Consumer complaint received 2025-08-25 00:00:00
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Closing on a mortgage — Changes in loan terms during or after closing
Company: NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
State: NC

Complaint narrative:
I found a single wide that I wanted to purchase as a secondary property in a XXXX XXXX. I am a first time homebuyer and I did research on what companies were known to have the lowest mortgage rates. One of those companies was Navy Federal, who I happen to have an account with. I applied for preapproval and was easily approved for a {$400000.00} loan. When I decided that I wanted to put in an offer on the single-wide property, I confirmed with my mortgage officer XXXX XXXX this would still be possible, even though this was a secondary home and a single wide trailer. She assured me that everything was good to go with pre-approval and I let her know the day I placed the offer. She sent confirmation of my preapproval to my real estate agent. Based on the confidence she gave me in my buying power I agreed to a due diligence of {$1000.00}. The loan moved forward to processing with XXXX XXXX. XXXX was also made aware of multiple times that this was a single wide and a secondary property. She also did not seem to notice any problem with this. My processing moved forward as usual. The sellers accepted our offer and so we moved forward with the appraisal and inspection process. These cost us {$640.00} and {$730.00} respectively. XXXX let me know there were some problems with the appraisal and she was applying for a few exemptions. When I spoke to her the Thursday or Friday before our Tuesday closing, she actually was able to float down my interest rate. I was under the impression everything was good to go. On Monday I sent NavyFed one more email to confirm everything was good to go before I wired my {$36000.00} down payment. They then decided, after a XXXX week process, less than XXXX hrs before closing, that they would not fund the loan. Not only was this heartbreaking, but it meant that we had wasted {$2300.00}. It also meant our multiple XXXX round trips to the unit were pointless and we missed out on putting offers in on alternative properties for the last month. I spoke with XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX who apologized and told me that this was a systematic failure on multiple levels and they were doing some sort of process review to ensure it didnt happen again. While I appreciate the PI process, it does not give me back my money, nor time, nor missed offers on other properties. She did not volunteer to refund my appraisal fee, but she did agree to it when I asked. That {$640.00} has been refunded, but we have still lost {$1700.00}. I immediately went to work calling XXXX other mortgage lenders and brokers. Within XXXX minutes of talking to ALL of them, as soon as I said the words secondary property and single wide they told me they wouldnt be able to fund the loan and I would be hard pressed to find a company that would. Some of these companies literally told me that is criminal that Navy Fed misled me as long as they did. After doing more research into this, Im learning that Navy Federal should have had the SAME response off the bat, and never should have tricked me into thinking they would be able to fund the loan. As a national credit union and mortgage lender they have a duty to know what the lending guidelines are and to not mislead customers into thinking they can provide something that they are unable to. They acted in a way that NO OTHER mortgage company I spoke with after the fact did. They did not meet the standard of care. If they had appropriately denied this loan from the start, I would not have 1 ) lost {$1700.00} 2 ) had missed time from work for travel to and from the property 3 ) spent my own valuable time in travel 4 ) possibly missed out on other homes. As I mentioned earlier, I am a first time homebuyer, and trusted that a well known reputable mortgage lender would lead me in the right direction, and not purposeful mislead me. I have contacted them requesting compensation with a 14 day deadline ( ends today ) with no reply, no deposit to my account, and no check by mail. While I could certainly argue more compensation based on missed time from work ( {$95.00} an hour ) and travel expenses, I am simply asking for my {$1700.00} back that I never would have lost if NavyFederal didnt mislead me.

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