Consumer complaint received 2017-04-24
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage — 
Company: BANK OF THE WEST (CA)

We started talking with  XXXX   XXXX  of Bank of the West in   XXXX   XXXX   about refinancing our home loan. By   XXXX   we had Terms and  Rates em ailed to us and made a decision regarding the program that was best for us. ( see attached documents from Bank of the West  ) B y  XXXX  we had signed and returned the paperwork to  XXXX  regarding our choice of loan.   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   more paperwork and Disclosures. A form to complete to pay for the Appraisal, however to quote the Bank of the West email from   XXXX   XXXX   on  XX/XX/XXXX  " ***PLEASE NOTE*** Do not complete the appraisal form, we do not want you to pay anything until we get full underwritten approval. '' He then ordered the appraisal! So we thought we were approved per his emails.  XXXX  picked out an escrow and had them send us the refinance papers, so we had an approval, an escrow, appraisal was ordered, we started a bank account at our local Bank of the West for the month loan payments to be taken out of .... Then, when we had been told many times we would close before the end of   XXXX  , on   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   we received a letter declining our loan due to "  XXXX   XXXX  ''. We found out later  XXXX  had not even listed some of our income.  XXXX  assured us this letter was a mistake and we were still going to close, it would just take a little longer. He continued processing our loan and requesting more information. The terms were changed again by Bank of the West and we received more Disclosures, Rate Locks, Loan numbers, etc ( see attached paperwork ) on   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX  . If you are getting paperwork from a bank, you assume that you have a valid loan being processed. On   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   we once again received a letter DECLINING our loan. We were ready to move on to another lender.  XXXX  promised that it was just Routine paperwork and to ignore it as the appraisal should be back any day. He promised if we stayed with the Bank of the West program that they would credit us back the difference between our old loan payment and our new loan payment for 2 months @ {$1900.00} per month and refund the appraisal fee which had been charged again on  XX/XX/XXXX . The paperwork clearly shows that we had loans in the process, so we felt confident that our home would be refinanced. Finally after receiving yet another Estimated Closing Cost Statement from   XXXX   XXXX   on  XX/XX/XXXX  we realized that we needed to speak to a supervisor to get this loan completed. Every time there would be a delay it was because  XXXX  was getting an " exception '' from his supervisor to move forward. On   XXXX   our property insurance had already been changed to Bank of the West as the  Payee, th is is not done until the refinance is completed. Our credit had been run so many times if had negatively affected our credit scores! At the end of  XXXX  we had enough excuses and had  XXXX  set up a meeting with his direct supervisor  XXXX   XXXX  at the  XXXX   XXXX   XXXX  Bank of the West. When we showed up for the meeting,  XXXX  was out of the office and  XXXX   XXXX  had NO idea who we were. He said he had never heard of us.  XXXX   XXXX  also promised to get to the bottom of our issue and help us complete our loan. We talked to him  ONE time  and then he would not return our phone calls. We were at underwriting at that point and continued to send in more paperwork. By the middle of   XXXX   we were told that Bank of the West loans on the strength of Tax Returns and that we did n't qualify. Keep in mind that these were the same tax returns we had submitted 7 months previously and were good enough to keep the process going since   XXXX  .  XXXX  actually called us and said he would keep our file open until we received our   XXXX   tax returns. How can this be allowed and how can a Federally Regulated Bank do this t o Consumers! We  continued with Bank of the West because we had invested so much time and trust in them. Having gone through this painful process, I have reached out to other financial companies that have told me Bank of the West will give our Pre-Qualification letters and start loans knowing that you do n't qualify to be funded. There is NO excuse for the treatment that we had by  XXXX   XXXX  at Bank of the West. When  XXXX   XXXX  stepped in to help with our loan, he made it worse. I want the public to know that this Bank is no t one w ere they should place their trust or their money.