Consumer complaint received 2020-06-03
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage — 
Company: LD Holdings Group, LLC (NM)

On XX/XX/2020, I signed up online through XXXX to get mortgage refinance quotes from various lenders. I received a call at XXXX XXXX at LoanDepot XXXX XXXX # XXXX XXXX at XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX asked to speak with me, told me he received my rate inquiry from XXXX XXXX, and could look into that for me. I told him that I was interested in refinancing my 30 year loan to a 15 year loan. He was very sociable, and explained that XXXX was founded after the financial crisis, and aimed to be transparent with loans- he used a term I can't remember, non-directed or non-leading, something to that effect- to explain that he had no financial gain in steering me toward a particular loan. XXXX XXXX was extremely talkative, asking me questions about my life and telling me about his, and at the time it seemed very innocuous. Approximately 10-15 minutes into the call, XXXX XXXX told me he needed to confirm my identity-he stated that he needed me to confirm the last four digits of my social security number and my date of birth. He stated that he had access to this information, he just needed me to repeat them for verification of my identity. I provided them, and the call continued on for over an hour. After about an hour, XXXX  had still only provided me with information about a 30 year loan, so I inquired about the 15 year loan again. He made a comment to the effect of me not being locked into any loan- 15 year, 20 year, 30 year, but that he could lock in the rates once he submitted the application in a few minutes. I responded that I did not want to submit an application at that time because I did not want a hard inquiry on my credit report until I was certain that I wanted to refinance. At this point, XXXX XXXX stated that he had run my credit at the beginning of the call. I became upset, asking why he would run my credit without asking my permission to do so. He said that he had asked for my SSN and DOB so that he could run my credit, at which point I reminded him that he had asked me to confirm this information for him so that he could verify my identity. At no point did XXXX XXXX ask my permission to run my credit. He stated that he already had access to my private information, and simply needed verification. In hindsight, XXXX XXXX XXXX  talkative and inquisitive behaviors were obviously his method of obtaining the information he needed in order to complete the application. I naively believed that he was simple utilizing " salesman-like '' manner to gain my trust and business, but I did not at any time affirm to him that I wanted to complete the application, that I was giving him permission to run my credit or otherwise. When I became upset and began questioning XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX  tactics, he stated that he " thought '' it was what I wanted to do- when I told him that we both knew that he needed my expressed permission to run my credit, he tried to downplay the situation by telling me that it wouldn't affect my credit- that it would drop it maybe four points or so, but that it wouldn't do long term damage. There was quite a bit of back and forth, but before I finally ended the call, I confirmed with XXXX XXXX that the call had been recorded. I believe that XXXX XXXX engaged in deceptive practices by running my credit report without my explicit consent, and I believe he would have submitted the loan application without my explicit consent had I not finally figured out what he was doing.