Consumer complaint received 2018-05-06
Product: Mortgage — VA mortgage
Issue: Closing on a mortgage — 
Company: PRIMARY RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE (MA)

My wife and I first contacted XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX, Massachusetts on XX/XX/XXXX to get a pre-approval letter so we could make an offer on a home we were interested in buying. When we sat down with the broker, he went over the basics of our finances and gave us a pre-approval letter. However, during initial process, the broker never gave us what the rate was likely to be or what we could get approved for. He just input 5.00 %, but didn't actually calculate the pre-approval rate for us. When we questioned him on why it was so high, when mortgage rates were around 4.00 % at the time, he said that he just wanted to put in a worst-case scenario, and that we would likely get a lower rate. We made an offer on the house we were interested in but our offer was not accepted, so we kept looking. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, we made an offer on another home which was accepted. Due to negotiations regarding the verbiage in the Purchase and Sale Agreement with the sellers, an application wasn't submitted until XX/XX/XXXX. As stated in the Purchase and Sale Agreement,  each party had until XX/XX/XXXX to notify the other in writing that they were unable to get financing. Should either party notify the other after XX/XX/XXXX, they would be liable for damages. 
I first contacted our broker inquiring about what the rate would be and whether it could be locked on XX/XX/XXXX. The response I received was that the longest the lender could lock the rate was for 15 days and that the rate would most likely be locked the following week. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I again contacted the broker inquiring about what the rate was and whether it had been locked. The broker replied that he was still waiting on the inspection report and that he would have the rate either on Friday or Monday ( meaning XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX respectively ).  At this point I was concerned because XX/XX/XXXX was the last day that we had to notify the sellers that the financing had fallen through. 
The rate was not sent over to us to review and lock until XXXX on Monday, XX/XX/XXXX. At that time, the rate that was given to us was 5.25 %, which was significantly higher than what was expected. It was also higher than the market rate at that time. When we questioned why it was so high, he stated that he didn't know, he just receives the rate from underwriting and sends it to us. He then stated that we could buy down the rate, but that it would cost us nearly {$10000.00} to get to the rate that we were expecting to get approved for in the first place. We also repeatedly called the loan processor and XXXX customer service who repeatedly said that there was nothing that could be done. 
We ended up going through with the closing because it would have cost us {$11000.00} to back out of the deal since we had not notified the seller that the financing had fallen through prior to the agreed upon date. 
It is my belief that XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX violated UDAAP laws by not properly disclosing what the rate would be in time to make a reasonable effort to find alternate financing. I believe they did this willfully and maliciously so that we would be forced to either accept their terms or forfeit the {$11000.00} we had put down to bind the Purchase and Sale agreement. The reason I believe that their actions were willful and malicious is because my wife and I repeatedly asked what the rate would be well in advance of when we needed to know, yet the lender still did not send us the rate lock disclosure until after business hours 3 days after the back-out date agreed upon in the Purchase and Sale agreement.