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Sears Home Improvement Misrepresentation

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In March of 2017 we had flooring installed in our home. The salesman came to our house and we went through the basics of choosing the design. Next we went through the purchase agreement(s). During that time I would have been appalled if he told us the loan would be considered as a second mortgage as I have always abhorred second mortgages and would never, under any circumstances, take a second mortgage. I would told him the deal was off there and then despite any kind of pressure he may exert.

Fast forward to the fall of 2018. We sold our house already and we took a temporary rental so we could find a house to purchase. When we went shopping around for pre approval on a mortgage we were greatly surprised to find there was a blemish on our credit score marked as a LATE MORTGAGE PAYMENT which in reality was a late payment because it fell between the cracks when we were moving in June. I neglected to pay the payment. The mortgage lender said there was nothing we could do because the rules state we cannot have a late mortgage payment within the last year on our credit report and the flooring loan is marked as a MORTGAGE on our report. Unbelievable! WE WERE NEVER TOLD THE FLOORING LOAN WOULD BE CONSIDERED A SECOND MORTGAGE! Not even on our agreement(s) which we electronically signed and we have copies of!

We would have paid the loan off with the sell of our house but we didn't receive enough from the sell to do it and we had to get out from under the debt that kept growing drastically with the fast rising county taxes and insurance.

Now we are making payments on a flooring loan which Sears Home Improvement sold us without proper representation. Part of the agreement states there would be NO VERBAL CONTRACTS and signing for a second mortgage/lien on the house is no where in our written contract.

So it comes down to this: Do we have a case against Sears Home Improvement for misrepresentation? They signed us up to a loan without the complete details and now because of it we are suffering while paying rent when we could be putting that money towards a mortgage several months ago. Because of a late payment (there were two earlier ones because I didn't have the exact due amount correct) we now have a lien on the house that we sold already!

Everybody we talk to tells us if there was a true lien then it would have come up at the closing of the house. However, it is damaging our credit report and when we call the loan company they tell us there is a lien on the house! A lien on a house we no longer own and would never have acquired the loan if we had known we were signing ourselves into a second mortgage! There is some form of corruption going on somewhere!

Any advice?

Thank you for your assistance.

Sincerely,

AM
 


LdiJ

Senior Member
In March of 2017 we had flooring installed in our home. The salesman came to our house and we went through the basics of choosing the design. Next we went through the purchase agreement(s). During that time I would have been appalled if he told us the loan would be considered as a second mortgage as I have always abhorred second mortgages and would never, under any circumstances, take a second mortgage. I would told him the deal was off there and then despite any kind of pressure he may exert.

Fast forward to the fall of 2018. We sold our house already and we took a temporary rental so we could find a house to purchase. When we went shopping around for pre approval on a mortgage we were greatly surprised to find there was a blemish on our credit score marked as a LATE MORTGAGE PAYMENT which in reality was a late payment because it fell between the cracks when we were moving in June. I neglected to pay the payment. The mortgage lender said there was nothing we could do because the rules state we cannot have a late mortgage payment within the last year on our credit report and the flooring loan is marked as a MORTGAGE on our report. Unbelievable! WE WERE NEVER TOLD THE FLOORING LOAN WOULD BE CONSIDERED A SECOND MORTGAGE! Not even on our agreement(s) which we electronically signed and we have copies of!

We would have paid the loan off with the sell of our house but we didn't receive enough from the sell to do it and we had to get out from under the debt that kept growing drastically with the fast rising county taxes and insurance.

Now we are making payments on a flooring loan which Sears Home Improvement sold us without proper representation. Part of the agreement states there would be NO VERBAL CONTRACTS and signing for a second mortgage/lien on the house is no where in our written contract.

So it comes down to this: Do we have a case against Sears Home Improvement for misrepresentation? They signed us up to a loan without the complete details and now because of it we are suffering while paying rent when we could be putting that money towards a mortgage several months ago. Because of a late payment (there were two earlier ones because I didn't have the exact due amount correct) we now have a lien on the house that we sold already!

Everybody we talk to tells us if there was a true lien then it would have come up at the closing of the house. However, it is damaging our credit report and when we call the loan company they tell us there is a lien on the house! A lien on a house we no longer own and would never have acquired the loan if we had known we were signing ourselves into a second mortgage! There is some form of corruption going on somewhere!

Any advice?

Thank you for your assistance.

Sincerely,

AM
There is something not right here. It would not be unusual for a large home improvement loan to result in a lien on your home. That is a fairly normal thing. You need to read the fine details of your contract. However for it to be regarded as a second mortgage is a little odd. Again, read the fine details of your contract.

However, you should not have been able to close on the sale of your home if there was a lien on the property, so that tells me that there was/is no lien showing on the home...unless the title company somehow missed it.

You should probably take all of your paperwork and get a consult with a local attorney. Even if Sear's did mislead you or actually fraudulently listed the loan as a second mortgage the cost of attempting to litigate the matter might be greater than simply renting for another year so that you can qualify for a mortgage again.
 
Thank you for your reply. I know for a fact it is marked as a second mortgage on our credit report. As far as the fine details of the loan agreement: our agreement doesn't have a whole lot to say with only 3 pages.

The best thing to do would be to get Sears to admit they are in the wrong and to fix it. It is such an Injustice when they can come after the little guy but the little guy can't be given restitution when he is in the right! How about small claims court?
 
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Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Thank you for your reply. I know for a fact it is marked as a second mortgage on our credit report. As far as the fine details of the loan agreement: our agreement doesn't have a whole lot to say with only 3 pages.

The best thing to do would be to get Sears to admit they are in the wrong and to fix it. It is such an Injustice when they can come after the little guy but the little guy can't be given restitution when he is in the right! How about small claims court?
Small claims court for what? What are your actual monetary damages?
 

BuyLowSellHigh

Active Member
Talk to a different lender. There are likely other factors than just a single late payment that would cause a denial so maybe you are not being told the full story. Preferably talk to a mortgage company that deals with multiple lenders. Having late payments may increase your interest rate regardless of whether it is considered a second mortgage.
 
Talk to a different lender. There are likely other factors than just a single late payment that would cause a denial so maybe you are not being told the full story. Preferably talk to a mortgage company that deals with multiple lenders. Having late payments may increase your interest rate regardless of whether it is considered a second mortgage.
Thank you for your time and effort. We have actually talked to 3 lenders and they all tell us the same thing. At this point we would like Sears to take responsibility for the actions or inactions of their employees. We wouldn't have a problem right now if they had fully informed us of the details.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Thank you for your time and effort. We have actually talked to 3 lenders and they all tell us the same thing. At this point we would like Sears to take responsibility for the actions or inactions of their employees. We wouldn't have a problem right now if they had fully informed us of the details.
That's really not going to happen. The reason you're having problems is because you missed a payment.
 
That's really not going to happen. The reason you're having problems is because you missed a payment.
Yes. And lenders see a missed mortgage payment as more important than a missed payment in general which goes back to the original point. We were deceived into the loan. There should be some kind of legal recourse.

Thank you everybody for your opinions!

God bless!
 

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