How to deal with unresponsive LO? Delays in loan?

Question

I am very concerned and frustrated with the way my loan is progressing. It is very slow and my LO is very unresponsive. However, I am too far into the process to switch lenders now. LO was very responsive in the beginning but now I am not getting any updates and I am worried that I will not only lose the house but also my earnest money.

First of all, here are some details about my situation:

• First-time home buyer.
• Loan type: 7/1ARM with 3.00% rate Jumbo loan
• Credit Score: TransUnion - 790 | Equifax - 788 | Experian - 812
• DTI: 24%
• Average Credit age: 3 Yrs 4months
• 0 Derogatory Marks and 100% on-time payment history

I am was originally scheduled to close 2 days ago. But had to get an extension from the seller. I am given 2 weeks of extension.

I am extremely worried about the speed at which my application is progressing. I received conditional approval from the underwriter 18 days ago. It has been over a week that I submitted my conditional documents and it is still not fully approved.

The lender that my LO signed me up with not only has an underwriter review but also a Quality Control review and a final investor review (So, they can sell my mortgage in the secondary market immediately)

So, how likely am I to go through all of these levels of scrutiny in just 2 weeks if I don't even have the full underwriter approval yet.

I am so worried that it is starting to impact my health now. Please advice.

Caleb Heimsoth · Answer

@Vinay Patel I’ve been through this and quite frankly I’m never doing it again for anything besides a primary residence.

It once took 2 plus months to get my loan through, because “Fannie Mac changed some rule”, it was absurd. The local bank I use can

Close in 7-10 days. Depending on appraisal speed

Brian Sparr · Answer

Hi @Vinay Patel - we work with a number of lenders that are able to complete loans (from loan application to funding) in less than 2 weeks ... that said, jumbo loans do typically add some extra time to that, but we're talking about maybe an extra week - definitely not as long as what you're experiencing.

If I were in your shoes, there are 3 things I'd do immediately:

• check with your real estate agent to see if the loan contingency is still in effect ... if it is, your earnest money is likely still protected ... find out one way or the other, though - you need to know what's at risk.
• call your loan officer's boss and escalate the issue. Not knowing what the loan conditions were, it's hard for me to say if this length of delay is normal, but, in general, 18 days seems excessive.
• call another lender to see how quickly they could push you through. In the two markets I work in, local mortgage banks tend to move the fastest. One of the problems you might run into, though, is that with the recent rate drop, there are a bunch of refi loans in the pipeline for all these guys and it can slow things down.

While the idea of switching lenders at this stage of the game is not ideal, if it's what it takes to get the deal done, I'd do it. From the seller's perspective, it's still in their best interest to see the deal through with you - even if you have to delay a little bit longer than the extra 2 weeks they just gave you.

Good luck!

How to deal with unresponsive LO? Delays in loan?

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