Consumer complaint received 2015-12-27
Company: NFM, INC
State: GA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional fixed mortgage
Issue: Loan servicing, payments, escrow account

Complaint:
I would like to file a predatory lending complaint against XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ID # : XXXX, GA License # XXXX ) and NFM Lending ( XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, MD XXXX ). I was a victim of a bait and switch where I received an amended mortgage settlement XXXX month AFTER I had already closed my loan increasing my mortgage payment by {$100.00} each month! I was told by XXXX and NFM that it was an error on their part in the monthly payment calculation and that I would have to sign the amended settlement to which I refused. I was under the impression that once you close your loan the payment can not increase unless there is a shortage upon annual escrow analysis. How can my mortgage payment increase {$100.00} only one month after I signed all closing documents? To give a brief backstory I currently work for a XXXX myself and was approved for a mortgage at a rate that was much lower than NFM was offering. However, the city XXXX was offering a downpayment assistance grant in which NFM was a preferred lender and my bank was not. I made XXXX and NFM aware of this, and they assured me that my first year mortgage payment would not be any higher than {$670.00} per month including taxes and insurance based on the purchase price of the property I was currently under contract on. I had the option to go with my bank for a monthly payment of {$700.00} per month but obviously chose the lower XXXX year monthly payment offered by NFM also considering the fact they were the preferred lender for the City of XXXX 's grant program. XXXX and NFM lied to me to get me to sign with their mortgage company at a " lower '' payment only to increase it one month after closing. They knew I had an option of going with my bank so they chose to falsely convey their monthly mortgage payment as lower until I closed then raising it {$100.00} per month suddenly out of nowhere for no justified reason other than a " miscalculation '' on their part. 

The second issue. After my closing was delayed XXXX times ( yes XXXX times ) by NFM I finally reached the night before closing. I received a call from NFM that there was a {$2000.00} surplus from the XXXX grant ( which they knew all along ) and in order for them to apply it to the loan amount they would have to generate new documents delaying the closing an XXXX time, but they offered the option to send a check for the surplus to my HOA to cover my dues until the funds were exhausted. At this point I was informed by my realtor that the seller would walk away if the closing were delayed again so I had no choice but to take that option of applying the surplus to my HOA fees. It seems to me that NFM hid this fact about the surplus so they would not have to decrease their loan amount and gain additional interest on my mortgage and make it more attractive on the secondary market. It would have been more beneficial if the {$2000.00} were applied to my loan balance saving me on interest but they hid that until the very end forcing me to apply it to my HOA so they could retain a higher loan balance.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation