Consumer complaint received 2022-02-05
Product: Mortgage — FHA mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage — 
Company: Colten Mortgage, LLC (TN)

I was involved in a property transaction with XXXX XXXX XXXX of Colten Mortgage group in the XXXX area. I first submitted an application on XX/XX/2022. 

I had an accepted contract, pre-approval, and cleared underwritings conditional requirements by the end of XXXX ( XX/XX/2022 ) and had received automated notifications that we we moving forward to close from Colten mortgage. ( XX/XX/2022 ) Eleven days until closing, with a scheduled date and time for title transfer ( Scheduled to close, XX/XX/2022 ), XXXX XXXX called me during my work day and stated We have a problem. 

XXXX XXXX informed me that Colten Mortgage underwriters had made a miscalculation in regards to property taxes, resulting in us needing to provide a a down payment of roughly double the amount originally sent to underwriting to meet FHA Front End Debt to income ratio requirements ( 3.5 % down grew to to 6.547 %, to be exact ) This caused my family to almost miss out on our dream home. While we had the cash to make that difference, something felt wrong. It felt like theft at the worst, and bait and switch at the best. 

Luckily, I had the common sense to have applied at several other lenders and found a lower rate, payment and less cash to close from a competing local lender however, our closing would now be delayed to XX/XX/2022. This caused us to lose our temporary occupancy agreement with the sellers for them to rent back the home until they agreed we could take possession on XX/XX/2022. When I informed XXXX XXXX of our intent to work with another lender ( XX/XX/2022 ) stated to me that he had so many man hours in this deal and basically pleaded with me not to take my business elsewhere since hed done so much work. He did provide a valid excuse, claiming he had no pull since hed only been with Colten Mortgage for a couple of months. He either couldn't or wouldn't go back to the underwriter 's and ask for adjustments to rate, insurance, or other controllable variables that could've lowered our cash to close. 

If the work had been done properly in the first place, we wouldnt have gotten to this point, he wouldnt have needed any pull and I would be likely writing a very different review. 

One of the largest red flags was a loan appraisal file sent to my real estate agent and Is emails, stating the appraisal came back invalid. Both myself and my agent called XXXX immediately concerned. XXXX XXXX then explained that was an error and meant to go to another client he was working with. I felt sorry for that client and obligated to share with the public that its frankly not safe to trust Colten mortgage with personal, confidential, and financial information. 

I strongly encourage anyone considering Colten Mortgage in XXXX to search elsewhere and do some independent research before agreeing to work with Colten Mortgage. 

I also submitted a similar version of this complaint on the XXXX website for Colten Mortgage XXXX- upon learning Id done so, XXXX called my father and asked him to have me remove the review to preserve his reputation and career. 

XXXX failed to disclose in writing that he had a previous business and personal ( 15 year ) relationship with my father and tried to leverage that prior relationship to convince me to remove my public comments. 

I have been in touch with XXXX XXXX, of Colten Mortgage 's Client Experience team, and she has relayed her " apologies '' on behalf of their organization and committed to a thorough review and explanation of what went wrong.