Complaint Review: Willow Bend Mortgage

Tom Spaniel of Willow Bend Mortgage.  Years ago when Tom worked for Signature Lending Group, I had just gotten into real estate as an agent and was closing on one of my first transactions.  Tom Spaniel was doing the loan for my buyer.  

About a day or two before closing, Tom calls me up and says that the buyer is $300 short of cash and if I dont contribute the $300 from my commissions, they will not be able to close and the deal will fall through.  

I was new and nave and really needed the sales commission.  I had worked hard on this deal, showing these clients many houses before they finally chose one. I told Tom I would go ahead and contribute the $300 from my commissions to make sure they closed.

The clients closed and as time went by and as I learned more about the business, I found had I had been scammed by Tom Spaniel of Willow Bend Mortgage (formerly with Signature Lending Group).  One day I was talking to a loan officer from another company and told her what had happened on that first closing.  Come to find out, this lady used to work for Tom Spaniel.  She said he pulled this same $300 scam on all Realtors he thought would fall for it.  

She said Tom would always wait right till the last day or two before closing, call the Realtor and say that if they did not contribute $300, the deal would fall through.  Exact same thing he pulled on me.  This $300 went straight into Tom Spaniels pocket.  

She said he was very dishonest and when she found out the things he was doing, she left. This guy really is a crook.  I would advise anyone looking to obtain a mortgage loan to stay away from this loan officer as he will rip you off.  Any Realtors looking for a loan officer to work with, you do not want to do business with Tom Spaniel of Willow Bend Mortgage.

On the Ripoff Report website, there are numerous other complaints on Tom while he was with Signature Lending Group.  Tom apparently changed companies to try to assume a new identity because of all the complaints against him.  According to the  Ripoff Report website, he was fined by the Texas Savings and Loan Commission for false advertising and misleading consumers.