Consumer complaint received 2021-03-25
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: NY
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Closing on a mortgage

Complaint:
I've outlined my complaint to the bank below. Despite a flurry of activity from the " Executive Office, '' we have yet to see any useful information five days later. 


-- -- -- -- - Forwarded message -- -- -- -- - From : NAME Date : Sat, XX/XX/2021 at XXXX XXXX  Subject : Complaint with home lending process To : XXXX Dear XXXX XXXX : I am writing today to express my profound disappointment in your home lending program. Two weeks ahead of our closing, we find ourselves at a standstill in your lending process and scramblingto secure financing elsewhere. From my vantage point, this predicament can be attributed to your bank 's failure to communicate in a clear and timely fashion. As a result, we are likely to incur thousands of dollars in added expenses to the cost of our home loan. I'm sure you can understand why this would be extremely frustrating. 

Your sales process gave us the false assurance that our account would be handled with respect and urgent attention. To say that our service experience has fallen short is an understatement. It's almost as if it's been managed by an entirely different institution. 

Here 's a high-level summary of our interactions leading up to and following the signing of our lock-in agreement and receipt of our conditional approval letter on XX/XX/2021. 

1. During pre-qualification, we were advised that the bank did not require an appraisal. This decision raised our curiosity and concern, so we asked our Home Lending Advisor for the reasoning. He explained that XXXX  XXXX  was not requiring an appraisal. I am noting this decision because it has implications that surfaced on XX/XX/2021. 

2. After the signing of our application package, we received notification that our account service was transitioning from our Home Lending Advisor to our Client Care Specialist. We received our first introduction to her via an email on XX/XX/2021. She asked that we submit an outstanding W2, which we uploaded on on XX/XX/XXXX. We sent a notification to our Client Care Specialist via the portal, which is positioned as a method for communicating with the account team. 

3. On XX/XX/XXXX, we received the following message from our Client Care Specialist. We presume -- but never confirmed, because we never again heard from this person -- that she was asking for the W2 that we submitted on XX/XX/XXXX. We placed calls and emails to her in hopes that we could reach her before the start of her vacation, given that we had a goal to secure our final approval by XX/XX/XXXX. Those inquiries went unanswered. 

-- -- -- -- -- Forwarded message -- -- -- -- - From : XXXX, XXXX XXXX Date : Thu, XX/XX/2021 at XXXX XXXX Subject : RE : Chase Loan To : Cc : Hello NAME, I wanted to reach out and give you a quick heads up, I am taking along weekend starting in a few hours and I wanted to make sure you had my coverage contact. I am back in on Tuesday but the sooner we are able to get you submitted the less days we miss to get your final approval. I have included her in this email and her contact is below, as well. 
<<END>> 4. At this point in the process, we submitted a revised contract reflecting our agreement with the seller based on home inspection findings. We signed off on a revised loan estimate package on XX/XX/XXXX. Our aim was to secure final approval by XX/XX/XXXX, as per our contract requirements. Our Client Care Specialist was no longer returning our calls, and we were not receiving replies from the colleague listed as providing cover for her during her vacation. We then reached out to the Manager listed in her signature line. 

5. On XX/XX/XXXX, we learned that the bank had additional requirements for our application, such as documentation of our ability to work remotely, an inquiry about property owned by my mother-in-law, and other items. None of these requirements were proactively communicated to us by a team member. We learned about the tasks when we logged into the portal to check on the status of our loan approval. We asked our Client Care Specialist and her substitute about these requirements via email on XX/XX/XXXX. We received no replies to our emails. We uploaded these documents on XX/XX/XXXX. 

6. On or about Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX, we spoke with the Manager, who was very apologetic about the confusion and committed to taking action on our behalf. He advised us that he could see our revised contract and all uploaded documents, and that he would put the information forward for approval. He advised us that the underwriters might ask for a home inspection report. 

7. Within the following day or two, the substitute Client Care Specialist called to verify that they had all of the information that was needed and to ask if we had outstanding questions. She advised us that in the future, if additional documentation or actions were required to complete the loan, that we would be notified directly. That promise went unfulfilled. 

8. On XX/XX/XXXX, I posted another message to the portal asking for an update with the status of our loan. 

9. On XX/XX/XXXX, I placed a call to the Manager, who returned my call the following day. ( He's extremely responsive, but apparently your employees are unable to access their voice mail while working from home during COVID. ) On XX/XX/XXXX, we spoke on the phone. He advised us that the underwriting department required a copy of our home inspection report. He suggested that the request had been made some time prior but that it was not " customer-facing, '' meaning that we had no means of knowing that the information was required. It is unclear to us how many days the process was held at a standstill because we were not notified of the request for a home inspection report. 

10. We spoke with the Manager every day between XX/XX/XXXX and 19 seeking updates on the status of our loan. Each day, the Manager told us that he hoped to have information by the end of the day, and each day he followed up to tell us that he had no further information to share. ( While this was disappointing, we did appreciate his commitment. ) 11. On XX/XX/XXXX, we received notification that the underwriting department would not proceed with approving our loan because 1 ) it lacked an appraisal -- the very appraisal that it sent was not required ; and 2 ) it would require repairs of all " health and safety '' related concerns cited in the home inspection report. We were advised that these repairs must be completed by closing -- a request that went against the very basis of our negotiated price reduction and agreement with the sellers. We requested written information about the specific requirements of the repairs and the request to have them completed by the closing. By email, the Manager cited the pages of the report in which the issues appear. By phone, he noted that there were 20 items listed as health and safety concerns in the report. ( It is a separate yet troubling issue that all items on this list were treated with the same level of importance and required for repairs by closing. ) We expressed our frustration that we were now being asked to complete a vaguely defined list of repairs within two weeks of our mutually agreed-upon closing date. Our frustration was acknowledged with an apology but we were offered no alternatives except to extend the closing. Given the circumstances of our long-distance move and the timing of the request, we do not believe that the bank 's request for repairs are realistic. 

As of today, we have not received any formal, written communication that explains the underwriting department'srequirements for completing the loan. We have not received a written explanation of the justification of the underwriting decisions ; the scope of the work to be completed to satisfy the underwriting department'spolicies ; or guidance on a process for demonstrating evidence of the repairs. This failure to communicate in writing the requirements for satisfying your lending policies will form the basis of the complaint that I will file with the CPFB. 

The lack of accountability among your service team members, the failure to communicate underwriting policy in writing, and the failures of the portal as a communication channel stand out as three obvious opportunities for improvement. 

I do hope that you and your leadership team will take our experience into account as you consider the ways in which you can secure and sustain the trust of your customers. It has been breached with us. It's our intent to take our checking accounts, savings accounts, and credit card business elsewhere as soon as we are able, and the bank has certainly eliminated itself as a candidate for our Private Client business or future financing needs. 

I thank you in advance for your consideration of our concerns. 
Cordially,

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation