Consumer complaint received 2021-05-27
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage — 
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. (CA)

My husband and I have been trying to refinance our mortgage loan with Chase bank since XX/XX/2020. We wanted to take advantage of the great rates and we have refinanced with Chase before. We have almost perfect credit scores, the same jobs for 30 years, our house value is double or more the amount we are refinancing, we have never been late paying our mortgage and we pay more that we need every month. 
At the end of XX/XX/2020 we were told refinancing was taking a little time but since we already had refinanced with Chase in the past and were using the same person he told us it should be a month or 2. 
He sent this email to us at the beginning of XX/XX/2020 : " Wishing you both a happy and safe holidays! 
Looks like we can get you a rate of 2.625 % ( 2.637 % APR ) for a new 30 year fixed. 

$ XXXX 2.625 % ( 2.637 % APR ) = $ XXXX/month plus $ XXXX $ XXXXmonth total. 

A savings of $ XXXXmonth plus you are now on a fixed rate. 

Here is what I need : '' He asked for some more paperwork and we turned it in right away. Then in XXXX he asked for more papers, and XXXX and XXXX and XXXX. We kept following instructions but kept asking why it was taking so long. We were never given a clear answer. We started thinking that they just did not want to give us the refi. 

Finally in XXXX we got assigned to a person that was supposed to do the last steps like signatures and whatever else. XXXX that did not happen. This person proceeded to ask for more paper work a lot of it was the same we kept providing and some more new ones. By then we could not waste our time anymore and risk not getting the rate we were promised. 
We wrote XXXX and told him we were not going to continue. 
He answered back and agreed with us. This is what he wrote : " I am truly sorry you feel this way, but I do not blame you for losing patience. I will try to do the best to explain. 
The Covid-19 pandemic created new guidelines for qualifying especially for self-employed borrowers. 
Before the pandemic, Chase reviewed your tax returns, and profit and loss statements and balance sheets. 
Post pandemic, new guidelines required borrower to provide P & L and bank statements or transaction history up to 10 days prior to closing. 

These were all reviewed for PPP loans, SBA loans, and income that was consistent with prior years. 
As a result, when submitting some documentation, upon review, further information was required, and due to capacity I was unable to give you a response in a timely manner as I would have wanted. 
You are correct, you have never missed a payment, your credit is excellent, and your property is worth twice as much as your loan amount. 

However, one of the main factors is debt to income ratio. Those ratios were changed due to the pandemic and much more stringent prerequisites were implemented. 

Both of you have been very cooperative and patient with all of the requests. I hope you do realize I always wanted to assure your loan would qualify. 

I refinanced your property a few years ago, and because of that previous experience and relationship we established, you trusted me in getting this done for you. 

I wish this outcome would have gone better, but I respect your decision and will process your refund request right away. 

I sincerely thank you for your time and patience. 

Ren. '' So basically Chase was to busy for us and failed to let us know so we could move on. As a result we will have a higher rate and lost the opportunity to save a lot of money. 
Keep in mind we started this process during pandemia so whatever paperwork they needed they could have asked for at the beginning of the process. They did not do this one right. 
-Why did it take 6 months to get a Client Care Specialist? 
-Who is going to be responsible for the money we lost? 
-We have talked to so many people that got new mortgages, refinancing, loans and they did it in a month or less. 
-Who drop the ball here?