Comments on: Unhonored Rate Locks

By: Rhonda Porter

Rhonda Porter — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 21:59:27 +0000

Jun, I don’t know. I obviously was not your loan originator and there’s nothing I can do to help you at this point except I guess provide some “therapy” as you vent on how your transaction went on my blog post. It sounds like you contacted DFI from your previous comment, what did they tell you? Are they investigatng?

By: Jun

Jun — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 21:50:10 +0000

My loan is not as complicated as Jovan’s because I do not have any other debt. I wonder how Jovan was able to talk to the bank mortgage originator directly. Is there any way I can find out the contact information of my loan underwriter at the GMAC bank?

The mortgage company told me multiple versions of stories and they keep revising like market rate. For example, I signed rate lock with them, later they told me the rate was not locked. They told me the loan was approved, one month later they told me the loan was declined. They told me they extended rate lock, later they said the bank was going to raise the rate between 3/8 to 2 percent. They later said that they put me into an undisclosed niche program that have limited time offer. When I signed third rate lock agreement three business days before the closing, I discovered that the rate was locked 12 days ago and it was going to expire in three business days. I do not know the truth story because the mortgage company refused to let me contact the bank directly.

By: Jun

Jun — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:47:34 +0000

I did not wait until the end. I spend lots time and energy to follow up the loan. The mortgage company told me the loan was approved at the beginning of the process. They did not tell me that they applied DU plus for me until the end when the loan was declined. Right now, I do not believe anything the mortgage company claimed. The company used two variations of company names. After checking the DFI, I found out that the loan originator used a different version of name…

By: Rhonda Porter

Rhonda Porter — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:03:07 +0000

Jun, again I’m sorry for your ordeal. You selected your mortgage by going after what seemed to be a low rate–you shouldn’t be faulted for that–I bet this is how most people select who will be handling their one of their largest debts secured to their greatest asset.

This is a perfect example of why consumers should not use rate alone to select who will be handling the mortgage. I’ve written many posts about this–I’d recommend working with a mortgage originator who blogs next time–they’re more transparent and have a reputation to lose.

By: Jun

Jun — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 04:46:30 +0000

I did not select my mortgage originator. I selected my mortgage broker from The Seattle Times newspaper. My mortgage broker has been advertising 15-20 day closing on the Seattle Times newspaper, and they quoted me low rate and fee on their initial rate lock and good faith estimate. Because their loan processor did not return my follow up phone calls and emails for a long time, I complained and the mortgage broker emailed me back saying that they will extend the rate lock for free until the loan closes. It turned out none of their promises were delivered.

By: Rhonda Porter

Rhonda Porter — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 15:55:38 +0000

Jun, you missed a question I had for you (or I’m missing it w/how our comments are set up now at RCG):

How did you select your mortgage originator?

By: Rhonda Porter

Rhonda Porter — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 15:54:04 +0000

Roger, we can receive a DU Plus response from automated underwriting even if we’re not after that type of refi. I’ve had loan to values of 40% that get a DU Plus response with no appraisal required…gee thanks for the free appraisal but these guys don’t NEED the HARP program. I often wonder if it’s transactions like this that are included in the figures our government boasts about when they say they’ve helped X many people (who didn’t need the program to begin with).

By: Rhonda Porter

Rhonda Porter — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 15:51:03 +0000

This can happen with ANY mortgage originator regardless of what type of institution they work for.

By: Rhonda Porter

Rhonda Porter — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 15:50:00 +0000

June, here’s a post I wrote when DU Plus first came out: http://www.mortgageporter.com/reportingfromseattle/2009/04/home-affordable-refinance-price-hits.html DU Plus is also known as HARP or may even be called the “Obama refi”.

The program is challenging. Some lenders are willing to do it; some are not. Some programs qualify and some don’t. It’s really a huge mess.

If you don’t understand something or if things don’t seem to be adding up with your mortgage originator (I’m writing this not to just you, June, but anyone who is reading this post which is now far off base from what it was originally written about) THEN GET A SECOND OR THIRD OPINION AT RIGHT AWAY. You don’t have to wait until the end.

By: Jun

Jun — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 05:10:55 +0000

You asked why I continued the process and went through with the loan? Start the process again? That would lead to an even higher interest rate as interest rates continued to rise at that time. The best reason to walk away from this loan was if I had started multiple loan processes in the beginning just as suggested by another blogger – and take the best deal to me.
It appears that if mortgage brokers cannot regulate themselves and if the government cannot get practices like this under control, then the only choice for consumers is to start multiple loan processes. Forget recommendations to get another opinion, it’s too late… I suppose this is unfortunate for mortgage brokers, but this would probably convince the industry to be better fiduciaries to their customers.