Consumer complaint received 2022-08-17
Company: Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation
State: MO
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Closing on a mortgage

Complaint:
Back in XXXX of 2021 I was provided a preapproval from FAIRWAY INDEPENDENT MORTGAGE CORP, XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX, XXXX, mo XXXX. Over the next few months I worked with the renovation team and my general contractor to submit the necessary documents for approval of construction. On several occasions throughout the months, we thought all the requested paperwork had been submitted, only for the renovation team to request something else at the last minute, in addition to what was previously submitted. During this time, I was totally out of the loop as to what was the status of the loan, as most of the time my realtor and I phone calls/emails went unanswered. Eventually I was informed that the loan approval was bouncing back and forth between the renovation and underwriting teams. Finally in XXXX, I was provided a commitment letter for XXXX which included the renovation cost. This cost was well above what I deemed necessary to complete the project, as I stated from the very beginning. I was reassured on several occasions that the unused funds would not be included in the mortgage after the work was completed, so I did not alter the numbers. Nonetheless, I continued to move forward, constantly amending the contract for closing dates that seemed to be completely disregarded and not of any concern or importance to Fairway. During the months, they were reluctant to issue a commitment letter but could not give me a denial letter because there was no reason to deny me. Therefore, they just kept delaying. After several months, because their hands were tied, they had no choice but to issue a commitment letter because of the pressure my agent and I were applying because we wanted answers. It became a pattern that on the week of every scheduled closing, something would need to be submitted at the last minute to the underwriting/renovation team for approval. Therefore, delaying the closing date again and again. In XXXX, after all required documents were submitted and approved, My realtor inquired about the Disclosure Statement. In response to her inquiries, it seemed that she was provided fluff and excuses in return to her inquiry. We were told that the disclosure is only issued after everything has been verified and the loan has been approved to be disbursed for closing. This would be the " last step '' before the closing. No disclosure was provided at this time. 
The following week, I received a call stating the loan had completely fallen apart because an additional XXXX for construction had been added to the total mortgage amount. This in return threw off all the numbers, and my debt to income ratio was no longer in sync. I had no idea what was going on as I was completely caught off guard, because NO ONE reached out to me at ANYTIME to discuss the matter or to gain my approval. Due to the additional unauthorized XXXX increase, the loan would have to go all the way back to underwriting to remove the XXXX from the mortgage. At this point, I was basically starting all over from the beginning, re submitting documents all over again. The seller stated she was very upset and would be seeking to go to litigation. 
In XXXX I received a disclosure statement from Fairway with a closing date of the XXXX. Everyone from the buyer to the seller scrambled to make this come to reality. As usual, the Fairway team was missing in action as usual. On the XXXX, the day before closing, I was notified by your Fairway that the closing would not go through due to the fact none of the six institutions were willing to provide PMI for the mortgage. The only solution available was for me to bring a minimum of 20 % down payment plus increase the instruction loan substantially in order to qualify. Increasing the renovation loan numbers was the exact reason I was told weeks prior that I no longer was approved for the loan. We had a conference call with the buyer, buyers agent, seller 's agent, and XXXX XXXX to figure where we go from here. At this point the seller is furious and for good reason. XXXX stated that he would speak to the seller to explain the situation but that never came to fruition. 
My credit was good, my income was over 200k, and my debt to income ration was amazing. They just used stall tactics to delay the loan until the seller had enough and eventually pulled the plug on the contract after granting several extensions based off Fairway stating they needed an additional document. They even told me that I would need to have the grass cut and the prune the trees before we could proceed with the loan. 
I went from a mortgage preapproval with a XXXX purchase price ( plus XXXX credit from the seller ) and XXXX closing cost to a loan estimate for XXXX with a whopping closing cost of XXXX. 
I reached out to the manager of XXXX to discuss the issue via email as I was working overseas and had different time zones. She refused to discuss the issues over email and only want to discuss via phone as to not leave a paper trail.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation