Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  10/03/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  ubject: Unauthorized Credit Inquiry Complaint - Embrace Home Dear Better Business Bureau,I am writing to file a complaint regarding an unauthorized credit inquiry made by Embrace Home on my credit report. The details of the inquiry are as follows:Creditor: Embrace Home Date of Inquiry: 7/25/2023 I did not authorize this inquiry and have no existing relationship or account with ********************** Home that would warrant such an action. This inquiry has negatively affected my credit score, and I am seeking your assistance in resolving this issue.I kindly request that Embrace Home remove the inquiry from my credit report immediately and ensure that no further inquiries are conducted without my explicit consent.Thank you for your time and assistance.

  

  Business response

  10/21/2024

  Embrace Home Loans is in receipt of a notice of consumer complaint from Ms. ************ regarding an inquiry to her credit file.

  We have reviewed our files and find that on or about 7/25/23 we received correspondence from Ms. ***** ****** in reference to an application for Pre-Approval of mortgage financing in advance of her finding a property to purchase.  Embrace accessed her credit file at that time, found it initially worthy of approval, and on 7/28 a package of required documentation was forwarded to her at the Stream Vista address.  Unfortunately, we have no record of any further correspondence with her.  On or about 8/28 a Notice of Incomplete Application was sent to her requesting completion and return of documentation, and on or about 9/28, having received no response, the application was Closed due to Incompleteness.

  Receipt of an application for credit from a consumer is included as a Permissible Purpose for a creditor to have reason to access that consumer's credit file.  Additionally, Embrace maintains additional practices of obtaining the affirmation of its intent to access that credit report from the consumer prior to taking that action, which did occur in this instance.

  Embrace is unable to remove the inquiry from this credit file as requested.

  If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at your convenience.

   

  Thank you.

• Initial Complaint

  03/07/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We were told by the loan originator, there would be NO Problem processing loan and getting it to closing.After paying for a Home Appraisal, the loan originator started claiming they were running into issues. I have bought other properties in the past. This is the only lender I have dealt with tgat charges the Appraisal Fee Up front and if loan is not approved, through no fault of my own, we are out the money laid out for Appraisal.

  

  Business response

  03/09/2024

  Embrace Home Loans (Embrace) is in receipt of a notice of consumer complaint, received from ******************, and has taken the opportunity to review the application file in question.

  ****************** has noted that his loan officer suggested that the application appeared to be eligible for approval, but that would have been based on his personal creditworthiness only.  The acceptability of the subject property could only be determined through the routine procedures required for that purpose.

  The first such procedure would be to obtain an appraisal report from a qualified independent appraiser, for which the fee required is typically paid at point of application.  Embrace engages third parties to arrange for appraisal reports, the fee for which will have been earned by the appraiser when they have completed the assignment.  No part of the fee paid by a consumer is retained by Embrace, but rather that fee is delivered to the appraiser upon their delivery of the completed appraisal report.

  Second, and particular to the eligibility requirements for a Condominium project, is the comprehensive due diligence necessary to determine that the Project satisfies the requirements established by conventional mortgage loan guidelines.  In order for a condominium unit to be eligible for financing, it must satisfy these requirements, and that cannot be determined until the lender has received all of the necessary confirmations from the Condo Association.

  In ********************** case, there appears to have been some delay in our receipt of information relative to the condo's eligibility, and when that information was received it was found to include several factors that did not satisfy those requirements.   The condominium, therefore, was deemed to be ineligible for financing for that reason.

  If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at your convenience.

  Thank you.

  Customer response

  03/09/2024

  Better Business Bureau:I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ********. Please add your rejection comments below; if you do not provide any details, your complaint will be closed as Answered. 

  [You must provide details of why you are not satisfied with this resolution.  If you do not enter a reason for your rejection, your complaint will be closed as Answered.]
  
  Businesses and Customers should be civil, courteous and polite in their responses to complaints. It is important to remain professional and productive when participating in the BBB complaint process.
  
  FAQ
  
  Regards,

  *****

  The Loan Originator should have known that the Condo Complex did not fit the criteria of being approved with a 10% downpayment.

  I was strung along, made to think there woukd be no problem getting it approved. I was told by loan originator, getting denied had nothing to do with My Credit Worthiness. The Unit Did Not Fall Under Their Criteria which should have been said from the start instead of wasting time and Money.

  On top of that, I have bought properties previously, deali g with other banks who paid the Appraisal Fee and then was charged under closing costs.

   

   

  

  Business response

  03/12/2024

  Embrace was not able to come to a conclusion in this matter as suggested by the consumer.

  It is correct in stating that the applicant's personal creditworthiness characteristics were deemed to be satisfactory.  The subject property, on the other hand, was not.

  Had the loan officer been made aware that the subject property had recently been converted from a CondoHotel to a Condominium, or that the entire complex is closed and unavailable for use during the winter months, then he would have been able to conclude that there were significant obstacles to approval for the loan program requested,  This information was not, however, mentioned at point of application, or revealed in the terms of the contract.

  Efforts to obtain the necessary documentation from the *********************** to qualify the Condo Project as acceptable to FNMA were delayed due to an inability to make contact with the *** officials, and when they finally did provide such information it did not comply with ************ standard requirements.

  It was only after significant research that Embrace was able to learn the factors related to this subject property that caused it to be deemed ineligible for financing, and not at point of application.

  We do understand the disappointment of the consumer in the outcome, and are sorry that the application could not be approved.  However the manner in which events unfolded relative to this application could not have been concluded earlier in the process, as suggested.

  If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us at your convenience.

   

  Thank you,

  *****************************, Consumer Ombudsman

  Customer response

  03/12/2024

  Better Business Bureau:I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ********. Please add your rejection comments below; if you do not provide any details, your complaint will be closed as Answered. 

  In Response to the lie that was told, the broker handling the mortgage was aware that it was a condotel. If not in an Email, it was definitely mentioned that the building was in the middle of transitioning to full condominium, but was previously a condotel.
  
  Also the person answering claims the board did not respond quickly to condo questionnaire. Any time Myself or Realtor posed a question to board, we were answered sometimes within hours, but definitely within a day. Embrace seems to be the only people no able to get information they were looking for.
  
  These statements are outlandish and in no way should a Fee be charged for a deal that had no chance of being approved. Tge broker promised 10% down would be fine!
  
  I would like the Fee returned, as I am filing a dispute with the credit card company as well. Another bank tried to assume transfer of tge Appraisal to no avail and if I paid for it, it should have been of my property, not Embrace's.
  
  ***********************;
  

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  12/13/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Embrace Home Loans has been absolutely horrible to work with. They strung us along for weeks (we are the seller of a home, the buyer was a client of Embrace). The lender working with our buyer, and subsequently us, lied to us consistently, stating things were taken care of when they weren't, coming up with excuses as to why we couldn't close. He yelled at us for asking questions and expecting answers. They weren't satisfied with any paperwork that was given to them from the buyer, even though it had exactly what they were asking for; constantly coming up with more reasons to keep putting us off. Buying/selling a home is one of the most stressful experiences out there, and Embrace increased that stress by 100 times. They finally denied their loan after weeks of "we are working on it," even after our buyers had received approval and the CD had been sent out. We spoke with upper management, who were not helpful, and made the same excuses *************** did. Absolutely horrible experience that has caused heartache, stress, frustration, and anger, when none of that was necessary.

  

  Business response

  12/13/2023

  Embrace Home Loans (Embrace) is in receipt of a notice of Complaint from ******************, however it is unable to provide a response to her allegations at this time.

  ****************** suggests that she is, or represents the seller of residential real estate for which Embrace had received an application for credit from the proposed purchaser, and that due to it's substandard service to that applicant by Embrace the parties were subjected to significant stress and anxiety.

  The complaint, however, identifies neither the name of the applicant in this situation, nor the address of the subject property, which would have likely allowed us to identify the specific file in question.  The information provided however does not allow us to review the application to consider her concerns.

  It is notable that, as a mortgage lender, Embrace is responsible to provide services to the proposed borrower and purchaser in such situations.  It does not have direct responsibilities to the seller in any such situation, and may actually be prohibited from considering the needs of the seller if they might be contrary to the needs of the buyer.

  Still, we would be happy to review this file to confirm the accuracy of our actions if we receive information necessary to identify the application in question.

  If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at your convenience.

   

  *****************************, Consumer Ombudsman

  Embrace Home Loans

  **************  xt 3229

   

• Initial Complaint

  07/20/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My mother, a recently widowed, elderly woman decided to refinance her home in order to gain access to some of the equity in her home to do some much needed home renovations. She asked me to be her liaison and communicate with the mortgage company on her behalf. Her loan was already established with Embrace Home Loans; therefore, we found it easier to refinance with them. **************************** was assigned as our loan officer and ******************* was assigned as the mortgage loan processor. Both individuals were very responsive and helpful of course, prior to closing the loan. My mother nor I are mortgage experts, this is something that she felt she needed to do in order to have some relief as a recently widowed and elderly woman so we entrusted ourselves. After the closing, unfortunately, we noticed that a total of $2,567.05 were taken from the overall total amount of proceeds due to her and scheduled to be paid for Taxes owed to the 'Town of ***********************.' My mother's property is located in the town of ***********, ** and she has never owned nor has she ever stepped foot in the *****************, **. Additionally, according to the loan documents, taxes were taken to pay off the existing taxes and taxes were collected for escrow. She has also received bills for 2 months for taxes that were supposed to be paid as part of the closing. On multiple occasions we tried to contact both ****** and ***** for a simple explanation of what this charge is and why it would be listed under the 'Miscellaneous' section of the closing documents. No response from either one of them to date. Again, my mother is widowed, she is elderly, every cent is worth a million dollars to her; and where ****** and ***************** not care because they've clearly succeeded in getting their closing done and getting whatever bonus or commission they may receive, in my mother's world this is all she has. All we're looking for is an explanation. If this is an error, we'd like the $2,567.05 to be reimbursed.

  

  Business response

  07/26/2022

  Embrace Home Loans is in receipt of a notice of complaint from ********** regarding a mortgage loan that was received by her mother.  In particular, it was indicated that there had been uncertainty if the real estate tax payments to be disbursed from the loan proceeds were not sent to the wrong tax assessor's office.  The Closing Disclosure showed that the payee for those taxes would have been the *****************, **, when in fact her mother lives, and taxes are due in ***********, **.

  Upon review, and consultation with the settlement agent and servicing staff we are able to confirm that the payment for taxes was sent to the correct assessor's office in ***********, and that only the designation on the Closing Disclosure had been in error.

  Further, a suggestion that taxes remained unpaid was incorrect.  In reality, the servicer had made the appropriate payments upon receipt of the next tax **** due.

  Embrace has been in touch with the complainant and advised her of the status of all factors.

   

  If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at your convenience.

   

  *****************************, VP/CCO
  Embrace Home Loans, Inc.

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