Complaint Review: Lending Store . Aapex Mortgage Apex Mortgage Southstar Funding EMC Mortgage - Brandon Florida

About the beginning of September I went online to Lendingtree.com and filled out the questions for getting comparisons on refinancing my home loan. I received several calls from various companies.

One of the companies was;

Aapex (Apex) Mortgage Co.

Denise Tran

Lending Store Inc./Aapex Mortgage

Tel: 949-748-6614

Fa: 800-458-1283

Denise called me and quoted me $875 on an ARM which looked like the best payment I was quoted and we began to proceed on the loan. I asked her what fees would be included for the loan and she said the only thing I would have to pay was the appraisal which would be around $350 paid directly to the appraiser.

During the process Denise informed me that we had to close my second mortgage that I had with Suntrust for $75,000. So we also discussed a second mortgage. I was reluctant to close this one because this was the loan I used to fund my business.

11/10/06 Appraisal

The appraisal was completed

11/15/06 I called Denise to find out what the house appraised for and if I could get a copy of the appraisal so I could get another 2nd mortgage and she told me that she would send it out. (She did not send it.)

12/1/06 I received an email (I have the email) from Denise to get paperwork sent to her. I had Washington Mutual (my current lender) send her the papers directly.

12/19/06 I met with Mr Tim Allen (Notary Signing Agent)

The request was made to Mr. Allen in an email from Denise that we predate the forms to Dec.18th and for him not to leave me any papers at the closing. I had questions about the fees of which I was seeing for the first time. Of course Mr. Allen could not answer those questions but, said I could call Apex (Denise Tran) and get answers the next day.

I had 3 days to back out of the arrangement after I received my copy of the documents (of which were NEVER sent) by law. I chose to sign based on the Notice of Right to Cancel and the fact that I needed to close and pay Washington Mutual on time. (I had asked WAMU to wait 2 prior times so we could close this loan and I didn't think they would wait for a 3rd time.) Although, he was instructed not to, Mr. Allen left me a copy of the Settlement Statement and the Right to Cancel. He said that normally he would leave a complete set of all the papers but, as instructed, I would receive my copy from Denise.

On/about 12/20 Denise called me and I referred her to the closing on the first mortgage and explained the payoff on the existing mortgage was about $275,000 and the second mortgage was about $5,000 but, I asked her, why was the loan amount for 290,000? I told her I did not expect all those other fees and didn't want to borrow that much and they had included the property taxes that I had already paid.

I then asked her what the other fees were for. She said she didn't know but would check and get back to me. That was the last time I ever spoke with her. I called back again several times until Christmas and left messages for her to call me back. She never called back and would not return my calls.

On 12/27 I called my bank to see if they received their money on the refinance and they had. Also, the second mortgage to SunTrust was paid. I still didn't have my copy of the closing papers or the answers about the fees.

On 12/28th I called Denise Tran and left her another message that the payments were made and asked when I would receive my papers and the appraisal. I still needed to get a second mortgage. I used that resource to fund my business dealings (important that I make money to pay my bills). She again did not return my call and so I began to research the company Denise worked for online and found: Apex Financial Group Inc. dba Aapex Mortgage

I called and spoke with Trisha Campbell to tell her that Denise would not return my calls and that I still did not have my papers. She said that they still had Denise's check but, did not have a copy of the papers from her either and she wouldn't pay her until she got the papers from her. She would check into it and get back to me. She did not call me back.

1/3/07 I received a call from Tim Allen (closing agent) who asked if I had received my papers and if everything was alright. I told him that there were still no papers sent to me. I gave Mr. Allen the names and numbers of the people I had spoken with concerning this loan. He said that he had not received his payment yet and that he would call them and call me back. When he returned the call he said that he had difficulty with Apex.

On 1/4/07 Mr. Allen forwarded the two sets of emails. One from Denise, which contained the closing documents she had asked him to have me sign at the closing and one from Deborah Werbel from Nationwide Appraisers that contained more documents withheld from the closing by Denise. After opening the forwarded email I told Mr. Allen that I had never seen some of those papers before. Someone else had signed some of those papers by forging my signature.

Mr. Allen began to inspect all the documents and noticed several pages had been added since we signed and we realized that those pages also had FORGED signatures.

The following documents are the ones that were withheld and or forged:

1. Universal Loan Application

2. Prepayment Penalty Addendum to Note

3. Adjustable Rate Rider

4. Prepayment Penalty Rider

5. (Final) Settlement Statement (using different amounts)

6. Payment Options Letter and Coupon

7. Commitment to Insure Title

8. Fee Information

9. Adjustable Rate Loan Program Disclosure

10. Instructions to Escrow

11. Addendum to Instructions to Escrow

12. Amortization Schedule

1/5 I called the corporate offices of Apex in FL again and again. Each time I called to speak with someone the receptionist would tell me they were not available and forward me to their voice mail. I told her of the laws they had broken and I wanted someone in charge to talk to me. She was very rude and hung up on me and then they stopped excepting (blocked) my calls.

Coincidentally later that same day I received a call from Richard Harding from Apex Mortgage in CA. I told him about the forgeries and missing paperwork at the closing and he told me he had just returned from vacation and had fired Denise for taking an unauthorized vacation while he was away. He had just found out about the loan dispute by reading her emails.

I thought that was strange since I had already been told by Mr. Allen (closing agent) that he had informed them of the situation so, I began to doubt Mr. Hardings credibility. He assured me he would resolve the issue. I also told him about the Florida office being rude and not returning my calls and hanging up on me. He denied being affiliated with Apex mortgage in Florida (later he admitted that he was)!

On 1/8/07

Chris Schubert of

Southstar Funding

Called me concerning the difference in the address of the property. I told him of the documents I was missing and the ones that were forged and of the lack of communication concerning the loan and the differing amounts from Denise Tran. He said he would send me a copy of the documents and also said that he would have to consult with his associates and someone would get back with me.

1/9/07 I received my first copy of documents from Southstar through UPS. After looking over these pages I discovered even more forgeries and more added pages that were not at closing. There is an added loan application that a Ngan T. Tran in Florida, he claimed to have interviewed me by phone and this also has my forged signature. (Same last name as Denise Tran from the CA office)

1/11/07 I met with my attorney and reviewed the paper work I had been sent. He pointed out that by the 5th year the loan value would be near $333,000. I did not want a lone for $290,000 much less one for $333,000. He advised me to try and cancel the loan by right of my 3 day refusal. I became frightened of my situation and left immediately to get the refusal off that day. I did so in an email sent to Southstar and Denise Tran at Apex in CA.

1/12/07

Craig Weitzel

Fraud Investigator

SouthStar Funding

Mr. Weitzel called me to assure me that he would investigate the issue thoroughly. I sent him all the information I had gather to that point as well as the contact information for Mr. Allen. After many emails back and forth I still, to this day, do not have any results from his fraud investigation.

1/12/07 I received another call from Richard Harding and he told me he had spoken with his corporate headquarters in FL. (of which he had earlier denied being affiliated) and Craig Weitzel from Southstar. They had charged him with resolving the issue. He told me he was willing to cut some of the closing costs in retribution. I became very upset with him as he pressured me to take the offer, which included the exact same loan proposal!

I told him that because of them I had lost my existing loan valued at $273,000 and my second mortgage valued at $75,000, which also funded my business dealings, and now he was offering me a loan that in 5 years would amount to $333,000. I informed him that I never would have cancel my first and second mortgage to apply for this over-inflated ARM loan with the unreasonable $10,000 closing costs!

Then I told him that I knew he was lying to me by saying he was not affiliated with the Florida office, and (most importantly) they had withheld and obviously forged all the pertinent documents that contained the financials. I asked what he planned to do about it all?

He said that Denise no longer worked there and that they frown on employees that do those sort of thing and that was not their policy. As if that were all that was required to make me feel better and fix the situation they had put me in. I told him that I did not want his loan, it was too late to get my old loans back, and after all that had happened to me, he had the nerve lie to me, and from then on he should only email me with any future communications. He then had the nerve to ask me why, even though I was obviously upset at him. This only made me feel even more angry that he was trying to bait me. I then explained (as calmly as I could) that I was livid and the only way for me not to lose control of my emotions would be through an email. I then hung up on him.

1/12/07 I informed Mr. Weitzel (Southstar) of the lies Mr. Harding was telling and how rude the corporate headquarters had been to me in the past and said I would not deal with Richard or Apex any longer, they could not be trusted no matter what they told me.

1/17 I noticed Richard Harding called 6:50pm on my caller ID. A blatant disregard for my earlier email request. I refused to answer the call. I then emailed Craig at Southstar because he had asked me to inform him when Mr. Harding communicated with me.

1/18 Richard called 2 more times during this day. I did not answer.

1/23 Tim Allen (closing Agent) called to let me know that Richard had called him and also sent him a payment and that he had been told by Richard that Richards last name was Harvey and not Harding and spelled it out for him. I assured him it was in fact Harding and to prove it I forwarded the email from Richard Harding as verification. (Even more proof that Mr. Harding was attempting to cover over the facts.)

2/22 I reported the issue to the FBI Internet Crime Complaints Center (IC3).

2/23 I reported to the The Better Business Bureau of Clearwater, FL (which resulted in unanswered charges by Aapex Mortgage)

3/6 I have sent my evidence to the Hillsboro County Police Dept. in Tampa Fla. (Aapex's corporate location)

to a Detective Allen who is now pursuing this case.

Many laws have been broken and witnessed by the closing agent. I feel like I have done everything possible and within my means to resolve this through appropriate authorities. My income has been hampered by this. I have been intentionally targeted and victimized in this internet scam to steal my income and my and my daughters home! I have been recently diagnosed with severe depression due to this issue and I am finding it very hard to handle this!

Peggy

Winston-Salem, North Carolina
U.S.A.

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