Consumer complaint received 2021-04-05
Company: NATIONS LENDING CORPORATION
State: OH
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: FHA mortgage
Issue: Closing on a mortgage

Complaint:
Me, my wife, and my kids had been living in a house that we bought in XXXX for 5 years. When me and my wife first moved in we only had XXXX kids, during our time there we had XXXX more kids for a total of XXXX children. I was able to buy this house using the VA home loan program, as during this time I was enlisted in the XXXX XXXX XXXX and was eligible. 

During XXXX, we met with a local realtor and decided that in XXXX we would sell our house. The realtor introduced us to XXXX XXXX of Nations Lending XXXX, ( XXXX XXXX  XXXX | NMLS # XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, OH XXXX ), ( XXXX ) and ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) they would be our lender and XXXX was supposed to be our focal point of contact. Our situation in XXXX was that I had lost my job during the pandemic, but I was told by XXXX XXXX that in order to qualify for a loan through Nations Lending, I'd have to find a good job, stay there for at least 6 months, and raise my credit score a few points. During this conversation I also told him that in XXXX that I was self employed and made very good money according to my tax returns. He told me that if I could have an even better year in XXXX and file those taxes we could use that income towards the loan. 

Fast forward to XXXX of XXXX, I found suitable work, stayed there for more than 6 months, raised my credit score, etc. and reached back out to XXXX XXXX of Nations Lending. We started looking for houses and XXXX told me that we would use the VA to purchase our new house when we found one. At this point, no matter how many times we asked for an approval letter he would not give us one stating that in this market, sellers would try to get the max amount that your approval letter stated, so he wanted to only give us an approval letter when we found a house we liked and knew how much we wanted to pay the sellers. XXXX claims to have done this for 20 years so I did not question his judgement. 

We proceeded to put our house on the market, eventually finding a buyer. We paid over $ XXXX in fees towards fixing broken sewer pipes in front of our house and other maintenance that the buyer requested, which we agreed to, XXXX XXXX told us that our loan for the house that we decided to buy was contingent on us selling my current house due to my debt to income ratio including my current house. This entire time XXXX XXXX told me and my wife that we were good to go and that after we sold our house we had nothing to worry about and that we had everything that was needed for a smooth transition. This was where they first made false promises to us. 

You see, XXXX XXXX and the rest of the team at Nations Lending did NOT check into whether or not I could use the VA for a second home loan, my base in XXXX messed up my discharge paperwork from when I left the military in XXXX and as a result I could not use their services until we got that fixed, which we didn't have time for as of XX/XX/XXXX when they first told me that the VA kicked everything back. Now, we had been working with XXXX since XXXX, why had they not checked into any of this ahead of time? Multiple lenders that I have spoke to since then have IMMEDIATELY checked to see if the VA was possible for me to use so why did XXXX wait 2 MONTHS to even bother to check? 

When we realized that we didn't have time to get my discharge papers fixed because they had not done their research on the matter, XXXX said that we would still be good and that all we had to do was switch over to FHA. We signed all of our paperwork to close on the new house by this point. Now, when using the VA, I would have qualified with just my job 's income to purchase the house. With FHA, I needed the help of my 2 years of self employment coupled with my job, which XXXX asked for my XXXX XXXX tax returns on XX/XX/XXXX. I was able to provide him with XXXX and XXXX tax returns on XX/XX/XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX is the day when we signed the title of my old house to the new buyers, at the behest of XXXX XXXX. At this point we had sold our house and had to move in with family, as our closing date on our new house is XX/XX/XXXX. 

XX/XX/XXXX XXXX and other members of Nations Lending began asking for profit and loss statements for my business which I gave to them. I began to wonder why are they JUST NOW asking for documents for FHA when they are supposed to be experts and already had asked for everything that they needed. During this entire process nobody EVER answered their phones, and they ALWAYS kept me in the dark about where we were at in the process, to which I sent out an email and demanded an explanation for this. XXXX eventually called me and told me that they were sorry and that everything looks great and that they were moving fast because we were getting close to the closing date of my new house. 

Fast forward to XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX sends out an email saying that all of a sudden he needs my work history for the past 2 years or further, and that this is a VERY IMPORTANT part of the process. Why would this VERY IMPORTANT process not have been mentioned to me all the way at the very BEGINNING of XXXX when we switched over to FHA. Now, at this point, earnest money has been deposited, my credit score had been checked numerous times, the inspections had been paid for and done, etc. I called XXXX and he answered ( surprisingly ) and said that it's no big deal and that they just want to see my work history. He already knew that I did not work n XXXX because I was self employed and that I was in school before that. He said that wouldn't be an issue it's just something that the underwriter asks for. Keep in mind that they NEVER GAVE ME AN FHA PRE-APPROVAL BUT STILL MADE ME SELL MY HOUSE. 

So I gave him all of the information he needed and included my school history, I even offered to give him transcripts if he needed it. XX/XX/XXXX, he called me and said that all of a sudden they can't give me the loan because they don't like the fact that I didn't work in XXXX ( even though he knew about this all of the way in XXXX and even he stated as such in multiple conversations ) He even had all of the documentation from my tax returns of self employment. I was extremely confused and heart broken, because here we are, 3 months into this process, XXXX told me I HAD TO SELL MY HOUSE to get the loan because it was contingent on that, only to throw me to the wayside after I paid everybody and sold the house. Now me, my wife, and my kids, are essentially homeless because we were only supposed to stay with family until the XXXX of XXXX. 

XXXX told me that I need to have a co signer to still get the loan, but with only 2 weeks from closing of course nobody will even do that, and I didn't know anybody that could do it that would be qualified credit score wise. XXXX  is now IGNORING me and my wife when we ask him why didn't he do his due diligence as a loan officer in the first place, why he made us sell our house without knowing first if he could get us qualified, and why he won't allow us to use a conventional home loan. ( he keeps saying that this is out of the question. ) Money is of no issue to us, we can pay a higher down payment or go conventional but XXXX ignores me when I ask about that. He only responds when I try to see if someone I know might be a good co signer. ( so far, no one has been ) XXXX XXXX and Nations Lending scammed me out of my house and left me and my family homeless. They did not do any due diligence whatsoever, they lied to me and my wife and made false promises of how everything was going to be okay, and now they are ignoring us, I can't even get the underwriter to answer my phone calls.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation