Consumer complaint received 2020-10-29
Company: AMERISAVE MORTGAGE CORPORATION
State: CA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Closing on a mortgage

Complaint:
I originally applied for a refinance on a 15 year loan, I locked the rate and verified with the loan officer that the rate was locked. She responded that it was indeed locked in. The loan officer insisted there is a {$500.00} fee for processing that the company must take, I repeatedly questioned why the fee needed to be taken when competitors did not take a similar fee, however since the rate was so competitive I agreed to it. 

At a later date ( XX/XX/XXXX ) we spoke again and there was an opportunity to switch into a 30 year loan. The loan officer provided me the options 30 year mortgages with various levels of points ( shown below ) I selected At this point I asked and verified terms of the loan with the loan officer and again verbally verified that it was locked. I received disclosures and e-signed them. I double checked with the loan officer that this would be my final rate and these would be my final points and she assured me this was the case. At each point during this transaction I was verbally assured that my late was locked. 

As of XX/XX/XXXX I got a new disclosure with additional points I would have to pay -- which is not what I agreed to with the loan officer. I texted her about that and she said she was locking the rate and not to worry about the changes. Later that day she claimed that there were fees of {$6600.00} in lender points I had to pay when the original documents i esigned had credits of {$1000.00} which were owed to me. 

When I confronted Amerisave about this issue they claimed the rate was not locked even though the loan officer assured me throughout the process it was locked, including in the text attached. After talking it over she mentioned she would discuss it with her manager. They decided then to cut the lender. points from {$7000.00} to {$3500.00}, again a {$4500.00} difference from the rate we agreed upon. I confronted them again and this time the officer mentioned she spoke with her manager and they could reduce it {$6000.00} in points to {$1000.00}. However this is still a {$2000.00} between {$1000.00} and XXXX, out of my pocket. It is due to these deceptive lending practices I am filing this complaint. 

When I asked about the change in points, I was told by the lender " don't worry about that, I will go ahead and change that '' -- as if it was a mistake on her end that I was receiving this new disclosure. This was obviously intentional, and no effort was made to change it. The only actions that were taken were them negotiating so they could get most of that money out of me.

This complaint matches tactics used in https : //www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-orders-amerisave-to-pay-19-3-million-for-bait-and-switch-mortgage-scheme/ The fact that the officer could go to her manager and discuss my situation and bring down the rates indicates to me that they could sell this loan at the -1002 points and they were attempting to keep the rest as profit for the company. Two rounds of negotiation makes sense for buying cars, where you know what you are up against. However a mortgage refinance is supposed to be a fixed transaction, similar to buying things at the grocery store vs a flea market. 

In addition the lender has again marked up {$650.00} to XXXX appraisal management company -- which is 49 % owned by Amerisave. These fees are exorbitant for appraisal that took a 10 minute walkthrough of the property. Also the title company used XXXX has a very poor rating from the XXXX  and is also exorbitantly expensive. The additional fees attached are not competitive. 

Attachments below include all communications with the loan officer, as well as the original estimate XX/XX/XXXX for the rate I believed I had locked.

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