[SVGirl]

Hi All,

I just want to share my recent home buying experience with ya'll. The objective of this post is to alert anyone who maybe refinancing or buying to watch out for a particular mortgage company and a particular attorney.

I will not name any names in the general post, but if you happen to be in the situation seeking mortgage broker or attorney feel free to email me off public thread for this info.

And the story goes... (it's quite long...)

Part 1 - The bad lawyer

My partner and I bought a loft in 2001 at preconstruction. Back in 2001 after we had put down our deposit we hired a lawyer. He said his fee would be $1200.00. At the time, I've never bought a home before and I thought that is just how much lawyers charge. So I said, okay. He said give me $600 now and $600 at closing. I said fine and wrote him the first $600 check. He looked through the PNS and said as closing approaches, I will recommend you some mortgage lenders and give you walkthrough info etc. The seller sent us a note stating that closing can be any time between August 15 - Sept. 30, 2002.

As time goes by.... we hear nothing from this attorney. We called him to let him know we had started the mortgage process (March/April 2002). We called and left voice mails to let him know we are doing a walk through and wondered if he needed to be present. We left him voice mails regarding confirmations on our closing date (9/26). We left him voice mails confirming if he received our faxes and the previous voice mails we left him.... we still heard nothing. On the day after our walk through, he calls us back and said, hey don't forget to schedule the walk through and yes, I got your voice mails. Our reply was, ah... we already done the walk through. He said... oh. Than he carried on saying he wouldn't be surprised if he has to be the lender's attorney. We were like... hm.... okay....

Few days later (this is in June/July now) the mortgage broker called us and said oh, your attorney had asked if he can be our lender's attorney. We said... oh really. So does that mean we have to pay for the attorney's fee at closing. He said yes, that would be $600. At that point we were baffled that we are already paying this guy $1200 and for what? Why do we need to pay him another $600. So we called him back and try to negotiate with him as well as get a break down of the costs. He said the first $600 was for the PNS, the latter $600 was for him to be present at closing. And yes, we have to pay another $600 for him to be the seller's attorney. We were like... ah... no! We said, we've been talking with friends and colleagues and they said that usually attorneys only cost $400 - 600 why are you charging so much and if you can come down on the fees. He said, oh maybe I can take a couple of hundred off. At that point, we decided we should end the relationship since he was double dipping us.

Part 2 - The bad mortgage company

We started the mortgage process in March/April 2002. We received a letter of good faith shortly after. However, we called them back and said, we changed our mind about doing the 1 point. So please send a revised letter. We never received it. However, the mortgage consultant came and met with us many times and said the process is going well and that the rate is 6.5% and that we are approved. We said, oh good, so let's set the closing at the end of August. He said, that would be fine. He also asked us for a check for the appraiser. We said how much. He said $250. We said, sure here you go. His company cashed the check 2 days later (7/26).

We called him back at the end of July and said that due to some miscommunication from the seller, we can't close till end of September. So would Sept. 26 be a better day? He said, that would be fine, I have to get an extension on the rate. We said sure just let us know what we need to get for you.

Keep in mind, day after day, we call him to ask for paperwork on the loan and if everything was going smoothly. My partner called him so much that I said to her, don't be a pest, maybe he will get annoyed and fuck up our shit. She said, no you have to be on top of stuff like this.

So... 3 days before closing, he stopped by our apartment and retrieved some bank statments. We asked if we can have the HUD statment. He said he will fax it. And that we are still schedule to close on 9/26. So on 9/25 around 8 PMish, I called again and said that I still did not received the HUD and how much money I should bring to closing. What we didn't know was that he had called and left a message at 6 PM and said due to the appraiser not being able to get into the new property in time, we can not close. Mind you they cashed the check back in July for the appraisal.

So on the day of closing, we went to the seller's in good faith that we are not jerking them around and that the situation was out of our control. They were understanding and tried to accomodate us to the best of their ability. So we got an extension till the end of October to close.

So on 9/27, we called the mortgage lender and try to find out the truth of what's going. The manager said, the mortgage consultant couldn't fax you the HUD because there is no loan. You are not approved. We were shocked. How could we have no loan, he's been telling us we are approved and everything is all set.

The rest is pretty much history... we get conflicting story from the manager, the consultant etc.

That Saturday (9/28) we set up an emergency appointment with a more professional mortgage company and started the process all over again.

Till this day, we still do not know who dropped the ball - the manager or the mortgage consultant. It leads me to wonder, the manager has to sign off on all documents and should of been aware of everything....

I left out some details in this story... but keep in mind, that we have all phone records that we called them to follow up, all fax confirmation sheets, voice mails they left us, etc.

I just can't believe we are now a statistic of first time house buing blues...

All this lead me to miss the last race at Loudon

~SVGirl

[bemused]

damn, girl... you had a MUCH better reason for missing the races than I did-- I just had an inescapable honey-do list.

seriously, sorry to hear about you getting jacked around like that. I was spared all that bullshit... my partner had already bought her/our house (and had her own nightmare story) when I moved in.

is everything a done-deal now (I hope...)?

[PinHead]

Give up the names...........Word of mouth advertisment can be good and bad, and when someone gets screwed like that (you).
It's pay back time!

[bemused]

Originally posted by PinHead
Give up the names...........Word of mouth advertisment can be good and bad, and when someone gets screwed like that (you).
It's pay back time!

yeah, but... even as careful as she was to present jus' the facks, ma'am... (some) lawyers live for litigation. can't blame her for steering clear of a possible libel lawsuit

still... I'd love to see the names plastered over fuckin billboards, just to hit 'em where it really hurts: in the wallet

[Jank]

Wow!! Fucking sleazy bastards!!
At least it sounds like you're not going to lose the loft. Just some mon-ay and a shit load of sleep/wits/marbles...

Good Luck!!
And if you ever need any kneecaps busted...

[twrayinma]

holy crap, that sucks!

we felt a little ignored by our agent & lawyer, but everything got done... geez.
good luck with everything!
-t

[SVGirl]

Let's just say the mortgage company is in Burlington, MA and the lawyer is in Boston on the wharf.

The current mortgage company that is handeling our stuff is Summit Mortgage in Boston. The girl there was a referral from a good friend. She is just the best! She was able to turn around an appraisal in less than 24 hours. Made some calls and pulled in a favor. Now the lenders are reviewing the application.

I called some attorneys to see if I'm entitled to any damages caused by the first mortgage company for all the trouble, headaches and stress they put us through. Unfortunately, they all advised that it would cost more for lawyer's fees than what I would like to recover from them. So they suggested I go to small claims court. Perhaps after we move and get settled, I'll do some research on the small claims court process. It just seems I would have to waste more time and energy on these stupid people.