Consumer complaint received 2017-06-23
Company: ATLANTIC BAY MORTGAGE GROUP LLC
State: FL
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Other type of mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
XX/XX/XXXX : Made contact with XXXX XXXX, Loan Officer in the XXXX, Florida Office, a referral from my friend and former colleague, XXXX XXXX ( NC ), a current Loan Officer with Atlantic Bay in the XXXX XXXX, NC office. I gave XXXX XXXX a TBD loan application and discussed government loan options to purchase an existing single family dwelling. Within a few days, I sent documents XXXX, tax returns, bank statements, etc. via email to XXXX XXXX. A Pre-Approval was sent to my Real Estate Agent from XXXX XXXX via email, outlining a preapproval for a FHA loan. Mandatory 3-day Disclosures were never emailed or mailed to me, which is a blatant violation of CFPB. As per HMDA, I was never asked my gender/ethnicity. XX/XX/XXXX After several email exchanges with XXXX XXXX, I decided to try and qualify for a Conventional Loan to avoid paying monthly FHA mortgage insurance. A credit re-score was done in order to qualify for a conventional loan. I received an email from XXXX XXXX that my credit score was updated and as a result of the credit re-score, I now qualified for a conventional loan. I requested that XXXX XXXX email my Real Estate Agent an updated preapproval that reflects conventional loan financing the email was never sent after several requests. XX/XX/XXXX I sent multiple emails inquiring about construction conventional loan programs as I could not find an existing home to buy. XXXX XXXX never responded to any email inquiries after 3 weeks. I requested that my friend and former colleague, XXXX XXXX ( NC ), follow up on my behalf since XXXX XXXX refused to respond XXXX XXXX contacted XXXX XXXX and discussed my construction loan options. It was relayed to XXXX XXXX that I qualify for a construction conventional loan but funds would not be available until XX/XX/XXXX.
Several weeks had passed and XX/XX/XXXX came so I sent another email to XXXX XXXX requesting that she submit my loan to underwriting for a conventional construction loan as I had procured a lot to purchase and a builder to build my home. I never received a response from XXXX XXXX so XXXX XXXX again intervened on my behalf. XXXX XXXX Sales Manager sent an email to XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX Sales Manager and I subsequently received an email from XXXX XXXX that she had been sick and was too busy to reply. XXXX XXXX sent via email an electronic disclosure package that had incorrect data on it. I was told to disregard the electronic disclosure package. I emailed several more times requesting a Loan Estimate and a disclosure package so I could review the costs of the loan I never received a Loan Estimate nor did I ever receive the mandatory 3-day disclosure document package ( which at this point, was not in compliance ). I continued to send emails to both XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX but received no communication from either of them until XX/XX/XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX I received an Adverse Action Letter citing Borrower Withdrawal/Cancellation. I never withdrew nor did I cancel. The explanation I received from XXXX XXXX via email on XX/XX/XXXX is that it is for the previous application that was entered incorrectly so they had to issue an Adverse Action letter to cancel out that loan ( Lender Case No XXXX ), dated XX/XX/XXXX. I was never told that an Adverse Action was forthcoming. XX/XX/XXXX I was informed via email that my loan was transferred to XXXX XXXX. A new loan application was done to change the Loan Officer name and a new disclosure package was emailed/mailed to me on XX/XX/XXXX. The disclosure package DID NOT include a Loan Estimate. The loan summary on the last page of the 1003 was incorrect, it did not reflect the land that was bought for $ XXXX and the {$9500.00} lot prep fee paid out of pocket. XXXX XXXX requested several updated documents from me and the requests were complied with immediately. The loan was sent to underwriting late XX/XX/XXXX and came back to remove 3 disputes on my credit report ( this shouldve been addressed in the very beginning of the loan process ). XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX I was informed that 3 disputes on my credit report needed to be removed. This was completed the next day. I was not informed that the other 2 bureaus needed to be updated as well, until the following week. This was  completed on XX/XX/XXXX. No other communication was sent to me until after 3 emails I sent to XXXX XXXX. I was given yet another excuse of not being in the office/vacation. The update to the credit report then took over a week to process, with no updates to me until I pushed the issue. I was also informed that my credit score is currently XXXX and that the loan could be pushed through to underwriting approval upon removal of the disputes. XX/XX/XXXX I received another Adverse Action Letter from Atlantic Bay. I sent XXXX XXXX an email asking about this Adverse Action Letter and I never received a response ( basically, my emails were again, ignored ). XX/XX/XXXX I received an email from XXXX XXXX indicating that she was waiting for the update to my credit report after I submitted the required documentation from XX/XX/XXXX ( it took 4 business days to give me an update and process an update to credit ). She never addressed the Adverse Action Letter that I received. XX/XX/XXXX After 4 months of being strung along, I was informed that the credit update was received and my credit score had plummeted from XXXX to XXXX with no changes to my credit profile other than what I was told to do by Atlantic Bay ( removed collection disputes ). <P/>An alarming lack of customer service : Communication with a customer is key in maintaining a positive relationship throughout the loan process. It was very clearly evident that every excuse in the book was made to me every time I asked for an update. Days and weeks would go by without any update at all. I sent multiple emails requesting an update and after 3, 4 or 5 emails, I was always told that someone was out of the office, on vacation, sick, at a golf outing, etc. Quite frankly, I do not care that someone is on vacation. If a Loan Officer or Processor is on vacation, there should always be a backup to address customer questions/issues. If there is NO update, then the customer should be told that there is NO update. Emails should never be ignored from a customer. I experienced this at the Loan Officer Level and the Sales Manager level. It is an unacceptable practice that you clearly need to address. I understand that Atlantic Bay has a reputation of having a fun environment and employees are always at various events. I ask you do you continue this at the expense of your customer service? If no one is ever around, then who is supposed to take care of your customers? <P/>A profound level of blatant CFPB violations : When a customer has to request a Loan Estimate and TRID documents well over a dozen times and it is still not sent, what does that say about your employees willingness to comply with financial regulations? I never even received an apology or excuse as to why I never received a Loan Estimate, all I got was more ignored emails and requests to send me an estimate of loan charges. HMDA data was never asked. I looked at the loan application that was sent to me via eSign and it was completed and incorrect. Is it safe to assume that your employees have no intention of capturing accurate HMDA data to ensure you are not redlining and discriminating against a minority group?

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation