Consumer complaint received 2020-01-13
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage — 
Company: SANTANDER BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION (NJ)

I was asked by the loan officer at Santander Bank if I was interested in applying to the new refinance program because he thought it would be perfect for me. I did so on XX/XX/XXXX. As weeks went on and all information requested were submitted the communication dwindled. I would request an update every other week since I did not get one without asking, in XXXX and XXXX I was told " we are good to go, everything was good '', title search was done as well as appraisal. Towards the middle of XXXX I was asked to submit child support orders to verify income which I did, twice! After this my loan officer stopped taking my calls, returning my calls, and would not respond to my emails ... except for twice when he responded that he was working on it on XX/XX/XXXX after I had contacted his manager and on XX/XX/XXXX stating he was sorry for the delays but still did not give a status or advise me something was wrong. I received the closing disclosure on XX/XX/XXXX stating my closing date would be XX/XX/XXXX. No issues have been found at this point and as far as I knew from my loan officer things were ready to go. After not hearing back from him I contacted the settlement agency directly who informed me that they have been waiting for the loan officer to send paperwork for over a week to close. After three phone calls, two voice mails, and a few emails I have still not heard from my loan officer. He abandoned me. I was able to get in touch with another officer who I believe is above him who was very helpful and informative. On XX/XX/XXXX he made me aware that as of XX/XX/XXXX XXXX was supposed to make me aware that they had switched underwriters and now they found a problem. My loan officer did and has not made me aware of this still at this point. I wrote to the new officer who does answer my calls and requested my application fee be refunded and requested to withdraw my application due to how I was mistreated, ignored, and lied to for months. I have not received a response to this email from anyone. I am left not knowing if my loan is still being worked on which it should be if my application fee is not going to be refunded or if they have cancelled it. I am unable to get a hold of anyone who can tell me my status. I am a single mother struggling as it is, {$400.00} to apply for a loan that has been in progress for over four months with no updates is not something I can afford to do. I have never been late on a mortgage payment, I have good credit, there is no reason I would not be approved to pay a lesser amount by refinancing when I was able to make larger payments for over two years. I have had difficulty communicating with my loan officer, when I was able to contact him he made it know that my loan was good and ready to move forward ( proof of this is in emails ), he never informed me there was a problem. His negligence has caused a delay in my approval. I was asked for the same information more than once which makes me believe he has lost my paperwork and private information on documents. As of today it has been over four months since I applied and I am in the same position as I was on day one only now no one will return my calls or explain to me what is going on. I am extremely upset and offended on how I am being treated, I am a former employee of Santander and a loyal customer for over 20 years. I deserve my calls returned as well as frequent updates throughout the process especially since I have paid {$400.00} for something that seems to have vanished in thin air.