Consumer complaint received 2018-07-09
Company: Union Home Mortgage Corp
State: IN
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
My complaint is against Union Home Mortgage XXXX, based in XXXX and one of their Loan Officers, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX State XXXX ( formerly of XXXX XXXX ) XXXX was acquired by Union Home Mortgage in XXXX. 

I currently own a home in XXXX  and for the last 14 months, have been looking for a home in/around XXXX, XXXX, to be close to family. 

In XX/XX/2018, I decided to make an offer on a property and was told by XXXX XXXX ( my real estate agent at the time ) he would not submit the offer w/o a preapproval letter and directed me to his contact, XXXX XXXX with XXXX, XXXX Home Mortgage Lender, XXXX. We spoke briefly on the phone and she pulled my credit reports to provide the letter, dated XX/XX/2018. It stated, " Once you have found a home, please contact me and I will help you with the next steps of the process. This letter does not constitute a commitment to lend or lock in a rate. '' The letter had an expiration date of XX/XX/2018. ( attached ). The letter also did not indicate any commitment by myself to advance with XXXX further. 

Never, at any time, did I make any application or complete any authorization form for the credit inquiry for either XXXX or Union Home. 

( The XXXX offer was never submitted because the property owner accepted another while I was waiting on the letter. I continued with my search. ) On XX/XX/18 I made an offer on a property, this time for cash, providing proof of funds. This offer was outbid. 

On XX/XX/18 I made an offer on another property for $ XXXX which was accepted XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX XXXX, my current realtor/agent on her own, called XXXX to ask if it was possible to get a mortgage on property costing less than $ 50k and XXXX told her she didn't think so, that XXXX was usually the floor. It was at this time XXXX mentioned to XXXX that the original preapproval letter had expired. However my agent knew I'd likely be paying cash due to the price, I'd also informed my agent that I did not care for XXXX/XXXX and would likely not use them for any purchase. 

XXXX then made a NEW hard inquiry without first contacting me : 1. to inform me that XXXX  had merged with Union Home Mortgage 2. to ask if I wanted to continue to work with Union Home ( it was  over 90 days ) 3. to tell me that a mortgage under 50K was not possible 4. to tell me the previous letter had expired 5. to ask for my authorization to make another hard inquiry ( past 45 days and a new company ) XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX, I learn from my agent the offer is accepted. My agent talked about the next finance steps, saying that she asked XXXX about the low loan amount and that XXXX was going to get back to her. At this time I reiterate to RE agent that I do not want to move forward with XXXX and XXXX should call me, the buyer directly, not relay messages through my RE agent. 

XX/XX/XXXX, at XXXX, XXXX called to tell me she could not write a mortgage for under 50K, I told her that was not a problem. Then she made a comment about my having a freeze on XXXX, I told her not to worry about that, I would likely be paying cash or securing a HELOC on my current property in XXXX, thus there was no need for her further credit inquiries. After her comment I was alarmed and asked directly, " did you pull my credit again? '' XXXX replied, no, not yet. This however was a lie, on XX/XX/XXXX I received a text alert from XXXX ( credit monitoring ) stating there was a change on my credit report. I logged on and XXXX  showed a hard inquiry came through on XX/XX/XXXX from Union Home Mortgage. XXXX reported the hit on XX/XX/XXXX. 

Now I have 2 hard inquiries on my reports until XXXX. My next application is for a HELOC and if this current purchase offer were to fall through, a mortgage may be needed on the next property. This will be an additional 1 or 2 hits. My XXXX score decreased with this Union Home hit and because mortgage rates are based in part on credit scores, this might end up costing me the best rate. 

I contacted Union Home, XXXX XXXX, by finding her name on the Union Home website. We spoke late XX/XX/XXXX, I explained how I believed that XXXX acted on her own and did not provide due diligence of me the customer and my credit. She said someone would contact me after the holiday. 

Today ( XX/XX/XXXX ) I received a call from a man identifying himself in a leadership role at Union Home. I'm not sure he told me his actual name. He proceeded to tell me that he'd already spoken with XXXX and whatever I believed, was not correct. He stated, he'd " worked with XXXX at XXXX for years and knew that she would not act in a way that was not in my best interest. '' I said I disagreed, and that I wanted him to provide me a copy of my authorization for XXXX to pull my credit again. I also requested he state in writing, his claim of resolution ( mentioned above ) to which he asked, " Why? '' I replied because it seems to me you feel this matter is resolved based on your prior relationship. I, however, as the customer, do not believe this action complies with the basis of consumer protection laws requiring lenders to guard non-public personal information. What pretense does XXXX claim as the reason to make a new credit inquiry when she doesn't have an application, and she's fully aware a loan application for less than 50k will not be approved? This behavior isn't in my best interests, ethical and/or legal and I plan to make a formal complaint to the CFPB. At this point, he said, " Good day '' and hung up. 

At no time did anyone at Union Home advise me of my right to make a formal complaint under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Truth in Lending Act, the Dodd-Frank Act and/or the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. 

No disclosures or notices were ever provided other than the original preapproval letter. I never received a copy of the second letter from XXXX, I had to ask for a copy from my agent! ( it had the wrong last name too )

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