Consumer complaint received 2015-06-03
Company: FRANKLIN FIRST FINANCIAL, LTD
State: RI
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: FHA mortgage
Issue: Credit decision / Underwriting

Complaint:
I was pre-appreoved for a mortgage in XX/XX/XXXX/XX/XX/2014 with Franklin First Financial. I was directed into an FHA mortgage because of my troubled credit history. I was not made aware of the up front funding fee or the annual insurance premium until days before the closing. Yes, I was provided with disclosures, whether they were provided timely I am not sure, but they were not explained to me, rather I was told I needed to sign them or the loan would be declined. 
During the course of the process, my lender was not transparent and was often impossible to contact to help answer routine questions. I asked several times a week when I could epxect an estimate on closing costs, I didnt receive the final GFE until 2 hours before the closing. I was quoted 4 % the entire time, I questioned why the application said 4.5 % he said it 's because he had to 'throw any rate in ' to complete the application. The night before the closing I learned this was my rate and there was nothing I could do about it. Mysteriously, an XXXX $ credit appeared on the HUD settlement statement to help offset the increased rate, but this credit went directly to the seller as he was responsible for all closing costs according to the purchase and sales. 
The lender took well over 2 months to close this loan, which resulted in huge financial penalties to me. I stayed in my home I was renting two months longer than expected and the seller of the property lost his patience along the way and threatened to charge per diem and walk away from the deal many times creating a very stressful situation for me and my family. During the course of this, I recieved a denial letter in the mail after being told by the lender the same day that I would be closing the next week. The underwriter was mistaken, and I had to provide knowledge of rule changes in order for the bank to proceed. The seller, who will be recieving his own series of complaints, held our deposit in his personal account and spent it, prior to closing. We were pre-approved with another lender and wanted to go to him but we could n't do so because our deposit was spent and our seller threated to walk away if we did n't close. 
Further, the seller was in contact with the closing attorney 's office the day of the closing making changes to the HUD up to 30 minutes before the closing, adding miscellaneous fees and costs to reduce the amount of his closing costs, without my knowledge or consent. At closing, I was asked to write a check for XXXX $ which was the additional deposit amount required when I made a change to the purchase and sales changing the purchase amount from XXXX to XXXX. I already paid this difference via check to the seller and the lender failed to request evidence of this payment prior to closing, so as a result I was forced to pay it again and told to 'ask for it back ' from the seller ( who had been so reasonable throughout. ) I could go on and on, and I 'd be happy to, but I feel that I 've provided enough information to get an inquiry started.

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