We're Still Waiting

Applying for a mortgage is not for the faint of heart. I wish our house in Texas had sold first, but it didn't and we're doing our best to get on with it. A week ago today we were given "conditional" approval to close. Initially, I was told that once I met the conditions, the approval would be firm, etched in stone - we'd be good to go. So I provided the additional documentation they wanted this past Tuesday, but we're still waiting. I really don't know what we're waiting for. I was told that we were waiting on the title work. Why the title work would make my mortgage "conditional" is not clear to me. I understand that having clear title is essential to closing. I get that, but it's nothing to do with me.

This is so different to my first home buying experience back in the 80s. Then I was treated like someone who was trying to buy a house but needed a loan to do so. (Which is pretty much everyone who's trying to buy a home.) I turned in my documentation and was given a close date and all I had to do was wait for them to get all the paperwork done. If there was a "conditional" close approval, I sure don't remember it. This time around, we've been treated like potential criminals. ("We have to do all of this because there is so much wire fraud and so much money laundering.)

Problems with wire fraud? Stop wiring. Back in the old days, you showed up at closing with a certified check. I'm guessing banks still do that. Not a lot of room for fraud in that that I can see. But then I've never been on the lookout for fraud opportunities.

And as for money laundering - let me just say that we've managed to get into our late 60s/early 70s without any criminal record of money laundering, or anything else other than minor traffic violations. Why would I take up money laundering now? Our credit scores are over 800. Do they think we got that because we don't pay our bills??

And here's the other, somewhat disturbing thing - we've met the loan originator and his assistant. They have names and faces. I've also spoken with the loan processor - she, too has a name. But "the underwriter" remains shrouded in mystery. No name. No face. A fierce god who makes demands that must be complied with for reasons that don't have to be explained to anyone.

As a HUD consultant, Mark has some experience with underwriters. In his role as a HUD consultant, he was allowed to know their names. And he will tell you that all of them operated under their own set of rules. Even within the same mortgage company, different underwriters would demand different things. One went so far as to refuse to get on with it until a comma was removed from the paperwork. (The offending comma was programmed into the HUD paperwork, and it was no easy task to get it edited out.) But it had to be done or the loan wouldn't go through.

Even though they all seem to operate on their own set of rules, they cite "federal regulations" as being the reason they are asking for all of that documentation. Maybe so. But I can tell you this - the financial/mortgage crisis was NOT caused by consumers. It was caused by BANKERS. So now, the bankers who should have gone to jail for that fiasco have license to treat consumers like potential criminals. It boggles the mind.

But in the meantime, we are still waiting.