Consumer complaint received 2022-11-30
Company: AMERICAN ADVISORS GROUP
State: NV
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: VA mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
Around the XXXX of XX/XX/2021 I was working with a man named XXXX XXXX representing AAG to do a cash out VA refinance on my home in order to pay off some credit cards and auto loans to simplify my monthly payment cycle and to provide money to pay for some serious dental work needed by my wife ( {$15000.00} worth ) There was sufficient equity in the house to do all we wanted to do. My wife 's and my credit scores were in the XXXX 's at the time. My current mortgage was and is up to date with about a XXXX XXXX % interest rate. They got an appraisal for about {$290000.00} with a balance on the existing mortgage about {$210000.00} The requested cash out was about {$40000.00}. I was assured via email by XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX that the new rate would be 5.00 % with {$410000.00} cash out and XXXX Monthly payment with Taxes and insurance. I received and signed off a form formalizing all this. Even with the increase in the interest rate from my existing mortgage, I was going to realize a lower monthly outgo because all of my existing car loans, credit cards and one collection were all going to be paid off so I was OK with that. Then the trouble began. XXXX XXXX was laid off by AAG, reportedly due to a downturn in loan activity and I had trouble reestablishing contact with AAG for what seemed like a long time, probably several weeks. Eventually a woman by the name of XXXX XXXX contacted me to say that she would be finishing the loan processing for us. But she had a list of things she needed me to document and tests or reports that needed doing including a drinking water test ( even though one had been done only about 1 1/2 years prior when we bought the place originally and we had upgraded the well system by adding a water filter and water softener as well as a series of water filters just prior to a new drinking water faucet on the kitchen sink that included an RO filter ), a XXXX XXXX Report and possibly others. Well, I provided her with the info she needed and she contacted two firms to get the tests done. I was not allowed to draw the sample myself as she said, in essence, that I could not be trusted to do it myself as I might cheat. I should have stopped the whole thing right then but we had already gone longer than XXXX XXXX XXXX had said it would take and I didn't want to lose the time already expended. The Water test was completed first and I authorized a quick turn test, but the sample when it was taken had to be sent to a lab in XXXX XXXX and sit in line until they could find time to do the test and they were busy. Then a local man came out and crawled around under the house for a while and when he came out he said we were missing two sets of XXXX XXXX straps which needed to be placed at the corners of the house. Now we live in an area that the XXXX XXXX XXXX classifies as Never getting hurricane force winds since among other things we are located in the high XXXX area west of XXXX XXXX. But, I researched and found a supplier in XXXX XXXX who said he had just what we needed and off to XXXX XXXX I drove ( 200 mile round trip ) only to find that my Manufactured House was too old to use the supplied kit because the main rails were not I-Beams but were C-rails and there was no way to secure the tie-downs. So back I drove and came back with a different kit that could be used and My son and I proceeded to install these straps and document them photographically and I sent the photos to the engineering firm on the east coast. 
The date is now towards the end of XXXX. Oops! The XXXX firm contas me to say that while we did a good job with the ties we installed, there was no evidence that the OTHER 10 sets of straps were present. After going back and forth ( I actually downloaded a 400 page document from HUD to look this stuff up ) a few times I was unable to convince the Engineer in Training that those straps were not required according to the HUD document. So back to XXXX for another set of straps. They sent them via XXXX but shorted me 5 sets. So drive back to XXXX to pick up the remaining 5 sets. ( another 200 mile round trip ). To a local tool rental place to rent a heavier duty impact drill than mine which sped up the process off drilling 10 5/8 '' holes 4 '' deep in 40 year old concrete runners which supported all the piers that support the house. This was necessary because the older concrete gets the harder it gets, a process that never ends. So, The entire XXXX XXXX  weekend spent under the house ( quality time with my son ) installing the rest of the straps, documenting them with the camera, and sending them to the engineering company, who finally signed off on the foundation report. All this on a house that had a masonry wall all around the periphery that was far in excess of any HUD requirements. Done? Not quite. They wouldn't accept a photograph of the required HUD Data plates on the back of the house so they had another person come out to verify them which he photographed for the purpose. Done? Not quite. The credit scores were now older than a month ( for the 2nd or 3rd time ) and a new hard check had to be provide ( again ). By this time all the credit checks had banged the credit scores down into some deep holes and we were told that we n longer qualified for a loan and were denied. So. More than 5 months of effort, over a XXXX dollars expended in what were probably unnecessary tests and retrofits and an excessive number of hard credit checks later we were denied. By this time the " Fed '' had also been busy raising the interest rates which had been going on from probably the beginning of this effort. I now suspect that their underwriters saw the rates going up and since they had committed in writing to 5 %, needed something to use to get out of funding the loan at those now lower rates. So multiple credit checks until they were too low to qualify. That or a large amount of incompetence on the part of AAG or their " underwriters ''. Either or both ways, it has left me in a bad position. Since it was originally going to be only a month or so to close, I went ahead and borrowed the money needed to get my wife 's dental work done expecting to soon have the cash to pay it off. That turned out to be a bad decision on my part, but she really needed the work. Now I'm left with tanked credit scores, insufficient monthly income to pay off the dental work loan and no way to claw my way back up to a decent score again. Had this refi been completed as promised I would be sitting on no debt beside the mortgage, a decent credit score and sufficient income to pay the mortgage every month with no angst. And on top of all this inflation keeps chipping away at me like a crazed beaver. My only recourse is to find a decent job ( coming out of retirement ) that can help pay all this stuff off, which is what I am doing.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation