Tom P.

Our neighborhood has deteriorated over the last 3 years, so my wife and I decided to buy a home in a nicer neighborhood and turn our current home into a rental. Freedom Mortgage bought the mortgage on our current home about 6 months ago, so we figured a new mortgage with them would be an easy process. We were wrong. So very wrong.

From the beginning we have been asked several times to provide the same documents (tax returns, pay stubs, employment verification, sales contract, etc.) It seems that as the mortgage application moves from 1 step to another, it also moves from 1 department to another, WITHOUT the documents we send them. So, we have sent them the same documents 4 times, each time to be told "We don't have such and such documents, can you send it again?"

Their online document delivery/signature system doesn't work, and they can't figure out how to make it work for more than one applicant, so they shipped our application to us overnight for signatures, except they sent it to the wrong address. We got it 3 days later when a neighbor that lives a block away brought it to us, after he opened it. These are documents with our social security numbers and other personal identification information on them! Did I mention our neighborhood isn't the greatest anymore? Thanks to their mistake we now have to place a fraud alert on our credit reports.

They have refused to give us an accurate estimate of closing costs and have repeatedly told us we will have to pay items that the VA and our state do not allow lenders to charge the buyers. They are also telling us we need to pay into escrow at closing the current property tax bill, due in 2 months, that is for last year's taxes, and enough to cover taxes for this year prior to closing. It is not the buyer's responsibility to pay property taxes for a time period before they purchased the home, it is the seller's responsibility to pay the taxes for the time they owned the home.

Now, 3 days before we were scheduled to close, their agent sent an email stating we will not be able to close on time because they don't understand the documents we provided that prove our income and employment. What's hard to understand about the last 4 years' income tax returns and last 4 months' pay stubs? They now want written and signed statements from us explaining so-called discrepancies in our taxes and pay stubs. I've explained in an email that the so-called discrepancies don't exist and are a result of their mathematical errors, but they still want written and signed explanations. I suspect this is an effort on their part to delay closing since they haven't been able to calculate actual closing costs and provide us with the Closing Disclosure that is required by law no later than 3 days prior to closing.

Now, because of their incompetence and unprofessional behavior, we have to ask the seller for an extension of the sales contract, and hope the seller doesn't object, or we lose the house.

So far, everyone we have dealt with at Freedom Mortgage has demonstrated an absolute lack of knowledge, competence and professionalism. I would not recommend this company to anyone I know. In fact, I've told everyone I know to avoid this company like the plague!