Consumer complaint received 2019-02-25
Company: Mortgage Research Center, LLC
State: IL
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: VA mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX I applied for a mortgage with XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. Initially on XXXX I told XXXX XXXX Loan Officer with XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX that I was having a dispute with my current landlord XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and that they were trying to evict me because I would not use their third-party utility service provider and pay extra fees. He ran my credit and said that I would need a credit score of XXXX at, at least two of the bureaus and XXXX XXXX would give me a loan. One thing for certain I do not owe XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX any money, that was clear on the order that the money matter was dismissed. If they want the money they must go before a judge and provide proof that I had violated the terms of the lease as of XX/XX/XXXX when they said they were going to proceed with the eviction notice per the expiration of the 10-day notice. 

When looking at my credit report XXXX XXXX said that I needed to pay off two accounts, XXXX   XXXX which turned into XXXX XXXX, XXXX and get a secured credit. That would boost my score quickly. Fortunately, by taking care of a few small issues I was able to boost my credit score to over XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX I sent XXXX XXXX with XXXX XXXX XXXX a text to let her know that my scores had gone up. She wanted to know if I wanted her to run a hard check with all three bureaus and I told her yes. She did so and on XX/XX/XXXX she sent me an email stating the following : Hi XXXX, I am excited to inform you that your Loan Officer, XXXX XXXX, or another member of our team will review your updated file and credit scores and will be in contact soon. Please keep their direct XXXX, for your records. 

Assuming all looks good, you will get a list of simple items to gather so we can issue your pre-approval letter. That is your golden ticket and the next step of your home-buying journey! 

It is likely that I will no longer be your primary point of contact after today, but youre always welcome to reach out if you have a question or need anything in the future. Additionally, if you know anyone else who could use my services, please dont hesitate to pass along my name and number. 

Best of luck and its been a pleasure working with you! 

Thank you very much, On XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  received information on my credit via a credit report detailing all my outstanding debts. I am certain that all looked good enough for them to proceed because on XX/XX/XXXX I received an email from XXXX XXXX asking me to create an account and he provided me with the links to go onto their portal to do so. He also requested verification of my rent on XX/XX/XXXX making them aware that XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX was claiming that I owed them this back rent or that the rent was late however, they continued to process my loan anyway. Later that same day I received another email from XXXX asking me to provide information via a loan to do list. Later still that day I received another email from XXXX stating lets get you preapproved. I was preapproved and went about the business of locating a house. I subsequently went through several preapprovals until I finally found the right property for me and my family. 

When speaking with XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX about providing him with my gold portfolio he mentioned that I needed to provide a steady payment history. He asked me if I had any utility bills in my name and I stated to him that I did not because XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX threatened to evict me if I did. I told him that I didnt have a rental History in the past 12 months because I had been living with my daughter in XXXX because of my XXXX. I then told him that I had been paying a monthly membership fee to XXXX XXXX XXXX for several years and he did not respond to that at all. I also provided XXXX with a rental history from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Il XXXX. Even though it was not the latest rental history, it was a rental history that showed I pay my rent-on time each month. In any event it was a solid and sound payment history. However, they refused to use that information and relied solely on information provided by XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX to deny me my loan. In VA Pamphlet 26-7, Revised Chapter 4 : VA guidelines for credit underwriting ; 4-40 paragraph c. how to analyze credit it states as follows : The applicants past repayment practices on obligations are the best indicator of his or her willingness to repay future obligations. Emphasis should be on the applicants overall payment patterns rather that isolated occurrences of unsatisfactory repayment. Determine whether the applicant ( and spouse, if applicable ) is a satisfactory credit risk based on a careful analysis of the credit report and other credit data. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX was a landlord tenant dispute and does not show that I do not pay my rent it shows that there is a dispute. 

In a denial letter sent to me dated XX/XX/XXXX it states that XXXX XXXX XXXX decision to deny me credit was based on delinquent past or present obligations with others. It also stated in the letter that they used information to obtain a credit score from XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX and I had a credit score of XXXX which was above the XXXX I needed to qualify for a VA loan. They also added that I had derogatory public records or collections on file, lack of recent revolving account information, lack of recent bank/national revolving information and length of time since derogatory public record or collection is too short. All the information on my credit file representatives at XXXX XXXX XXXX   XXXX knew before they started the loan process, yet they continued to lead me to believe that I was getting the loan. 
For the last five years I have been paying on a membership financed through XXXX XXXX   XXXX for {$110.00} a month. That membership is financed by XXXX and interest is paid in accordance. Although they dont report it to a credit bureau, I believe that would qualify as a recent revolving account. I have also been paying a membership fee of {$160.00} to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX for four months and my car insurance of {$130.00} for five months, both of which would be a revolving account. Also, even though XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX is saying that I owe them back rent you representatives at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX was aware that there was a court order that says the money matter was dismissed so I dont owe XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX any money. They are also aware that I had been paying my rent to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX on time. The problem came when I was sent an eviction notice saying they were going to proceed with eviction procedures per the expiration of the 10-day notice for failure to pay utilities in accordance with the lease. That is considered retaliation in a court of law especially when the lease gave me the right to use my own utility company. I sent XXXX a copy of the lease, so he is aware of my rights under the lease. I also sent him a copy of the email where XXXX XXXX Senior property manager for XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX stated that they were going to proceed with the eviction procedure per expiration of the 10-day notice. Not at any point and time did XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ever send me an eviction notice for failure to pay rent. 

I dont think that the fact that I didnt have a credit card should have caused me any issues since I would not want a high debt to income ratio. As an economist doing research, evidence from studies of mortgage loans suggest that borrowers with a higher debt-to-income ratio are more likely to run into trouble making monthly payments. So why would I want to keep adding accounts, so I can fail? As far as outstanding debts I was told by XXXX XXXX to pay off XXXX and XXXX XXXX which I did on XX/XX/XXXX. I acquired a secured credit card at the request of XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX officers. However, the plan was to get one anyway not because I wanted to boost my credit but because it makes it easier to rent cars. 

On XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX sent me an email stating they were ordering an appraisal on the property at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, Il XXXX even though they already knew all the issues with my credit and XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX they proceeded on leading me to believe that I would get my home financed. If those issues were that serious the time for them to stop the loan process was on XX/XX/XXXX when they first found out about XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX claiming that I was late on my rent. However, there was no issue until I sent in my identification and they realized I was a XXXX year old XXXX XXXX Male. 

On XX/XX/XXXX three weeks after XXXX knew that I was having an issue with my landlord he finally called and left me a message asking me about the late rent. When I called him on the XXXX of XXXX I told him that I would call him on Tuesday the XXXX of XXXX and explain to him about the late rent because I was unaware at the time that XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX was reporting my rent as being late. When I called XXXX on the XXXX I was with XXXX XXXX with the Department of Veterans Affairs, and I attempted to explain to him what happened. XXXX said he just needed to try to explain it to the underwriter to try to help me get the loan approved but that is was the underwriter that had the last word. In any event XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX allowed the appraisal to go through even though they already knew they were denying me the loan. They also kept leading me to believe that I was going to get the loan. As it stands right now XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Has caused severe injury and emotion trauma to me and may cause me to lose my house because of their discriminative practices.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation