On December 4th I called my current mortgage company Chase to see about doing a refinance to get a lower rate and get some extra money to complete our addition that we added on four years ago. My father was helping my husband and I out but was diagnosed with cancer and was only able to draw up the plans before passing away. We were first time homebuyers and we didn't have any money to hire professionals but we were lucky to have some friends who could help out.
We doubled the size of our house but ran out of money and couldn't afford flooring, heat, or sheetrock so when the rates dropped we called our mortgage company to do a cash out refi. The mortgage rep said that everything checked out, we had excellent credit, never late on a payment in 5 years and I told him I believed my house was worth $250,000. Paid $155,000 in 2003 for it. We wanted to pay some debt and take $20,000 cash out which would bring my loan amount to $198,000. He gladly accepted my $400 application fee and I thought things would go smoothly.
We waited 2 weeks before an appraiser came out and when they walked in and saw that we still hadn't closed up the walls or put down floors and heat they said that the mortgage rep should have told me that had to be done. She appraised the house and it only came out to $215,000. Another week went by and they said if we could complete the addition with walls, floor, and heat that we could go through with the refi so I spoke to my husband who at first said that he didn't think he would be able to get it all done and without the money we would have to use our credit cards again.
So, me and my husband worked night and day, layed down 450 square feet of slate flooring, scrubbed and grouted and sealed, paid $3,000 for new wide plank hardwood flooring, had a second zone of heat installed and sheetrocked and taped 700 square feet of walls and ceiling. The appraiser came back out to take pics of the finished area and another 3 weeks went by and I called every other day and they kept saying the paperwork wasn't done. My lock in rate expired and was extended until April 16th.
The second week of March I get a phone call from a new appraiser (totally different company) she has to come out and reappraise the whole home.By now we had just about had it. The appraiser came out and she asked me what my plans were for the home and I mentioned that down the road we would like to move our kitchen into the larger room and add on another bedroom but I was just making conversation, I had no idea the women would put that in the appraisal. The bank called me on a Saturday to say that my home was now valued at $288,000 and that was terrific would call on Monday with the details of closing. FINALLY.
Never got a call. Called them on Tuesday no answer, Wednesday no answer. Friday, April 3rd my mortgage rep calls and says that my husband and I have to move the kitchen, add a second bedroom and have paint on all the walls or the refinance couldn't go through. I told him that those things were not in our plans and that was something we were going to do in 6-10 years after I have my second child and return to work. He told me to call the appraiser and see if she could redo the appraisal that it was a misunderstanding. I called the appraiser and I pleaded with her and explained the situation to her. She felt just terrible said she would try and do something and call me back. She never called... I cried the whole day, I couldn't even bear to call my husband at work and tell him that all our hard work was for nothing.
THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR WHAT THEY PUT US THROUGH... We are sick over it. So here we are out $400 for an application fee and also $8,000 more in credit card debt. Not to mention that my husband has to go for a stress test in 3 days because he hasn't been feeling well.
Chase doesn't care about Jennifer and Robert. We are just a loan number when we call them.
Jennifer
Middletown, New Jersey
U.S.A.
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