responded, " So there is nothing more that I need to do, such as signing updated docs, etc.? ". The loan officer responded, " No we are completed ''. Later the same day at XXXX XXXX, I received notice from the loan officer that VanDyk Compliance informed him that I had not eSigned the documents they sent me XX/XX/XXXX, which were the documents that had not been updated, which was the reason I sought clarification in the XX/XX/XXXX ( XXXX XXXX ) text. I specifically asked if I needed to sign updated docs or do anything else. The loan officer replied, No, we are completed. ( See Docs 5E 5G : Notification of loan clearance ; Docs 5A-5D : Timeline that led to cancellation ). 

That error, as well as the required 3-Day Right of Rescission, forced the cancellation of the XX/XX/XXXX closing. This was the second time the closing date had to be cancelled due to lender error and/or negligence. As a result, I stood to lose, at minimum, $ XXXX ( {$35000.00} in earnest & options + {$3000.00} in down-payment for the pool + {$150.00} per day in delayed closing fees ) if I didnt purchase the house. 

Further, the cancelled closing also posed a new challenge. My apartment lease was expiring in XX/XX/2018. 

Never once did the loan officer apologize or admit to any wrongdoing for the ongoing and extremely costly mistakes he made at my expense. In fact, he blamed me for both cancelled closings and even became vile, returning calls at his convenience, as well as falsely accusing my realtor and I of calling him out of him name. It was a devastating experience. No reasonable person would continue to do business with or expose his or herself to any further calamity with such a lender. For the stated reasons, as well as an expiring rental lease, I reluctantly pulled another {$150000.00} from my 401K to close on my home. This would afford me to protect all the assets I stood to lose and do a cash closing. ( See Document 6C-6G : XXXX XXXX XXXX XX/XX/2018 bank statement ). 

Due to the loan officers errors, I pulled {$360000.00} from my 401K. Based on the initial pre-approved loan amount of $ XXXX, I would not have had to withdraw any funds from my 401K. I finally did a 100 % cash closing XX/XX/XXXX. ( See Documents 6C-6G : XXXX XXXX XXXX XX/XX/2018 bank statement ; Document 7A : Settlement Statement ). 

As a result of having to draw down {$360000.00} from my 401K, my 2018 annual income increased XXXX, as did my tax burden. For 2018 I paid a total of {$130000.00} in income taxes ( three-times my annual income of $ XXXX ) for monies withdrawn from my 401K. $ XXXX was withheld by the plan administrator and I paid an additional $ XXXX when I filed my 2018 tax returns. ( See Documents 8A-8B : Forms 1099-R ; Document 8C-8D :  Additional 2018 taxes paid ). 

I sought properties and signed a purchase agreement based on a loan amount of $ XXXX for which the lender said I was qualified. I am seeking full financial restitution for the adverse monetary tax impact resulting from lender errors, as well as any and all remedies for which I might be entitled by law.

Company public response: Company believes the complaint is the result of a misunderstanding
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation