Consumer complaint received 2019-04-25
Company: NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
State: AZ
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I applied for a mortgage with Navy Federal through the online application portal. I received an email confirming my application submission with a loan number XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX ( NMLS # XXXX ) as the loan officer assigned to my case. 

Ms. XXXX and I exchanged a few emails on XX/XX/XXXX and she asked me several questions that were redundant of information already provided within my application. She also asked me questions that I felt were inappropriate and insulting. Specifically, she asked : 1 ) are you full time or part time?, 2 ) hourly or salaried?, 3 ) what is your hourly rate or salaried amount?, 4 ) what is the physical work address you report daily?, and 5 ) what is the price range you are looking at? what is the lowest you would consider being approved for? 

Questions 1-3 are all answered within the online application, and in fact, any information that is missing when completing the online application prevents submission of the application for review at NFCU. Question 4 is not asked on the application, however the answers to the first 5 questions are all found within the application and supplemental documents that were uploaded to my account and/or emailed directly to Ms. XXXX. I also want to note that despite me informing Ms. XXXX that I had uploaded these documents ( W2, earning and leave statements, bank statements ) to the NFCU official portal, Ms. XXXX informed me that it would take longer for her to view them that way so I offered to email them. She did not warn me that email is not secure and that they should not be emailed, and instead, encouraged me to email them directly to her. 
On my application, I indicated that I was interested in a prequalification for {$380000.00}, so again, not sure why she asked the last two questions. Asking someone for the lowest amount that theyd consider is the opposite of what consumers seek for a prequalification, which is the maximum approved amount. Its also insulting to someone who makes more than {$120000.00} annually. 
My communications with Ms. XXXX were unpleasant. I felt she was rude to both me and my realtor and for that reason, we requested a different loan officer. She told me and my realtor that if the amount I needed was too high, her underwriters wouldnt even process the application, which made it seem that she simply did not wish to waster her time on my application at all. We sent an email asking to be reassigned to a different loan officer and as a result, her supervisor, XXXX XXXX ( NMLS # XXXX ), contacted me. Ms. XXXX informed me that she was reviewing my credit file and noticed that I had a short sale in XXXX, and that because of the short sale being within 3 years, I wouldnt qualify for NFCUs zero down payment loan. She went on to say that the requirement for zero money down loans with Navy Federal is four years from the date of the short sale. Ms. XXXX stated further that, anything within the 4 years required a 10 % down payment. Disappointed, I accepted the determination at that time and began looking at other options. Ms. XXXX canceled my application. 

The next day, however, I pulled my credit report and saw that Ms. XXXX, who stated she was looking at my credit report while we were speaking the previous day, was incorrect and that the date of my short sale was in XX/XX/XXXX, making it more than four years ago. I called her to tell her this and she then informed me that NFCU requires the short sale to be seven years prior. My realtor jumped into the conversation because at this point, we both felt as though she was making up reasons not to process my loan paperwork. I emailed Ms. XXXX a screenshot of my credit report from XXXX XXXX as well as the recording in which she clearly stated that the requirement is FOUR years and only then, did she agree to process my file. During our discussion on XX/XX/XXXX, Ms. XXXX stated that my credit report showed the disposition of the short sale in XXXX, which is incorrect. She also changed the entire guidelines that she explained the previous day, leading me to believe that she was making things up the entire time. 

My realtor requested that she send me the guidelines she was quoting and she sent an alleged excerpt of them, copied here : On Wednesday,XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX  MST, XXXX XXXX wrote : Hi Ms. XXXX, I am not able to provide copy Navy Federal guidelines ; however, this is Navy Federal Guideline for a Foreclosures : 7 years from the disbursement date, if the LTV/CLTV is greater than 90 % 4 years from the disbursement date, if the LTV/CLTV is 90 % or below 2 years from the disbursement date with extenuating circumstances and the LTV/CLTV is 90 % or below It is concerning that the guidelines provided by Ms. XXXX are for FORECLOSURES, not short sales. She also contacted me on XX/XX/XXXX and told me that my application was denied due to the seasoning of my foreclosure. I did not have a foreclosure and am concerned that she is using arbitrary guidelines to deny me credit. 

I record all my phone calls and have evidence to support everything within this complaint. I have also contacted Ms. XXXX supervisor, XXXX XXXX, who is supposedly unavailable today. I believe NFCU is discriminating against me.

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