Help! I think a mortgage company is trying to screw us over!?

Question

My husband and I found our dream home. But trying to buy it has been a nightmare. This home is a foreclosed home in great condition and a fairly descent price. However, we made an offer on it and next thing we know another offer had been made at the same time. The house had been on the market for a long time but recently with a reduced price. The bank has upped the price because two offers were made. We already paid the earnest $$ and now we are fighting for the house. Now the mortgage company wants us to finance through them instead of our bank. Their apr is 12% while our bank is 5.6%. Now I think the mortgage lenders are going to give the house to the person who borrows from them.
Is this legal?

Answer 1

golly, how i hate hearing the horror stories from nice folks like you. if only you had gone to a Realtor(r), who would then have acted as your AGENT, representing YOUR needs and YOUR earnest money, and YOUR documents, over and above her own interests (the commission). you would have had her agency (fiduciary responsibility to her client) for no dollars charged to you. the bank probably advertised that it would pay a commission.

something sure stinks in denmark to me!

here is what concerns me most: you say that they took earnest money. who took it? where is it now? i must guard earnest money with my life! i am positive that there is not one single state in the entire union that does not have laws that clearly state that if a seller (the bank, in your case) takes earnest money, (which means that the bank signed a contract to sell to YOU), then it MUST BE placed into an earnest money escrow account that is held by any licensed financial institution or title insurance company ("the escrow"). it HAS TO BE put in that type of account, since earnest money is YOUR money, to be applied to YOUR purchase!

so do you see why i do not like this odor? the seller cannot sell the house to TWO DIFFERENT people, taking earnest money from each one of them. within the time it's selling the house, it can lower or raise the asking price. the seller can, also, look at two different OFFERS. it can counteroffer both of them and return them to the potential purchasers. a counteroffer is NOT a contract. only if you initialed every single change to your offer, which the seller changed and initialed, and the seller signs it, as well as you, do you have a CONTRACT.

when you contact a real estate attorney, PDQ, ask what "specific performance" would mean to you, if applicable at all. and know that any breach of contract falls under the laws of tort, which means 'wrongful acts.' you can sue for a tort having been committed against you. (that is where specific performance may come in).

i do suggest that you contact the licensing department in your state that licenses banks.

i have this sinking suspicion that someone that has a real estate license, a "licensee," with no affiliation to the National Association of Realtors(r), is in cohoots with this bank and is giving improper, maybe even illegal, advice.

this sucks. don't do this to yourselves ever again. get yourself an experienced AGENT that does not necessarily make a trillion bucks a year (since how can they have time for you that way)--but one that really shows that she CARES about your needs and wants and will PROTECT you.

btw: i do hope you get your house and begin to build wealth. (for articles on that, i suggest you utillize this site: www.aarp.com). good luck!

Answer 2

This is not legal!! Call your state's banking department and find out what are your rights and your options. Also, you can report them to the better business bureau!

If your made the highest offer then the house should rightfully be yours.

Answer 3

You are allowed to get a mortgage with anyone you want. They cannot force you to use theirs.
If you want to make this a big deal, you might want to threaten legal action, and see if they change their tune.
It sound very fishy to me... for all you know there might not even be another party wanting to buy, and once they settle on a price with you and its agreed, they cant pull it out from under you at a higher cost.

Answer 4

It's their house now. they can sell to whoever they want, short of any illegal discrimination. They definitely have the right to discriminate against whoever makes them the least money though. refuse their financing, and if you don't get it, so be it. unless you can take their financing, with no closing costs, and no prepay penalty, and refi right afterwards.

Answer 5

If you have exchanged any type of money, deposit, or signed any papers, or verbil contract, get to a lawyer asap, you can get a free 1/2 hr consult, do it fast...hope you get it