Makes hulk angry

[yveskleinsky]

So... I have been in the process of trying to move to Las Vegas since June. Fortunately for the rest of the world I have come across THE stupidest person on the planet. Bad news for me is that he's my lender. Good news for everyone else, his name is Jon Burtness and he works for Southern Fidelity Mortgage--so just steer clear of him.

Long story short, I am 2 months (yes, months) over my closing date. This means 2 months of living out of a suitcase. Two months of wearing the same 5 sets of clothes I had (thankfully over packed) in my "weekend" travel bag. Two months of carting my two dogs who don't travel well everywhere with me. Two months of couch hopping and hotel stays. Two months without grocery shopping and eating crappy take out (can't even go in for a decent meal due to the dogs and the weather--too hot.) Two months of being strung on by my lender, being told that it's just this last piece of paper, or this last signature or this last whatever, and that we'll close on Wed or on Friday or tomorrow.

So I signed loan docs for the second time on the 14th. We still haven't funded. I was assured and reassured that we'd fund Friday. I said I wasn't getting in the car until my Realtor had keys. Didn't fund Friday. Was told that my paperwork was third in line for Monday, so I head out to Las Vegas. Just me and my dogs who travel as well as three year-olds on a sugar high.

So I get to town, and head over to the "new house". I get there, and let the dogs into the backyard to go potty. While I'm scoping the place out, my one dog jumps straight into the algae-ridden pool. She comes out thrilled with herself for figuring out a way to cool off, but now smells like the Creature from the Black Lagoon's butt crack. Ten phone calls later, I find out we aren't closing again today. Why? The HUD was wrong--again. I called my Realtor and told him that I'm not signing another extension. I'm done. Someone owes me about $10k and a big, fat fu&*#%g apology if we don't close tomorrow.

So here I sit in a seedy motel with two dogs, one of which smells like she should probably just get on antibiotics to be on the safe side.

So what can I do? What recourse do I have? ...I have spent oh, I dunno, maybe $2k on food and lodging in the past 2 months, not to mention lost wages, stress and potentially earnest money, appraisal and home inspection funds, all-in-all $10k. The kicker is that the lender that has shit for brains is MY lender. I will be contacting the JAG (military attorney) office tomorrow. But I'm angry as hell and want someone's head on a stake. I don't think the seller will sign another extension, and I'm done too. I don't believe them anymore that they can get this loan thru. There is nothing weird about this loan either. It's a VA. We have credit scores in the upper 700's to lower 800s. We have no credit card debt or car loans. We have 6 figures liquid in the bank. We go to church on Christmas eve, I wash behind my ears and I always return my cart to the the cart return at the grocery store. Why? Because we are solid (and nice I might add) fu%^&ing people. I came into this deal being preapproved and with no contingencies (got the other house rented a month before I went house hunting.) Point being, it's not us, it's them.

If we don't fund tomorrow I am seriously debating about parking my car in their parking lot, getting some car paint and writing "Southern Fidelty knows my husband is military and deployed, and has cost me $10k and now me and my two dogs are homeless." ...And then calling all the local media.

What would you do? I don't want to take this lying down. I've already made calls to the head broker of both the lender and the realtor and all I get is, "Yeah, you are right, uh huh, someone dropped the ball. I don't blame you for being upset. Blah, blah. We apologize for any inconvience." My response is, "...Any inconvience?! Any inconvience?! Here's the deal...I don't want apologies. I don't want excuses. I don't want cliches and I don't want lies. I want the m$&*er f^#ing keys to my mo#^er fu#^ing house. I'm not asking for healthcare reform, I'm just asking for someone to do their m$&*er fu*%^ing job!"

Seriously. I am so close to like hulking out here--turning green and flipping cars over and such it's not even funny. ...What would you do besides start drinking?

 

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[bflbob]

Hey Dana...you made it through those rental horror stories...you can make it through this.

Just me and my dogs who travel as well as three year-olds on a sugar high.

That is too funny!

She comes out thrilled with herself for figuring out a way to cool off, but now smells like the Creature from the Black Lagoon's butt crack.

This too...but graphic!

On the serious side, can you pay cash for the bulk, have the seller carry part, and get moved in. Then find a different lender (and a cheaper car to paint) and do a refi to get a loan? Use the cheaper car to advertise Mr. Burtness. And set some aside for Phoenix!

 

[yveskleinsky]

On the serious side, can you pay cash for the bulk, have the seller carry part, and get moved in. Then find a different lender (and a cheaper car to paint) and do a refi to get a loan? Use the cheaper car to advertise Mr. Burtness. And set some aside for Phoenix!

The seller is the bank--the house is an REO. We were hoping to not put any down as we have the VA loan which allows us to do that. I suppose we could pay half in cash, although I really don't want to, as the housing prices are so unstable there, if we tried to refi out, who knows what we'd get back (and how long that would take!)

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Who is funding the loan? Whomever is funding it controls the release of the funds, not the broker. The VA simply gaurantees it ... your beef is with the particular bank that does VA loans. Any way to find out who that is so you can go directly to the source?

 

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[Russ H]

1. Take a deep breath.

No, wait. The green doggie. A deep breath is not a good idea.

OK, time to start over:

1. Go outside, close your eyes, take a deep breath in through your nose, and exhale through your mouth-- s--l--o--w--l--y--

2. Do this a few times, S....l....o....w....l....y, until you lose count.

**********************

. . . Oh hell, screw all that.

You're pissed off.

And rightly so.

Get on the phone with a good pal and vent a bit. Scream your lungs out. Or tell them just how f*cking stoopid your lender is.

Let it out.

Take it from me-- lotsa drinks won't make it any better, and you'll feel even worse in the morning.

Purge the crappy feelings.

Then, sit down and write a few things.

Like how stupid other people can be sometimes.

How frustrating that can be.

And slowly, turn your focus back to the good stuff.

Count your blessings.

Don't go to sleep until you can name at least 3 really good things that happened today.

Focus on those (remember focus? )

Tomorrow, start off doing at least 3 things that are good for you (a brisk walk, a good brekkie, a massage-- you decide). Start as you mean to go.

If you can't sleep tonight, and you want a guy's solution: Get out a pad of paper (or your laptop), and make an action plan on what you will do. Like get a new lender. Or get a different house.

Or rent a $#!^&?! apt for a few months-- on a month to month lease-- and look for a different place to live.

YOU decide.

You are the master of your destiny.

Even if some shithead of a loan officer has done his level best to convince you otherwise.

Don't believe him.

-Russ H.

 

[yveskleinsky]

Who is funding the loan? Whomever is funding it controls the release of the funds, not the broker. The VA simply gaurantees it ... your beef is with the particular bank that does VA loans. Any way to find out who that is so you can go directly to the source?

US bank is funding the loan. Yes, they have control over releasing the funds, but my lender (Bumbly Joe) is my main communication source to them. That's why I called his broker--to get him out of the loop (hopefully.)

...Oh, and no one is owning up to who or what the hold up is about. Title says it's the lender, the lender says it's title. Just two quick examples of some BS:
1. The first time I signed docs and waited a week to fund, only to find out that title missed a $14,000 lien. Had to redo docs. This lien was found AFTER I signed docs--if you can believe it.

2. The latest: my lender wanted proof that my credit card was paid in full. For some reason they were showing a $6.47 balance on one, and a $140 on the other. ...Nevermind that these balances have been paid off 60 days ago. So $146.47 stopped the presses on the loan. So the lender redraws the HUD and collects funds in escrow for $146.47--then demands three days AFTER I sign papers that I prove these accounts are paid in full! WTF? They jjust collected funds in escrow to pay them off! You can't collect funds and then demand that I pay them off! Clear violation of RESPA for starters, not to mention it doesn't make sense.

Sorry, sorry...going to my happy place now.

 

[yveskleinsky]

Good advice Russ. I did make a list many moons ago on what to do when this whole thing goes South. I have since exhausted the list. ...I will focus on three things that went right today and 5 things that I am grateful for in general. I am truly fortunate--I know this, I really do. And hell, maybe we do get another house. Maybe we get an apartment. Maybe I sell my stank-a$$ dog on ebay. Maybe. We'll see tomorrow. ...Thanks for listening guys.

 

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[hakrjak]

This sounds awful, but vaguely farmiliar to my experience with Bank of America about 6 months ago. They assured me everything would be fine and we could close in 3-4 weeks.... 2.5 months later I was still waiting and getting every excuse in the book, while they continued to ask me to provide more documents, more earnings info, more of everything! It was never ending.... I finally walked away and paid cash for the deal with the help of a line of credit I had.

I'm wondering if just NOBODY is lending right now or what the deal is? I was in the same boat as you with perfect everything and plenty of liquid. Of course, I wasn't buying an owner occ, but still!

Best of luck... Maybe find a way to buy it for cash using a line of credit and refi it in 6 months?

Cheers,

- Hakrjak

 

[Ohmer]

Sounds REALLY familiar to me. My rifi agent actually quit after my process. We actually signed the rifi closing papers 3 times! The whole process is screwed up.

 

[yveskleinsky]

Good ideas JScott. ...This last hang up wasn't due to underwriting. It was due to the fact that the HUD was off by like $500. There were certain fees that were just floating in the atmosphere, such as pest cert, mobile notary, overnight fees for docs, some paperwork fee. Those fees needed to be marked as paid outside of escrow.

...But everyday it's something new. And everyday someone has dropped the ball somewhere.

Another source of irritation is that I am already paying utilities on this house, as we were supposed to have closed two weeks ago, and no one had the courtesy to let me know that it wasn't going to fund, so the utilities have already been put in my name. Just another pebble under my mattress.

 

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[Sparlin]

Have you ever noticed how GREEN People Have Anger Issues?

I mean, Yves referenced the HULK. Have you ever seen him get mad?

The dude is like a 2 year old throwing a tantrum if you tick him off, and he’s not the only one. What about others such as the Green Goblin, Frankenstein, The Grinch, or the Gremlins? Let’s not forget the Wicked Witch of the West? Even Aliens usually probe you or do something that’s intrusive and just plain rude.

The anger issue also carries on to the Good Green Guys when they get mad. Yoda kicks @$$ against the Seth Lord, the Green Giant doesn’t like it if you don’t eat your vegetables, and have you ever seen Kermit get mad? It’s not pretty.

What is it about Green, that makes people so mean? In Yves’s case, we have a person who is at the end of her rope. She needs cash, has been taken for granted, and is neglected along with her dog. This reminds of another Green person who took matters into their own hands.


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rroSVBCumNs]YouTube - The Mask[/ame]




As Kermit once said, “It’s not easy being Green”. Oh, and if Yves's dog turns green, It's not the algae from the pool; just watch the end of the movie.

 

[Jonleehacker]

Sometimes when life isn't giving you what you want, it's because it has something better in store... IF you'll let go and let it happen.

Had a similar story when buying our condo, delay after delay we couldn't close the deal. Finally we walked and two days later found a bigger and much nicer place for less money.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Any updates Yves?

 

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[NoMoneyDown]

This sounds awful, but vaguely farmiliar to my experience with Bank of America about 6 months ago.

I am so sick of this institution, I could scream. First, they take over my CC and 6 months later bump my rate from a "lifetime" rate of 5.99% to 11.99% without any warning. Call them three different times, and they give the same response: "There is nothing we can do." Second, one of my rentals was through Taylor, Bean, and Whitaker. My wife noticed our loan payment for August was taking an exceptionally long time to clear. Come to find out, HUD shut them down a few days after we mailed the check, and our loan was now serviced through ... dum, dum-de-dum .. Bank of America. So, my wife has been calling almost every day to find out the status of the check FROM AUGUST and they still don't have a friggin clue. Third, they received $45 BILLION from us - the taxpayers AND (some of) their customers - to keep them afloat, and instead of being somewhat cooperative, they still continue to give them(/us/me) the shaft.

 

[yveskleinsky]

I've been on the phone since 8am. No one seems to know what's going on. I guess now US bank needs some more paperwork to be straightened out. I tried getting the contact number from US bank but no one seems to have it. I was told that there is no way of contacting them, which, obviously isn't true. So here I sit.

...Just got a phone call. They now need an "Alive and Well" statement from Kyle. So needless to say we aren't funding today. I can't get something like that notarized and back from Afghanastan in the next 3 hours or the next 3 days for that matter.

I am walking.

 

[Russ H]

I am walking.

Walking is good for you.

Besides getting you in shape, it takes you to new places!

-Russ H.

PS Plenty of other fish. . . er houses . . . in Vegas, dahling. You'll do fine.

 

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[yveskleinsky]

It's not that I'm concerned about losing this house. I'm not attached to it. My concern (and my next headache) will be getting everything untangled. I have my mail going there. I am paying utilities on this house. I have earnest money down. I don't want to lose $10k--that's my concern.

 

[Russ H]

My concern (and my next headache) will be getting everything untangled. I have my mail going there. I am paying utilities on this house. I have earnest money down. I don't want to lose $10k--that's my concern.

Understood.

Some of my most expensive lessons in life were when I'd already spent a bunch of money, and continued to spend money even after I knew (in my gut) that I'da walked/pulled the plug long before if I didn't have any skin in the game.

Expensive lesson for me. But a good one.

-Russ H.

PS Shut off the utilities NOW-- today. You can get the mail, etc rerouted pretty quick. Pick it up at the post office for a while (get a PO box, either at the PO, or at a mailboxes etc place). Just have your mail forwarded there.

I know some world travelers who *love* to do this. They just have Mailboxes Etc ship their mail to wherever they happen to be. Keeps things simple.

 

[tchandy]

...Just got a phone call. They now need an "Alive and Well" statement from Kyle. So needless to say we aren't funding today. I can't get something like that notarized and back from Afghanastan in the next 3 hours or the next 3 days for that matter.

Couldn't you email the document to Kyle, have him sign it, have a military lawyer notarize it, and then Kyle can scan it back to you via email. With the time difference you may get the paperwork back in time.

Tom

 

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[hakrjak]

It's not that I'm concerned about losing this house. I'm not attached to it. My concern (and my next headache) will be getting everything untangled. I have my mail going there. I am paying utilities on this house. I have earnest money down. I don't want to lose $10k--that's my concern.

If you can't get financing by your closing date, etc -- You are generally not liable for your earnest money. There are actually very few situations where earnest money will be taken from you. Just provide a letter from your dumbass mortgage broker.

Cheers,

- Hakrjak

 

[biophase]

Walk away
get your earnest money back
Rent a nice home for 3 months
Move in
Enjoy the home
Start looking again next month
You will find a better place

 

[kwerner]

Yves - Seen your update on FB. Congrats!

 

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[Bilgefisher]

I had plenty of delays on my VA loan last year as well. WTF do high school transcripts have to do with getting a loan?

One possibility if you wish to push this to the news is talk to your local VA rep or VFW reps. Find out your best course of action to make it hurt for them.


To be honest though, it will only make you want to pull out more hair and do little to prevent this from happening again.

 

[WildFlower]

This really sucks. I agree with JoanleeHacker.. something better may be in store. When too many things go wrong.. that's a sign.

Easy in, Easy out... Hard in, Hard out

Demand your money back... Demand it or you will sick your attorney on them. or just report them to the Nevada REal Estate Division.. Did you know the FBI has a special mortgage fraud department set up in Vegas? ... go have a little chat with them!

 

[camski]

my nephew just went thru the exact same thing. Someone suggested they contact their congressman (which they did) and they got the whole thing wrapped up in two days. Not sure what seems to be the issue with these deals where the VA is involved but there does seem to be a trend going on.

 

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[yveskleinsky]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I called them on Tuesday and said that I was done. That I didn't want to have anymore conversations--that all I wanted was the name and address of the person or persons who are at fault so I can take them to court. Funny how the loan got funded less than 10 hours later.

So I am in! Yay. ...My first night in the house the AC went out at midnight as did the batteries in about 6 smoke alarms. The heat and chiping sounds drove me to sleep in the backyard--but I'm in the house! Small victories.

As a side note, I stayed at a hotel on Monday night, and the guy at the front desk and I got to talking--I told him I was supposed to be closing on a house but that there was some hold up. He laughed and said that it should take about 3 months past closing date to really close--that they had several families staying there that were now 3 months past their original closing date. Looks like this is an ongoing problem. I don't know why the process of buying a home isn't more streamlined. So frustrating...but I'm in the house now.

 

[Russ H]

YAY!

In honor of this special day:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3ZAGBL6UBA]YouTube - It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time!!![/ame]

-Russ H.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Cool, what now? Maybe off to Treasure Island for a lil Grand Buffet to celebrate? :smxB:

 

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[WildFlower]

Great!!!!

 

[yveskleinsky]

Cool, what now? Maybe off to Treasure Island for a lil Grand Buffet to celebrate? :smxB:

Maybe in about a week I'll hit the strip. ...For now, I'm content to just have a glass of wine on the back porch. ...This house really needs a good coat of paint...and some new flooring...and new countertops...and, well, the list goes on, so I'll be busy for awhile. I've got family coming in 15 days for a mini family reunion, so there is no time to waste!