Changing Loan Terms Month AFTER Signing?

asylum23 · #1 12-10-2004, 02:03 PM

NV

Hello, we've had absolutely nothing but bad service and dishonesty since starting our condo buying adventure. Please see my previous posts for examples.
Anyway, we got 2 loans for our condo, the one for $105,000 is a fixed for 3 years, then adjustable for 27 years. We signed the papers Oct. 27. This loan has since been sold by Americorp to another company who I'm now paying. Today, Dec. 10, I received a Fed Ex package from Americorp stating that there was a mistake on my closing paperwork and they enclosed new paperwork for me to sign. This is after we've lived here for a month and been closed now for a month and a half.
The change is that our loan was "supposed" to say interest only for 120 months and not the 36 I signed for. Of course nowhere does it say this or were we told, actually our mortgage broker had given us a g.f.e. stating our loan would be 30 year fixed, so we were already lied to once. Also, I should add our closing costs came to $6700 for these people to do their jobs correctly such as filling out the paperwork right!
Anyway, the fine print is my payments would be the same for 3 years, then less for 7 years, and of course more at the end. The difference is that the papers I originally signed say the total of the loan would be $214,285. With this new paperwork it would be $226,009. We do not plan on living here for 30 years. My question is can they even do this? Change loan terms after the loan goes thru? Also, is there any harm in this new loan considering we will move b4 30 years and that will help us pay more towards the principal? Any help is greatly appreciated! Thank you.

#2 12-10-2004, 02:19 PM

With this much money at stake, you need to get to a real estate attorney in your area. This is a huge investment you have made and you need to protect it.

asylum23 · #3 12-10-2004, 06:59 PM

Hello,
I do not have $$$ for an attorney, that's why I didn't get one at first when they all pulled their other stuff. Has this happened to anyone else? Is it legal to change contracts after they're signed and then tell you to resign?

tarajean118 · #4 12-10-2004, 08:04 PM

I am just as paranoid about this stuff as you should be too, but I plan on doing a refinance, which from what i understand is pretty much the same as a new mortgage. I dont' have a lot of cash on hand, but the attorney I am dealing with said he would accept payment at closing, so I will just add his fees in the financing, you paid 6700 to close a few extra hundred wouldn't have hurt you but you its too late to do that now. Im not an expert on legal advice , but I wouldn't sign that new paperwork, I imagine that they cannot do anything if you dont' sign it unless it gives you a time frame that you must return it???? You need to come up with a few hundred now or pay a whole lot down the line.

asylum23 · #5 12-10-2004, 08:53 PM

Hello, yes we can't refinance for 6 months, that's in the contract too. The 6% for this loan for 3 years was fine for us, this is our first property.
We didn't really need a lawyer before. Paperwork doesn't have a due date, but I did notice all the paperwork I need to resign has the date of the original signing on it! Which how can that be legal??? As if they drew it up originally which of course they didn't. I honestly don't know how they could go after me about this since I have all the original paperwork, plus they don't own the loan anymore anyway.

Rhubarb297 · #6 12-11-2004, 09:21 AM

No they can't "change" the terms of a loan once it goes through. However, could it be that you and the lender agreed to different terms but when the paperwork came out it the interest rate and amount borrowed was wrong and it was caught later? If you all signed initial docs that say 6% (I'm just giving you a hypothetical here) and there is a mistake in the paperwork that says 1% and the amount borrowed is wrong, then clearly those documents don't reflect the agreement. There's no "meeting of the minds." The loan docs are to reflect the agreement of the parties. If they don't, the loan docs have to be changed.

You're borrowing a quarter of a million dollars and you can't afford to pay a few hundred dollars to at least consult with a real estate attorney regarding your situation? You need to rethink that.

Rhubarb297 · #7 12-11-2004, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by asylum23

Hello, yes we can't refinance for 6 months, that's in the contract too. The 6% for this loan for 3 years was fine for us, this is our first property.
We didn't really need a lawyer before. Paperwork doesn't have a due date, but I did notice all the paperwork I need to resign has the date of the original signing on it! Which how can that be legal??? As if they drew it up originally which of course they didn't. I honestly don't know how they could go after me about this since I have all the original paperwork, plus they don't own the loan anymore anyway.

It's not that unusual that a document or two will be signed after the fact with the closing date on it. The whole loan package woudl be rare. However, your alternative is to pay for a whole new closing. Of course, one legitimate claim you would have is to have the lender pay for that closing since they screwed up the initial paperwork.

asylum23 · #8 12-11-2004, 04:24 PM

Actually the loan docs were totally wrong from what we agreed to at signing, but not what these new ones say. If they can change them then customers should be able to also. At signing we got a bait and switch. When we got the g.f.e. we agreed to 30 years fixed, the higher at 6%, the lesser at 6.75%. Called right before signing and they said yes those were the same terms. At title they had totally changed to the higher at 6% fixed and interest only for 3 years, after that variable interest. The lesser variable the whole time starting at 7.75%. Did not know of the right to rescind til later, it was one sentence in 300 pages of paperwork and was not told by title while sitting there or by mortgage co. when called them next day.

This new 10 years interest only, fixed for 3 doesn't seem so bad b/c after 3 years the payments are lower and we don't plan to live here a super long time. I just wonder if we go to sell how it will affect us. I know I can pay towards principal all along. Never heard anything at all about this 10 years. They made this up after the fact and should they even be able to do that?

MortgageGuru · #9 12-11-2004, 06:32 PM

Double check those payments during the adjustable period. Some sub-prime ARM's will never have a lower rate after it begins to adjust. Without seeing the original docs and the new set it is totally impossible to determine which one is better. Go with the one that will benefit your needs the most. If something is screwy with it then get an attorney.