Consumer complaint received 2021-06-21
Product: Mortgage — FHA mortgage
Issue: Closing on a mortgage — 
Company: Rocket Mortgage, LLC (NE)

This is the short-version of the my experience for public viewing. A more detailed version is attached with specific names and dates throughout the timeline. Also attached are documents of correspondence. 

I am filing a complaint with Quicken Loans with deep concerns about their Verified Approval program and potential UDAAP violations. In addition, there might be TRID violations with constantly changing interest rates and points at the time a final loan estimate should be provided. 

I applied for a mortgage with Quicken Loans on XX/XX/2020 to move up in home and put my home on the market. I had great credit and stable employment. The only challenge I had was a high debt-to-income ratio, which I was upfront about from the beginning. The reason my DTI was so high was due to being a cosigner on an auto loan for a friend but which I never make payments on. I accept full responsibility for this voluntary choice I made and if it prevented me from qualifying for a mortgage then I was more than happy to wait until it was no longer on my name. 

I was pre-approved after a credit pull and using my stated income. I was advised that a mortgage approval would require that loan to be paid off or excluded to meet DTI standards. I was advised that if I was able to provide 12 months of bank statements from the other borrower demonstrating that they were solely paying the obligation. 

After providing my banker with my W2 's, most recent pay stub, and the bank statements from the co-borrower, my pre-approval was upgraded to a " Verified Approval. '' On the Verified Approval letter, it clearly states, " Our underwriting team has performed a formal review of income, credit, and asset information you provided. '' It is also billed as " The next best thing to a cash offer. '' This is the primary reason I chose to work with Quicken Loans. I wanted the peace of mind that my financials were in order to qualify for a mortgage and that I just needed to maintain that. 

With that behind me, I listed my house which went under contract on XX/XX/XXXX. I put an offer in on a home and went under contract on XX/XX/XXXX. 

Around XX/XX/XXXX or XXXX, underwriters were requesting documentation from the cosigned auto loan. They said they were missing nearly 8 months worth. Confused, I reached out to my banker. He said they looked through them, but were still missing XXXX and XXXX. It turns out the co-borrower took a deferral for those 2 months due to a loss of income due to Covid-19 and schools being closed down. Because those payments were deferred, they would be unable to exclude that loan from my liabilities. 

I was confused. I received a letter stating I had a " Verified Approval. '' The corresponding letter states that underwriters reviewed the information I provided. After pressing for answers, it turns out that underwriters do not look at anything until they receive an executed contract. One person I talked to said " If we had underwriters work on pre-approvals, they wouldn't have time to work on closing mortgages. '' With that car loan included, I did not qualify for a mortgage with that DTI. Yet I was under contract to sell my home and purchase another. The verified approval letter is not only misleading, but is an outright lie when it states their underwriting team reviewed the information provided. This lie was not only relied on by me as the buyer, but on potential sellers reviewing my offer. In my case, that seller happened to be HUD since it was a HUD-foreclosure. 

At best, this is a UDAAP violation. In reality, I believe this is mortgage fraud. My file was pushed through to reach aggressive sales quotas. 

Fortunately, I had the resources and means to pay down other debt to get the loan closed to meet the absolute maximum DTI ratio allowed for an FHA mortgage. If I wouldn't have had those resources, I would have been homeless and out of my deposit money. If someone else ever found themselves in a similar situation, they could have faced those types of consequences.

I am also deeply concerned about Quicken Loan 's relaxed manipulation of the numbers by increasing points here, lowering rates there, increasing cash to close one day then decreasing it. This was done even after my final loan estimate was provided and made it difficult for me to understand what I was being charged and the title company to balance with them.

Throughout this process, I expressed my concerns numerous times to many different parties. The only thing any of them cared about was moving the loan forward. No one escalated my regulatory concerns to the proper people in their organization. I just kept getting talked in circles. I tried different channels trying to get someone to connect me to someone that could address my concerns, and I always kept getting sent to the same 2 individuals that were disinterested with fixing the issue. That is why I have chosen to take this next step to get a regulatory organization like the CFPB involved in hopes that it will be addressed appropriately.

Finally, although I had the resources to get the loan closed, I was forced to make change what I had initially agreed to do out of duress. I had to do things or else face homelessness and a loss of money. As a result, I lost complete control of my finances during this time. I had decisions dictated to me by the Quicken Loans. This was all done due to me being under contract ; whereas had this information been presented to me prior to listing my home for sale and purchasing a new one I likely would have waited until the car loan was off my name.