Consumer complaint received 2021-05-29
Company: FIFTH THIRD FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: NC
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
Fifth Third waited until 4 days past the originally scheduled closing date to inform me that I no longer qualified for the mortgage. Although nothing with my financial status ( income, debt, credit history, or expenses ) changed between the time of pre-qualification and being denied the loan after my originally scheduled closing date, because of a debt-to-income ratio that exceeded the allowable amount. 

I was pre-qualified for {$410000.00} on XX/XX/XXXX and sent my accepted offer to purchase contract to the lender on XX/XX/XXXX. The closing date was set for XX/XX/XXXX and I was in frequent contact to get the lender any additional information that was required. On XX/XX/XXXX the lender sent an email asking for EVIDENCE YOUR EMPLOYMENT WILL TRANSFER UPON MOVE FROM XXXX  TO XXXX. [ co-applicant ]. I replied to the email the same day stating [ Co-applicant ] will continue to work in NC until XX/XX/XXXX XXXX Co-applicant ] will be applying for jobs next month, but will continue to reside in NC during the week with her father and friends until she obtains employment in GA. I also called and spoke to the loan officer to reiterate the co-applicants employment as described previously and discussed prior to and on the day of pre-qualification. Nothing was submitted in the application that reported the co-applicant as having income established in Georgia. 

As days continued to pass, multiple emails were sent to the lender requesting an approximate closing date. On XX/XX/XXXX the lender stated in an email, Yes, a closing extension will be needed please. I would recommend until XX/XX/XXXX to be on the safe side. The verification of rent still hasnt been provided and Ive requested another update. The insurance and flood were received. Ive asked for Travelers to provide replacement costs information. 

After providing the requested information, I did not receive updates on when the lender would possibly be able to close. Then, on XX/XX/XXXX 3 days after the originally scheduled closing date of XX/XX/XXXX the lender sent an email stating, Good News! We have all items and your loan was just submitted for the full approval review. Please note once the full approval is issued youll receive a system generated email that is informational only and does not require a signature. Well also reach out to schedule the closing. 

Afterwards, on XX/XX/XXXX, the lender asked for additional supporting documents which were sent to them. Later that same day, I received a call from the lender and was informed that I did not qualify for the loan amount and would need to significantly increase my deposit amount to qualify because my co-applicants income was not allowed to be included making the debt-to-income ratio exceed allowable limits. Nothing with my financial situation ( income, debt, credit score, or expenses ) changed from the time of pre-qualification to being informed that I no longer qualify because of a lack of income. Yet, I was still unable to be notified in a timely manner that I did not qualify. Instead, I had to continue to submit over 20 supporting documents in addition to the items submitted prior to pre-qualification ( W2s, pay stubs, tax returns, and 3 months of bank statements ). I also spent unnecessary money on house inspections since I was informed that I pre-qualified for the house. 

Prior to submitting an offer to purchase on XX/XX/XXXX, I asked the lender Is there anything else I can do to get something saying that Im preapproved prior to seller accepting the offer The lender replied, We only offer pre-qualification and is used to purchase homes all the time. Our pre-qualification process has been approved by legal and compliance. The underwriting systems for pre-qual involves XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX. 

Fifth Third prolonged the application process and waited over 30 days after an offer to purchase contract was submitted, to inform me that I did not qualify for a mortgage because of my debt-to-income ratio. Although, they had all the information needed to inform me of this 1 ) prior to prequalification, 2 ) at the time prequalification occurring, or 3 ) when notified that an offer to purchase was accepted by a seller.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation