Consumer complaint received 2018-01-30
Company: UNITED BANKSHARES, INC.
State: MD
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Home equity loan or line of credit (HELOC)
Issue: Closing on a mortgage

Complaint:
We were under a contract to buy a new construction home last year. We choose the Builder 's Preferred Lender ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX - https : XXXX ).  Because of the high loan balance and based on the down payment ( 5 % ), the lender recommended to go with a Conventional First + HELOAN Second. Our second mortgage loan amount was {$350000.00} ( rounded to nearest {$1000.00} ) based on our sale price of {$910000.00} ( rounded to nearest 1,000 ) at a 5 % down payment. Our first mortgage was a 30-year fixed with a loan value of {$510000.00}. 

The lender advised that our loan ( both first and second ) was approved and was ready for closing during the month of both XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. particaulrly, he advised that our second was approved for a {$350000.00} for a 30-year fixed mortgage at 5.25 % interest rate. He advised me that he had been providing that information to the builder during their weekly or bi-weekly calls as a status update. That Loan Officer who we were dealing with for almost an year quit the company and moved on. Later during our closing, it was to our utter disbelief that we realized our HELOAN was never approved and no loan was even applied, though we were advised that our loan was ready for closing multiple times. 

It is obvious that we were misled and cheated in the loan process that we had to end up taking a product that costs us almost {$600.00} more every month. Back then when were in the rush to closing, I did not realize that XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX not only provided false information but it seems to me that they lied about our loan approval when in fact no loan was approved. If we had known this earlier or in a timely manner, we would have opted for much better options or a different company. 

Because of XXXX XXXX XXXX 's lies and unethical practices, our family is taking a huge hit every month. I need CFPB 's assistance and intervention in resolving this issue. It seemed like they took advantage of a customer 's naivety, our desperation to close because of pressure from builder, and completely downplayed the irregular and untruthful practices. In the end, our family is taking a huge loss every month. I have email proofs to back up my complaint. The worst part was that the Loan Officer sent me a loan lock sheet without much details - seems like a fraud and fake document. 

On multiple occasions ( XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX ), we received emails saying that the loan was ready to close pending few documents. We had always sent the documents needed for the loan to close. How can the Loan Officer boldly send such emails misleading and even lying that the loan was ready to close when in fact he had not even gotten approval for the second mortgage. These emails were sent copying even the Builder and settlement companies. This was all a lie to mislead a customer to a corner and at the end to shove an expensive product down our throat. 

I came to know about these details only through the next loan officer who processed our closing. She mentioned that there was no second mortgage loan that was approved or even applied for approval on their system. She mentioned that " there were good reasons why the previous loan officer was no longer with their company ''. I suspect that he had been involved with unethical practices and probably fired. So all the emails about loan being ready to be closed, emailing both me and the seller were all pure lies. The new loan officer kept saying the previous loan officer was no longer with them and she can not do anything. 

So, my questions to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX are : 1.Does XXXX XXXX not have anyone to keep checks and balances to maintain and practice ethical lending? 
2. Do they not practice responsible and ethical lending? 
3. Do they not have fiduciary responsibilities? 

I could not believe that XXXX XXXX would not own up to the unethical practices of one of their employees and expecting the customer to pay for those. 

As a customer, it is unfair to us and have the burden of unethical practices being passed on to us. I can not sustain the damage on a monthly basis.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief