Consumer complaint received 2020-07-07
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage — 
Company: FIRST MIDWEST BANCORP, INC. (AZ)

Around XX/XX/2020 my wife and I contacted First Midwest bank about getting a mortgage for a new home we were purchasing. We were assigned to a loan officer named XXXX XXXX XXXX # XXXX. We started the process and things were going alright for the most part however a few times I questioned numbers and such that he sent us and he was very condescending in his responses and told me that oh its an error or something like that and it was no big deal. However when your getting a mortgage you want the numbers to be correct because they could have big implications down the road.  Around XX/XX/2020 XXXX reached out to me about concerns that underwriting had in regards to pay protection money that was on my wifes paycheck, I responded that it wasn't a big deal and her job was steady and was paying for any shifts that she had cancelled. My wife went to work that night and was told in a meeting that she should expect shifts to be cancelled and also pay raises and bonuses to be cancelled. Around that same time my company announced that they would be making some cuts in my department soon but they had not decided who yet. So on XX/XX/2020 I sent an email to XXXX explaining that after my wifes meeting and the meeting at my job that we had some concerns about our income going forward. He responded that he thought I should talk to the Realtor selling the home, which was confusing because it had nothing to do with them. However being a XXXX myself I had let the sellers know of the change in our situation so that they would be prepared if the loan did not go through. I also was told from the sellers Realtor that XXXX had told them I was qualified for the loan and that there was no reason that i could not by the house. At some point XXXX called me and we had a conversation where basically he told me that we were qualified as it stands today and he did not want to get the loan denied so he refused to send my email about our job situation to the underwriters. I explained that he could not do that as that is material information when it comes to us getting a loan and that we did not feel comfortable not disclosing that information. I asked him how we proceed forward in this situation since we didn't feel comfortable not disclosing this information and he refused to send the information on to the bank. XXXX sent me an email that said he didn't know what to do and needed a day to figure it out because " ... I am in uncharted territory here. Not sure bank even has a policy for this yet? '' I wasn't sure what he meant because this didn't seem like a unique situation to me. The next day he called me and told me that he would agree to pass along my email on the updated job situations if I paid them {$550.00} for the appraisal costs. I felt this was not right and told them that it was essentially extortion and I had no responsibility for their costs associated with this loan because i didn't qualify to get the loan. Basically it was pay the money or I was screwed, so i had no choice but to pay. Once I paid, XXXX told me that he would pass on my email which would get my loan denied and I would have letter by the end of the week to pass on to the sellers to get the contract cancelled and earnest money released. I made the payment to them on XX/XX/XXXX and was told that I would receive the denial by XXXX   XX/XX/XXXX. I never received anything so I followed up on XX/XX/XXXX with no response and again on XX/XX/XXXX when I finally got a response that he did what he said and it was out of his hands now. I ended up contacting the Bank and speaking with XXXX XXXX who is 2 levels above XXXX I believe I expressed my concern and he said that my loan was denied and the letter should come soon and he would follow up with me the next day, I never heard from him again. I eventually received the denial letter on XX/XX/XXXX. Throughout this whole process XXXX was condescending, unethical and unprofessional. I believe that it was unethical and illegal for him to withhold the information about our jobs in order for him to get the loan closed. His line of communication was his cell phone I believe which is problematic because i'm not sure if those calls are recorded which I believe allows him to act how he does. My wife has continued to have her hours cut by 2/3rds weekly and we have seen a large impact to our income, so I am glad that we raised the concern and did not let him bully us into the loan.