mortgage commitment and closing

[roxie]

What is the name of your state? PA

We were scheduled to close on our first home today. We have a mortgage commitment, everything was in order, all documents in, etc. About a half hour before settlement is scheduled, our realtor gets a call that things may need to be pushed back. Our mortgage broker told us that the underwriters were asking for additonal documents at the last minute. We scrambled around, faxed over documents to them (which we had already given them), and waited for things to be taken care of. They gave us one story after another all day long (about 4 hours with everyone at the settlement table) about what the holdup was, then finally told us it wouldn't be able to happen today. They're now saying we can close at 2pm tomorrow. I don't feel confident at all that I can trust this (and they wouldn't give it to me in writing) and I'm wondering what recourse I have. Many people have been affected by this, including the seller, who was also supposed to close on his new house today, but couldn't. Isn't the mortgage commitment supposed to ensure that we have a mortgage at closing time?? The mortgage company made clear to us that it is not our fault, they're blaming the underwriter, the bank. What can we reasonably expect, or what is our best course of action? I'm concerned we are going to be in default of our contract and lose our escrow money. It's also a concern for me that I don't have a bunch of money to shell out for a laywer, and I'm not even sure if we have a case for anything. Any advice is appreciated. I already feel awful that we seem to be getting completely screwed, so no need to point out how badly these guys are handling it. Thanks.

[pojo2]

Breath!

Things like this happen quite frequently and closing goes smoothly from that point on.

Now if you have properly protected yourself in the purchase contract there is a contingency concerning financing or the lack therof, if not your interests are being looked after.

about what the holdup was

So what was the holdup, that might get you a reply to eleviate your fears.

I already feel awful that we seem to be getting completely screwed, so no need to point out how badly these guys are handling it

Why would anyone point out this is being handled badly when we do not even know what the issues are?

[nextwife]

My rant:
__________________________________________________________________________

Here's the scoop:

a whole lot of mortgage companies, placing loans through a whole lot of mortgage brokers, are chasing a lot of mortgage business. Some of them do NOT properly dispose of all their requirements and conditions before they schedule a closing. It is driving buyers, sellers, and especially closing agents, BONKERS because they end up wasting a lot of time preparing HUDs, sending closers around town, and sitting and twiddling their thumbs in non-productive time because either:

The package from the mortgage lender to the closing agent either arrived late or didn't arrive at all, even though they were advised when they scheduled the closing that a 24 hour advance was required.

The package from the mortgage lender to the closing agent included a bunch of additional conditions that should not be part of the closing (such as collecting and faxing stuff like employment verifications, or requiring a borrower to make a payment outside closing that is already incorporated in the payoff figures. It should NOT be made the closing agents responsibility to do what basically amounts to loan processing, but it seems some of these out-of-state mortgage investors are reducing their staffing needs by dumping garbage on the title company's closers that should have been done before the lender ever scheduled the closing.

The funds or wire never arrived, so the disbursing agent does not have good funds.

The closing agent faxes the signed documents to the mortgage company for the funding authorization and then can't reach anybody and doesn't hear back. The mortgage company, being two to three time zones away, doesn't seem to care that it's 6 pm and the closers are NOT supposed to still be sitting around and their work day was over an hour ago. If they reconvene the following day, all the figures must be redone, because the prorations, payoffs, etc are all for the date of closing. So then the closing agent is doing more unpaid work.

In my humble opinion, closings at brick and mortar (and from many well-organized, established mortgage investor companies) lenders do not have nearly the degree of problems.

Virtually EVERYTIME I have a closing through a local thrift or bank, they have their act together, they get docs out, they have funding IMMEDIATELY, the closing happens without a glitch on the lender side. Not so for closings for many of these "who are these guys, I never heard of them before" mortgage investors.