I’ve been pulled out from my temporary blogging hiatus by a post which has been brought on by the incredibly poor communication and service that buyers who are in contract on a property are encountering with their loan rep (someone who they selected on their own).

Their rep is now playing games in releasing their FHA case # to their new mortgage broker (excuse me, but haven’t you screwed things up enough for these buyers let alone charging them an astronomical appraisal fee?). On top of never giving them an estimate of lender costs even after repeated requests by myself, the buyers and their escrow officer.

I’ve worked with a number of loan officers and mortgage brokers & have never seen such disservice to a client.

Buyers are in contract on a property and these intentional delays & games are causing the sellers to understandably be quite worried that this purchase is not going to close in a timely manner.   Big lender, you have terrible reps at this San Francisco home mortgage branch and perhaps you are not even aware of it?

Buyers made the change to a mortgage broker due to a fumble on their reps part (per emails my buyers shared with me) where income was incorrectly verified as being less then the reality.  Even though there is an employment letter in the buyers’ file, the lender also wants 30 days of pay stubs whereas other lenders don’t have this restrictive criteria.  Do you really think this employer and buyer will commit lender fraud & misstate income especially since this crime is so highly publicized?

So let me get this straight, the big banks were all loosey goosey for years giving out loans to buyers who could fog a mirror which has thrown our economy into a tail spin and now they have gone to the extreme opposite end of the spectrum where qualified buyers have to jump through hoops and MAYBE they will get a loan.  This is such a ridiculous state that the lending industry is in.  Thanks very much, this is really fun for my buyers, sellers, and agents!

This is the second transaction that’s gone sideways with the same big lender (for the record both buyers came to me with their pre-selected loan reps).  I know lots of other agents are experiencing the same because of ridiculous new & perpetually shifting lender criteria.

Buyers, do your homework and get referrals to reliable, responsive, trust worthy loan officers.  Take the time to interview a few and check their references.

You should be doing the same thing when hiring a Realtor. Here are a few tips when interviewing Realtors.

This is after all likely going to be the most expensive purchase you make.

Agents, if your clients prefer to work with the big banks, at a minimum have them double app with a mortgage broker; at least everyone will be prepared in advance to make a switch if needed rather than be blindsided at the 11th hour when in contract on a property.