<rant><vent>

I'm going to do everything I can to nail this mortgage company to the wall. Here's the skinny:

Wife and I are buying a house. Obviously, we need a loan. Got hooked up with this company (Sterling National Mortgage) through friend of a friend kinda thing.

Now, my wife does not have a very stable work history, which weighs heavily on most loan decisions. So we decided early on that it would be best to go with a "no income verification" loan - it would have been tough to qualify otherwise. This means we don't have to prove our income, and of course, we pay a slightly higher interest rate. Fine.

Upon getting married and all, we recieved some very generous gifts from my family, which we are using as part of our down payment. Because they are recent gifts, standard procedure is that we have to get a "gift letter" from the gift givers, basically verifying that it is a gift and not a loan to be repaid. We got the letters done early on, and proceeded with the rest of the home-buying process.

3 goddamn weeks before closing, the mortgage company says they want copies of the FRONT AND BACK OF THE ORIGINAL CHECKS given to us. What the ****?? Both of these peoples' banks DO NOT EVEN RETURN THEIR CHECKS! They only give the little photocopy thing of the FRONT of the check. And I've got NO time to get the originals from the banks, a each bank said it can take up to a month to get the originals. The company will NOT accept just the copied front, and insist this is "standard procedure" and there is no way around it - even though THEY waited until the zero-hour to even make the request.

Long story short, we are completely unable to get the requested documents in time, and we have no time to pursue another mortgage company. So we get shafted into taking a full no-asset, no documentation loan at 1/8 point HIGHER interest rate. All of this could have been avoided had the company made this bullshit request earlier. But they waited, and screwed us into a higher rate with no other options.

Bastards. Slimy scumbags. And they haven't heard the last of me. As soon as we close on the home (June 10th), I am going to contact everyone and anyone who can investigate this company. The State Banking Comission, State Attorney General, and whoever else - they'll all be hearing from me.

At least we're buying the home. But this really did not have to happen. They were unprofessional at best, and unethical at worst, and my cynical side thinks they did this on purpose. I have since learned that this is not the most reputable mortgage company out there. I wish I had known before.

Live and learn, though. Thanks for listening.

</rant></vent>

~HH

 

I think buying a house is one of the most nerve-wracking experiences there is. As much as I want a house, I am dreading buying one.

 

I have heard the same things about them as well. At least you got your house, I'm not looking forward to that mess when we decide to buy ours.

 

That sucks dude! If I were you, as soon as there is a little stability in your wife's income, look at refinancing (as long as int. rates stay down). Get with a reputable company. I heard too many horror stories about dealing with these smaller companies when we were looking at buying and then refinancing. Good luck to you on this and congrats on the house.