Consumer complaint received 2022-01-24
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage — 
Company: Better Mortgage, Inc. (KY)

I went with XXXX for a mortgage loan for a small house for $ XXXX that I was interested in. I was pre-approved on XX/XX/XXXX in the amount of {$460000.00}. On that same day, XXXX XXXX ( Loan Assiting Officer ) reached out via email and they lead me to believe that if I took " extra steps '' ( tax transcripts, w-2 's ) that it would be a more secure pre-approval. The email says this " Having a XXXX approval in hand can help you shop for homes with confidence by showing sellers/listing agents that you may make an offer to, that your financing is sound. It will also help reduce any surprises for you once you do go into contract on a home. Let me know if this is something you and your agent are interested in and we can set up the tasks in your account to complete. '' We did this, I did all the extra steps to make sure we were good with " sound financing ''. 

We found a house for {$150000.00} and at first we were going to do 10 % down, but after speaking with XXXX, she said that we could do 5 % down so that I could use the extra money for repairs and things like that. XXXX then called and requested that we pay off our XXXX which was an estimated {$6000.00}, which I did and XXXX told us that we were then good to go and gave me the number to XXXX XXXX ( Senior Loan Officer ) in case I had any questions. 

After this, XXXX XXXX ( Processing Expert ) immediately issued an appraisal and I paid the {$550.00} for the appraisal and did all the paperwork and " tasks '' that they requested from us. At this same time they also began the title work with a local lawyer XXXX XXXX here in XXXX, XXXX On XX/XX/XXXX they lock in my rate at 3.125 % for 30 years. And also, XXXX sends me an email that they are sending everything to underwriting and just to stay on top of all the requested " tasks ''. I also receive an email from XXXX XXXX ( Processing Expert Associate ) that states : " Hi XXXX and XXXX, I hope all is well! First and foremost, congratulations on locking in your rate with us, Better Mortgages proudly assisting XXXX. 

My name is XXXX and I wanted to reach out and introduce myself and XXXX, the Processing Expert ( cc'ed in this email ), in case you had any questions or concerns on the outstanding activities in your XXXX account. 

In order to get your loan in line for underwriter review, we will need to complete your outstanding tasks by no later than the next 3 days. It is important that you complete the tasks by as soon as possible so that we have enough time to satisfy any applicable underwriting conditions. You can find all pending tasks in your XXXX account. 

In the meantime, here 's what to expect in the next few weeks as we look forward to close your loan : Once we review your initial documentation, you may see additional tasks to complete on your XXXX account. Please complete these at your earliest convenience as they appear. 
During this time, our team will also be processing such things as your title report, your appraisal ( if applicable ), and other third party documents. 
Once your loan has a final approval, you will work with our closing team to finalize your loan figures, coordinate signing and then handle loan funding. 
The earliest updates will appear on your XXXX account so please check your accounts 2-3x a day. 

If you need anything or have questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to XXXX or me. Look forward to working with you! '' At this moment, I feel very secure because we did the desktop underwriting that they initially request wanting our tax transcripts, rental agreement from the rental property, credit card information, bank statements, my business information ... .everything. We had already turned in everything at this point when I received the email from them. 

On XX/XX/XXXX they issue an appraisal for the home and on XX/XX/XXXX the title was ordered. The appraisal came back good as an estimated {$150000.00} home and the title work came back good. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I get an email from XXXX telling me that I need to go complete some tasks and I login and they are requesting my mortgage statement from my rental property and a profit and loss from my business. I completed the tasks. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email saying that all is good for the appraisal and title. 

I then receive a call from XXXX and he asks me if I can pay off my student loans that are $ XXXX. I laughed and said obviously if I had $ XXXX just sitting in an account then I could buy a house. At this point, ( after paying off the XXXX ), student loans and another car payment of {$150.00} a month are the only creditors I have on my account. He said that he would talk to underwriting and get back to me. At this point, we were initially supposed to close on XX/XX/XXXX but the owner requested to close XX/XX/XXXX so we moved the date back and we were literally one week before we were supposed to originally close that they brought up the school loans. XXXX told me that he was concerned that we couldn't get the loans because of my debt to income ratio. I asked him how that is since we only had 2 creditors and why this was not brought up previously since we had done the desktop underwriting and our financing was sound. We both took XXXX break to think things over. XXXX called me and told me that he really thought that if we advanced forward that we would be denied. He apologized profusely. I asked him if I could have my appraisal money back since I had already paid off my XXXX that they requested. He said the decision was not up to him but he would put in a complaint to the department which could take 30 days. He also told me several times that he thought I deserved a refund as well since they did all this. He kept apologizing profusely and felt really bad. I really like XXXX, he is a super nice person and he really was very honest with me about how they do their practices there. He seemed like he really did feel bad for us. 

At this point, I went to a local bank and got a loan, they had to do their own appraisal which I also had to pay for. I also received a bill from the local lawyer which I will upload as I am requesting that money back as well. 

Better.com lead me to believe that paying off my XXXX would be the only thing I would need to do along with the XXXX ( which I did ). They denied my application and I had to go with another lender. I want a refund of the appraisal fee and the lawyer title search invoice since I was lead to believe several times that I was good to go ahead only to find out that they were not proceeding with the loan. They did refund {$20.00} after the dispute complaint was filed but that was it. I will be attaching several documents of my experience including the letter from XXXX stating that upon doing the desktop underwriting will give us sound financing. A lot of our discussions were via phone and every discussion was very direct about how we were good to go and congratulations on your home, etc.