Consumer complaint received 2023-03-07
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Closing on a mortgage — 
Company: HALLMARK HOME MORTGAGE LLC (FL)

I will try to give you a brief breakdown of my situation. 

We closed on XX/XX/2021, but we began our talks with XXXX XXXX much earlier, around XXXX. We found their home listings on XXXX and reached out to them. Our XXXX XXXX point of contact was XXXX XXXX, who doubled as the realtor that represented XXXX XXXX. 

Before closing, we were asked to wire a deposit to XXXX XXXX, which we did. The wire went to a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  account. The total for that wire was nearly $ XXXX. The remaining deposit was given on closing day, which went into escrow. The total deposit given was almost $ XXXX. 

When we were about three months in and did not really hear anything from anyone, we started reaching out. It was tough to get a hold of XXXX XXXX. Most of the time, the only way to get a response from them was to drive to XXXX for an unannounced visit to their office. 

We have, I would say, 100s of emails to XXXX XXXX and the bank because we would hope including the bank in the thread would pressure them to respond, but nope emails would go unanswered even by the bank. 

One of the times I got the bank to respond, I asked about interest and if XXXX XXXX was paying these as agreed, and the bank replied that XXXX XXXX had paid interest in advance, so not to worry about that. That turns out to be a lie because the bank is now including all the interest and extension fees in the payout bill. 

I remember the bank ( XXXX XXXX ) saying to me over the phone that this had been a learning experience for them, and I responded that the buyers were the ones paying for all the lessons. 

It turns out my deposit money was used to pay closing costs even though this was the builder 's responsibility as per the contract ; I paid the realtor commissions, and other things ; in short, all my $ XXXX is gone, and if I don't want them to default and come after my credit, I need to fork over another $ XXXX. How is this even plausible the only party with no control over the build gets hit with everything? 

These guys ( XXXX XXXX / Hallmark ) are really out DESTROY lives. In my case, they already took all my savings, and now their menacing with destroying my credit so that even renting a home in the future will be difficult. My credit is over XXXX, and I was responsible enough to save money over time by sacrificing other things so that I could put my family in a home, and that dream is gone, and along with it, my credit and future if they have their way. 

It seems like the bank made it possible for XXXX XXXX to operate risk-free, and obviously, XXXX XXXX has no incentive to build anything as they won't get penalized for any of their own screwups and are getting people 's deposits to fund their operation without actually ever building anything. 

Buyers are here thinking that these entities are acting in good faith and their just accommodating things to XXXX us over. My bill with the bank keeps racking up as they keep adding extension fees. Yet I've never been told when an extension fee is added or the cost. All communications happen between bank and builders while buyers are totally in the dark, but, of course, we are responsible for funding their dealings. 

Oh nearly forgot ; the only thing they did on my lot which was fill it with dirt, got me a lien. XXXX XXXX did not pay the sub-contractor. 

I just can't believe scams can happen this openly. I gave a deposit, and the home won't get built at no fault of my own, but I have to give close to $ XXXX to walk away free and clear. Walk to what? A ditch? 

I've invested so many hours calling XXXX XXXX, emailing them, driving there, emailing the bank, the county, etc. It's all been a waste. 

Please forgive my rant. I've been dealing with this nightmare for nearly two years, and while I've gotten somewhat numb to it, I still get worked up when reliving the situation. 

Please feel free to ask me anything. If I can assist in any way, I would love to.