We negotiated via telephone with Jerry Johnson, "Senior Loan Officer" (Jupiter Lending, Mortgage Planning and Lending Specialists, Mile High Mortgage, etc.) for a 5%, 30-year fixed mortgage in the fall of which he agreed to and arranged to bring to our home for us to sign.instead, Jerry brought different paperwork to our home and convinced us that this loan was a "much, much better deal." We allege that he described it as a 3-year ARM loan that could only increase by a maximum of 1.75% per year, starting at 1.5%, not to exceed 1.75% annually over the course of 3 years.
What we discovered later was that it was actually an ARM loan that was only locked in at 1.5% for one MONTH, not one YEAR, which would continue to fluctuate every month! We are now in an ARM loan with a prepayment penalty that will cost us over $10,000! Interest rates are soaring, and we're forced to refinance immediately into a fixed rate that is much higher than what we had when we initially contacted Jerry Johnson, but it's the only way we feel we can prevent further financial devastation.
We made numerous phone calls to Jerry Johnson after we discovered what we considered to be a huge mistake, but he refused to call us back. Needless to say, we were not impressed with the man's "customer service."
Colorado does not require mortgage brokers to be licensed, nor are they regulated. Jerry Johnson has numerous complaints listed against his company (Jupiter Lending) with the Denver Boulder Better Business Bureau, and we're adding our complaint to the list. We have also contacted the District Attorney, the Attorney General, as well as the white collar crime unit of the FBI. If you live in Colorado and are considering refinancing your mortgage, please be careful!
Mortgage Refinancing scams are one of the "top 10" complaints in Colorado, according to the Better Business Bureau. Call your BBB and request that they "cross reference" the name of any mortgage broker you are considering doing business with. A mortgage broker can easily and quickly change the name of his business so that you can't research his past on the BBB site unless you actually know the names of all of his past company names. You must call the BBB and speak with them in person to check on an individual's name. Please do it — it might save you thousands of dollars and a lot of grief!
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