Consumer complaint received 2016-10-31
Company: BB&T CORPORATION
State: VA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional fixed mortgage
Issue: Application, originator, mortgage broker

Complaint:
I am writing to request that you look into the lending practices of BB & T mortgage. 
XX/XX/XXXX, I applied for BB & T construction loan to build a house on my lot in North Carolina. BB & T already holds the mortgage on the lot so I figured they already know me and it would be easier to get approved. I have never been late in my mortgage payment to them in the last 8-9 years ( not once ) and my XXXX and credit scores are excellent. It only took a few days to get me pre-approved by the agent I approached for said loan. 

BB & T then sent me a long list of documents they needed for the final loan itself and in about a week I have submitted every one of them. After a few weeks, they said they reviewed the documents and would need some other ones to which I complied right away. This is now XX/XX/XXXX, 6 months after I got my pre-approval. Every few weeks they would email me for more documents. The aggravating part is they will tell me about this a couple of weeks after I 've sent the last documents which to me means they let them sit for a while before reviewing them. Furthermore the documents they ask for are the same ones I already sent them. For example I have sent them a total of XXXX sets of bank statements, XXXX sets of financial statements, employment documentations, and pay stubs, etc. I sent them my last bank statements on XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, exactly one month later, they asked me for all the bank statements again. 

My financial situation has never changed all this time. They warned me to keep it that way and since XX/XX/XXXX I never even put a single dollar on my credit card. On the contrary I have actually added about {$5000.00} more on my savings account. What strike me as odd is the fact that on XX/XX/XXXX, they wanted me to write and sign a statement saying that I will continue to work as, I quote " your commute from your work is over an hour from your new home ''. I have never heard of that as a pre-requisite for an approval. Tens of thousands in the country buy residences an hour or more from work and commute daily and as far as I know no lenders had ever made that an issue ( or should n't ). Are they afraid that because I am XXXX years old, I will suddenly croak from long drive exhaustion? 

I have asked BB & T that if there is even the slightest hesitation on their part as to whether I could manage my mortgage payment then go ahead and disapprove my application so I can try other companies and get on with my life. I asked them this at least 3 times in the last 6 months and each time they told me that there is no problem getting approved. So the question is : when the industry standard for mortgage approval ( or disapproval ) is 6 weeks, why is it that 6 months later, BB & T is still working on it? 

I can not help but think that basing on their request for that letter on XX/XX/XXXX, they are discriminating against me because of age or because I am a minority. Perhaps they made a mistake of pre-approving me and now they want me to get so frustrated that I would voluntarily withdraw my application so that they wo n't have to worry about the {$1600.00} that they already asked me to spend for appraisal and survey and health department permit. If that is the case, then they already won because I told them last week that I was withdrawing my application. I hope that your investigation will reach BB & T 's CEO and upper mortgage department management. Thank you for looking into this matter. 
Sincerely, XXXX XXXX XXXX

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