Consumer complaint received 2025-11-19 00:00:00
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage — Confusing or misleading advertising or marketing
Company: BMO BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: MN

Complaint narrative:
The following complaint is regarding BMO Bank represented by their loan officers XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX, this is specifically relating to the XXXX XXXX program. My concern is that BMO provided incomplete and misleading information during the application process, issued pre-qualification letters after obtaining my credit report, and failed to disclose critical eligibility requirements that directly affected my ability to make informed financial decisions. 

Timeline of Events - My partner initially spoke with BMO on my behalf and was informed that I needed a middle credit score above XXXX to qualify for BMOs XXXX XXXX program ( 100 % financing ). 

- Based on this representation, I worked to ensure that my XXXX  XXXX middle score exceeded XXXX. 

- I then provided my income documentation and authorized BMO to complete a hard credit pull. 

- After the hard pull, BMO issued a pre-qualification letter. 

- During multiple phone conversations, BMO discussed terms specific to the XXXX  XXXX  program ( 100 % financing, 30-year fixed vs. 7-year XXXX  ), reinforcing my understanding that I met the qualifications for this program. 

- When we identified a property, we gave BMO the address and requested a pre-approval letter. Instead, BMO issued an updated pre-qualification letter reflecting the purchase price. Again, no concerns about eligibility were raised.

- Only laterafter I had already made an offer on a homeanother loan officer informed me that I did not qualify for the XXXX XXXX program because my middle score was below the minimum requirement. 

- Up to that point, no one at BMO had ever disclosed that the bank uses the older XXXX XXXX mortgage scores, rather than the XXXX XXXX score that I was led to focus on. 

- I independently purchased my mortgage-score report and discovered that my middle XXXX XXXX score was XXXX, which I was never told until after I was already under contract on a home. 

- Due to the confusion created by BMOs disclosures and the way the application was handled, I was forced to discontinue the process and turn to a different lender to avoid losing my earnest money ( {$6000.00} ) and inspection fees ( approximately {$550.00} Issues of Concern Failure to disclose essential eligibility criteria : I was told to meet a credit threshold but was not informed that BMO used the older XXXX XXXX mortgage models instead of XXXX XXXX. This omission was material and directly impacted my decisions. 

Pre-qualification letters issued after hard pull without warning of ineligibility : BMO issued pre-qualification lettersupdated multiple timesdespite having my mortgage scores and knowing I did not meet the programs credit-score requirements. No concerns were raised during this period. 

Representations that created reasonable reliance : Discussions of XXXX XXXX program details ( 100 % financing, rate options ) gave the clear impression that I qualified. I relied on these representations when making an offer on a home. 

Failure to follow proper adverse action procedures : I was verbally told that I did not qualify due to credit score, but I never received the required adverse action notice under ECOA/FCRA.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation