Consumer complaint received 2021-01-04
Product: Mortgage — VA mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage — 
Company: Freedom Mortgage Company (VA)

On XX/XX/XXXX, I applied for a VA mortgage with Freedom Mortgage Corporation through XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX with a projected closing date of XX/XX/XXXX. At the time of application, I made clear that I am currently XXXX XXXX XXXX living in XXXX and will be retiring and moving to XXXX for my retirement location/home of selection. 

I originally planned to retire in XX/XX/XXXX ( see Occupancy Letter 1 ) ; however, I was notified that Freedom Mortgage did not consider my occupancy letter sufficient to grant the loan and they needed a copy of my retirement orders. Because the military will not approve retirement more than 12 months in advance, I had to move up my retirement date to XX/XX/XXXX. Knowing that I would apply for a retirement date of XX/XX/XXXX, I produced Occupancy Letter 2, which indicates I will occupy the property in XX/XX/XXXX by participating in the SkillBridge program, which allows separating/retiring members to XXXX up to 180 days prior to separation/retirement date. 

Once I was able to submit for and gain approval for retirement, I sent the copy of my official retirement orders to Freedom Mortgage on XX/XX/XXXX. I was told by XXXX XXXX at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX that Freedom Mortgage was still processing my application and there were questions regarding the date I would occupy the property. In order to show that I will be in Minnesota in XX/XX/XXXX, I sent Freedom Mortgage a copy of my SkillBridge approval ( dated XX/XX/XXXX ) and my paperwork to move my household goods to Minnesota ( dated XX/XX/XXXX ). At this point the company has my occupancy letter, retirement orders, SkillBridge approval documents, and household goods shipment request. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I was notified by XXXX XXXX that Freedom Mortgage was likely going to deny my application for a VA loan because I was not going to occupy the property within 60 days of closing. I spoke with a representative at the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX and verified that an individual can delay occupancy to more than 60 days if there is a set time in the future in which they will occupy it ( XX/XX/XXXX XXXX and there is an event that allows this to happen ( SkillBridge, retirement ). Additionally, there is also a provision for retiring military members that allows the loan if the retirement date is within 12 months of closing. I provided the text from the VA underwriting guidelines as it pertains to both income requirements and occupancy requirements to XXXX XXXX, who subsequently provided it to XXXX XXXX at Freedom Mortgage, on XX/XX/XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX notified me that Freedom Mortgage was going to deny my loan application because I was not going to occupy the home within 60 days of closing. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received official notification from Freedom Mortgage stating they denied my request for a mortgage loan because they were unable to verify residence. 

Frankly I question if this is a form of discrimination, since my VA loan application was clearly within VA underwriting guidelines, yet the company denied me credit because I live in one state and will be retiring in a different state. I have no credit issues and there were no other reasons listed for the denial. 

I attempted to contact Freedom Mortgage by calling their customer service number and the associate said my loan number did not register and after approximately 30 minutes of back-and-forth she still was unable to find anyone she could connect me to in order to file a complaint. Since I could not find another avenue to file a grievance, I also reached out to Freedom Mortgage 's CEO, XXXX XXXX, via XXXX but did not receive any response.