Consumer complaint received 2024-03-19 00:00:00
Product: Mortgage — VA mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage — Trying to communicate with the company to fix an issue related to modification, forbearance, short sale, deed-in-lieu, bankruptcy, or foreclosure
Company: Brightfunders, LLC
State: TN

Complaint narrative:
My husband ( who works for the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ) and I ( living on XXXX in TN with our XXXX XXXX daughter ) secured a VA mortgage for {$220000.00} with Homeside FinanciaXXXX, D.B.A. Lower LLC., and closed on XX/XX/XXXX for a One-Close VA loan to build a primary residence on land I own in XXXX XXXX, TN XXXX The bank is in XXXX, NC and our loan officer was XXXX XXXX. 
XXXX XXXX approved our loan with our construction company XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( ICC ), owner XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX a local company with over 33 years in construction, fully insured, bonded, licensed, and passed a background check. Our General Contractor is also the owner. XXXX XXXX, a salesperson, who called himself a " consultant '' for XXXX, was the initial contact for this loan. XXXX XXXX worked with XXXX XXXX, VA appraiser, to approve the house plans to match our loan amount with market value. We had to add a full finished basement with XXXX rooms to our modest XXXX sq. ft. house to make the value match the loan amount, making the livable square footage XXXX sq. ft. We also had to add my husband to the deed of the land, I previously owned, alone. So our deed of trust for Homeside Financial now included him as primary borrower and myself as co-borrower. 
At the closing, XXXX XXXX showed up to " receive a check, '' which started suspicions as to his role in our construction process. An email from XXXX XXXX to XXXX XXXX, which he proudly showed to me, the wife, stated, " Go get your money XXXX and get this house built! '' This was questioned, as to why XXXX XXXX, consultant, was receiving a check for our build. The check was for {$21000.00} and we were told, by XXXX XXXX, it was for " 10 % start-up fees, or " Mobilization at Closing. '' We asked to see the invoice, and a copy of the invoice was produced, showing a fee of {$1300.00} for our XXXX XXXX XXXX and payment for XXXX XXXX 's services. We accepted this as his payment for securing the bid to build for his company, XXXX. 
The next check was called a " draw, '' and was for {$30000.00}. We were asked to sign off on this draw for materials to be ordered. Since it was a customized house for our special needs child, we didn't hesitate to trust the bank knew what the process was. The app, XXXX XXXX, was how money was released. We saw it showed XXXX was the account our money was being sent, so to order materials made sense and we signed off. Work on the land, clearing trees, and preparing the foundation, started, but nothing was right. They moved the site down the hill, moved earth, and turned the house facing up-hill. I questioned the changes and was told nothing was wrong, just leave it alone. 
It was now XXXX months into our build and another " draw '' was being requested for {$36000.00}. When we reviewed the draw request outline it showed the foundation should be completed before this draw was released. Since we just had piles of block on pallets, we didn't approve this draw and refused to sign off. XXXX XXXX requested an on-line inspection over the internet and reassured us the money would not be released for work not done, but only an amount equal to what was finished would be released. So we signed off, knowing the inspection would not pass for the full amount. But it did, and we requested to see the inspection report. 
In the report, photos of our tiny house on wheels, a temporary structure on another part of the XXXX acres, were in the inspection. The septic, water, electric, and driveway to the tiny house was signed off as if it were the new house utilities. The new house only had XXXX ' of block on a row of footings. No slab, missing XXXX ' of wall, no windows, no French drains, etc., and we had a major drainage problem flooding inside the foundation from the faulty excavation cut into the mountain where the original site was abandoned, when they hit rock the small machines couldn't move. We were also told the basement walls were off by XXXX '' and the XXXX was complaining he needed a helper and materials. On XX/XX/XXXX, the XXXX quit. We alerted XXXX XXXX, and she ordered an audit. 
During this pause on our build we learned the block had not been paid for and a cancelled check, written in XXXX XXXX 's account, was stamped, " Insufficient Funds. '' We learned our XXXX 's XXXX premium had not been paid for and the policy was cancelled. 
The audit was ordered for XXXX XXXX, who supplied XXXX XXXX with a spreadsheet of expenses along with a detailed email justifying where he spent our money. We were baffled. Why did XXXX XXXX, consultant, have access to our money? Why was XXXX XXXX communicating with him, when our VA Guidelines required her to only speak to our Licensed General Contractor, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX? Why did most of the {$89000.00} released go to the business expenses for XXXX XXXX, for fuel in his truck, his electric bill, his internet bill, his secretary, himself, etc., when the VA guidelines specifically state the only account our money can be linked to is the Licensed General Contractor, XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX? Where was the orders for windows or framing lumber? Where was our General XXXX? So we called XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, and he said he had no idea about our build and he didn't have a contract with us. 
So we requested a copy of our contract with our builder that Homeside Financial had on file when we discovered it wasn't in our closing documents. But they refused. We hired an attorney, who requested the contract XXXX separate times, each time, refused. Months passed by and nothing was being done. My husband filed a XXXX XXXXXXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, when the bank demanded payment in full within 30 days or they would foreclose. We don't owe this money so he forfeited the land and did not make a payment plan. 
We got a certified letter on XX/XX/XXXX and learned the bank was foreclosing on our loan and auctioning our land. We hired another attorney who requested 'Documents of Discovery, ' and after months of holding off the foreclosure, we learned the bank made an error. They linked our money to XXXX XXXX, directly, and not to our General Contractor, XXXX XXXX XXXX We learned the bank admitted this mistake in emails. We learned we never had a licensed general contractor, because XXXX XXXX used the information of XXXX to obtain approval for our loan, but that document was forged, by his secretary, XXXX XXXX. All of our loan documents were signed by XXXX XXXX as if he were our general contractor. He took our money by falsifying our inspections, forgery, and identity theft. 
Had Homeside Financial, specifically, XXXX XXXX our loan officer, done due diligence on our loan application by making sure she was speaking to our approved General Contractor, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, this loan would not have been approved. We do not owe this money. The bank made the error and they are taking away our daughter 's home, our land, and counter suing me for their attorney expenses and holding me accountable for the balance after they sell the land, for the amount of the loan. The bank attorney, XXXX XXXX, took a XXXX holder on my deed. He is foreclosing on my land XX/XX/XXXX. I had to leave the land with my special needs daughter and am now homeless. 
Our daughter suffered XXXXXXXX XXXX  and was hospitalized from the stress of this event. We ask that you investigate the errors made by XXXX XXXX on our VA One-Close Loan and stop them from taking our land, holding me accountable for this debt, and pursue the con man in all of this. Thank you.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation