Consumer complaint received 2022-04-04
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: WA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
I have filed multiple complaints on this issue, all of them were closed saying they were duplicate. Please DO NOT close this complaint as no other complaint is open right now, and there has been no response or resolution from Bank of America. 

About the end of XX/XX/2021, I applied for a refinance with the Bank of America ( BoA ) for our current mortgage ( outstanding balance of about $ 1.9M ) and loan application # XXXX. The existing mortgage on this home is also from BoA. The bank charged us an appraisal fee of {$1700.00} for conducting two independent appraisals for our home but confirmed that the appraisal fee would be credited back to us at the time of closing. The refinance process moved very slowly and while the bank was still crawling forward with the process, in the first week of XX/XX/2021, we were offered a cash out refinance at very attractive terms by the same BoA sales manager, XXXX XXXX, who we were working with. We liked the idea as we had long wanted to do home improvements and this cash out could put money in our pocket to redo our kitchen, etc. We decided to change our refinance to a cash out refinance. We reviewed our options with a trusted realtor and he advised that the improvements we were planning would significantly improve the value of the home. We communicated this to our loan processor, and duly followed every step from there on. Every document that BOA asked for was provided in a timely fashion. The fresh appraisal that was conducted as part of the cash out refinance also confirmed that we had over $ XXXX  ( over 50 % ) in equity in the house. My income level clearly supported the cash out refinance that we applied for, which BoA duly confirmed with pay stubs, tax statements, stock grants, etc. However, in XX/XX/2021 during this cash out process, a number of unreasonable, confusing and unethical actions were taken by BoA, which had us frustrated and concerned : 1. The interest rate for the cash out, which was promised to us to be the same as a rate and term refinance as recently as XX/XX/XXXX by XXXX at 1.875 %, was suddenly raised by 0.5 % pts in the closing disclosure sent in early XXXX We raised our concerns with XXXX  and his manager but they reverted that the rates were different as higher as the cash out process was updated by underwriting, separately from the sales team, for a higher rate. The sales team, while it had promised a lower rate, could not influence underwriting.. strange for us as we thought we were working with a national level bank and not separate groups within it. However, we decided to move forward in the interest of closing our process and moving on with our lives. 2. In late XX/XX/2021, XXXX was preparing us for the closing on a call as everything was getting ready for a closing. He casually asked us for proof of $ XXXX  in assets to get the cash out. He said we could do a smaller cash out only if we did not have $ XXXX  but 'just ' $ XXXX  in assets- which was still XXXX  MORE than the cash out of $ XXXX we were seeking!! If we didn't have even $ XXXX  then they might not be able to do a cash out! We were very upset about this last minute and casual blow. We asked the reason for this unreasonable ask as the collateral for the mortgage was the house and my income. We questioned why our assets were needed but we weren't given any satisfactory answers. XXXX XXXX also did a lot of communication with texts and not through secure BoA channels. I succumbed to the ask again and sent all our asset statements to BoA which satisfied their $ XXXX  in ask! I sent statements as asked for for the current and prior months but they continued to play more games. Then XXXX XXXX applied random 'risk ' percentages to our assets stating only 60 % of stock assets could be counted, etc. We were losing patience with these unwritten and seemingly last minute 'policies ' crafted specifically for our situation. We just wanted to close, get the money and rate they were now offering us and be done. 3. Unreasonable loan policies for cash out refinance were disclosed to us, e.g. varying loan to value based on the value of our asset base 4. Random percentages were assigned to calculate how much of our asset base would be considered for the loan to value calculation 5. All these random asks and communication from XXXX XXXX, his manager and BoA underwriting weren't through the secure portal on BoA where we were sending them our loan documents but through personal texts, unsecured emails etc. On XX/XX/XXXX, suddenly, with no clear explanation, our cash out refinance was completely rejected by BoA. On repeated questioning, the reason given to us was a very broad saying that the home improvements we wanted to make would be " Material alterations to the subject property ''. This makes no sense at all, as BoA has no way to determine what's a material change v/s what's not. They asked us to take a construction loan on the property instead which has a very high interest rate. Per the BoA appraisal we have over 50 % equity in the house but the bank will not let us cash out our equity based on lame excuses. Instead they want to push to us new money at a much higher interest rate. They have also refused to return to us the appraisal fee that we already paid for. In the end, we have wasted umpteen number of hours to provide BoA every single piece of document they asked for and were satisfied with, have lost the fee we have paid, and of course, don't have the money we were promised by the bank to make the improvements to our home. We feel we were harassed and our trust was exploited to reveal personal financial information unrelated to our mortgage. The bank never wanted to give us the cash out which they would have to any other family with similar financial and professional credentials. And we believe BoA has given families, even in our neighborhood, cash out loans on their homes for home improvements, and WITHOUT asking for proof of assets separate from the home itself. We believe our family was discriminated against and exploited for our cultural and ethnic diversity. What we are requesting is a complete review of our family 's treatment in this mortgage process against the federal set standards. If BoA has given a cash out refinance to any family in the USA for home improvements, or if BoA did not ask for a proof of $ XXXX  in risk adjusted assets for a $ XXXX  of cash out from another American family, or if BoA did not change the mortgage rate offered to a family after a closing disclosure was given to them, then they have used unfair practices to discriminate with our family. And if discrimination can be identified here then the bank should be heavily fined and punished for their conduct. We are also then asking for our appraisal money to be fully refunded and we be given our loan with due respect.

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