Consumer complaint received 2019-08-01 00:00:00
Product: Mortgage — FHA mortgage
Issue: Closing on a mortgage — 
Company: Rocket Mortgage, LLC
State: NC

Complaint narrative:
InXX/XX/2019, I began the home-buying/home-searching process with Rocket Mortgage ( Quicken Loans ) as a first-time homebuyer. I provided every bit of information I was able to my loan officer from the very beginning in regards to my finances/income. I wanted to be completely transparent with any/all information so that I felt confident about the time/money I was investing in this process would eventually result in owning a home. I was pre-approved for an FHA loan for {$75000.00} which I tried to work with. I was told that FHA would be the best/only option based on my debt to income ratio ( mostly from student loan debt from my XXXX program ), but also because of the bankruptcy that was discharged almost 3 years ago. With the current housing market, it was nearly impossible to find a home for {$75000.00} that would pass the required FHA home inspection. In early-mid XXXX, I reached out to a different lender/loan officer who stated that she, XXXX ( XXXX ), would be able to pre-qualify me for more. She had been in the business for something like 25 years, so I felt really confident that she would be helpful and knowledgeable for me and my situation. She pulled my credit, worked the numbers, and told me I was pre-approved for $ XXXX, with an estimated mortgageamount. She said that she could go higher, but would probably need little more of a down payment. She quoted me mortgages for up to $ XXXX, which we stated to also be options if I found something for more. I didn't want to go up to $ XXXX because that mortgage payment was higher than I was comfortable with. I did feel more hopeful about finding a home I loved now that I had more flexibility in the my pre-approval. I found a home with a listing price of right under $ XXXX that I loved and wanted to make an offer on. I contacted my MLO again & was told she would send me a pre-approval letter to make an offer which she did & the offer was accepted! We worked closely together to get the loan to her underwriter and were scheduled to close on XX/XX/2019. On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX called me with a little problem. The little problem was that she wasnt up to date on FHA guidelines regarding student loan payments, and that her underwriter had caught her mistake and wouldnt approve my loan from there because my debt to income ratio was too high. She stated that she had been counting my actual student loan payment amount on my IBR, but that FHA now requires counting of 1 % of the entire student loan or the amortized payment amount, whichever is greater. One month before closing & the rug was pulled out from underneath me. She told me that she re-worked the loan amounts all the way down to $ XXXX ( which didn't make sense ) and still couldnt get me approved based on my DTI. 

I then reached back out to XXXX to pick back up with the pre-approval amount he had previously offered. I told him about everything that had happened, including that we were a month from closing when her underwriter caught her mistake. He told me that he knew that would happen to me, as he had been in the business for several years and knew that with my DTI, I would have to pay some things off before I could be approved for that amount. I told him I wanted to pick back up with the pre-approval for $ XXXX or start over again if I had to, & that I needed to terminate my offer on the house to get my earnest money back. He told me to wait, that he wanted to talk to his finance manager and see what they could do for me. To my surprise, he came back with some options that would allow me to continue to closing on this home. My options were 1 ) a co-signer ( which I was adamant was not an option for me ) ; 2 ) pay off my current credit cards and refinance my car to get my payment at {$290.00} or less/month. I told him I would definitely be able to pay off my credit cards ( which I did, per our agreement ) & would see about refinancing my car ( which I ended up being able to do, but had to take a higher interest rate and pay the loan down by almost {$3000.00} ). On XX/XX/XXXX XXXX told me I would need to pay {$500.00} in earnest money to Rocket that would be used for the appraisal and any remaining amount would be applied to closing. He also told me that if I withdrew the loan before the appraisal was completed, I would be refunded the full amount. I made the payment by phone that same day, per XXXX requirement so that they could go ahead and schedule the appraisal, and it cleared from my checking account on XX/XX/2019. He  told me that he was going to go ahead and order the appraisal so that we could stay on track for the XX/XX/XXXX closing. My loan went through underwriting, and I was issued a conditional approval based on what we discussed & to provide them with some additional information/documents, all of which I provided to them as quickly as possible. My realtor and I decided that since the appraisal was going to be completed first, we would wait to make sure that the house appraised before ordering the other inspections needed to ensure that I wasnt paying for services all at once to ensure they passed. At this time, my application/file was passed on from XXXX to a new Rocket Mortgage associate, XXXX. From this point on, things become a nightmare We were now upon a holiday week ( XX/XX/XXXX ) so I was understanding of things slowing somewhat knowing that people vacation. Too much time started passing though, and it didnt feel like things were progressing with my loan. My realtor decided that to ask for an extension on the due diligence period to give Rocket more time to get things done. It was requested, granted, and the new due diligence period was now effective until XX/XX/2019 at XXXX EST and the new closing was XX/XX/2019 at XXXX EST. My realtor, also requesting updates from Rocket,  informed me that on XX/XX/XXXX, after speaking with XXXX at Rocket, she was told that the appraisal had not even been scheduled. I called on that same day to speak with XXXX to request that things move faster. I was told that the appraisal had not been scheduled because the appraiser hadnt called back, but that it was ordered on XXXX ( over a week after I was told it would be scheduled ) .I was assured we would still have the report back by XX/XX/XXXX. By this point I'm nervous. I requested, after days of getting Rocket team members saying that the appraisal company that was hired wasnt returning their calls or emails, they hire a different appraiser to complete the appraisal since we were running out of time, but was told that was not a possibility. I then asked that it be expedited. XXXX stated that he would look into it. After being reviewed, XXXX called and told me that the appraisal had actually been completed and he requested to get the report by XX/XX/XXXX. ( None of this was making sense. Dates and info provided to me were all over the place. ) That same evening, my realtor called me to follow up, that she talked to XXXX, who said the appraisal was scheduled for XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX, ( completely conflicting with the information he gave me earlier ). On XX/XX/XXXX, I called XXXX at XXXX XXXX to request that we receive the report by the end of the day ( since the latest update was that the appraisal had been done that morning at XXXX ) in attempt to be back on track. He was confused and stated that the appraisal had been done before XX/XX/XXXX, but again that hed look into it. At this point, I requested to speak with a supervisor and was put into contact with, XXXX. XXXX informed me that could not force the appraiser to get the report faster, and that there was nothing they could do. I acknowledged understanding that people are busy and can not just stop everything for me, but that I had been patient and understanding up to this point. I told him I was frustrated by the delay from his team in even ordering the appraisal to begin with. XXXX then informed me that they cant request an appraisal until after a case number was assigned because its an FHA loan so they had to see if any other appraisals had been done on the property that could be used ( which was new information to me and sounded like another excuse ). I informed him that I had requested a different appraiser, but was told that wasnt an option. I also had also asked what their back up plan was in situations like this, and was told there wasnt one. XXXX told me that he would personally stay on top of it. I didnt hear from him. I reached out and couldnt get ahold of XXXX and didnt have XXXX direct contact info. At this point, it felt like Rocket employees were making more of an effort to make excuses that to acknowledge that they dropped the ball or to pick the ball back up and move forward. I was getting no info unless I reached out, and even then that info was untrue/inaccurate. At this point, I paid {$500.00} for a service that I can not even get confirmation on has been rendered. I have also paid/been invoiced for many other services/inspections/fees that Ive had to complete in order to not hold the process up on my end. The goal for me was always to close on my home. By this point, I had spent countless hours trying to get info from Rocket regarding the status and jumping through hoops to get all the requested documentation to Rocket, ( even documents were requested multiple times as if they were not even being read/reviewed ). 
XX/XX/XXXX My call was never returned. I called again around XXXX. XXXX was unavailable, so I was routed to the next available team member. I expressed my frustration and said that I need the appraisal report that I was promised and then denied & told its going to take more time. He read the notes in my account and said, oh, it looks like its not due back until XX/XX/XXXX, so were fine. NO! That is incorrect! Most recently, before today, I was told it would be back today. Today came and now youre telling me the XXXX. He asked me if I had been in contact with my realtor. Yes, every step of the way. He then told me that Rocket has nothing to do with appraisals, that I would need to speak with my realtor about it. Again, incorrect info by Rocket. That is incorrect. I was told on XX/XX/XXXX that I HAD to pay Rocket {$500.00} so they could get the appraisal scheduled asap, which I did. Eventually my request to speak with XXXX was granted. He told me they still hadnt heard back from the appraisal company, and that hed give me a status update in the morning. He then asked how my name was to appear on the title/deed, if XXXX XXXX was correct. It was supposed to be XXXX XXXX XXXX as originally discussed, and that XXXX XXXX XXXX would also be on the deed, which was also discussed in the beginning. He said that he would make those changes to get that updated as well. ( Apparently, Rocket hadnt put the correct information on the deed ). 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX did call me to update me. He told me : We still havent heard back and our entire team will be out of the office the rest of the day. ( Another day would be lost in this process ). I asked why its gotten to this point & why they dont have a back-up plan with they work with a 3rd party that keeps Rocket from servicing their customers in a timely manner. He said that if he had been on this issue before this week, he would have looked into having someone else do the appraisal. I told him that I had asked early on in the process for a different appraiser to be assigned because from the beginning I have been told that there has been little to no response from the appraiser. I told him I was told that hiring a different appraiser was not an option. He said he could try to assign another appraiser now, but it  would further delay the process. I told him paid for one appraisal that didn't happen and I couldn't pay for another. He offered me good news that he cleared up the confusion regarding the paperwork that I had submitted, and resubmitted, and resubmitted so that was all taken care of. He then asked me my relation to XXXX and I told him she was my fianc. He ended with telling me that hed provide an update before leaving the office for the team event that he would be at for the rest of the day. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX called back a few minutes after hanging up to say he would have to send the title request to add XXXX name to it and wait for it to come back, that it might take a little while. I asked for clarification, So were going to have to wait on this now too? Because it wasnt submitted correctly the first time? I told him that her name was to be on the deed, and that if it meant taking a little while then thats what we would do as to ensure that BOTH names were on the deed. 
XX/XX/XXXX That evening, XXXX and I made several attempts to get the contact information of the appraisal company, which nobody had access to. Everyone who apparently had access to that information was at a company baseball game for the entire afternoon. XXXX left XXXX a voicemail to loop him in on this situation since he was the first contact that started this process. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX called me back per the voicemail that XXXX left. He stated that he was confused about why nobody has any info for us, but he didnt have access to the contact information of the appraisal company either. He apologized and told me he was sending out an email to everyone involved at Rocket, as well as the director,  to get an answer today. I asked him to verify the dates that it was ordered for me. He stated that he sent the request to his team to order the appraisal on XXXX, but that my account notes that it was picked up by a company on XX/XX/XXXX. I asked him to clarify what that meant, and if that meant that it wasnt requested by Rocket to an appraiser until the XXXX. He could not give me that information. He asked me when the appraisal had been done, and I informed him that nobody can confirm it has actually been completed. After several different dates were given to me as to when I would have the report back, it was then stated to me that the appraisal was scheduled for Monday, XX/XX/XXXX @ XXXX. I told XXXX that Im not sure that that even took place, because if his team members had been reaching out as often and diligently as I was being told with no success in reaching someone at the appraisal company, then there was no way they would know that the appraisal was taking place on the XXXX at XXXX. I told him that I was confused as to where that would have come from if they havent been able to reach the appraisal company. XXXX mentioned that in certain instances, an expedited appraisal can be ordered. I stated that if that was an option, why wasnt it offered to me earlier? 
XX/XX/XXXX When I hung up with XXXX, I called XXXX. When I told him my name, he chuckled ( as if to mock me ). I didn't react but stated I needed the contact information of the appraisal company so that I could follow up with them myself given nobody at Rocket could manage to make that happen. He said that they dont know who the appraiser was, that they dont have access to contact the appraiser. I asked for clarification : Really? Then who have you been supposedly reaching out to for answers? He said they work with a 3rd party who schedules the appraisal. I  asked for their contact information to connect the dots myself, and he stated he didnt have that contact info for me either. He stated he would get that information for me & follow back up with me shortly. He said he'd call me in 10-15 minutes. That was at XXXX. At XXXX I still had not received a callback. If they have been reaching out to someone as frequently and I'm told, how can there be no contact info to access? 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX I called XXXX back to get the contact info. He said he was still working on it. I asked why/how it was proving to be so hard to locate this info. He then said that he didnt contact them. I reminded him that he told me he had been making attempts to reach out, and asked him if that was a lie? He said that he had, but was trying to figure out the best contact person. Enough with the lies, I need ANY contact person from the appraisal management company that Rocket works with. He gave me XXXX XXXX and stated the company was XXXX. Her number is XXXX. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX I called XXXX XXXX and left a voicemail. Her voicemail provided the backup contact information for XXXX XXXX at XXXX. I called him and didnt reach him either, so I dialed 0 to speak with the next available Client Relations Team Specialist. I was connected to XXXX XXXX. She confirmed the appraisal was completed on XX/XX/XXXX. She stated it was ordered on XXXX and picked up on by an appraiser, XXXX, on XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX confirmed that he would complete the appraisal on XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX also informed me that because Rocket is a partner they have access to their system as well as to ALL of the same information that she was providing to me. She stated that the appraiser had not returned the report yet, but that they had requested to get it about an hour ago. All of the info I have been fighting for from Rocket during the past 2 weeks was provided in 1 phone call to XXXX. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX I called XXXX for an update after sending an email to XXXX and XXXX @ Rocket requesting an update. I spoke to XXXX XXXX, who informed me that there still was no report on file. She transferred me to Rocket ( Quicken ) and I spoke to a person named, XXXX. XXXX confirmed my info to access my account, gave me no information, and passed me along to a XXXX, who did not answer my phone call. I left a voicemail. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX called to say there was still no report. I asked what Im supposed to do now. He said, I assure you that were doing everything we can to get this report. I explained that I understand theyre doing everything TODAY, but that that should have been the case for the entire 3 weeks that Ive been waiting. He said he could try to get another appraiser that same day. I told him that that was not going to be a helpful solution when it still wasnt going to get me a report in enough time to negotiate if/what needed by the following day at XXXX when due diligence ended. *Note : On this phone call, XXXX explained to me that the notes in my record ( now ) stated that the completion date for the appraisal as of XXXX was scheduled for XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, that completion date was changed to XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, the completion date was changed to XX/XX/XXXX, and now the completion date is scheduled for the same day of XX/XX/XXXX. 
XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX called to tell me that I needed to pay off more debt to get my DTI under 50 % because of new information they received about a mortgage request that was denied. I told him that was incorrect, that that was NOT new information. He said, so our team knew that there had been another loan not go through? Yes, that was absolutely disclosed and discussed before ANY of this started. I told him that I had been informed that in order to qualify for the loan, I would need to pay off my credit card debts and refi my car to get my payment under $ XXXX/month, which I did almost a month ago. He said they would not be able to approve the loan unless I paid off my car or got a cosigner. I was shocked and speechless. I told him that I couldn't talk to him now & I would call him back. I was at work and panicking. I was now being told that I had wasted a month of time and resources to make this happen, only for Rocket to decide a week and 2 days before closing that they wont do the loan now. 
XX/XX/XXXX : I called XXXX to see what was going on. After some investigating, he concluded that XXXX at XXXX XXXX had not just denied me in underwriting with XXXX, but had also submitted the loan application to FHA as well, who then also denied me, but never shared any of that information with me? I was told that because FHA denied me, I would be unable to apply for another FHA loan for 180 days. I wasnt informed of this by XXXX, and Rocket failed check that I had not already been assigned an FHA case number ( which, from what I was learning, meant that they would have then known I had been denied by FHA and not just XXXX ). XXXX acknowledged that Rocket failed to do what should have been done ( as well as with letting the appraisal drag out for so long ), & that he would refund me the {$500.00} deposit I paid to have the appraisal done if, after speaking with XXXX XXXX first thing Friday morning, he concluded there was no other option to proceed. It never should have gotten to this point, and I never should have even paid that {$500.00}, the {$350.00} I paid for the inspection that Im now told I wont be recouping, the other fees assessed ( which I am providing invoices for as I receive them ), or the {$1000.00} I had tied up in earnest money. 
XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX called at XXXX to confirm that the only options to proceed would be to pay my debts down another 6 % in addition to the other debts Ive already paid off per our agreement ( about $ 10k ) at the end of XXXX ( or add a cosigner, which I stated from the beginning was not an option ). Now Im out a ton of money, have wasted an unfathomable amount of time, and it was all for nothing. I can't believe that this could happen. I feel there has been no truth in lending from Rocket Mortgage. I wanted clarification but got answers that went in circles when I asked questions. I started researching what my options were and what FHA guidelines were. 
XX/XX/XXXX : After researching FHA guidelines as recommended by another lender that I know, it came to my attention that Rocket had once again provided false/inaccurate information, particularly regarding FHA guidelines. It was now my understanding that FHA case numbers are assigned to properties, not borrowers, and that the case number can be transferred from one lender to another at the new lenders request. It was also now my understanding that the FHA case number, once assigned, sticks with the property, not the borrower, and should the borrower not close, the FHA case number would then be assigned to a new FHA borrower ( if someone tried to purchase the home with an FHA loan ) within a required time period or else the case number would expire. I emailed XXXX XXXX ( the Solutions Consultant who called me on Thursday to inform me that they were no longer financing my loan ) for clarification. 
XXXX called me instead of responding to my email because it was easier. He stated that I had an FHA case number assigned to me as well as one assigned to the property, and that because I was denied by the previous lender, they had to review my case. Upon reviewing, they determined I now had to have a lower debt-to-income ratio or a cosigner and a credit score over 620 ( which I have ). I asked, so to clarify, thats Rockets policy and not FHA guidelines? He said that he would give me the number to the client relations team if I had additional questions. I didnt want to be punted to another department, since he was the one who had given this information to me originally. I stated that I was told that was provided the FHA guidelines from him last week, and that he informed me that this was why I would not be eligible for 180 days. He stated that just because I qualified for FHA did not mean that they HAD to finance me, which I did not contest. I informed him that my argument was that because it was presented as FHA guidelines, it was not presented to me that I had any other options ( i.e. contacting a different lender ), and I had to terminate my offer before due diligence ended the following day as not to lose my earnest money. He still never responded to my question asking why I was told I would have to wait 180 days to apply for another FHA loan. As I was asking for clarifications between FHA guidelines and Rocket policies, XXXX interrupted me and was talking over me telling me that he could not speak to FHA guidelines, only Rockets, and that if I needed questions answered about that that I could contact Client Relations for assistance. I stated that if he was providing me the information that I was denied per FHA and that if they were lending on FHA insured loans that he SHOULD have accurate FHA guideline information for customers, and that I was frustrated that I had been provided incorrect information yet again. I told him that I didnt need to speak with client relations, that I was tired of being punted from team to team with different information each time, that it was very apparent that I wasnt given accurate information again, and that I was going to escalate this case and thanked him for his time. 
XX/XX/XXXX : I sent 2 emails to XXXX asking him for clarification as to what non-self employed income not supported meant, and stated that I reached out to him since the letter was signed with his name. He told me that he didnt know what XXXX told me on the phone about the denial and couldnt tell me what the non-self employed income not supported meant either. He said that it was a generic letter that they send out. He said that he reached out to XXXX to call me but that XXXX was out of the office until XX/XX/XXXX. I told him that XXXX had not been able to answer my questions regarding FHA guidelines previously but only tried to punt me to client relations, and therefore having him call me would probably result in the same outcome. He told me that to his knowledge, the FHA case number was assigned to me AND the property. I informed him that it was my understanding that it was assigned to the property and that the FHA case number transfers with the property, not the person. He stated that he was unsure of the FHA policy, but again would have XXXX call me. I explained my frustration with the information that was given to me being inaccurate, and that the denial that XXXX originally mentioned was because the other lender didnt approve my loan they had to review my loan, which at that time decided that in order to proceed with my loan, Rocket would require me to pay my debt down to under 50 % and have a credit score of at least 620 ( I believe was the number he gave me ) which my credit score was well above. Rockets documentation dated XX/XX/XXXX from XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX states that my credit score was a XXXX, well above the required minimum credit score for FHA. After doing everything I was required to do to meet the FHA debt to income ratio of being under 56 %, which I was told my Rocket would clear me for a final approval, Rocket decided after a month into the process that I now had to meet completely different requirements, and then was telling me that it was FHA denying me. The previous lender denied me because she didnt have accurate information on FHA guidelines which were caught by her underwriter. Rocket was made completely aware of this from the beginning, instructed me on how much debt would need to be paid off to be under FHAs 56 % and that I would be good to go. Rocket went against all of what I had been told, despite doing exactly as I was required to do, blamed it on FHA policy, and yet stated with their sudden and new requirements that if I had a cosigner or paid down the additional 6 % of my debt, that I could continue with the FHA loan. It makes no sense, the stories arent cohesive from one contact at Rocket to the next, and when I ask questions, nobody can seem to provide that information, and punts me to someone on the client relations team. If a letter is sent on someones behalf ( in this case XXXX ), and even if it is, in fact, a generic letter, that person named on the letter should absolutely be able to accurately explain the contents of that letter. Additionally, if the denial reason is what they say it is, then there should be no need for interpretation from another person ( XXXX, who couldnt answer my questions previously either ), who wont even be in the office for another 3 days, to the next person working on the same loan application. I had emailed XXXX as to not engage in another discussion at work regarding all of this personal information, but again I receive a phone call in response to an email, that needed a simple response to a simple question for clarification, which Rocket team members could not provide. During this same conversation with XXXX, the denial reason also shifted from Rocket stating that I had been denied by another lender who reported the denial to FHA, to I was denied the loan by FHA. I again asked for clarification, and reminded XXXX that he and I had discussed that XXXX  underwriter had denied to loan when I spoke with him from the beginning. I clarified that he was now telling me that FHA denied me, which was not the information I had been given by XXXX, that he was now blaming me for withholding information about. I had not heard anything about being denied by anyone except FHA until Rocket all of a sudden telling me that it was denied by FHA ( and also telling me that it was only denied by XXXX but it was then reported to FHA ). 
I have so many concerns and issues with how this has played out and how I have been treated and misinformed ( and dare I say, blatantly lied to ) by Rocket Mortgage. Im completely at a loss and Im truly unsure of who to contact to resolve this. I have kept thorough documentation throughout and will supply any documentation needed.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation