Consumer complaint received 2020-11-19
Product: Mortgage — FHA mortgage
Issue: Closing on a mortgage — 
Company: Consumer Real Estate Finance Co. (FL)

I applied for a mortgage loan with multiple lenders, and Consumer Real Estate Finance Co. was the only lender to pre-approve me. I continued the process with them as I have no other approvals to work with. They assured me from the beginning that everything looked good and we would have no issues getting this loan fully approved. 

During the process, they asked me to pay off debts and I complied, not knowing that the proper procedure is to wait until the day of closing to pay debts to ensure the borrower does not spend cash they may need later on. I provided them all information and paperwork required, which included documentation showing that I co-signed on my father 's vehicle. They assured me that they would be able to make it work and we kept moving forward. I completed a {$2000.00} deposit as well as pay {$570.00} for the appraisal on the home that I chose. My protection on the deposit ended on XX/XX/20 and on this day I had to ask for a approval letter so that we can move forward and not worry about losing my deposit. 4 days later, they called me to inform me that the deal was not working due to my father 's vehicle, this was 6 days before the expected closing date of XX/XX/20. We were unable to get the loan approved because I was unable to move my name off of the loan as they informed me that was my only option. This seems very odd as to why they could not inform me of this during the time that my deposit was protected and I could walk away from the deal to protect myself. I consulted with multiple loan originators during the last few days leading up to the XX/XX/20 expected closing date, and they all informed me that with all of the information that I provided to Consumer Real Estate Finance Co., including information on the vehicle mentioned above, that I have no path to an approval on the home that I was attempting to purchase. They informed me that if they removed all of my debt and remove the car from my name that I would still not be approved for this loan. 

Consumer Real Estate Finance Co. simply pulled me along and they were not transparent or honest with me. They should have advised me the truth that certain aspects of my information would create issues and advise me to walk away to protect my deposit. They did not do this. They simply kept telling me it can work when this is simply not true. I have now lost my {$2000.00} deposit and the {$570.00} that was paid for the appraisal of the home all due to the negligence of the finance company mentioned. I am seeking reimbursement of the funds that I had to sacrifice as the company was well aware that I would not be approved for this loan as multiple finance companies have advised me. 

As stated above, I continued to verify with them that everything was okay and we would be able to close on XX/XX/20. They were made aware that the last day my deposit was protected was on XX/XX/20 and that was the day they emailed me the conditional approval letter. Again, they called me 6 days before the expected closing date to tell me that I need to make a major change in removing a vehicle from my name to make the loan work. I was unable to do this, and multiple loan originators advised me that removing my name still would not get me approved based on my income to debt ratio. Consumer Real Estate Finance Co. provided poor service and showed no sympathy in making sure their client ( myself ) was protected from losing assets. They had a right to be honest with me and deny my loan early knowing that they would run into roadblocks. Instead they kept ensuring me it would work. I am now giving up on my home search as I can not obtain a pre-approval with any other finance company. I have to now seek a rental property immediately as this failed loan wasted almost 1 1/2 months. 

Please assist in my request to at the minimum provide me the funds in the amount of {$2000.00} ( deposit w/ XXXX XXXX ) and {$570.00} ( appraisal ) that I have lost. They also made me spend almost {$9000.00} in paying debt without a proper approval, and I was advised that they should have made me wait until closing, but they did not. Thank you for any assistance.