Consumer complaint received 2017-07-26
Company: Flatonia Investments, LLC
State: TX
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
I am going to disclose that this was a bit of time ago, but we recently came across this new information when trying to sell our home.
XXXX  - We closed on our first home. The inventory home we purchased was built in XXXX. As first time homebuyers, we lived in XXXX XXXX, XXXX  and purchased a home in XXXX, XXXX. We admit we were ignorant to the home buying process and fully trusted all parties involved during this process, especially since we were residing in another state. We put {$30000.00} down on the home ( 20 % ) to qualify for a conventional loan.
XXXX - We received our annual property tax form. It notated that since we did not pay the correct fees for the home in XXXX, our monthly mortgage amount was doubling. This was an inventory home that had already been established for almost a year. XXXX XXXX XXXX did not check the current posted property taxes before creating the closing documents and submitted the property taxes for an empty lot instead. Therefore upon receiving our property taxes in XXXX our mortgage almost doubled to pay for the lack of property taxes for the year prior. We were unable to afford $ XXXXmonth mortgage at this time. We immediately contacted our Realtor XXXX XXXX ( XXXX XXXX ). She immediately informed our mortgage lender contact XXXX XXXX ( Envoy Mortgage ) of the issue. XXXX  immediately investegated the situation. He later explained that his office entered in the property taxes for an empty lot vs. the established/built lot by mistake. I even received an email ( which I still have ) from XXXX XXXX ( President, XXXX ) apologzing for the error. In the email he clearly states " When drawing the final papers an error did occur in our corporate office in that they used the tax amount from the previous year instead of the new estimated tax rate and dollars. Everyone is agreement that someone from the title, mortgage or real estate side should have caught this issue. I am also working with XXXX on modification of branch office procedures to identify this issue '' thus admitting it was their error.
Due to this error on their behalf and us unable to afford $ XXXXmonth at the time, we were in jeopardy of losing our home AND the {$30000.00} we had initially put down on the home. This was a very upsetting and traumatic time for us. We were left with the choice of losing our home or to refinance. We clearly did not want to lose our home, nor our down payment, so we had no choice but to refinance ... .more like a " forced '' refinance in the situation that we were put in by Envoy Mortgage.
Since XXXX and XXXX XXXX admitted that this was in their error, we recieved multiple phone calls and emails from their offices. XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX informed us that since this error was their fault which resulted in us being in this predicament, they said they would pay the refinancing and closing costs to refinance our home. Again, they were doing this since we would have never been in this situation due to their error.
At first XXXX XXXX seemed so helpful in assisting us with the refinancing. Telling us what we needed, etc.. Then one email I mentioned about getting a Real Estate attorney to help assist. From there on we started to get a lot of push-back and attitude from XXXX XXXX. He was n't responding to our emails and communication in general was minimal. XXXX - XXXX sent us a Good Faith Estimate. Due to the current situation we were forced in, we had questions. I asked why we were going from a Conventional Loan to refinancing to an FHA Loan. I also asked why we were offered a 4.5 % interest rate from another company and his interest rate was 5.875 %. I have a copy of the email I sent him and his response. Please keep in mind there was a lot going on. Especially being so ignorant of the process, we were very confused throughout this whole ordeal.
Here are the responses : We originally had a Conventional 30 Year Fixed loan and I see you gave us a GFE for a FHA 30 Year Fixed. I was just wondering why you chose to go FHA vs. Conventional. Either way, would you please send us a GFE for a Conventional 30 Year Fixed?
( his response ) I would greatly appreciate it. Since last year the loan guidelines for credit scores have tightened considerably. The pricing I have for a Conventional Loan is 5.875 % and would require at least 2 points paid as part of closing costs. FHA requires a minimum score of XXXX, better rates, even paying mortgage insurance.
** Here he is convincing us that we do not qualify for a conventional loan any longer due to our credit score. However, it should never have been an actual refinance, they should have fixed the original paperwork or shown that we did put down 20 %. Instead, the way they did it was treat it as if we went to any banking facility and refinanced. On the new Settlement Statment, we paid {$2200.00} in PMI and then paid more in PMI over the years. How do we not qualify for a conventional loan when we put {$30000.00} down on the home?
We received a GFE from another mortgage company. We would love to stay with you and keep our business with you ( especially since you opened our original loan ), but they offered us a 4.5 % interest rate and their rate/fees are lower than the ones you are charging. Can you match the 4.5 % interest while keeping the points charged at 0? ( with no origination fee ).
( his response ) I can not match the 4.500 % with 0 points and giving you a {$500.00} lender credit. If they can deliver on that you should jump on it right away. Tell them to lock that rate and get moving on it. I would love to keep you as customers, but I want to see you with the absolute best deal. Can you send their GFE to me just to make sure we are comparing apples to apples?
** Again, we were very confused going through this ordeal. You can tell by the questions I was asking. Here he is telling us to take the other offer. Us forgetting that Envoy & XXXX  had offered to pay for the refinancing fees and the closing costs. It was a win-win situation for them. If we walk away, we were now someone else 's problem, if we stay, they trick us and pay themselves again and roll all the fees they promised into the new loan. Again, win-win.
We were so ignorant, they knew it, and they took full advantage of it. So, they " accidentally '' made a huge error on our paperwork, forcing us to refinance with them, charging us at a high percentage rate, and then roll all the refinancing fees and closing costs ( that they were supposed to pay for ) into the new loan, thus paying themselves AGAIN! This kind of behavior really leads me to believe this was predatory lending. This was wrong on so many levels. On the XXXX Settlement statement they charged us again on Appraisal fees. The new Settlement Statement should have been based on loan to value.
After contacting Envoy Mortgage ( XXXX XXXX XXXX  changed their name to Envoy Mortgage in XXXX ), they led me on for 2 months saying they were researching only to send me a letter telling me, in other words, too bad. On one statement, they said that they spoke with our Realtor XXXX XXXX and she said she could not recall the issue. It just so happens that XXXX called me the day that Envoy called her. She told me that she was suprised to hear from them and asked me what was going on. She said that she told them that she clearly remembers everything and that XXXX XXXX had told me that they were covering the closing costs and refinancing fees. She told them that she quit doing business with XXXX XXXX  because what he did was not right or ethical. She told Envoy that they should fix the issue. So why would XXXX call me out of nowhere to tell me about her conversation with Envoy, yet Envoy claims that XXXX does not recall anything. Also, another portion of their statement, they said that they never admitting that it was their fault. As I have noted earlier, XXXX XXXX clearly admits that this was their error. So I 'm not sure where they are getting their facts from. They said that since we received a lower interest rate on the refinance it was in better benefit for us.
They clearly want us gone, but we feel that a company like this should not be doing business. Predatory lending is not acceptable or ethical behavior. I 'm scare to think whom else they have done these " accidental '' mistakes to and how many people have actually caught them, like ourselves. They have a great scheme going on.
Please help. We not only paid thousands in closing costs & refinancing fees, but we also paid even more in PMI after putting {$30000.00} down ( 20 % ) on a home. They admittedly messed up our paperwork, forced us to refinance our home, and then rolled all their fees and the other fees into the new loan. How is this ehtical behavior? I have multiple emails from XXXX XXXX and some from XXXX XXXX  from back in XXXX. I also have copies of BOTH our Settlement Statements.
Thank You.

Company public response: Company disputes the facts presented in the complaint
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation