Consumer complaint received 2021-03-25
Product: Mortgage — VA mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage — 
Company: Freedom Mortgage Company (TX)

On XX/XX/XXXX, I was contacted by XXXX ( Freedom Mortgage Loan Officer ) to offer me a low rate VA refinance loan. I was very impressed that my current mortgage company would offer to refinance their own loan. XXXX told me that Freedom Mortgage was offering refinancing to their current VA customers as a retention measure. I told him that I was receiving a lot of mail and phone calls from other mortgage companies offering me very low refinance rates. He said that the rates are historically low and for me to take advantage of their no hassle refinance process, no closing costs, no credit check, no income verification, etc. Since I was already a Freedom Mortgage customer they had all of my information. The rate was low and the process seemed easy, therefore I decided to initiate the refinance process with Freedom Mortgage. I immediately received an automated email from Freedom Mortgage with instructions on how to fill out the forms online and the urgency to sign and lock my rate. I logged in and started filling out the forms, which was exactly what XXXX had promised me during our call that day. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an automated email from Freedom Mortgage asking me to review a new loan document. I reviewed the new loan documents and some of the terms of the original offer had changed, ( 1 ) initial monthly payment, ( 2 ) pricing change to points and/or credit for interested, and ( 3 ) payoff and payments have been updated. I sent an email to XXXX for him to call me to discuss the new terms. He did not respond to my calls or emails until I mentioned to him that I was looking into the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX rates since they are local and he had not responded to my calls and/or emails. He immediately called me back to ask about the rates offered by XXXX. He said that he could match the rates and to disregard the new loan document request ; that the system automatically generated those type of documents and that it was a mistake on their part. He said that everything was fine and that more than likely I would be closing in the beginning of XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received another automated email from Freedom Mortgage with a status update on my loan. The email stated that they were waiting on the title work to clear and that they needed a paid in full letter from the lien that is appearing on the title. I immediately called customer service to find out what was going on since I dont have a lien on my property. The customer service representative reviewed the title work and did not see a lien on the property. She recommend escalating the issue to her supervisor since she couldnt determine the issue. Based on this information, I emailed XXXX for assistance on the matter. He never responded to my email or calls. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I called customer service to get a status update. The customer service representative told me that my loan application was terminated by Freedom Mortgage that morning since I couldnt provide the lien or made an attempt to contact them, which I did speak with a customer service representative the day before and she couldnt give me specifics on the lien. In addition, I emailed the information to XXXX on XXXX XX/XX/XXXX. I was very confused about the entire situation since no one could tell me anything about the lien and customer service struggle to provide an adequate explanation. I closed on my original loan back in XX/XX/XXXX and everything was very transparent, the loan officer provided feedback, the title company requested information with details, etc. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a call from Freedom Mortgage inquiring about the entire situation and if I wanted to reapply. I told the customer service representative that I didnt see why I had to reapply when the company cancelled my application without an explanation. And that the current rates had increased significant since I originally applied, he agreed that the rates had increased significantly since then. And that he would see if he could reinstate my original application. Its been six days and I havent heard back from XXXX. 

The only conclusion I can make out of this entire situation is that Freedom Mortgage string me along the refinance process so that I wouldnt switch over to a competitor when the rates were historically low. Its quite convenient to cancel my application, without any reason, when the rates increased and I could no longer find a competitive rate to refinance my home. I tried to resolve this issue with the company first, but it has been impossible based on their lack of communication and transparency. This is not a decent way to treat people, especially disable veterans.