Consumer complaint received 11/27/2017 about Mortgage (FHA mortgage) with HOMEBRIDGE FINANCIAL SERVICES, INC. (PA).
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint: Home Bridge Financial failed to uphold it 's part of it obligation in servicing my 203 ( k ) loan. They did not properly vet the contractor. After speaking with police, the person we thought was a contractor is a con man. He does not hold a valid contractor 's license. He can not perform any work in our city. 

As required by the HUD guidelines it is up to the mortgage company to ensure that the contractor is licensed, certified, and can perform the work required. Home Bridge failed to to this. They certified a person who had no experience with construction work, was not licensed and could not complete the work. 

That would be forgivable if it were not for what happened next. According to my agreement with home bridge as evidenced in the attached documents, and to the HUD FHA Single Family Handbook, Home Bridge is supposed to ensure that all permits have been pulled before releasing any money from our escrow account. Yet Home Bridge released more that {$35000.00} to a con man without a single permit being pulled. In fact there is literally no way the " contractor '' could have gotten a building permit since he is n't licensed. 

When I begin to have issues with the contractor that seem insurmountable I contacted Home Bridge. Up to that point I thought I was dealing with a licensed contractor who was working legally. Our HUD consultant told us that the work was done and getting done correctly, and we, being completely new to this process believed that. It was not until it was pretty obvious that something was wrong that we realized it. 

We went to License and Inspections to try to get more information. It was then that we discovered that there were no permits on our property. In fact no one had ever tried to apply for a permit in at least 4 years. Confused and angry we called Home Bridge. 

We knew that we had signed a document that stipulated that money could n't be released without permits. We knew that money had been released. And we knew that no permits were submitted or granted. We did not yet know that this person was not even licensed. 

Home Bridge flat out denied that they had any obligations to check out our contractor 's background. The also denied knowing if permits were required before the draw. They denied that the HUD FHA Single Family Handbook had any guidance on their procedure. I have sent them numerous emails. I have  made several phone calls, and i have tried to work this issue out with them. 

What upsets me most is Home Bridge, despite violating our contract and the FHA guidelines, demands that I and my husband pay for their mistakes. Even if we did " pick the contractor '' we did so in good faith and from the position of first time home owners. Home Bridge was supposed to be a check on our inexperience. They we supposed to make sure this situation did n't happen. Instead it seems as though the did not do what was required of them and are content to ignore the issue while demanding that we pay them money they had no right to give in the first place.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation