Consumer complaint received 2021-09-01
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage — 
Company: CrossCountry Mortgage LLC (NJ)

My complaint is against Cross Country Mortgage for two primary concerns/ issues : 1. Mortgage Processing : during the course of the mortgage processing of my new home ( XX/XX/2021 through XX/XX/2021 ), the Cross Country Mortgage broker, XXXX XXXX, not only did not adequately protect our personal information but added on unforeseen charges without our consent or knowledge, incurred on-going constraints, and inordinate requests for information that were not disclosed up front. Example : There were no less than 5 different people ( many of which did not show up as a Cross Country employee ) indicating they were part of Cross Country all requesting personal sensitive information from me as part of the mortgage processing -- their names were never disclosed to us by XXXX in advance. Another Example : We were told to wire the final closing amount ahead of the closing on Monday, XX/XX/XXXX. I wired the closing payment ( including mortgage, survey etc ) on Friday XX/XX/XXXX. On that Friday night, after I wired the money, XXXX, the broker, called and abruptly stated that I " must '' pay an additional {$900.00} at closing -- this was NOT disclosed in the settlement papers and was indeed an unexpected " add on ''. When I tried to obtain a rationale from the Broker for any of the broker 's numerous requests, including the inordinate amount of intrusive personal information, I was met with contention and obstinance instead of provided with education and help. The entire process with this broker was extremely unpleasant and lacked any kind of business etiquette/ethics. In addition, I don't believe I received an unbiased mortgage rate ... XXXX Further more I believe this mortgage broker did not provide an unbiased mortgage rate -- -I believe I was charged a higher mortgage rate as retaliation for my inquiry into the rationale for his actions -- I have a very high credit rating -- XXXX, I had more than adequate assets, and represented next to no risk for the brokerage ) I do believe this broker and his company should be investigated for inappropriate, biased, and perhaps even illegal conduct including the misuse of sensitive personal information and inappropriate charges. 

2. Payment processing : Cross Country Mortgage sent us the payment processing envelope and instructions for our first mortgage payment by check just 4 days prior to when the payment was due ( yet back dated the letter for two weeks prior ) and then indicated if we did not pay by the due date, XXXX, we would be charged a late fee. The only form of payment directed by the mortgage company was a check, no way to send money electronically. I mailed my check immediately upon receipt on XX/XX/XXXX. When I tried to call the customer service number provided by Cross Country on Monday morning, XXXX, XXXX for help, no one answered the phone. It took me repeated phone calls before I received a call 2 days later, XX/XX/XXXX. When I explained the situation, I was told by the representative that there is little he can do and that I will likely get phone calls indicating my late payment and threatening late fees. When I asked why this is, he told me it would take up to 3 weeks to process my check and his only excuse is that the mail is slow these days. 

Bottomline- this company and its brokers have poor business practices, if not illegal and unethical, are unfairly and perhaps detrimentally impacting its clients and putting our personal and financial information at risk. I sincerely hope the CFPB will look into this company, the broker and its practices.