Consumer complaint received 2021-10-29
Company: UNITED SERVICES AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION
State: MN
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: VA mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX I applied for a VA home loan through USAA. This would be the second time I would have a VA loan. My first home was through a VA loan. I receive a pre-approval on the same day and immediately started submitting my required paperwork. The same da, XX/XX/XXXX, I was assigned to XXXX XXXX, a Loan Officer, to start the process. During the month of XXXX, I put an offer on a house and it was accepted. That then started the process of finalizing my loan information. 
I was advised by USAA to schedule the inspection on the home as a requirement for a VA loan and this was done on XX/XX/XXXX. NOTE : I had not yet been officially approved for a loan through the underwriting process, I only had the pre-approval. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX updated my pre-approval letter and then advised that I would be assigned to a NEW loan officer, XXXX XXXX. 
I never spoke to XXXX, instead I was contacted by XXXX XXXX, another loan officer at USAA, on XX/XX/XXXX. It seems he was now assigned to my case. I began uploading my underwriter required documents for review on XX/XX/XXXX. I was then contacted by XXXX XXXX, a Loan Officer Associate that was assisting XXXX XXXX, on XX/XX/XXXX. NOTE : I was never informed that XXXX or XXXX were no longer my Loan Officer. I got a email from XXXX, who then mentioned ANOTHER loan officer that was handling my case, which was XXXX XXXX. He needed further information to continue with the loan process. XXXX then called me on XX/XX/XXXX and advised of everything they needed to finish my file was complete. She followed up with an email to confirming this as well. We continued on with the process and appraisal. USAA then required me on XX/XX/XXXX to pay ( IN FULL ) my home insurance policy for the entire first year. Usually that is covered when closing, but I was required to do this ahead of time which put me in financial hardship since I had not closed on my old home. 
THEN, on XX/XX/XXXX, I was assigned yet ANOTHER loan officer, XXXX XXXX. She asked more information on my banking info, and closing on previous house. This was provided same day. 
On XX/XX/XXXX XXXX then provide me with a letter from the VA that we are not eligible. The letter advised that it had made multiple attempts to request information from me, but I had never received such a letter. This is now less than 3 weeks from our expected closing date. After much discussion with the Minnesota VA to obtain records, we learned from the VA directly, that the qualifications for a VA loan had changed more than 5 years ago, and my husband no longer qualified. 

At this point, we were less than three weeks from closing, and we had no loan. None of the Loan Officers from USAA caught this error that he no longer qualified for a VA Loan, instead we spent 1.5 months submitting their paperwork. They still made us pay for the home inspection, and pre-pay for the insurance before we were even officially quailified. This VA policy was put in to place many years ago and I would assume a service provider that specifically works with VA LOANS would know the current policy and requirements. 

I had to obtain a new standard home loan within two weeks through a new company. That new loan did not require an inspection and I would not have had to pay almost {$800.00} for an inspection if USAA caught their error from the beginning. They went on the assumption that we qualified before, so we would qualify again and didn't even look at his service record to confirm. I respectfully requested our inspection money to be returned due to their error and they declined.

Company public response: Company believes complaint represents an opportunity for improvement to better serve consumers
Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief