Consumer complaint received 2021-03-31
Company: Mr. Cooper Group Inc.
State: DC
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
This is the letter I sent to Mr. Cooper on XX/XX/XXXX and again XX/XX/XXXX. I moved to XXXX, DC in XX/XX/XXXX and obtained a loan which was subsequently bought by Mr. Cooper. With the historic loan interest rates, I contacted Mr. Cooper via telephone in XX/XX/XXXX to inquire about interest rates for a 30  year conventional mortgage with lender PMI, which was the current type of mortgage I had. My rate at the time was 4.75 % because of the lender PMI. 

I spoke with loan officer XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, who after looking over my loan, proceeded to tell me that I was so close to being at 80 % loan to value that I would be able to refinance without PMI. He calculated that I would have to make a {$900.00} payment to principal once the refinance closed and the PMI  would be removed. XXXX XXXX also stated that he would be able to get an appraisal waiver since I had just purchased the property in XXXX. He also said that he could stretch the value of my home to get me to the 80 % LTV. Once that principal payment was made, I could request the PMI  to be removed. He made it sound as simple as that. 

These statements along with the fact that Mr. Cooper already held my mortgage allowed me to make the decision to go with Mr. Cooper for a refinance rather than shopping around for other rates. The interest rate I was quoted was 3.5 %  which I believe wasnt that great of an interest rate given I have excellent credit and my debt to income is low, but it was a better rate than I currently had. I also believed this process would be simple since Mr. Cooper already held my mortgage and they had a majority of the documents needed for the underwriting process already. I would only need to provide updated documents like bank statements or proof of income. This was also part of my decision to go with Mr. Cooper. Had I known what was going to happen, I would not have refinanced with Mr. Cooper. 

The loan process began and I promptly uploaded the requested documents through the app and/or portal when the app wouldnt work. The loan processor assigned to my file was XXXX XXXX, XXXX During this process, I received the first iteration of the loan application/form 1003 on XX/XX/XXXX from Mr. XXXX XXXX Upon reviewing the information filled out in the application, I became aware of an unknown credit card balance that was listed. I emailed Mr. XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX requesting a copy of my credit report that was pulled. I received that copy a few days later. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I emailed Mr. XXXX regarding a few issues with one of them being the XXXX XXXX XXXX  balance listed on my credit report. After contacting XXXX, the credit card listed was a credit card held in my mothers  name that I was added to in error. I removed my name from the credit card and requested it be removed from my credit bureaus as I am not responsible for that credit card and did not need that added debt showing on my credit. I had also noticed my prior address was misspelled. I never received a response from MrXXXX XXXX and those issues were never addressed on any of the subsequent form 1003s that I was sent. I know that debt to income is a large part in the decision making process for loan approval and what loan rates are offered. 

Once Mr. XXXX was assigned as the processor, communication was non-existent. A rate lock expiration date was given of XX/XX/XXXX but at no time during the loan did either Mr. XXXX or MrXXXX XXXX ever give me any expectation of when the loan should close or just how backed up and busy Mr. Cooper was with loan refinances. I would receive automated emails with additional documents that were requested which I would immediately upload them. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I emailed Mr. XXXX asking a question regarding paystubs. After no response, I called and left a voicemail for Mr. XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. After no response to either the email or voicemail, I emailed again on XX/XX/XXXX. Items in my to-do list like the paystubs which I promptly uploaded, sat there without any movement. This was also when I inquired about a closing date as the rate lock was set to expire in just over a month. I finally received a short response acknowledging my email on XX/XX/XXXX but never addressed my issue. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email still not addressing my questions but asking for the master insurance policy for my HOA. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I emailed Mr. XXXX regarding a disclosure I had to sign that indicated mortgage insurance would be added for years 1 and 2. I asked for clarification since what Mr. XXXX had told me regarding the {$900.00} principal payment after the loan closes would allow the XXXX  would be removed. Mr. XXXX could not answer that and added XXXXr. XXXX to the email chain in which he responded very generically Once a loan goes below 80 % loan to value you can request it to be removedit will automatically get removed after 78 %. 

The refinance was approved XX/XX/XXXX and the closing date was set for XX/XX/XXXX. I was connected with the notary who set up the time to come to my residence to sign the closing documents. About an hour before the closing was scheduled, the notary still did not have the closing documents. She had to contact me because she did not have any contact information for anyone at Mr. Cooper to inquire about the loan docs. I called Mr. XXXX knowing that he does not answer his phone and even has a voicemail that says email is the best method to reach him. I left a voicemail and I also sent an email. He did call me back and he stated he talked to the people preparing the closing documents and they would be sent out soon. 

The notary  arrived at my place and we began going through the documents. About halfway through the documents, I discovered that my name was misspelled. Half of the documents had by name as XXXX and the other had the correct spelling of XXXX. The notary and I spent the rest of the time, crossing out, rewriting and initialing all of the changes that had to be made on the documents. Thankfully, the deed had my name spelled correctly. 

I thought that was the end of the poor communication and other issues from a major mortgage holding company. I was mistaken. After my loan funded, I sent in a request via the website because my name was now misspelled when I logged into the website. I eventually received a call back around XX/XX/XXXX from someone at Mr. Cooper and they did fix the name misspelling. I asked again about making the {$900.00} payment to principal and I was transferred to Mr. XXXX who is in the PMI  department. 

Mr. XXXX informed me that my loan was a XXXX XXXX loan which requires an appraisal in order to remove PMI. This was the first time I was informed that an appraisal would be required. This was also the first time I was informed that my loan was a XXXX XXXX loan. XX/XX/XXXX is when PMI  would automatically cancel on my loan. XXXX XXXX calculated that I am paying {$58.00} a month or a total of about {$1200.00} in PMI insurance if I were to leave it as is. This begs to ask the question of whether XXXX XXXX is in violation of the Truth in Lending Act for failing to properly disclose the correct XXXX  information. This may also constitute a violation of the XXXX XXXX which protects against acts that cause harm to consumers financially. 

I was told I would have to pay for an appraisal myself which would be around {$400.00} if I wanted XXXX removed early which is a direct contradiction of what MrXXXX XXXX told me throughout the entire refinancing process. He lied to me in order to obtain a loan and this is fraud. I would imagine Mr. XXXX is paid a commission per loan closing so it would be beneficial for him to close as many loans as he can. I do not believe that he was mistaken or mislead in his understanding of how the PMI  process would work because he was so confident in his calculations of what the value of my home should be and what amount of principal balance needed to be paid down in order to get to the 80 %  LTV. Mr. XXXX repeatedly told me that I had to wait until after the loan funded to make the principal payment. By waiting until the loan funded, I was outside of the 3 day right of rescission yet again reinforcing the fraudulent nature of what I was told. This could be a violation of Reg. Z. If I could have learned that everything I was told about PMI  was a lie, I would have cancelled the loan refinance and not have gone through with it. I would have shopped around for a better rate and a company that was more professional than Mr. Cooper. There appears to be a clear misrepresentation of the loan terms which is a violation of UDAAP. 

I contacted the complaint department around XX/XX/XXXX and spoke with XXXX, no last name given. XXXX listened to my complaint and told me that XXXX XXXX is Mr. XXXX supervisor. XXXX sent a message to Mr. XXXX with my information and had him call me. 

I spoke with MrXXXX XXXX that day and went through this whole explanation again. He promised me that he would speak to Mr. XXXX and the other loan officers about PMI  as well as notify Mr. XXXX supervisor about the poor communication and the issues with my name being misspelled. He was going to ask his XXXX, XXXX XXXX, if Mr. Cooper would pay for an appraisal for me. He said he would get back to me hopefully within a day or 2. This was around XX/XX/XXXX. 

I did not hear anything from Mr. XXXX so I called him back on XX/XX/XXXX. He said he would follow up and he apologized that this slipped his mind. On XX/XX/XXXX, he called to let me know that Mr. Cooper will pay for the appraisal and if I was not contacted by the appraiser within 10 days, to let him know. As of XX/XX/XXXX, I have not been contacted by the appraiser and I have not had any follow up calls from anyone at Mr. Cooper. This is unacceptable. The lack of customer service is appalling. 

A mortgage is not a small thing. This is not a case of being unsatisfied with the customer service at a restaurant. This is a case of a major life purchase, or in my case, refinance. This affects my credit. This affects my life. The fact that I have had to take time away from my day on multiple occasions to try to remedy this, without getting a resolution, is unacceptable. The point of my emails regarding misspellings of things and incorrect items reported to my credit bureau is to make sure that there is an accurate representation of my information on a legal document. There is even a form, the FBI Fraud Warning, which warns about fraud and misrepresentations made in the course of obtaining a mortgage. The warning also applies to the mortgage company. How many other loan officers are lying to clients about things in order for them to get their commissions? The only way to remedy this now is to refund all of the closing costs that were rolled into my refinance. 

As of XX/XX/XXXX, still without receiving a call or acknowledgment from the XX/XX/XXXX letter, I have sent a copy of the letter to Mr. Cooper XXXX XXXX XXXX. I have made a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and the FDIC.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation