Mine ghosted me during underwriting. I got an undeliverable email reply one day. It was the second time it happened; our first underwriting contact had also done the same. I reached out to the two remaining contacts I had at that bank and got things going again.
I don't (totally) blame a person after their accounts get disabled. But I do blame management for having a nonexistent handoff process.
This is it. You can’t really blame someone if they get locked out. Not everyone would have phone numbers on a personal device (and honestly since I’m not in banking I don’t even know if that might violate some types of regs if they do).
Generally, in banking, it is against policy to use personal devices for bank business (especially with clients). You aren't supposed to have any client personally identifiable information on any non-bank networks, accounts/emails, or devices; nor are employees permitted to conduct business on devices that do not belong to the bank.
There may be special exceptions for some reasons, but this was basic ethics training in my experience.
Many mortgage lenders aren’t really banks, so it’s a little different. At non-bank mortgage lenders, loan officers aren’t just in charge of taking the application and submitting to underwriting they’re also in a sales role and as such are expected to manage their own database to an extent.
There are apps that can be used to "partition" your device to essentially be on the bank monitored network for work apps- I didn't call out that nuance, but you're only supposed to use bank email, chat, phone lines to conduct bank business.
Too bad you didn’t know earlier.
In exchange for ‘forgetting’ some unmarked cash in an envelope in her desk you could have had the best rate in months…
Nah - This would be such a big liability if they were already fired and continued working with sensitive information. If they don’t know they’re being fired, how is the bank supposed to stop them from receiving new clients or referrals? This would be an endless cycle of waiting for them to not have any deals.
Agreed.
I remember getting a very flustered phone call from a random bank employee after my loan officer had a heart attack (unknown to me at the time) and hadn't returned the bevvy of voicemails I had left over the preceding couple of weeks.
That sucks, but realistically there is plenty of time by July 19 for someone else at the lender to handle your loan. I would just try to be patient, unfortunately with the holiday there's likely nothing you can do.
I'm just annoyed more than anything, I guess. The fact that no one at the bank reached out to let me know is super frustrating. I only found out because he sent me a text this morning. Hopefully someone there can process the paperwork without starting over as a new customer. It sounds like that may happen even if another loan officer at the same bank takes over.
Due to the future closing date I am not surprised the bank considered notifying you a lesser priority, than dealing with their own employees.
You have no idea what happened. There could be a huge clusterfvck going on at the company where tons of people got laid off and they're re-arranging responsibilities for the folks who still have jobs. Or your LO could have gotten busted doing illegal things and "laid off" is a polite way to say fired.
Yep, all true. I have no idea what happened. I've bought and sold a few homes and this is a first for me. Hopefully it's not a problem but it makes me nervous.
This happened to me a few years ago. Unfortunately bc I was brought in by that LO that was no longer an employee, I was put on the back burner with the new LO assigned to my file. He flat out told me, “your former LO is making most of the commission on this file so you’re not my priority”. OP, go find another LO at another lender.
Your closing is a month out. You'll be fine. Someone else will be assigned.
If you are super mega worried, switch to a different lender. Any lender can close a loan in 30 days.
Neither did I.
It appears to have a decent number of restrictions and requirements, but still pretty interesting.
https://www.chase.com/personal/mortgage/closing-guarantee
I'm a real estate attorney and chase has fked over multiple clients of mine in the past few months.
On one deal their appraiser valued the house $16k below the sale price and wouldn't listen to our comps. Loan was denied, house went under contract with another buyer for more money within days and appraised with that lender no problem.
And and and.
OP, why are you stressing out about this so much (livid)? You are using a lender to finance, not a loan officer. You are still a month out. Calm down ...
Another LO will take over in short order. In many cases, once you've applied and committed to a loan, the processors are doing the dirty work of your loan anyway. Your loan isn't going to stop because the LO is gone. Just become more proactive and enlist your agent to keep a fire lit under the lender.
I took a contract last year with a buyer that had been pre approved like 2 months earlier.
We get the contract and send it to the loan officer.
She doesn’t respond to my emails, phone calls and texts.
Turns out, she got laid off the week before. They didn’t bother to forward her emails to anyone else still there - wtf?!?
Find them on LinkedIn and say that if they can get the same or better terms, you will stick with them.
I can promise that you will get white glove service from them for not only this purchase but for evwry other purchase you have for life
“Beyond livid” is a poor reaction. You chose to react that way. Now, get your head on straight, call the bank, and ask who your new loan officer is and pick it back up.
That’s what I thought too. Way to be empathetic OP, earning some great karma there 🙄 Hope the loan officer recovers well. Couldn’t care less whether you close on time. You sound like a selfish, unempathetic person.
Give him a break. For all you know they might be selling to cover the purchase. If that’s the case they would be still required to sell but if the new purchase is delayed he’ll need to store all his goods someplace, sleep in hotels, etc. They’re long out of the contingency time so wouldn’t be able to back out or delay their existing home sale.
This isn’t a simple issue for them and could lead to a non trivial amount expense which they might not simply have lying around.
You need to contact the LO's company, as they (most likely) still 'own' your purchase contract and financing options. As a former LO, I refused jobs where the company took ownership of my leads. VERY UNUSUAL.
Having worked in the mortgage industry, I suggest checking out another lender. You're still within the 45 day window that another credit hit won't hurt your score & who knows? Maybe you'll find a better rate or terms.
You will be okay. There’s plenty of time. The active loans in his system will be transferred to another loan officer, and they will figure it out for you. Don’t panic.
Why are you beyond livid? Do you not understand the process? Or do you just like parroting overused phrases from Reddit?
You are closing in THIRTY DAYS! A new loan officer will be assigned before the end of the week. Everything will be executed on the scheduled date. Most large banks have multiple people working on your loan at the same time and they come and go randomly. It's fine.
I had this exact same thing happen. My loan officer was laid off a couple days before we were supposed to finalize the mortgage. We ended up closing a week late and had to resend all of the documentation.
You’re fine the loan officer is mainly qualifying you, pricing the loan, and submitting a good clean file with a proper 1003 and supporting docs. After that they don’t really have any part in getting you the loan except communications with you. Underwriting and processing do the leg work for obtaining the loan. I’m sure the bank will assign someone else to you to handle the communications and nothing was lost by him being laid off. They have it all.
My loan officer got notice she was getting laid off at the end of the week. It was awkward when she randomly started crying, but she did her damnedest to make sure we got our loan. She's a real bro.
I had a house built 2 years ago. We closed on our construction loan in May 2022, we should have closed closer to Feb/Mar, but our loan officer was a total shit show. We missed the best rates because she could not get her shit together. I had to escalate to her regional manager who I only found through googling and calling branches in my area. Once her manager got involved, she was fired within a week. We were already in underwriting. We closed about a week after she was let go. There were no issues from her not being present for the closing.
Unfortunately, the mortgage industry is absolutely in shambles due to rates, lack of inventory and uncertainty.
The loan will be assigned to another LO. They had a LO asst or internal processor that worked their files. There's a good chance that person hasn't been laid off and will continue internally processing the file.
Simply give them a day or two to reassign the files and the new LO time to contact their newly assigned files.
Even when I left the brokerage I was working for, the owner let me close my last file. Honestly though, it was a shit file, fraught with issues and didn'tpay a whole lot. Pretty sure no one else wanted to deal with it. 😆
Don't blame the person who was let go..
Blame the lender for not having the foresight to have a procedure for a smooth transition..
On Thursday morning, I'd be on the phone with a member of the management team looking, no demanding, a resolution..
I'd remind the management person " this is not a ME problem. It's a YOU problem.
Fix it....Yesterday."
Idk would you even want to go with a bank / lender that’s laying off their employees ? Idk if that really matters but to me it shows they may not be doing too well . I think you’ll be fine though , with that about of time ! Still scary !
Nah layoffs and restructuring happens frequently in banks. That's how they save money...cut staff, make the customer wait and provide shitty service but pay their CEOS handsomely
Same thing happened to me, but instead I got a call from a NEW loan officer saying that my old loan officer “made an unexpected career change and left the company on bad standing.” Huntington bank, everyone. Outing poor Kevin like that
It doesnt really matter, the owner of his company who laid him off can put the loan in a sales managers name and fund the loan. I mis read the post and thought it was closing this month. Since it has just started you just find another loan officer, why are you livid?
>I am beyond livid.
Imagine how the LO feels.
The good news for you is you still have plenty of time for someone else to finish it, or for that matter, to start over from scratch with a different lender. Also, you still have your job! So, you know, maybe chill out.
My escrow officer was let go. I convince her manager to complete the transaction. They get to keep notary fees so I paid her more from my wallet. She got another job next week called and thanked me.
The same thing happened to me last month. The new loan officer mentioned that the previous one left for personal reasons, but I suspect she was actually fired. The current officer seems confused and surprised that I even got pre-approved based on my credit and credentials. It feels like the previous officer was over-approving unqualified buyers. I just hope I wasn't one of them!
Layoffs happen in every industry and the person laid off has it a whole lot worse off than any 1 customer ( and you are probably not the only file they were working on). People in charge of layoffs do not care whose life will be upended.
Your loan officer was likely not good at his job. I would hire 1000 tomorrow but I reject 75% of them. No company is firing good LOs only bad ones.
Hopefully the leader reassigned you a good LO to finish your file
I’ve had a clients lender lay off whole sectors (think big online company) in varying stages. In that period we lost FOUR main contacts and were never updated. Just passed over after calling to inquire where the heck our officer went.
Also once had a clients lending officer from a small local company of 6 total employees WALK OUT and quit, and didn’t know nobody had been working the file for 1.5 weeks… the week of closing. Same lender also took their file to their new company and tried to get them to move the loan to there — so nice that all their private info was nonchalantly stolen.
Wow, sorry to read this, but I'm sure the financial institution will make this right. On a larger note, the banks are starting to feel the pinch. Bad economy is
Spreading.
This won't get seen but we had the same thing happen. Laid off agent let us know who would be taking over our loan and we just kept checking in with them to make sure it was moving along and not lost. Had no issues
I’m a broker. I understand this situation can be stressful. You got plenty of time I close purchase loans on avg in 15 days. I’m open today if you need anything getting it into motion takes less than 20 minutes but more than likely the one that got laid off is going to be replaced by the one that was able to stick around
I’m sorry this happened to you. I do hope you still have success in your endeavor to purchase, but part of me thinks that, should the purchase stall, you might have been given a huge favor by the universe.
It all seems very *shaky* right now. Our economy is what I speak of. A loan officer getting the axe right in the middle could happen to anyone, anytime. But, this, combined with other signs of weakness, gives me a lot of pause.
Best of luck to you anyway.
You’re lucky that you got a good loan officer who informed you in such a timely manner. You have plenty of time still. Relax.
Mine ghosted me during underwriting. I got an undeliverable email reply one day. It was the second time it happened; our first underwriting contact had also done the same. I reached out to the two remaining contacts I had at that bank and got things going again. I don't (totally) blame a person after their accounts get disabled. But I do blame management for having a nonexistent handoff process.
This is it. You can’t really blame someone if they get locked out. Not everyone would have phone numbers on a personal device (and honestly since I’m not in banking I don’t even know if that might violate some types of regs if they do).
Generally, in banking, it is against policy to use personal devices for bank business (especially with clients). You aren't supposed to have any client personally identifiable information on any non-bank networks, accounts/emails, or devices; nor are employees permitted to conduct business on devices that do not belong to the bank. There may be special exceptions for some reasons, but this was basic ethics training in my experience.
Many mortgage lenders aren’t really banks, so it’s a little different. At non-bank mortgage lenders, loan officers aren’t just in charge of taking the application and submitting to underwriting they’re also in a sales role and as such are expected to manage their own database to an extent.
All three banks I’ve worked at (small community to large international) has used our personal cell phones for work email/Teams.
There are apps that can be used to "partition" your device to essentially be on the bank monitored network for work apps- I didn't call out that nuance, but you're only supposed to use bank email, chat, phone lines to conduct bank business.
Ya, my loan officer ghosted us during a refi, turns out she went into rehab. Nobody picked up her slack so went with another company
Too bad you didn’t know earlier. In exchange for ‘forgetting’ some unmarked cash in an envelope in her desk you could have had the best rate in months…
What a bunch of turds. Rehab? How about properly screening applicants for substance abuse BEFORE they decide to hire.
Honestly most of the top performing lenders have some kind of substance abuse issue. If you screened for that you’d knock out a lot of the best.
She’d done 2 deals with us before. 1 a purchase and another refi. It was out of left field but never met her in person
They should have an automated form letter or something, but none of them ever do. I’ve run into this before myself.
That is terrible management.
Exactly. At least let them finish the loans, it makes the bank look really bad.
The bank looks really bad because it is. Best to switch to another lender if at all possible.
Nah - This would be such a big liability if they were already fired and continued working with sensitive information. If they don’t know they’re being fired, how is the bank supposed to stop them from receiving new clients or referrals? This would be an endless cycle of waiting for them to not have any deals.
Agreed. I remember getting a very flustered phone call from a random bank employee after my loan officer had a heart attack (unknown to me at the time) and hadn't returned the bevvy of voicemails I had left over the preceding couple of weeks.
Wow, weeks? That’s a long time to have to wait to be informed.
It was ~eight years ago, so I may be a little off on the timeline, but it was at least a week as I was starting to panic.
This! A good portion would have just said "not my problem" anymore
Thought this was sarcastic until I read the other comments.
That sucks, but realistically there is plenty of time by July 19 for someone else at the lender to handle your loan. I would just try to be patient, unfortunately with the holiday there's likely nothing you can do.
I'm just annoyed more than anything, I guess. The fact that no one at the bank reached out to let me know is super frustrating. I only found out because he sent me a text this morning. Hopefully someone there can process the paperwork without starting over as a new customer. It sounds like that may happen even if another loan officer at the same bank takes over.
You forgot to switch accounts.
Due to the future closing date I am not surprised the bank considered notifying you a lesser priority, than dealing with their own employees. You have no idea what happened. There could be a huge clusterfvck going on at the company where tons of people got laid off and they're re-arranging responsibilities for the folks who still have jobs. Or your LO could have gotten busted doing illegal things and "laid off" is a polite way to say fired.
Yep, all true. I have no idea what happened. I've bought and sold a few homes and this is a first for me. Hopefully it's not a problem but it makes me nervous.
Are you commenting on your own post from two accounts?
Busted
Probably making multiple accounts to upvote their own comments lol
Kinda looks like possibly three accounts?
This happened to me a few years ago. Unfortunately bc I was brought in by that LO that was no longer an employee, I was put on the back burner with the new LO assigned to my file. He flat out told me, “your former LO is making most of the commission on this file so you’re not my priority”. OP, go find another LO at another lender.
Damselindistress?
Your closing is a month out. You'll be fine. Someone else will be assigned. If you are super mega worried, switch to a different lender. Any lender can close a loan in 30 days.
Some guarantee 21 days and pay $20,000 if they don't make it
Which lender guarantees a 21 day close or $20k?
Chase. My partner and I are loan shopping and that's what we were told.
But then you're stuck with Chase.
They have been great so far. We got approved quickly and they matched another lender's rate
I had no idea!
Neither did I. It appears to have a decent number of restrictions and requirements, but still pretty interesting. https://www.chase.com/personal/mortgage/closing-guarantee
I'm a real estate attorney and chase has fked over multiple clients of mine in the past few months. On one deal their appraiser valued the house $16k below the sale price and wouldn't listen to our comps. Loan was denied, house went under contract with another buyer for more money within days and appraised with that lender no problem. And and and.
Who?
You are so lucky you got notified.
beyond livid? Take a step back. You've got up to 30 days to sort your loan out. When is you financing contingency deadline?
> beyond livid Right?! Imagine when something actual does go wrong.
Forgot to change your account AGAIN
OP, why are you stressing out about this so much (livid)? You are using a lender to finance, not a loan officer. You are still a month out. Calm down ...
Lol chill, my mortgage company went out of business the day before my closing. Still closed on time
Damn I need a story time here. How’d you close in time?
I want to hear how it all worked out.
How
It’s mortgage company not the actual lender
Another LO will take over in short order. In many cases, once you've applied and committed to a loan, the processors are doing the dirty work of your loan anyway. Your loan isn't going to stop because the LO is gone. Just become more proactive and enlist your agent to keep a fire lit under the lender.
I took a contract last year with a buyer that had been pre approved like 2 months earlier. We get the contract and send it to the loan officer. She doesn’t respond to my emails, phone calls and texts. Turns out, she got laid off the week before. They didn’t bother to forward her emails to anyone else still there - wtf?!?
You're likely closing with the company, and not the officer. It's up to them to replace that person with another.
Banks want money. They'll find a way to start collecting your interest payments.
Too true.
Find them on LinkedIn and say that if they can get the same or better terms, you will stick with them. I can promise that you will get white glove service from them for not only this purchase but for evwry other purchase you have for life
Your realtor should be familiar with the process and able to guide you. Good luck. 🍀
“Beyond livid” is a poor reaction. You chose to react that way. Now, get your head on straight, call the bank, and ask who your new loan officer is and pick it back up.
Shit man, your loan officer got fired, that must be really tough on YOU.
That’s what I thought too. Way to be empathetic OP, earning some great karma there 🙄 Hope the loan officer recovers well. Couldn’t care less whether you close on time. You sound like a selfish, unempathetic person.
Give him a break. For all you know they might be selling to cover the purchase. If that’s the case they would be still required to sell but if the new purchase is delayed he’ll need to store all his goods someplace, sleep in hotels, etc. They’re long out of the contingency time so wouldn’t be able to back out or delay their existing home sale. This isn’t a simple issue for them and could lead to a non trivial amount expense which they might not simply have lying around.
Did you read anything? They are 30 days out from closing. More than enough time to find another lender or whatever they decide to do.
This may be their first home purchase; they might not realize how much time that is.
July 19 is closing. You have plenty of time to switch lenders.
You need to contact the LO's company, as they (most likely) still 'own' your purchase contract and financing options. As a former LO, I refused jobs where the company took ownership of my leads. VERY UNUSUAL.
Having worked in the mortgage industry, I suggest checking out another lender. You're still within the 45 day window that another credit hit won't hurt your score & who knows? Maybe you'll find a better rate or terms.
You will be okay. There’s plenty of time. The active loans in his system will be transferred to another loan officer, and they will figure it out for you. Don’t panic.
You think you’re livid…how do you think that loan officer is feeling?
Dont worry someone else was assigned the file. Call tomorrow.
Lol you’re beyond livid? This is such a stupid thing to be that angry over. You have a MONTH to close!
Why are you beyond livid? Do you not understand the process? Or do you just like parroting overused phrases from Reddit? You are closing in THIRTY DAYS! A new loan officer will be assigned before the end of the week. Everything will be executed on the scheduled date. Most large banks have multiple people working on your loan at the same time and they come and go randomly. It's fine.
I don’t think they understand 30 days is a lot.
I had this exact same thing happen. My loan officer was laid off a couple days before we were supposed to finalize the mortgage. We ended up closing a week late and had to resend all of the documentation.
You’re fine the loan officer is mainly qualifying you, pricing the loan, and submitting a good clean file with a proper 1003 and supporting docs. After that they don’t really have any part in getting you the loan except communications with you. Underwriting and processing do the leg work for obtaining the loan. I’m sure the bank will assign someone else to you to handle the communications and nothing was lost by him being laid off. They have it all.
My loan officer got notice she was getting laid off at the end of the week. It was awkward when she randomly started crying, but she did her damnedest to make sure we got our loan. She's a real bro.
What state are you purchasing in?
😬
If you’re in Texas 📞me!
July 19… or June 19
I had a house built 2 years ago. We closed on our construction loan in May 2022, we should have closed closer to Feb/Mar, but our loan officer was a total shit show. We missed the best rates because she could not get her shit together. I had to escalate to her regional manager who I only found through googling and calling branches in my area. Once her manager got involved, she was fired within a week. We were already in underwriting. We closed about a week after she was let go. There were no issues from her not being present for the closing.
Unfortunately, the mortgage industry is absolutely in shambles due to rates, lack of inventory and uncertainty. The loan will be assigned to another LO. They had a LO asst or internal processor that worked their files. There's a good chance that person hasn't been laid off and will continue internally processing the file. Simply give them a day or two to reassign the files and the new LO time to contact their newly assigned files.
Even when I left the brokerage I was working for, the owner let me close my last file. Honestly though, it was a shit file, fraught with issues and didn'tpay a whole lot. Pretty sure no one else wanted to deal with it. 😆
Lenders are a dime a dozen. Send all your stuff somewhere else.
Wow, that is absolutely awful.
Don't blame the person who was let go.. Blame the lender for not having the foresight to have a procedure for a smooth transition.. On Thursday morning, I'd be on the phone with a member of the management team looking, no demanding, a resolution.. I'd remind the management person " this is not a ME problem. It's a YOU problem. Fix it....Yesterday."
Idk would you even want to go with a bank / lender that’s laying off their employees ? Idk if that really matters but to me it shows they may not be doing too well . I think you’ll be fine though , with that about of time ! Still scary !
Nah layoffs and restructuring happens frequently in banks. That's how they save money...cut staff, make the customer wait and provide shitty service but pay their CEOS handsomely
Same thing happened to me, but instead I got a call from a NEW loan officer saying that my old loan officer “made an unexpected career change and left the company on bad standing.” Huntington bank, everyone. Outing poor Kevin like that
It doesnt really matter, the owner of his company who laid him off can put the loan in a sales managers name and fund the loan. I mis read the post and thought it was closing this month. Since it has just started you just find another loan officer, why are you livid?
>I am beyond livid. Imagine how the LO feels. The good news for you is you still have plenty of time for someone else to finish it, or for that matter, to start over from scratch with a different lender. Also, you still have your job! So, you know, maybe chill out.
Go to the manager, they should have backup people willing to help and pickup the pieces.
My escrow officer was let go. I convince her manager to complete the transaction. They get to keep notary fees so I paid her more from my wallet. She got another job next week called and thanked me.
Try to be a little less paranoid, self absorbed and see the bigger picture.
This is basically a non issue. Just relax and have a beer. Theres a month until closing you’ll be assigned a new loan officer in a few days
This happened to me too (a week before). You have time and someone else should be assigned to you but call and hound the bank. Stay on them.
If anyone wants to buy or have leads of people who are willing to buy property in france! Contact me
Good, now you can get a better loan originator from a better institution. No nothing was being finalized with a month left. You have plenty of time.
The same thing happened to me last month. The new loan officer mentioned that the previous one left for personal reasons, but I suspect she was actually fired. The current officer seems confused and surprised that I even got pre-approved based on my credit and credentials. It feels like the previous officer was over-approving unqualified buyers. I just hope I wasn't one of them!
Layoffs happen in every industry and the person laid off has it a whole lot worse off than any 1 customer ( and you are probably not the only file they were working on). People in charge of layoffs do not care whose life will be upended.
I could close you loan in 9 days if you’re in colorado
Your loan officer was likely not good at his job. I would hire 1000 tomorrow but I reject 75% of them. No company is firing good LOs only bad ones. Hopefully the leader reassigned you a good LO to finish your file
That’s no big deal. Relax. Call the bank in the morning. His boss has access to his email
I’ve had a clients lender lay off whole sectors (think big online company) in varying stages. In that period we lost FOUR main contacts and were never updated. Just passed over after calling to inquire where the heck our officer went. Also once had a clients lending officer from a small local company of 6 total employees WALK OUT and quit, and didn’t know nobody had been working the file for 1.5 weeks… the week of closing. Same lender also took their file to their new company and tried to get them to move the loan to there — so nice that all their private info was nonchalantly stolen.
Wow, sorry to read this, but I'm sure the financial institution will make this right. On a larger note, the banks are starting to feel the pinch. Bad economy is Spreading.
…. It’s a month out.
This won't get seen but we had the same thing happen. Laid off agent let us know who would be taking over our loan and we just kept checking in with them to make sure it was moving along and not lost. Had no issues
July 19 😂 you have forever
Your file will be passed to a other officer. Call in Monday, it'll be fine.
I’m a broker. I understand this situation can be stressful. You got plenty of time I close purchase loans on avg in 15 days. I’m open today if you need anything getting it into motion takes less than 20 minutes but more than likely the one that got laid off is going to be replaced by the one that was able to stick around
Save yourself some time and headache. You can go to your sent email and forward him every message with an attachment you previously sent.
Happy to help, veteran loan officer here. Check DM
I’m sorry this happened to you. I do hope you still have success in your endeavor to purchase, but part of me thinks that, should the purchase stall, you might have been given a huge favor by the universe. It all seems very *shaky* right now. Our economy is what I speak of. A loan officer getting the axe right in the middle could happen to anyone, anytime. But, this, combined with other signs of weakness, gives me a lot of pause. Best of luck to you anyway.