Consumer complaint received 2016-08-22
Company: Freedom Mortgage Company
State: GA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: FHA mortgage
Issue: Application, originator, mortgage broker

Complaint:
The below email was sent to my Broker Manager after being denied. 

Good Afternnon. This letter is to inform you that I received a telephone call this morning from my loan officer, XXXX XXXX, stating that Freedom Mortgage would not be moving forward with the processing of my home loan. I was supposed to close on the house today. 

Needless to say I am furious about the lack of professionalism with which my loan has been handled, but aside from that, this new turn of events is an enormous inconvenience as I and my XXXX children are now displaced because we were expecting to be moving into a home that we no longer have access to. I need answers. 

First of all, I signed a contract for the house on XXXX XXXX, 2016. It has now been 39 days. To date no appraisal has been done. XXXX said that she was requesting a " rush appraisal '', however because she failed to transfer the necessary funds, the appraisal was never completed. Throughout the process XXXX failed to communicate with my agent XXXX XXXX XXXX, listing agent ( XXXX XXXX, and XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX leaving us all in the dark about how things were progressing. And after all this, seemingly in retaliation for us contacting you yesterday, I find out today, on the day that I was supposed to close, that I am being denied. I 'd like to know exactly why. 

During our telephone conversation this morning, XXXX insinuated that I was somehow dishonest about my marital status on my loan application. When I began working with XXXX in XXXX, I was not married, nor were there wedding plans in the works. Therefore I checked 'single ', which was the appropriate box. And further to this point, although my husband and I eloped in XXXX, the home that I am purchasing will be solely in my name. I prefer that my husband 's finances not be considered in this process because I am purchasing the house on my own, for my own purposes. And according to the Consumer Federal Trade Commission, a creditor may not ask for information about your spouse unless your spouse is applying for credit with you. Therefore, this point should be irrelevant. Except that now, unfortunately for Freedom Mortgage, it has become relevant to me and my attorney, due to the fact that it is ILLEGAL for me to be denied credit that I would otherwise qualify for, based on marital status. 

At this point, it would seem that XXXX is trying to cover her tracks and is retaliating based on the fact that she has been called out on her inefficiencies. She has failed to deliver on her responsibilities through every step of this process and she is now looking for a way to pin her shortcomings on me ; a fact we can add to the list of things that I do not appreciate. If in fact, my marital status was a factor, I was never asked by XXXX to update this information. And if the documents were updated after XXXX XXXX, my wedding date, then they were updated by XXXX herself, not by me. If my marital status was listed as 'single ' after this time and it should not have been, this is yet another example of the loan officer dropping the ball. My understanding is that my husband 's information is irrelevant since he is not a co-applicant on the loan. However, if the issue is whether or not the appropriate box was checked initially, I certainly did not falsify anything, and if my status should have been changed after XXXX XXXX, I would have gladly changed it had I been advised to. To add insult to injury by insulting my integrity is completely unacceptable. 

That said, I will be lodging complaints with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX to investigate the matter further. I am also seeking legal counsel and my attorney will certainly be in contact with you if I am not provided with acceptable answers and remedies.

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 explanation