Complaint Review: Jennifer & Carey Eidsvik - New Life Mortgage - Anthem Arizona

We were referred to New Life Mortgage by a friend. Jennifer and Carey, the owners, came to our home personally to pick up our re-finance paperwork. They sat right in our living room and promised us that they've been in the business for 20 years and that we'll have no surprises. We signed all the paperwork with them on May 13, 2005. They said we started the process in plenty of time for us to close by June 15. Days and weeks past, no signing date. Jennifer kept giving excuses, then informed us that since the underwriters lagged, and there was an issue with the lender wanting a second appraisal (later resolved), that we wouldn't close by June 15 and that I should make my June payment. This was not acceptable to me but she agreed to make our late payment and assured us that the late payment would not be reported to the credit bureau. So we agreed to move forward.

We were notified on June 15 that she had set up an appointment at First American for us to sign the next day, June 16 at 1pm. I emailed her to ask for a copy of the closing statement to be faxed to me the next morning, so that my husband and I could review it prior to signing at 1pm. Jennifer emailed me back that she'd have a copy faxed to me, and that the loan amount went up $2,000!!! Well, we later found out that the loan amount went up because she didn't get the loan funded when she originally promised us, so we owed more mortgage interest. I emailed her back that the math did not add up. I also called her and left a message. It was getting closer to 1pm, so I emailed her again and said that if I didn't hear from her by 1pm that we weren't signing as the deal had changed and we were unhappy. Then the fax came and Jennifer called back, and we reviewed it together over the phone, line by line. She showed me on the closing statement that we'd be refunded over $1400.00 because she overestimated the fees. I took a deep breath, and told her that based on that ONE condition alone, i.e. getting the refund, we'd sign as planned. Showed up for signing, the notary was very thorough, looked at everything, explained all the fees listed on the closing statement, seemed satisfied that all was in order, and had us sign everything.

Thought all was done at that point. Someone from New Life called and left us a voicemail at 5:40pm on Wednesday June 22 (over 4 days after signing) to tell us that due to a clerical error, the title company neglected to put in some $3000 worth of fees and that we were not getting our refund. He explained that First American was able to waive some of the fees but that they were federally mandated to charge for one of the fees (title insurance, I think), and that Jennifer instructed them to take our $1400 refund,apply it to the title fees, and fund the loan. She did this arbitrarily without seeking our input, failing to notify us of this material change.

We were then notified that New Life had to put more into the escrow account per the lender (11 months of hazard insurance and more for taxes). At no point was it disclosed to us that the lender required this. So there we were, 1 full day after our 3-day right to rescind had expired. Left 3 messages for Jennifer, and she to this day has not had the decency to call us, and is hiding behind the fact that what we signed was an Estimated closing statement. She sent us a fax that she thought it was strange that we were getting back over $1400, but that since we would have owed the title fees anyway, "oh well."

Jennifer took advantage of our trust, bottom line. She told us that she has been in the business for 17 years. Let me ask you shouldn't a mortgage professional that has been in the business for 17 years KNOW if $3000 worth of fees are missing on an estimated closing statement? Beyond that, shouldn't First American's notary, as a Signing Specialist, have known, that the title fees were missing? I can understand that we signed a form that stated First American reserves the right to adjust for clerical errors. But this wasn't just an error. This was an omission. This was negligent.

I don't know where the buck stops in terms of whose responsibility it is to catch these things, whether it was First American or Jennifer. But we relied in good faith that we were signing something that our loan officer told us was right, to the best of her knowledge. She represented us in this large financial transaction. This relationship demanded the highest level of fiduciary responsibility; and that was breached to our detriment. The legal standard that applies here is that First American and New Life Mortgage knew or should have known about this error and alerted us in time to legally rescind.

Alicia

Anthem, Arizona
U.S.A.