Consumer complaint received 2020-10-05
Company: CARDINAL FINANCIAL COMPANY, LIMITED PARTNERSHIP
State: NC
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: VA mortgage
Issue: Closing on a mortgage

Complaint:
After getting married in XX/XX/2020, my wife and I decided to purchase our first home. I spoke with one of my XXXX buddies about a mortgage lender, and was informed that he was funded through Cardinal Financial. He said that he closed on a home in about a month 's span. After hearing about how they helped my friend, I was under the impression that Cardinal Financial were well versed with VA home loans. I am a veteran, so naturally, we decided to move forward with a VA home loan. We were initially told by Cardinal Financial that we were pre-approved for $ XXXX. Happily, my wife and I signed and dated the pre-approval letter. After spending countless hours searching, we were excited to have finally found the perfect home. We promptly provided each piece of documentation that was required and asked of us. However, due to Cardinal Financial being highly unorganized, and " misplacing '' our documents, we were forced to waste even more time by providing multiple copies of the same document on several different occasions. On each occasion, they would tell us that they never received our documents, when, in fact, we had tangible proof that we sent them. That was very frustrating, to say the least. The home loan officer that was assigned to us has only been in this role for less than two years. I feel and know that she was not experienced enough to handle a VA home loan. 

Cardinal Financials ' communication over the past month and a half was beyond disgraceful. We CONSTANTLY had to email or call them if we desired a status update as to where we were in the home buying purchase. Their failing to return our emails, calls, and voicemails became habitual. Speaking to someone regarding our loan status was similar to pulling teeth, and it seemed like they did not care to have our business. 

Just TWO business days before the home closing date, we were informed by Cardinal Financial that we had to come up with a whopping $ XXXX in order to close on the home. This was shockingly disturbing, since NO ONE from Cardinal Financial, at ANY given time, disclosed that we had to come out of pocket for such a significant amount of money in order to move forward with closing on our dream home. On all of the original documents that we signed, it was stated that we needed only $ XXXX for closing costs. As it turned out, Cardinal Financial sloppily miscalculated our loan amount, and failed to realize it until only a couple of days before our closing dates. This speaks massively to Cardinal Financials ' negligence and incompetence when it comes to managing VA home loans. As a veteran, I feel utterly disappointed and perturbed that they seemed not to care enough to ensure that they completely understood how to manage my VA home loan. Cardinal Financial made us jump through unnecessary hoops, and falsely strung us along for nearly 2 months. 

My wife and I lost so much while dealing with the unprofessionalism and inadequacy of Cardinal Financial. We lost out on being able to purchase other homes that we absolutely adored ( they are ALL sold now, since Cardinal Financial has been wasting our time for the past month and a half ). We lost out on almost 2 month 's worth of time, which we will NEVER get back. Not one, but two hard credit inquiry for myself and my wife were pulled by Cardinal Financial. We lost out our hard-earned cash, which we are hoping to somehow be able to recoup at least some of it. We chucked out {$1500.00} in due diligence, {$500.00} in earnest money, and {$590.00} for home/ termite inspection. With all credit due to none other than Cardinal Financial, the home of our dreams, and all of our time, money, and efforts are now completely flushed down the toilet. 

During a discussion with our home loan specialist, she admitted that she " messed up '' and that she was " sorry ''. It was more than obvious that not only did she mess up, EVERYONE else at Cardinal Financial that had anything to do with our loan messed up as well. Needless to say, with EVERYONE that was involved over the course of the past almost 2 months, what began as a mistake quickly spiraled into full blown NEGLIGENCE. And, again, we found out ALL of this ONLY two business days before our closing date. 

I called Cardinal Financial in order to obtain the telephone number to their corporate office. Rather Cardinal Financial being confident enough in their OWN practices to disclose the contact info of their corporate office, I was merely told that they have a complaint office that deals with these types matters. I left a detailed voice mail. Needless to say, given Cardinal Financials ' lack of concern for their clients, defective tact and customer service, and unprofessionalism, I have yet to receive a returned phone call from their so-called complaint office. Instead, the loan officer 's supervisor contacted me with laughable claims that Cardinal Financial did their job and that they did nothing wrong. He then admitted countless times that they DID, in fact, " messed up '' and stated even more times that he is " sorry '' about the situation. We have tangible proof of the entire conversation. As a veteran that has literally fought for this country, I feel beyond unappreciated, and my wife and I need more than a simple apology. 

We fully realize that the home buying process is not meant to be a walk in the park, however, we know it is NOT supposed to be confusing, chaotic, unprofessional, and unorganized. From day one, Cardinal Financial has been negligent, and built a flimsy house of cards on a non-existent foundation, with that non-existent foundation being a false pre-approval letter. Cardinal Financials ' false pre-approval letter made EVERYTHING thereafter obsolete and a TOTAL waste of time and money. To say that my wife and I are angry is an understatement. Dealing with Cardinal Financial has inflicted deep emotional and mental anguish, exhaustion, stress, and turmoil. Consequently, our physical bodies have also taken a toll in that we both have lost our appetites, energy, and have lost an abundance of sleep. Cardinal Financial has shown their business practices to be negligent, inapt, unethical, misleading, and disorderly. 

The way that Cardinal Financial treated us is nothing short of sickening, and it has become our very worse NIGHTMARE on our home-buying journey. Although writing out these facts has deepened our emotional and physical distress, we feel as if we need to share our story so that other consumers can be forewarned about Cardinal Financial.  With all that we have gone through with Cardinal Financial, we seriously don't wish this on our worse XXXX. My wife and I are sincerely grateful for your helping us bring awareness to all home buyers.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation