Consumer complaint received 2017-08-09
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: MO
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
Loan # : XXXX Date of Inquiry : XX/XX/XXXX My husband and I contacted Bank of America Home Loans to inquire about obtaining a mortgage on a newly purchased, single-family residence for the purpose of paying off credit card debt and making improvements to our new home. We purchased the home at XX/XX/XXXX with cash. After moving in and doing some improvements, we wanted to consolidate some debt and make additional modifications which is why we sought a " cash out '' loan through BOA. We made our initial contact with Bank of America on XX/XX/XXXX via their XXXX number and spoke with a lending officer named XXXX XXXX ( XXXX # XXXX ). We answered the typical questions regarding income and expenses. Knowing we already had an established relationship with BOA with a car loan and a prior mortgage, we were confident there would n't be any issues with approval. During that first conversation with XXXX, it was specifically discussed that we only owned the home for a short time ; less than a year. After answering all of his questions, we were required to commit to a locked in rate and allow a credit report to be pulled in order to continue the application process. After XXXX pulled our credit report during that initial conversation, he notified us that we would not qualify for a loan because we did n't own the home for at least six months. The urgent consumer concern about our complaint is that XXXX/BOA should n't have pulled our credit report once he was notified the short time we owned the home. We asked him why he did n't stop the application process once he had this information instead of dinging our credit and causing our score to drop. He blamed it on the computer system and software. After I spoke with his manager, XXXX XXXX, Sales Manager Vice President, she stated that the error was due to lack of training or knowledge and that she would discuss the situation with XXXX. Since that initial phone call in XX/XX/XXXX, my husband and I have not been able to seek a loan elsewhere due to our dropped credit score. We were trapped into continuing with the application process with BOA once we owned the home six months. Financial damages we incurred due to this illegal and unethical application process is calculated to be somewhere around {$30000.00} due to us accruing monthly interest on debt we planned to consolidate ; debt we would not have incurred if we were free to seek a loan elsewhere. Bank of America needs to be cited for this practice. We plan to seek damages for the financial hardship they 've created for us. If XXXX would have stopped the application process when he should have, our credit would not have suffered and we would have waited until we owned the home for at least six months before applying for a mortgage with either BOA or another company. Instead, XXXX put us in a position of entrapment where we had no choice but to continue with BOA.

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