Consumer complaint received 2022-09-20
Company: Lima One Capital, LLC
State: NJ
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Other type of mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
Lima One Capital made misrepresentations relating to the loan, the term, the ease with which it could be extended as well as how the disbursement of the holdback funds we paid for repairs would work. Lima One Capital has also obstructed our ability to obtain a payoff demand and has grossly inflated the fees that we owe them .We are very disappointed in our experience with Lima One Capital and feel they have a sole focus on foreclosing on our home since the value has significantly increased since we completed the repairs. We took out a private rehab loan when we purchased this property and we bent over backwards trying to work with them but feel that Lima One Capital put up artificial requirements in order to force us into foreclosure. 
We bought the property in XX/XX/XXXX and were aware of the term, rate and payment for this loan. What was NOT disclosed was how the disbursement of our funds we had put into the holdback account would work. This was OUR money that we gave to Lima in CASH to use to repair the property. However, Lima made us pay for the work out of pocket, then supply invoice and receipt of the work completed and then there would be an inspection that Lima charged US for every time there was a repair. Because of Covid we would sometime have to wait weeks if not months to get an inspector out and then to get your company to sign off. This was burdensome and difficult, because we had financial difficulties due to the pandemic and had to pay the mortgage payment and front the cost of these repairs which dragged out due to Covid. The loan agreement does not include any of these guidelines or hurdles, it simply states that we need to make a written request for the funds and that the lender will verify it. As a result we could not get the repairs completed when the loan matured and Lima agents told us they would work with us because Covid was so unexpected. We were granted a loan modification extension in XX/XX/XXXX and then again in XX/XX/XXXX. We had completed the repairs in early XXXX and started working with conventional lenders to try and refinance out of the loan. We also were being told by your agents that we could get another extension. We were close to closing on a loan and asked Lima to give us more time and they stated they required a letter of intent from the potential lender in order to offer us another extension. The lender was in the process of underwriting our file and did not want to commit in writing to Lima One that this was a done deal, so Lima One used this artificial and fabricated guideline against us. We had never missed a payment for two years and the property had been rehabbed and we were in active review for conventional loans, but when we tried to make the XXXX payment on the loan Lima One rejected the payment and put us into default. Once we went into default status it was not possible to obtain conventional financing and things went from bad to worse. Lima One would not accept our payments and they initiated foreclosure proceedings against us. 

We got new lender but the payoff demand we received in XXXX was grossly inflated. We had an escrow disbursement of $ XXXX plus at origination to pay for property taxes and insurance, but somehow we now had a tax bill of {$20000.00} and would like to verify this payment and cost. We also question the force placed insurance because we had property insurance the entire time and there was no need for Lima to force place insurance at a cost of {$3400.00}. We would like documented evidence that our insurance had lapsed and that Lima was " forced '' to insure the property because we did not have an active policy. We also question the {$5800.00} extension settlement fee, this should have been {$2000.00} per our conversations with agents and it looks like you padded on additional costs and junk fees at our expense. 
We also question the amount of interest charged. The reason for our default was due to the disaster declaration from Covid and this qualifies as a force majeure.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation