Consumer complaint received 2021-11-19
Company: Rocket Mortgage, LLC
State: TN
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: VA mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
To Whom It May Concern : I ( the Veteran ) am filing a complaint against Quicken Home Loans and/or Rocket Mortgage Wholesale Division ( " XXXX '' ), XX/XX/XXXX# XXXX, as well as employee or third party contractor, XXXX XXXX XXXX no employee number or NMLS available ), for delaying this Veteran the use of Veteran home loan benefits available to Veterans with service connected XXXX for a refinance of the Veterans home and steering this Veteran towards higher cost loan products. 

I am including the following reasons that should fall under the Truth in Lending Act and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act ( TILA-RESPA ) : 1 ) XXXX appears to have decided that this Veteran is not allowed to use his home as his primary residence ; 2 ) XXXX appears to have decided that this Veteran is not allowed to move to a larger, XXXX sq.ft, XXXX bedroom home that the Veterans owns from his cramped XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX  that the Veteran also XXXX ; 3 ) XXXX appears to have decided that this Veteran is not allowed to exit the rental market because the Veteran does not want to be landlord at this time during the pandemic ; 4 ) XXXX appears to be denying me the liberty of choosing to live in a larger home with less furniture and clutter ; 5 ) XXXX appears to have decided that waiting to make a large purchase of refinishing my floors means I do not live at my home; 6 ) XXXX appears to be denying that storing furniture in a shipping container I have on my property is not allowed for storing furniture that will be moved into my home after my wood floors are refinished ; and 7 ) XXXX appears to be delaying their response until the rate lock runs out on the existing terms due to the favorable interest rate on the loan estimate. 

I am providing a chronology of events supporting the numbered items in the above paragraph. 

On XX/XX/2021, the tenants that had been renting my home at XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, XXXX XXXX ( " XXXX '' ), moved out. I cleaned the place and started my move from my small condo near XX/XX/XXXXXXXX, XXXX, to the larger home on XXXX XXXX. 

In XX/XX/2021, I started the process to refinance my exisitingXX/XX/XXXXVA Home Loan at XXXX by shopping for loan estimates. I spoke with many different lenders. Some lenders made wild assertions about what the refinance process would look like and were not credible. I found a lender that won my trust though & started working with XXXX XXXX, the person I had been working with on a XXXX XXXX XXXX refinance. 

From XXXX through XXXX, I was the main cause for delay as I had XXXX XXXX & continued trying to seek appropriate care atXX/XX/XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. 

During XX/XX/2021, I received requests to meet additional loan conditions, including sharing the utility bills I pay for living in my home on XXXX. I provided the requested documentation. I shared the following reminder in an XX/XX/2021 email : I was reviewing the loan application & saw my [ redacted for privacy ] savings account was too high. I also wanted to share that my [ redacted for privacy ] credit card was recently paid in full along with my XXXX card. I wanted to check on these items before signing this loan application. 

On XX/XX/2021, I received additional loan conditions from XXXX XXXX on behalf of XXXX. XXXX staff decided they wanted further proof that the XX/XX/XXXXcontracts I sent documenting my move on XX/XX/2021, and XX/XX/2021, were paid. I shared credit card statements showing that the contracts were paid. 

On XX/XX/2021, I emailed XXXX XXXX for an update on the home loan refinance since interest rates had been decreasing from early XXXX, the following day was XXXX XXXX, and because I had not received an update since XX/XX/2021. 

On XX/XX/2021, I did not receive an update. 

On XX/XX/2021, I received an email from XXXX XXXX stating XXXX wanted the loan to change for an investment property with a higher interest rate. 

On Friday, XX/XX/2021, I called XXXX to try to find out why this Veteran was being steered towards higher cost loan products. I was able to reach someone who stated their name was XXXX XXXX. However, this employee could not provide any other method of identification such as an employee number, NMLS #, phone number, etc. XXXX XXXX claimed that the terms of the loan should be at a higher interest rate. XXXX kept repeating that the home was empty, just empty, and empty except for a twin bed. XXXX XXXX refused to acknowledge that I have a workspace in the home where I work from home. XXXX XXXX refused to acknowledge the reality that I am allowed the liberty of choosing to store my furniture in a shipping container located on my property, utilize my workspace/kitchen table while I wait to complete a refinance before making any large purchases, and wait to have my floors refinished before moving more furniture from my shipping container back into my house. 

I reminded XXXX XXXX that XXXX was giving the appearance of steering this Veteran towards higher interest rates either by delaying the loan while interest rates were falling, by giving the appearance of intentional delay to run out the clock on the rate lock, or by intentionally steering this Veteran towards higher cost loan products while also avoiding sending any documentation of the higher cost terms. 

I also reminded XXXX that XXXX appears to be alleging that I am somehow committing, or attempting to commit, a crime by living in a larger home. XXXX is giving the appearance of accusing me of Occupancy Fraud. 

XXXX appears to have decided that I am not allowed to live in my home without paying for cable TV or a landline phone. XXXX appears to have decided that paying for water and electricity does not mean I live in my home. XXXX has decided that having medications from XXXX XXXX shipped to a locked mailbox at my condo is proof that I can not be living at my larger home. 

XXXX also appears to have decided that I should have " staged '' all three bedrooms and the living room of my home with furniture for an appraisal in XX/XX/2021, and then, move that furniture back out again while waiting to make a large purchase to get the wood floors refinished. To be clear, it would be impossible to refinish wood floors with furniture in the house. 

To reinforce my concern, I am not always able to move all the furniture of my home in and out repeatedly in one day. I have hXXXX XXXX that require me to make many smaller trips since I own two properties and a shipping container where I can store my belongings. It is a large endeavor for me to move so much furniture at one time or then try to move it repeatedly without help. It is also not a good choice for my health to hire movers and bring a large number of people into my home during the pandemic. 

During the conversation on XX/XX/2021, I discovered that XXXX XXXX decided to change the terms of the loan estimate on XX/XX/2021. I did not receive an update on this change until XX/XX/2021, during a week with falling interest rates and was not provided any details about the change to a higher interest/cost loan product until after XX/XX/XXXX 

To date, this Veteran has not been provided the Loan Estimate of the new, much higher loan product being offered. XXXX is giving the appearance that they are intentionally delaying presenting a revised loan estimate to either run out the clock on the existing rate lock or steer the Veteran into a higher cost loan products. The delay appears to give XXXX plausible deniability that the terms changed since the Veteran has no written record of XXXX actions regarding the claims that the Veteran can only get refinanced with a loan product with a higher interest rate. 

I have now lost the opportunity to refinance both XXXX and the condo as my primary residence since XXXX has arbitrarily and capriciously decided that since this Veteran owns two properties, neither can be a primary residence -- especially if the primary residence has or had a loan estimate with a low interest rate in 2021.

At this point, XXXX has muddied the waters /*is there an official term? */ so that I now would not be allowed to have a primary residence at all. I live in my house and that does not count to use my Veteran home loan benefits.If I were to attempt to refinance my condo, I would not be able to refinance the condo as a primary residence. And apparently, I am also not allowed to refinance my home as a primary residence either.

Through XXXX XXXX actions, XXXX appears to be alleging that this Veteran is attempting to commit Occupancy Fraud by deciding to move from the Veterans small, studio condo to live in a larger home. Furthermore, the timing of XXXX XXXX delays appear to have been designed to steer this Veteran into higher loan products and delay the Veteran an opportunity to take advantage of their VA Home Loan  benefits, and delay this Veteran an opportunity to take advantage of declining interest rates that occured during XX/XX/2021 from XXXX XXXX XXXX. XXXX appears to be acting with the motivation that it would be more profitable for XXXX to charge a higher interest rate or at least delay producing a loan estimate until rates start climbing. 

Thank you for your consideration, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation