Consumer complaint received 2017-09-11
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Closing on a mortgage — 
Company: SUNTRUST BANKS, INC. (GA)

XXXX XXXX XXXX our personal banker at SunTrust XXXX XXXX branch in XXXX Georgia in the spring of XXXX, led us to a very unethical builder by stating, " in my work here at the bank I hear the good and bad about many builders and I 've heard only good about the XXXX. '' We decided to follow her advice feeling her recommendation meant more than our friends. We also discovered that the XXXX were building her new home. Eventually we learned to late to help us that she knew this builder had left another elderly couple with liens and an incomplete home. In the fall of XXXX this couple actively looked for her about the builders so she would n't suffer a loss like they had. XXXX XXXX withheld this information from us and when first confronted denied knowing them. 
Originally our contract was with XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ) but just prior to closing on our construction loan a problem emerged with either a license or insurance and the father 's XXXX XXXX XXXX stepped in and we were asked to sign a new contract under that name. In XXXX XXXX SunTrust discovered XXXX had not renewed its license and allowed them to step in without a new contract. I 'm unsure if the XXXX submitted the original or if SunTrust did. Additional paperwork requested by SunTrust appears to have significant errors that were not caught. It listed the company as owned by XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( mother ) 50 % each. At XXXX 's bankruptcy hearing he testified that he owned the entire company. Another issue with the bank, despite knowing various subs had not been paid decided to release all but 10 % of the loan to him equalling over 37K. XXXX XXXX stated in an email, " I have spoken with my manager about the exhaustive number of inspections that you have requested, she and I Have agreed that we will not order another inspection but will release funds up to 90 % '' earlier in the same email she stated, 'It takes a lot of work for a number of people involved to complete an inspection and release funds. '' At the banks suggestion we agreed and the money was handed off to XXXX XXXX. That was the last we saw of him. The bank, in my opinion, was more interested in saving themselves work then protecting us. 
In the end almost 100k was not paid out to subs, 5 liened us for approx 30K. We were forced to finish over 20 % of the house out of our retirement savings, another 70K and  possibly more. Our foundation has significant cracks and a massive retaining wall is showing signs of failure. 
At XXXX XXXX 's bankruptcy hearing we were told that it is common for builders to pay off their last build with money from a current project. We feel that XXXX XXXX failed to tell us about the other couple in order to get hers completed. 
I have copies of all emails even one where XXXX XXXX stated she could not find another contract signed by us when in XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX took over. SunTrust required us to pay off all liens and complete the home per contract. When they were, in our opinion, being a bit unreasonable with their demands and I complained in an email to XXXX XXXX about the advance and XXXX XXXX 's actions I was basically chastised for my tone. 
In the end the last 10 % was released to us but it was far short of what we needed to finish the home and pay off the liens. Carpet, granite, appliances, all sinks and faucets, permits, drawings, painting, dry wall repair etc. plus hundreds of hours of work my husband and I were forced to do on our own. I know that I ca n't blame this situation on my husbands XXXX coming back but the stress did not help Not only, in our opinion, did XXXX XXXX lead us into this horrible situation but SunTrust failed to protect us. We are both in our mid XXXX 's and never built a home before. 
XXXX & XXXX XXXX