Consumer complaint received 2017-10-05
Company: HOME FINANCE OF AMERICA
State: MD
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Closing on a mortgage

Complaint:
My wife and I applied for a mortgage and were approved by XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX, WA. The property is in XXXX, OR. We were buying the property for our XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, and XXXX. We live in Maryland and we fully disclosed this fact to the mortgage company. They assured us that this was routine and as long as they know I n advance, it will not affect the settlement date. 
The settlement date was supposed to be XX/XX/XXXX. We had all of our information and we were ready to go. The title company was ready as well. On XX/XX/XXXX, I was expecting to get the documents in the mail so we could sign and return. That never happened. Since XX/XX/XXXX was before XXXX XXXX, all of the employees at XXXX XXXX XXXX took a half day off, so there was no one in their office to close the loan and finalize the documents. 
My familys lease expired on XX/XX/XXXX and it was clear that we would not settle prior to the end of XXXX since the documents still had to be finalized and sent to us for signature and then mailed back. I mentioned this to the mortgage company because I could see that my family was going to need a place to stay for the gap between their ended lease and settlement of the new property. 
XXXX of XXXX was unable and unwilling to help with this so I took on this process myself. I had to get them a suitable hotel for XXXX adults, XXXX child, a dog and a cat. We tried to get the animals in a kennel but all of the kennels we tried were booked because it was a holiday weekend. So we had to find a hotel that was pet friendly and large enough rooms to accommodate the family and the pets. We were able to find a XXXX XXXX close by that accepted pets and was large enough to accommodate everyone. 
Then, there was an issue with personal effects. We needed to find storage for their personal effects for the gap between the cessation of the lease and settlement of the new property. We were able to secure a storage locker for XXXX month to store the belongings. A month lease was the shortest time we were able to get. We got the cheapest price we could to accommodate all of the belongings and personal property. 
The other issue was movers. My family had movers for the original settlement date ; however, we needed to get other movers to assist with the second move from the storage locker to the new property. We also were not sure when the new settlement date was so it was difficult to get movers since we really didnt know which date to reserve. This issue was not the main concern since the storage locker was rented for XXXX days. 
We also had to pay for another notary since I was in a different location than my wife due to work. Again, XXXX Of XXXX was informed of this by me so there should have been ample time to accommodate these known events. 
During all this excitement and uncertainty, XXXX Of XXXX did absolutely nothing to assist with reservations, recommendations, or provide any monetary support to make us whole even though their negligence caused this entire chain of events. 
I attempted to work with XXXX Of XXXX directly to get these expenses reimbursed since they admitted that they dropped the ball. I was dealing with the branch XXXX for a while. I sent him an itemized list of all my expenses which I was seeking reimbursement for and also receipts. After I sent the receipts, his communication stopped and he never returned any of my phone calls or emails. At that moment, I realized I was going to have to pursue other avenues to recoup our extra expenses. Here is an itemized list of all reimbursement and damages we are seeking : Notary XXXX Moving XXXX Storage XXXX Hotel XXXX Total Expenses XXXX Damages XXXX X Expenses XXXX Total XXXX

Company response to consumer: Untimely response