I have never dealt with people as rude, inconsiderate, or uncommunicative in the mortgage process as Chase — and I've dealt with a lot of rude, inconsiderate and uncommunicative people. My story follows:
I reconstruct old homes for a living — buy them abandoned, rebuild everything that needs it, from the foundation and major systems to the cosmetics — and then hold them and rent them.
Over the latter part of summer, I got backlogged on putting permanent financing on four homes because the first three mortgage companies I went to for refinances either bankrupted or stopped making loans in the middle of the applications.in early September, I took all four properties to a mortgage broker, who placed them with Chase.
The properties were supposed to close in earlier October. At the beginning of October, I signed a contract to buy another home for cash. The contract was part of a foreclosure auction, and there was a definite date to close it.
When the loans didn't close in early October, I went on a long planned two week vacation with the understanding the loans would be processed when I returned.
When I return the loans were still pending. It took a week, and then we got closing papers — that were all wrong. Apparently, the loan processor lost the documentation I sent them, so instead of closing it full doc, they tried to close it as a no doc loan.
When I objected, they sent the paperwork back, and assured me it would close in time that I wouldn't default on the contract, to which I had made a significant deposit. The first contract date passed, and I had to beg an extension.
When the extension came due, I began calling the loan processor at Chase to see what was wrong. I was told she didn't want to talk to me. I told her I was going to default on a contract and lose somewhere between a few thousand dollars and tens of thousands of dollars if she didn't talk to me She then said that she hadn't gotten a number of documents that were sent to her in early October. I said I'd rush them out that morning, and she should check her fax.
Well, I faxed her the documents, the title attorney faxed her the documents, my bank faxed her the documents, and the mortgage broker faxed her the documents, and she didn't bother to check her fax. Then she refused to take calls from the title attorney, saying she didn't have to talk to anyone but the mortgage broker. Then she started lying to all her superiors, saying the reason she wasn't processing the loan was she didn't have the documents. So they were refaxed — three more times over the next three days — and she still swore she didn't get them.
Now, a problem with an employee is one thing. However, no one in Chase would speak to anyone about what was going wrong. The broker had trouble reaching them on the phone. They all refused outright to speak to the seller, to me, or the title attorney closing the deal. They refused to confirm or deny that conditions were being closed, or that the deal was moving forward. No surprise, I defauled on the first extension, lost $2700 in deposit money, and had to beg a second extension.
Right now, I'm sitting her with the second extension. They swear they have a package ready — but its looking like they don't. They know it has to close today, or I am on the hook, potentially, for $54,000 for failure to perform on a contract. But when we call them, the attitude is "I got other things to do then work on this loan, so you'll get it when its ready."
I have never met people more callous and negligent in the handling of the mortgage loan process than Chase, and that includes a broker I once had to sue (successfully) for negligence and fraud in the handling of a loan. I am, at this point, utterly disgusted, and I just wonder what is going to come — will they service these loans like Option One or CIT Group, or one of the other terrorists of the mortgage industry? Even if they come through, I'm wondering if I shouldn't save myself now, eat the $54,000, and take all these homes to someone else.
Bill white
Roanoke, Virginia
U.S.A.
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