Thinking of walking away :(

Anonymous · ‎10-22-2015

Last night I got an email from our LO. It was from the Lennar escrow coordinator demanding the signing docs date from our LO or ELSE basically. She made the comment that our file was "under review for per diem charges). If you've been following our saga, I had to get invovled the end of last week because we still weren't getting builder's docs to satisfy the list of conditions and I couldn't understand why it was taking so long. I was told by the sales agent over the weekend that we would NOT be charged per diem so that calmed me down and now this note. The reason we missed the close date was because the house wasn't completed and was 2 weeks late. Getting this message yesterday was like a huge slap in the face. I'm so upset I'm seriously considering walking away from this house and going with a different builder. Right now we've been back in final UW 2 full days (today is day 3). Once the CTC is issued, which I expect will be today, I want to use that as bargaining power to ensure we won't get charged per diem AND they compensate us for the cost of the extra appraisal, the movers we now have to hire because we have to move in the middle of the week instead of on a weekend, the wages we will miss because taking time off of work, and I believe our rate lock expired yesterday. Our credit profile is so much better than when we started this journey, we still have all the funds we started with - we would probably actually not have to be manually underwritten now. The house prices on new build inventory homes are dropping like crazy and we could get the same size house for $50k less (albeit a 2 story instead of 1 story but at this point I don't care). I'm just so frustrated at how we've been treated by this builder. Here is the timeline of events. The delay has absolutely NOT been our fault so why they keep trying to charge per diem is beyond me. Am I being ridiculous?

9/25 was the original date the house was supposed to be completed by per the contract

8/14 - Sign purchase contract

9/3 - I changed brokers because I didn't like who I was dealing with and had to start the app process all over (this part is my fault but it was really early on in the process)

9/10 - We were denied from the original bank and had to use another bank

9/23 - The conditional approval was issued (a month ago!)

9/24 - We turned all our docs and waited for the builder to get theirs in.

9/25 - We went out to the house - no carpet, no appliances

9/29 - Appraiser came out to appraise house. House at that point was 95% complete

10/13 - They scheduled us to do our final walk through. We had them fix 3 things.

10/15 - Officially signed off on the final walk through (started asking questions as to why the builder's docs STILL weren't turned in???)

10/16 - The city officially inspected the house and issued the certificate of occupancy (Friday night)

10/19 - The very next Monday the appraiser went out and sent in the final report. The file went back to the bank that night for final UW

10/22 - We are waiting for the CTC (I think it should be issued today)

Anonymous · ‎10-22-2015

The original close date was supposed to be 10/14.

Anonymous · ‎10-22-2015

oh man - that so stinks........BUT if you could really get a better loan deal and save over $50K - maybe the housing gods are trying to tell you something. It sucks to be starting over after over 2 1/2 months of this house....and I've built a house before - it is a crazy/stressful experience. I remember going by the house every day for months - and then having to move in with my parents because the house wasn't done and ours was SOLD and we had to get out. I swore I'd never build again - and so far haven't!

Just make sure ithat if you walk away you aren't leaving much on the table.......you'd hate to lose money on the deal.

disdreamin · ‎10-22-2015

If you can walk without taking a huge hit, I'd walk. If the builder is being this way before you close, just imagine what they'll be like when problems arise AFTER you close. And they will. No matter how solid the build, there will always be issues that need addressing down the road - they can be minor or major, but you'll need the builder on board to actually get them done. If they are balking at the easy stuff before you close, they're likely going to suck to deal with once they have their money and there is no financial incentive to keep you happy. BTDT.

DallasLoanGuy · ‎10-22-2015

i cannot repeat here the response i would give the builder......

Retired Lender

Anonymous · ‎10-23-2015

Ok so last night I talked with the sales agent and my LO. Feeling a little better today. I am NOT being charged the per diem. So, now I have the full story, here's what happened. Yes, builder was late delivering the house. But the sales agent said normally, the COO is one of the last docs delivered to the UW, and that normally, my file would've been sitting in underwriting with all other conditions checked off and just waiting on the final paperwork to check those off and issue CTC. I went with a mortgage broker and the bank they used doesn't allow the file to even be sent to them until it's complete and then the entire thing goes to final underwriting. So, there's an additional delay from the time the COO and final appraisal are done to the time we get the CTC. The completed file went in on Monday night. The UW just got to it yesterday. Lennar expected that this would go as it usually does and we would get the CTC within a day of issuing the COO. They didn't anticipate the delay and the escrow coordinator didn't realize my bank needed a complete file before accepting it. So, long story short, the sales agent (who was very nice to me) said that it's not my fault, it's just the process of this particular bank, which is unusual, but that's their process. It just is what it is. So, talking to my LO last night, I guess the delay in UW had been they were trying to verify employment with my husbands job and the number they were calling was not getting back to them so they asked for a direct line and person to speak to. So we are providing that and we should get the CTC today.

disdreamin · ‎10-23-2015

Congrats on getting that worked out, and glad to hear it wasn't a serious issue with the builder themselves. Our build was also delayed (thinking back, it was probably by about a month) but given the weather in our area, I totally gave them a pass on it. When you are trying to do a foundation or before the build is in the dry, there are limitations on what you can do in crappy weather.

Again, though, glad to hear things seem to be proceeding!

Sassy_Taurus · ‎10-23-2015

I've been following your journey and I'm glad to hear that things are working out. I hope you get your CTC today.

DallasLoanGuy · ‎10-23-2015

cant tell you how many times a builder sent over a coo and asked if we could close the next day

they act dumb when i explain that the underwriter must sign off on it.

Retired Lender

ezdriver · ‎10-23-2015

@DallasLoanGuy wrote:
cant tell you how many times a builder sent over a coo and asked if we could close the next day

they act dumb when i explain that the underwriter must sign off on it.

The builder's people who send over the document to you are not mortgage-savvy people. Those of us who have lived and breathed the mortgage origination/processing side of our industry assume that everyone should have the same level of appreciation for the process as we do. The folks aren't acting dumb. They're simply not as familiar with your process. I often have to advise/guide my escrow dept folks re what to expect when they make a particular request.