Consumer complaint received 2020-02-24
Company: IMPAC MORTGAGE HOLDINGS, INC.
State: CA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
I applied for a cash out refinance loan with CashCall Mortgage ( DBA Impac Mortgage ) on XXXX on my house. I was told by XXXX XXXX that the interest rate would be 3.625 % with XXXX pt and no fee. I agreed to start the application which included having my credit score pulled from them and have the rate locked in. However, on XXXX I was told the rate was 3.75 % and not 3.625 %. I asked why the increase of 1/8 %  and I was told he " made a mistake and misquoted me '' but he would be willing to adjust the rate if it goes lower before the closing date. During the conversation I got the feeling that it was a bait-and-switch scheme because I kept getting the pressure to do this refinance and kept being told " I would never be able to find another lender with this rate '' ( well, only this rate never existed to begin with ). Because they already did a credit inquiry on me which had an impact on my credit score and also because I already started the process, I agreed to what he said so that the application process could continue. On XXXX the rate went down to 3.625 % for a short while and I immediately notified XXXX ( I even attached the rate sheet in the email ). On XXXX I was told by XXXX XXXX that his manager XXXX XXXX refused to lower the rate unless I pay cost for it. XXXX XXXX and I had a few heated discussions and even though I had email proof that the rate would be honored and adjusted and I had rate sheet to prove it, he still refused to adjust the rate unless I pay for it. I told them I would file a formal complaint with different government agencies and only then XXXX XXXX reluctantly honored the rate of 3.625 %. But then things quickly went downhill and it was clearly retaliation - first I was told by the loan processing officer ( XXXX XXXX ) I would need to contact my HR to fill out a Verification of Employment for employment proof and income proof and after I did that, I found out that as a borrower I was not supposed to handle this kind of forms because it was clearly a conflict of interest and would potentially make the application illegal - in other words, I was trapped into doing something that appeared to be helping the application but it was complete opposite. 

Then, on XXXX when I signed a new set of disclosures after the adjustment of rate I noticed my SSN is wrong. I followed up with XXXX XXXX and I was told there was nothing wrong with the SSN number but then when I sent him a screenshot of the disclosure forms I received that contained the incorrect SSN to express my concern, he replied and told me the SSN was corrected and in the email he quoted my SSN in CLEAR TEXT. It is an unsecured email channel and so now my SSN is out exposed to the public. This is absolutely unacceptable and a complete violation of privacy! I asked both XXXX and XXXX why they did that and that they did not care about information security and I was just told this is the normal process in CashCall Mortgage and " it is what it is '' ( I honestly believe they did that on purpose as retaliation ). 

And as if that was not the end of a nightmare process yet, CashCall Mortgage ran another credit check without my consent on XXXX. It was a " hard inquiry '' which negatively impacted my credit score. I  caught it because I have credit monitoring service and when I asked CashCall Mortgage I was told they " had made a mistake in entering my SSN '' in the application and had to re-enter and do another credit inquiry. I would imagine it is against the law to run any credit inquiry without the consent. And again, another retaliation towards me for asking for the rate I was promised. 

After the loan closed towards the end of XX/XX/2019, I sent an email to the CEO ( XXXX XXXX ) and Chief Administrative Officer (  XXXX XXXX ) about my experience with CashCall Mortgage that includes the bait-and-switch business practice and the retaliation towards me including disclosing my SSN in public and running credit inquiry without consent and the only response I got was a few phone calls from a paralegal ( XXXX XXXX ).  XXXX XXXX pretended to be a nice person at first but then he quickly became extremely aggressive in every call with me in an attempt to intimidate me so that I can let this go and not pursue any further. It is clear to me that they know within their company all these questionable business practices and potentially illegal activities done by their staff ( also confirmed by the numerous complaints other people filed with CFPB on Impac Mortgage/CashCall Mortgage ) but they simply don't care. 

I am hereby asking CFPB to look into this company - they have clearly violated a few regulations ( TILA, for example ) - and to evaluate whether this company should have the license to continue doing business in the mortgage lending industry.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation