Consumer complaint received 2021-03-05
Company: GUARANTEED RATE INC.
State: CA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
In mid XXXX of XXXX, I contacted XXXX XXXX ( NMLS # XXXX, CA DRE # XXXX, CA DFPI # XXXX ) to refinance my home. XXXX XXXX answered my phone call and became the loan originator. He ran my credit, I sent all of the information he requested, which took multiple hours to gather and email it to him. I also payed {$30.00} to wire {$2900.00} for escrow payment, and on XX/XX/XXXX, owning sent a public notary to sign the loan documents. All of the documents were signed with a disbursement date of XX/XX/XXXX. 

**XXXX merges with guaranteed rate ( NMLS XXXX # XXXX XXXX 1 during loan processing. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email from XXXX XXXX ( XXXX  loan processor ) requesting me to update information on my home insurance. I contacted my insurance agent and the information was sent to XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I check my loan with my lender and noticed that it had not been paid off by XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I sent XXXX an email requesting an update on the loan. XXXX did not reply to my request. On XX/XX/XXXX, I sent another email to XXXX requesting an update on my loan. XXXX did not reply to my second request. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received the following from XXXX : Our entire company staff was just informed that we will be merging with Guaranteed Rate at the beginning of XXXX. 
Our systems will be merging and integrated which means that we will need to have you re-sign in XXXX. 
I apologize for any inconvenience this will cause, but the terms of your loan will remain the same. 
Once the integration has been completed, Ill be in contact with you again for signing of the loan docs. 
For now, please make your XXXX mortgage payment ASAP and confirm once the payment has cleared so I can get the updated payoff demand ordered. 

Although I was extremely frustrated with the process, I felt like I was trapped, especially because they had my money. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted owning requesting an update on my loan and I received the following from XXXX : My licensing has finally transferred over. I have your new disclosures almost ready to go. No changes to your loan terms but you will have to docu-sign again. 

Im just working on the new disclosures to get sent out. They should be in your inbox tomorrow. 

On the same day, XXXX also informed me that he needed to run my credit again. Although I was not happy about it because hard checks lower credit scores, I felt like I had not option because they had my money and he had previously informed me that all terms and conditions will remain the same. Per his email on XX/XX/XXXX, I was going to re-sign in XXXX. Therefore, I did want to start the tedious task of starting all over with a new company. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received the new disclosures and upon looking at them, I noticed that the escrow, along with other fees, were going to be added to the loan. I then inquired about the {$2900.00} I wired in XXXX for escrow. I have not received a response. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I emailed XXXX asking if she had an estimated closing date, considering that XXXX had told me I was going to re-sign in XXXX. XXXX did not respond to my email. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I emailed XXXX requesting an estimated closing date. XXXX did not respond to my email. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I emailed XXXX and XXXX and notified them that I was going to be submitting a complaint with the State due to the extremely loan time it was taking to close my loan after all of the documents had been signed and notarized. 

XXXX replied the following : Do you want us to cancel the loan process? We're still looking to close this month. Please advise. 

Without explaining anything to me, the closing date had changed from XXXX to XXXX. Later in the day, I received an email from XXXX with a To Do list. 

As I looked at the items requested, I noticed that I had already submitted them when I initially applied for the loan ( e.g., HOA dues bill, mortgage statements, paystubs, w-2 forms, insurance information, etc. ) Later in the day, XXXX replied to my email and stated that I would need to resubmit the documents. 

In summary, please note the following : I was never notified of any potential merger between XXXX  and Rate Guaranteed. This information was completely hidden from me as a consumer. 

Through a needless second credit check, they have damaged my credit scores. 

It took me hours to gather the documents and email them and now they are asking for the documents again. 

Additionally, they have had {$2900.00} of my money for over two months, making interest off of it. 

As of today, I am stuck paying a higher rate on my loan ( currently 3.25 compared to the rate I signed with XXXX, which is 2.625 ). 

On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX informed me that we would re-sign in XXXX. It is now XX/XX/XXXX and that has not happened. As of today, I have no idea when my loan is going to be funded/closed. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX stated that all terms and conditions would remain the same but today I was informed that I need to submit a new application. 

Owning knowingly and intentionally kept this information from customers because they knew that if customers were told that it would take over XXXX months to close their loans, customers would have shopped other companies.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation