Consumer complaint received 2020-12-17
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage — 
Company: CARDINAL FINANCIAL COMPANY, LIMITED PARTNERSHIP (GA)

On or around XX/XX/2020 I applied with Cardinal Financial to refinance my mortgage. I spoke to a loan officer who felt that the company could accommodate my request. I was surprised when I was requested to move forward with a property appraisal three days after my initial loan request. This was before my personal information was ever sent to underwriting to even determine whether I could qualify for a loan. The motive behind requiring an appraisal before loan qualification could only be to make money irrespective of whether the loan is ever closed. I have refinanced multiple loans over the past 2 years and have never been required to pay for an appraisal at the time of the loan application. I reluctantly agreed to do so only because the loan officer didn't indicate that there would be any issue with my husband and I qualifying for a 15 year mortgage refi. 

I spent {$620.00} for an appraisal and shortly after paying the appraisal fee the appraisal was done. There were no issues with the property value and, in fact, the value was more than I had estimated Not long after the appraisal Cardinal advised that I didn't qualify for a 15 year refi but could qualify for a 30 year refi. This was not desirable and I would never have paid for an appraisal for a 30 year refi as I only have 16 years remaining on the mortgage. Because I didn't want to walk away from {$620.00} I reluctantly agreed to move forward with the refi process only because there was no prepayment penalty and I knew I could pay extra and pay off the loan in 15 years. 

This process has now been going on for over five months with no sign of closing in sight. The company repeatedly asks me for the same information and when I provide it they ask for something else. The deed for the subject property is held in the name of my XXXX and Cardinal removed the deed from the XXXX   and put in back into the names of my husband and I because they stated that they can't refi the loan while the property is in the name of our XXXX. The property has been out of the name of the XXXX   for several months now which is now jeopardizing the operations of the XXXX   since the deed is currently not held in the name of the XXXX. This is jeopardizing the status of my XXXX  as the subject property is a XXXX   asset and should be held in the name of the XXXX. 

The loan processor and the loan officer repeatedly give conflicting information about the information necessary to close the loan, Cardinal has stopped communicating with me altogether despite me leaving multiple voice mail messages. The terms of the loan and the loan fees have changed dramatically since I paid for the appraisal. I would never have agreed to the loan terms or fees had they been presented to me before paying for the appraisal. The loan disclosure documents that I received prior to paying for the appraisal show a loan term and loan costs that are significantly different than what is being " sold '' now. Further because this loan application has been in process for well over five months I will now be subject to additional fees that have been implemented by XXXX XXXX  and XXXX XXXX that are now being passed down to borrowers. 

I am requesting that this company refund the cost of the appraisal, return the deed to our XXXX  and cancel this loan process as it is clear that this company never had any intention of approving or granting this loan. Complaints on this company 's XXXX XXXX XXXX page show a pattern and practice of this behavior and this is apparently how the company makes a great deal of its revenue. I have the loan disclosures but they are part of the application that this company uses so I can't attach them to this complaint but can provide access to the system that shows the terms and fees at the start of the application and the terms and fees now. Further, the application will show that I have always provided the requested information usually on the same day and have personally done nothing to delay the approval process or closing.