Complaint Review: Financial Advantage - Colorado Springs Colorado

Financial Advantage, Inc caused me to lose the home I was going to purchase and my $2000.00 earnest money.

They told me they could get me fantastic loan at a great rate. Through the entire 5 week process my loan officer claimed that everything was going just great.

During the last week before our close I started trying to get the rate & payment information. First she said that she wasn't in the office & couldn't access my file. Two days later she said that all of the computers in Colorado Springs were down, so she couldn't access my file. Was she keeping them on the internet?? I mean if the internet is down, you can still access all of the rest of your stuff, right?

She finally called the day before the close & left a voice mail saying she had my loan info & rate to give me. I called twice that afternoon & left messages with her co-worker both times. No one from the office contacted me back.

Friday(the next day) we went to our close having NO loan info whatsoever. We walked in completely blind. At the close we found that she had not gotten us the type of loan we wanted. We were quoted a 30 yr fixed rate 80/20, with 5.85% interest rate on the 80% & 7% interest rate on the 20% on the good faith estimate. We told her we wanted all costs rolled into the loan, with no out of pocket expense & no lock in period.

What we got was a 30 ARM "blended loan" for 100% at a 7.85% interest rate, with a 2 year lock in(with a 6 month interest penalty)& out of pocket costs of $4495.00.

Even after we saw the paperwork & I called her, she INSISTED that the loan was a 30 year fixed rate. Then she called back & said she was wrong!

I am at the closing table for over an hour & this woman has no idea what kind of loan she has even gotten me! Needless to say, I didn't have $4495.00 in the bank. She scrambled to say we could call the lender & get it fixed. This is after she bad mouthed the lender & said she would never use them again.

I was livid & every step of the way we found something else wrong with the loan. At this point I KNEW we were getting ripped off!! My credit score is over 700 & I should qualify for the best loans out there!! We decided that we could NOT allow ourselves to get scammed, so we walked out. Walking out meant losing the house, our earnest money, the money we paid for the ispection & also that there are now like 6 inquiries on my credit bureau from them!

The full story is too long to detail out! Let's just say the Truth in Lending were violated in a big way!

I went on the website for the Colorado Attorney General's consumer complaints. That just directed me to the BBB. I filed my "brief" complaint with them. I got a response from Financial Advantage, Inc. which basically said they did everything right & I should have been a more knowledgable consumer! Well, then what was I paying them for!!??

I called the BBB & told them my complaint was not satisfied by the response & that I wanted my full complaint posted for all to see. She told me I had to write a rebuttal letter(you betcha...20 pages worth!!)& send it to them. Then they would contact the company again & decide if it would go to arbitration.

I said, "so WHEN do you actually post my complaint?" She spit out the whole long process, which came down to the fact that the BBB will likely NEVER post my complaint!

I am now looking to get the word out anywhere that I can that Financial Advantage, Inc is a shady operation! The most honest word in thier title is ADVANTAGE! They get you to the closing table, knowing that you don't want to lose your house & you will take any loan they put in front of you!! Not this time!!

I plan to file in small claims court to recover my $2000.00 & take any other steps I need to! I want the public to be aware!

Justine

Parker, Colorado
U.S.A.

STOP! ..before you think about using the Better Business Bureau (BBB)... CLICK HERE to see how other consumers were victimized by the BBB's false or misleading information. Don't be fooled! It has been reported, when there are thousands of complaints and other investigations underway by authorities, the BBB has no choice but to finally give an UNsatisfactory rating to a BBB member business that is paying the BBB big membership fees every year. When a business is reported that is NOT a BBB member, BBB files WILL more likely show an UNsatisfactory rating, then reportedly shake down that company to become a member of the BBB. One positive thing about the BBB is, either way, if a business has an unsatisfactory rating with the BBB, you can be sure, the business is bad. But what about all those BBB member businesses that had complaints filed against them? Consumers never get to hear about them. What about the BBB advertising to the public? Is this a false and misleading perception they are giving about consumer confidence when dealing with a business? Click here to understand more of what consumers and business alike are saying about the BBB. You decide. ..Remember. The BBB membership is not earned, it's paid for!