Consumer complaint received 2023-01-10
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage — 
Company: FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF PENNSYLVANIA (VA)

On XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, I submitted a mortgage application with XXXX XXXX XXXX  ( XXXX ) as my fianc and I were starting our house hunting process. I wanted to get an understanding of the process since I had changed from a W2 employee to self-employed ( K1 ) in XXXX. Initially, I was told that everything should be fine since based on my XXXX tax returns, my gross income was in excess of $ XXXX, I had ~ $ XXXX in my checking and savings account, and my credit score was over XXXX. After submitting my application, the mortgage XXXX, XXXX, reached out to inform me that because I switched to a XXXX status in XXXX, they would take only my XXXX portion of income in XXXX ( ~ $ XXXX ) and divide it by XXXX to be used as my monthly gross income in the debt-to-equity calculation. 

After a call with XXXX, he indicated that there was a mechanism setup by which the underwriting management would review my application ( along with all supporting documentation ) to see if a waiver can be granted. 

On XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, the mortgage specialist received a favorable response from the underwriting management team for the loan process to continue. 

On XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, our offer for XXXX XXXX XXXX was accepted by the sellers. As required by XXXX, the ratified contract included a finance contingency with a XX/XX/XXXX expiration date. 

On XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, my loan application was sent to the underwriter. Over the next week, I continued to provide any requested documentation including retirement account balances, company financial statements, and the operating agreement which showed my 35 % ownership of my company. 

On XXXX XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX ( after being told repeatedly that we were on-track, I received a call from the mortgage XXXX, XXXX, and his VP to tell me that my loan was going to be denied. I was with family and could not talk at that point, so I requested a meeting on the subsequent day ( XXXX XX/XX/XXXX ) for a more detailed explanation. During that meeting, XXXX and his VP told me that although I had followed the process of receiving the exception from the underwriting management team at the beginning of the process as well as having met ( and exceeded ) all financial covenants and requirements, my loan would be denied. They then went on to explain that there was a person in the bank who could objectively look at the evidence and make a final determination, however that person was on vacation until XXXX XX/XX/XXXX. To say that I was livid would be an understatement because I had started this process over a month prior and with my finance contingency set to expire 2 days after their call ( which was also the week of XXXX ), they jeopardized the purchase of my home. And now, there only solution was for me to stay in limbo until a VP who is on vacation ( but not accessible via email or phone ) to return to the office and make the final determination. 

On XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, after contacting XXXX and XXXX XXXX  who both said that I exceeded the threshold for the loan, I sent a letter to XXXX requesting a refund ( ~ {$1000.00} ) for the appraisal fee that I had paid since I would have to pay it again with XXXX ( who I proceeded with ). Second, I asked for a formal letter of apology for wasting my time and jeopardizing the purchase of my home. As of XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, I have not received either. 

It is shocking to me that a bank would operate in such a manner. They had a process and requirements which I followed explicitly. I hope that my race ( I am XXXX American ) did not play a role in the final decision made by XXXX but no one from the XXXX side has been able to provide any type of response how/why my application met all the requirements but was ultimately turned down.