First try complaining to the loan officer's superior. Ask for a meeting in person to lay out your case.

If that doesn't work:
Perhaps this is a pattern with that bank.
Is there a public watchdog over the banks in your state?
What about a media ombudsman?

What does the extra $1,000 consist of? If he miscalculated or neglected to estimate homeowners insurance, property taxes, prepaid interest, recording fees... that's unfortunate but these are things you need to pay.

If he tacked on junk fees (doc prep, loan processing fee, etc.) then that is really unethical.

Can you give us more info?

Agree with kylie m and would like to add that if you determine that they were junk fees then clearly post the name of the lender here, so the word gets out.

The internet is a powerful tool to help everyone, and so far consumers have not taken as much advantage of it as big biz has.

was this a regular bank or lender? That is very unethical and I would start with his manager and elevate until I get the $1K back. I agree that you had to do what you had to do to close and not lose the house after all this time. If they still wont' resolve it I would file with the Better Biz Bureau and see if your local paper or news station has a reporter to out bad cos.like this. Amazingly effective.

If tehy added junk fees you can always proceed to small claims court.
Amazing how often they are willig to settle before the actual trial.

The bank I am dealing with is WesBanco. Not a huge bank. They have a half dozen or so branches in Cincinnati, where I live. They operate in at least Ohio, West Virginia, and Michigan.

As far as I can tell, the fees are probably legit. It all has to do with title fees: $588 title company's insurance, $50 title insurance binder, $75 EPA Endorsement, $202 Recording and Handling fees, etc. etc. The were all line items on the good faith estimate that were left blank. The only title fees listed previously were $250 for Settlement/Closing fees for title company. Maybe I should have realized that $250 was too low for all title fees, but I'm a first-time home buyer and I had no clue.

Even if the fees are legit, I am still convinced that the loan officer purposefully left them off all the estimates I received since he knew I was shopping rates and closing costs, and he delayed sending me the settlement statement until 2 hours prior to closing so that I would have no recourse. I feel that is just as unprofessional as tacking on junk fees.

And he also snuck some discount points onto my loan the day before the closing. Not much, just $200 worth, but still enough for me to be perturbed.

There's a customer complaint form online that allows one to be pretty specific with complaints. I'm in the process of writing a letter to send to that. If that yields no results in a few days above a canned apology, I plan on going to whatever higher-ups I can get in contact with at his branch or higher. I will threaten with a BBB report and contact with the four media outlets in town if I still see no results.

These items should have definitely appeared on your Good Faith Estimate. They're pretty standard fees that a buyer might anticipate paying. "Forgetting" them is just lame for an experienced lender.

Reporting to the BBB is the "nice guy" approach in my opinion. I would report it to your state Attorney General's office. If there is a pattern of this lender "forgetting" items on the Good Faith---which I believe is mandated by federal law--your state might act. I would also add that the lender violated federal RESPA laws in providing the closing statement only 2 hours prior to closing.

Find out what the truth and lending laws are in your state. I always understood that you should/could not sign anything left blank. Hope you get the money back or at least answers you want

In New York there's an agency called the New York State Department of Banking. When my mortgage company engaged in what I considered fraudulent practices I reported them to the agency who investigated. They didn't fine the mortgage co (which was what I wanted) but they did inspire the mortgage co to write me a nice check (after I signed a non disclosure form).

Find the comparable agency in your state and file a complaint - you have nothing to lose. My state attorney general wasn't interested; yours may respond differently.

This is what happens when people do not use RE agent (especially 1st time buyers).

Got an answer for you. Ohio Department of Commerce. I linked to Financial Institutions section below. Good luck.
Also, I think, you can cancel loan the 1st loan within 3 days period in Ohio.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ohio Department of Commerce

Posted by igorz (My Page) on Wed, Dec 6, 06 at 22:50

"This is what happens when people do not use RE agent (especially 1st time buyers).
Got an answer for you. Ohio Department of Commerce. I linked to Financial Institutions section below. Good luck. Also, I think, you can cancel loan the 1st loan within 3 days period in Ohio."

I did use an RE agent, I'm not sure why you assume I didn't.

Thank you for the link, I'll look into that as well.

I'm guessing he assumed you didn't use an RE agent, because part of the job of an RE agent is to help you determine your closing costs, and be in constant communication with the loan officer.

My office requires us to do an "Estimated Costs from Buyer" worksheet.

Out of the last 10 deals I've done, my estimates were right on for almost all of them, and high on 2 or 3 of them. I'll email my estimate to their lender, and have them do the same so that we can make sure we're on the same page.

Put simply, RE agents should do all they can to help their buyers avoid such a thing, though sometimes surprises are unavoidable.

The fact is, the lender didn't really *add* anything to closing costs, he failed to give you an accurate GFE that included standard closing costs.

"Reporting to the BBB is the "nice guy" approach in my opinion."

Its the "chump" approach in my opinion. The BBB is *NOT* a government agency, they are a private company who's service is to sort companies into nice and naughty lists. They have ZERO power to get your money back. All they can do is put a company on their "not recommended" list.

I am a mortgage banker, have been in the mortgage industry for 20+ years .. and those Loan Officers that do things like that should be prosecuted to the highest extent. They give our business a really bad name.

Go to the State Banking Department, the Bank's Management, your local news paper, etc. and cause a really huge stink.

Those are all legitimate fees, but you are correct, they should have been disclosed to you upfront.

He should be fired and you should get a refund, even if they were legitimate fees.

Let us know how you do ...

"because part of the job of an RE agent is to help you determine your closing costs, and be in constant communication with the loan officer."

The real estate agents I've worked with have never advised me about closing costs or financing. Their interest in my finances ceased as soon as they saw the preapproval letter and were confident I could borrow enough money.

The bankers (and to some extent the lawyers) were the number crunchers. I handled communications between the bank, the lawyer, and the RE myself. I would have been annoyed if the RE had contacted my loan officer directly.

"I would have been annoyed if the RE had contacted my loan officer directly."
The buyer here has to give the LO written authorization to release financials to the agent. ThatÂs probably a federal requirement.

Yes, that's the standard in SoCal too, that the loan officers and RE agents (both for buyer and seller) speak about the particulars of each sale. I'm new to the Oregon market so don't know about it here.

Question: on FSBO, how does the seller know that the intended buyer will actually have the financial proceeds to purchase the property? I don't think a loan officer will speak to the seller directly, will he? And I've learned, as a seller, not to trust the pre-approval (not to mention the silly pre-qualified) letter from a lender. Even with the pre-approval, bad things can happen between contract date and close of escrow. Having our RE agent speak directly with the buyer's LO helped clarify the situation.

The buyer here has to give the LO written authorization to release financials to the agent. ThatÂs probably a federal requirement.


It is definitely not a federal requirement. I've never signed any such authorization.

I've had a RE agent contact the loan officer to ensure that the paperwork was in place and all was going well, but the loan officer did not have authorization to release financial information to her.

We were set to have a production home built and the builder required certification from the LO saying we'd applied and been prequalified and another certification later saying we'd been approved--but there wasn't any agreement to release financial information.

--Beth

"This is what happens when people do not use RE agent (especially 1st time buyers). "

Oh, puleeze. Now the almighty agents are the consumer advocates of the mortgage industry? My agent never saw my GFA. And if I'd had a problem, I would have gone to my RE attorney, and not my real estate agent.

"Question: on FSBO, how does the seller know that the intended buyer will actually have the financial proceeds to purchase the property?"

Get a large earnewst money deposit. It does wonders to keep a sale 'on track'.
Even if you end up having to return it, just holding the money crimps the buyers attempt to purchase another place.

It happened to us too. We were actually driving to our closing, which was 3 hours away, when we got a call from the attorney saying the figures were wrong and we needed a 1000 more. We were an 1 1/2 away from the attorney, so we stopped at an atm and got it. We were relieved it was over and eventually forgot about it. We were making a great deal on the house.

A real estate attorney would have seen this before any paperwork was signed, absolutely necessary

"Question: on FSBO, how does the seller know that the intended buyer will actually have the financial proceeds to purchase the property?"

You need to ask them for a pre-approval letter (and get a big deposit).