Consumer complaint received 2025-12-31 00:00:00
Product: Mortgage — FHA mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage — Delays in the application process
Company: AZ LENDING EXPERTS, LLC
State: AZ

Complaint narrative:
I am submitting this complaint regarding the lending practices of AZ Lending Experts , LLC, a mortgage broker located in XXXX, XXXX. 
I contacted AZ Lending Experts due to a real estate agent informing me to do so for a tour or showing of a home. Even though I informed this agent I already had pre-approval from XXXX other companies and I only wanted a showing for the home. He made this be apart of the process to tour the home. He referred me to a specific person with this lending company who stated he was XXXX of the owners. 
I did not apply for a full mortgage loan. The individual who identified himself as XXXX of the owners stated that a hard credit inquiry was required in order to determine eligibility for down-payment assistance programs. I was not offered a soft-pull pre-qualification option. As well I informed him im a first time home buyer, so there are plenty of grant options as well as being FHA qualified. 
Based on this representation, my credit was hard pulled with XXXX credit bureaus. After these inquiries were performed, I was supposed to be contacted back and never was. The agent who referred me to this company told me that my credit score was too low to qualify. I was never provided a written denial letter, adverse action notice, underwriting findings, or any explanation identifying the criteria allegedly not met. Yet that information was supposedly passed to the real estate agent. 
I was never contacted directly by AZ Lending Experts regarding the credit inquiry results or any decision-making. No written communication, disclosures, or adverse action notice were provided even though I requested it from the agent and the company through email. 
This information was inaccurate. I have already been pre-approved by XXXX other mortgage lenders and qualify for FHA loan programs. FHA guidelines permit my credit profile, and no other lender has represented that my credit score disqualifies me from down-payment assistance or a loan in general. 
This caused unnecessary harm to my credit profile. I have XXXX inquiries that should not be there. A soft pull would've explained whether qualified or not but AZ Lending informed me that the soft pull won't inform me about qualifying for down payment assistance and that's what they needed to qualify me. Yet, this is all just to tour a home that's for sale. No buying have been mentioned. 
I believe AZ Lending Experts misrepresented credit inquiry requirements, failed to provide required disclosures and adverse action notices, and engaged in improper lending practices. 
I am reporting potentially anticompetitive practices in the residential real estate market in Arizona following the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX settlement. 
In my experience, real estate agents and brokerages are conditioning access to private home showings on the execution of buyer-broker agreements and confirmation that financing is actively in process. These requirements are often initially represented as necessary to proceed and only later acknowledged to be professional standards or company policy, rather than legal requirements. 
This conduct has the effect of restricting consumer access to housing, steering consumers to preferred lenders, and reducing consumer choice. Based on conversations with multiple agents, this appears to be a widespread practice rather than an isolated incident. 

I certify that the information provided in this complaint is true and accurate to the best of my knowledge.

Company response to consumer: Untimely response