Complaint Review: RP Funding - Maitland Florida

I wanted to share the unbelievable bad experience we had with RP Funding. I realize that not everyone qualifies for a Mortgage but my experience with RP Funding is Stomach Turning. Here is a brief background of and what we have gone through for the past 7 weeks with RP Funding. Initially contacted RP Funding over a year ago in October 2015 about refinancing our home. They pulled our credit reports and said we needed to work on a few things before proceeding forward. Like many people in Central Florida we were financially hit hard in 2008/2009 and suffered heavy damage to our credit. We did what we needed to do to survive. I was very clear upfront of that.

They said that my Wife's income was substantial enough for the Mortgage and we could do the refinance in her name alone. They said to make sure she had no negative marks on her report in the future and it would be her credit alone that would be the basis for the Mortgage. I told them at that time that I had a HELOC in my name that had been late multiple times and was told "Not a Problem, it is only in your name and not in your Wife's, just make sure everything in your Wife's name is paid on time". We followed RP Funding's advise and took care of our credit reports as well as making sure there were no new negative remarks on my Wife's credit reports.

I put everything on the side and dealt with a few family crises and just made sure we were following RP Funding's advise. Jump ahead to Oct 2016: I was listening to WDBO Radio in Orlando and heard Robert Palmer and his radio commercial/show and it brought the refi back into my attention. Lock in now before the election, we are Direct Mortgage Lender, we have the authority to underwrite your loan right here in Orlando. So I contacted RP Funding to see if the person I was talking to was still there with RP Funding -- he is. Oct 27: RP Funding sent list of Documents needed (We disclosed EVERYTHING TO RP Funding and hid nothing) Oct 27:

I dropped off ALL requested Documents at their Office Oct 27: Email from RP Funding on Rate Lock good to Dec 26th Nov 10: Appraisal Nov 14: Email from RP Funding saying good to go with loan amount Nov 15: Email from RP Funding asking a couple questions missed in application Nov 15: Our response to RP Funding answering questions Nov 24& 25th: Emails from RP Funding: Congratulations Approved with following conditions. A list of 8 items needed for approval. Other than 1 item, nothing in this list was brought up again. During this process I specifically told multiple RP Funding staff repeatedly that the HELOC had a bad payment history because if we needed to let something slide we let that go because it was ONLY in my name and not my wife's.

Each time I was reassured that it was not a problem since it was in my name alone. We were out of town for Thanksgiving and when we arrived back in Florida dropped off all documentation as requested in the "Congratulations, you are approved email" on Dec 2nd. Dec 5/6th: RP Funding contact my State Farm Agent and had payment switched from me to them. I have since received a letter from State Farm telling me that they have stopped the regular bank draft on this policy and it is to be billed to RP Funding. Dec 6th: Additional month of Bank Statements requested Dec 7th: Emailed to RP Funding requested additional Bank Statements Dec 7th:

In email this day I asked RP Funding if they saw anything that was a concern. His response was No and if they need anything else it will be minor. Dec 9th: Email from RP Funding requesting documents and clarification on 4 items including the previously repeatedly talked about HELOC that was in my name alone. Dec 9th: Faxed documents and emailed details of each item requested Dec 9th: Email from RP Funding at 4:44PM stating the underwriter needed a letter from CPA stating that one of our old business entities that my Wife was listed as a Partner in was no longer in operation. I called RP Funding and explained it was an idle business entity and it was clear from our 2015 taxes that there was no income.

The impression I clearly got was that all the documentation that was submitted earlier that day was adequate and this was the ONLY thing hold up the loan. I went ahead that night and filed for dissolution of the Business entity and paid the fees to have it certified by the Secretary of the State of Florida. Dec 12: Emailed RP Funding the signed Certification letter from the State of Florida Dec 13: Email from RP Funding saying he had forwarded the information to the underwriter. Dec 14: Email/Phone call from RP Funding asking for information that I had previously submitted. I resubmitted the information (HELOC and if my wife had any ownership in another one of my businesses).

Patrick said I should hear back from him by the end of the day. Dec 15: Didn't hear back from RP Funding so I emailed them. RP Funding responded that the underwriting was at a second level review and he would let me know when he heard back from underwriting Dec 16: RP Funding calls at 10:46AM to discuss the HELOC and said we could probably do a letter -- Again, prior to this call I was told repeatedly that this was NOT going to be an issue because it is in my name alone. He said he would call me back "today". I had not heard from him by 4:45 so I called him. He said that they still didn't have an answer and we should know Mon/Tues this week and someone would get back with me.

Dec 19: Email to RP Funding putting the possibility of me filing a "quit claim deed" with the County and then the house would only be in my Wife's name. I am not the expert and have no idea if that is feasible. I asked for a response that never came. Dec 21: Haven't heard from anyone so emailed Mike, he responds "declined". So now I am left with a lot of questions and comments: 1) When you lock in a rate, is it a block of money that you have secured at a certain percentage rate? So if a better looking application came along does RP Funding bump us out to make room for that one? Clearly the lock in rate that we received back in October was much better than if we were starting the process today.

2) Does RP Funding staff know what basic conditions are needed for a refi? Our situation cannot be that uncommon in today's world. The HELOC specifically! I made it crystal clear from the beginning was reassured repeatedly that it wasn't an issue because it was only in my name. 3) Why do they issue "Approved with Conditions" at all? I understand additional documentation that could be needed but this is at the very least misleading. There was nothing listed in the Going back to item #1, it feels like a run around to get us out. 4) Their Radio ads and Website: "We have the authority to underwrite and close your loan" made the decision for us to proceed with RP funding and not with New American Funding or Rocket Mortgage. I guess that was a lesson learned and will be shared with others.

5) We followed RP Funding's advise for past 14 months and here we are declined. 6) Their customer service and response time went from being stellar to embarrassing instantly. They would respond within a hour or two typically and then it became like pulling teeth to get followup starting Dec 14th. Is this their standard operating procedure? So now we are out the money for: the appraisal, cost to dissolve a company, cost to get a certificate of dissolution from the Secretary of State, and at best a mortgage rate at least a half a point higer. Thanks RP Funding and Robert Palmer! If you would have told us that the HELOC was an issue with RP Funding when we clearly disclosed it, we could have saved the money and tons of time.