The majority of the transaction was done via email. All of the following points, with one minor exception, are documented in those email communications.
1. I was told that the total out of pocket costs for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage with. 75 lender credit would be approx. $557. I was asked to pay a $400 upfront fee to begin the process. As I approached the conclusion of the transaction I was told that the $400 fee was not included in the total out of pocket cost because it was a separate "application fee". I have never seen an application charge that was higher than $35.in addition to the $400 application fee I was charged $35 to pull my credit.
2. The $400 fee was debited to my credit card twice. B of A never discovered the double charge. When I alerted them to the overcharge it took them 41 days to provide me with the refund.
3. The US Treasury Department allows the Banks to use an approved data base for appraisals in order to save the home owner that expense. A customer advocate in Bank of Americas Office of the CEO explained to me that the bank charged the fee because since I didn't have to pay for an appraisal they were entitled to charge this additional amount.
4. I was told to go to close without having had the opportunity to review the documents that I would be signing. The Bank's representative informed me that I would be sent one set of documents to review and then meet with a notary to sign a "duplicate" set. I had to fight with the Bank in order to have them send me the actual signing documents prior to close in order to review them properly.
5. Because of the policy of not including the upfront application fee of $400 in the total amount of funds required at close their was confusion on my part as to the amount of funds that I needed to bring to close I was short by around $400. I thought the amount B of A chooses not to provide a representative of the bank at close, only a notary is present. The notary was not an employee of B of A. Notaries are not present to clarify terms in the loan docs. They are only present to make sure that signatures are placed in all the appropriate spots. I waited to hear from the Bank regarding the issue of funding. No one contacted me. After a week I called them and was told that until I paid the difference I would be paying interest on both loans. This ended up coasting me an additional $132 in interest charges. No one At B of A has ever explained to me how I could have had two loans in place at the same time.
6. When B of A mailed me my first mortgage statement and escrow refund check they were returned to the Bank.instead of sending the items to my residence they sent them to the property address. All previous written communications had been sent to my home including the loan docs. The refinance was always characterized as an investment property. Their was no reason to expect that these documents would not also be sent to my home. B of A has my email and phone info. No attempt was made to contact me and alert me to the situation. I only discovered the problem when I contacted them. As a result the check that should have arrived within 20 days of close took 48 days to reach me.
7. During the entire Refinance process I was never able to actually communicate with the individual that was designated as the loan officer that would handle the close. He was actually the third loan officer I attempted to communicate with. The first 2 had become MIA. I was never able to communicate directly with this individual. The email address that I was provided was invalid and despite many attempts to talk via phone he never returned any of my calls. All communications with this individual had to made via a third party. This individual was not a loan officer.
8. On July 26 I spoke with William Rinehart who is a customer advocate in Bank of Americas Office of the CEO. He informed me that all the points that I have raised here are standard procedure for the Bank.
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