Is exposing your own weakness a good power play?

I want to share with you a very emotional and challenging home buying experience we were involved in this past week.

This story is being told through a series of emails sent to me from a home buyer that encountered various challenges throughout the 30 day escrow period while working with our company, Broadview Mortgage – Katella branch.

I think there is great value in telling you this story, even though at (most) times it puts our company in a very bad light, there are important lessons to be learned here.

To begin this story, I am going to start with the end.

Tuesday, June 2nd 2010:

Mr. Schang,

You have my full permission to reprint any of my e-mails.  I was so exhausted from my own job when I was writing and therefore my e-mails were full of mispellings and grammatical errors but hopefully you can still benefit from some of the comments I made.   I think it is quite refreshing that you are willing to take an objective, realistic, open-minded examination of some of the practices or difficulties that can occur in this process and try to have discussions that will make your company better.  I really appreciate your attitude and response.  I have worked for 40 years in education and I absolutely enjoy trying to make my business and practices better whenever I can and I am impressed that you feel the same way.  If I go two or 3 weeks without looking at trying to find a better way of doing something at my work I am not happy with myself.  Continuous improvement, feedback, brainstorming, and keeping an open mind about how we do business is a good way of living.

In response to my email:

Mr. xxxxxxxx,

I am very happy to hear that your journey has ended.  Ryan has been keeping me up to date for the past two weeks about all of the challenges you’ve encountered during the buying process.

With your permission, I would like to reprint your emails (removing your identity and the names of everyone except myself) as an example of lessons we have learned and managing the expectations of others buying homes.

Yes, there were many things that in retrospect could have or should have gone differently.  Delays, challenges and miscommunication are common occurrences for most home buyers – and it is never the same thing twice.

I think that by sharing this story, reflecting on the mistakes and miscommunication and ultimately the successful result of you being a homeowner, would be very valuable to others that are going through different, but similar challenges.

Every home purchase is unique.  Each buyer, each seller, each home has it’s own unique challenges.  As a lender, we are problem solvers.  There are ALWAYS problems.  The experience of our team (Ryan, loan officer, Processors, Underwriters) is what determines the final, end result when navigating these troubled waters.

We have learned and grown from this experience as we do with every single home buyer that counts on us to give a 100% effort to accomplish the singular goal of making you the proud owner of a new home.

Congratulations on your new home!

Please let me know if it’s ok to reprint portions of your emails and tell the story of these challenges so that others may benefit from the challenges you have overcome.  I think this would be very valuable for others to hear your story.

You may call me anytime on my cell phone if you would like to talk more:  714-336-8286

Scott Schang

Ok, let’s start closer to the beginning now so that you can put this into perspective.

Tuesday, May 25th 2010:

Dear (Real Estate Agent),

Its Tuesday May 25th at 2:25 and I still don’t have an appointment at Escrow.  According To Broadview Mortgage, The Escrow office charge two sets of equal fess for the first and second mortgage charging over $7000 of monies that they shouldn’t charge.  Now when the Operations Mangager of Broadview called the Escrow company to help them, they said they were too busy. This is the same Escrow company that sent papers too my house when they should not have according to Broadview.

I am just letting you know what is happening or not happening.  Last Tuesday, May 18 (Loan Officer) called me and told to bring all the documents I had from Ladera Ranch and everything that the Escrow company sent me because he said they sent me 4 documents that they should not have and did not copies.  On that Tuesday night at 7:00 I asked (Loan Officer) for the timeline leading up to the signing at escrow.  He assured me that Thursday May 19th or Friday May 20 I would be signing at Escrow.  Friday afternoon after clearing my work schedule and getting all excited and waiting for the call, it never came and so I called (Loan Officer).  (Loan Officer) tells me that the interest rate went down from 5.375 to 5.250 and this is a good thing ($27.00 a month) and when I asked him when I would sign he said Monday May 24th for sure.  So now I clear my work schedule, cancel my appointments. go AAA and get personal property insurance and wait for the call.  At 2:00pm I e-mailed (Loan Officer) and nothing.  AT 3:00 I call (Loan Officer) and he tells me that Corporate hasn’t sent the docs yet.  I then ask to speak to his boss, the operations mangager, Ryan Ellis and he listens and tells me that when (Loan Officer) accepted the lower interest rate, the process was definitely going to be delayed because it had to go thru several channels again.  I then said to Ryan,  (Loan Officer) new the urgency that I discussed with him on Tuesday night and my frustrations and lowered the interest rate knowing there would be delays without consulting me.  I said thats totally  unacceptable.  Ryan agreed and said he would talk to (Loan Officer) because he made a mistake and he himself would get behind this process.  Escrow closes at 5:30 and naturally I did not hear from them or the lender even though I spent the whole day at home expecting to sign the papers.

Today Tuesday at 10:00 I left a message for (Loan Officer) and Ryan to call me back.   (Loan Officer) called me back at 12:15 and said that Escrow double charged and now we have to wait for escrow to redo the numbers and send them to corporate and then corporate will send the papers back to escrow and then sometime they will call me.  I asked (Loan Officer) why he accepted the lowering of the interest rate last friday without consulting me and he now said that there was a communications processing problem.  I asked what that meant?  He said he was telling a woman about another account to let that interest rate float and the woman misunderstood and somehow let my account float.  He did not tell me this on Friday, He did not tell me that there would be extra delays because of the acceptance of this new interest rate, like his boss Ryan Ellis described.  He minimized the mistake and made it seem like it was a little bit his doing a lit bit the (Loan Processor) doing.  He asked me last Tuesday why don’t I have confidence in him and once again I told him why I have very little confidence in him.  He has made several mistakes and apparently escrow has made some mistakes and I hold them both accountable but my own lender should do better.

Now Ryan Ellis the operations manager says he is pushing his department to write up loan docs and he is sending them to Escrow and expects them to respond but I don’t trust Escrow either with all their mistakes.

When you told me to relax a couple of weeks ago and let you do all the work, this hasn’t been the case at all.  I am not saying you should have done anything differently but I don’t think you should ever tell a client to relax and that you will do your part.  I am glad I am being assertive and keeping full records of these proceedings as both the Broker and My Lender continue to disappoint me just about everyday!!

P.S.  If you can’t tell, I am furious and frustrated by this entire process and wonder who really regulates the Real Estate Industry.  No wonder
we got ourselves into a major problem a few years ago because of Greed, incompetence, and lack of oversight, but
problems continue in this industry at least if my case is any example of what is going “out there”.

Today, (Loan Officer) again promised me that I would be signing documents at Escrow even though escrow had “messed up”.
Ryan Ellis, Operations Manager called me at 1:15pm and also promised me that he would be very assertive and make this happen
today.  I do appreciate the urgency of Ryan Ellis and him hearing me out.  I have not appreciated the mistakes of (Loan Officer) and
there are several that I haven’t even enumerated here and he minimizes his mistakes and continues making them.

My next step is to contact the managers of the Katella office John Krochman and Scott Schang.  It is now 2:30pm and I fear the worst, more delays and more mistakes.  My lender Broadview Mortgage says the Escrow company is making mistakes and I know My loan officer is making mistakes.  This is a bad combination for me.  Now I am going to send this letter to Scott Schang. I saw him at lest 3 times presnt useful information about buying real estate and he talked about the competence and integrity of Broadview Mortgage Company and I am waiting to see evidence of this.

Tuesday, May 25th 2010:

(3:00pm)

Now (Loan Officer) called and said the loan documents are at Escrow!  I am actually “pleseantly surprised” almost in a state of shock as there have been so many low points.
Now I will try and get an appointment with the Escrow company and try first to find out the amount of the certified check that I need to bring to them.

Friday, May 28th 2010:

Dear Scott Schang:

From (Home Buyer)

( A client who got pre-approved from Broadview some time ago with (Loan Officer) and then re-pre-approved with loan officer (Loan Officer)).  I finally found a beautiful condo in Ladera Ranch and the offer of $440,000 was accepted along with my condition that I would get back up to $10,000 for closing costs.  Escrow opened on either April 29th or April 30 and I was told that there would be a 30 day escrow and everything had to be completed by Friday May 28, 2010.  Furthermore I was told that all contingies had to be removed in 17 days and that included many difference events and I was most concerned about the appraisal and having time to get an inspection and get everything done by Friday May 14th.  Scott, I saw 3 of your webinars and really appreciated your ideas and education on timely topics for myself and others.  I thought you were intelligent, responsible, concerned, and ethical.  Even with all my bad experiences with Broadview Mortgage during this 30 day escrow ordeal and my failed loan process I am not thinking any different about you personally but some of your employees do not seem to share your high ideals of ethics and competence and the work they did for me was inexcusable and sloppy and cost me completing my loan process in the timely manner of 30 days which they were aware during this entire time.  The amount of stress, mental anxiety, mental anguish I have felt during this process has been incalculable.  I will not bore you with all the details of lost sleep and having to leave work or miss work especially during the last 7 days of this process to bring documents to escrow and to clear my calendar so I could meet with escrow to sign the loan docs to be told over and over again that I could not meet with escrow because there was some problem.   Please read the next two paragraphs and then I will briefly outline some of the mistakes and screwups by employees of Broadview Mortgage that made life so miserable for me especially the last two weeks and led to an unsuccessful bid to close on time today May 28, 2010.

Today at around 1:30 Ryan Ellis gave me the very bad news that my loan could not be funded today the final expected day of closing on my 30 day escrow.  The final straw was that my insurance policy was set to become active on June 1, 2010 and it needed to be active as of today May 28, 2010.  No one ever told me to get insurance active on May 28, 2010 but this problem easily could have been remedied as everything could have easily been completed days before but their were a number of mistakes and I find the service that I received at Broadview Mortgage to be somewhere between a D- and an F.

Right at this moment I feel sick to my stomach, frustrated, and angry although I am so exhausted by the total experience of trying to buy this condo that I am more depressed than angry because there is nothing else I can do.  I can at least e-mail you this message and then contact various media and agencies that oversee your business to express my contempt and frustration with a process that did not work for me.  Many mistakes were made by my loan officer, (Loan Officer) and (Loan Processor) and I don’t even know her position.  More about her “fatal mistake” to my loan later in this report.

I am very tired right now but I will write this letter as accurately and as brief as possible.  I don’t have the actual documentation with me as I am at work but Escrow opened on either April 28th or April 29th and I was told I had till Friday May 15, 2010 to remove the continues and then my deposit money of $5000 would be at stake along with my appraisal fees, inspection fees, and of course the possibility of not getting the house.  My family, friends, and co-workers have been astonished when I tell them the stories and mistakes that have occurred.  Whether this is typical, usual, or unusual for how business is conducted by Broadview Mortgage Company my experience of Broadview from the buyers personal point of view is that something is terribly wrong with this office.

I believe around May 4th I received an e-mail from (Loan Officer) that I would be getting an e-mail and asked to use my credit card to pay for an appraisal and “shortly thereafter an appraisal appointment would be made.  I was worried that the appraisal price would not be at $440,000 and anxious to get the appraisal and then order the inspection if the appraisal was at least $440,000.  Days went by and I kept calling (Loan Officer) asking when they would do the appraisal and when would I get the results.  I was hoping that I could maybe get the appraisal by Friday May 7 and the I became anxious over the weekend and then I called or e-mailed (Loan Officer) Everyday and he kept saying it would be coming.  Finally on May 10th (Loan Officer) said I would definitely on May 11th.  Late Wednesday I finally got the news that the appraisal was at $445,000 and I was very happy.  The next day Thursday May 13th I called my inspector in Huntington Beach and asked if he could come out to the condo and he said he would be there Friday May 14th the last possible day before the contingies would be removed.  I was told it was critical that I have the appraisal and the inspection before the end of the 17th day and I asked (Loan Officer) if it was standard procedure to get the appraisal results on the 15th day.  What if the inspector had health issues in his family or car problems?  Would I already be in violation of the contract.  (Loan Officer) would give me an answer and said everything will be ok.  He mentioned that countless times during our e-mail and phone conversations and somehow I had less and less confidence in him as things went sour.

Anyway, I thought the appraisal results would have come sooner thatn May 14th wednesday giving me only two days to arrange and have an inspection.  (Loan Officer) told me about a 4 day period that slowed things up but he thought things were going fine.  The following Tuesday May 18 (Loan Officer) called me and said that Escrow screwed up and sent me documents without keeping a copy and I needed to give them to him.  I am at home after a long day of work and he tells me to meet him in La Habra at 7:00 and bring all the papers I have.  I am thinking something is really wrong here when a client has to leave his home at 7:00 pm in the evening and deliver papers to his loan officer but of course I do it.  I met (Loan Officer) in person and told him that I am losing confidence in him and I ask him for a timeline on the next events in this process.  (Loan Officer) absolutely assured me that either Thurday May 20th or Friday May 21st for sure I would sign the loan documents at Escrow.  I told him I am very concerned because I saw how late the appraisal came in and I did not want to have the signing of the loan documents get delayed because I was keeping an eye on May 28th the 30th day of escrow and everything had to be completed on that day.  When (Loan Officer) asked me for bank statements or payroll checks I always immediated sent the proper documents.  One time when the fax did not work I left work and rushed to the post office on a friday to make sure the certificate of educational training was sent to him

Now are you ready for a surprise.  Thursday came and went and Friday around 2:00 or 3:00 pm after I cancelled all my appointments so that I could rush to sign the loan documents I finally called (Loan Officer) and and old me that there had been am interest rate reduction from 5.3750 to 5.250 and he was somewhat proud that my payments would be lower.  He did not call me and discuss this rate change or ask my opinion, he just did it on his own and did not call me.  I called him and then he told me what he did.  All I could think was I told him that I wanted to sign the loan documents as soon as possible and did want any delays as I afraid of not closing on May 28th.

(Loan Officer) said everything would be OK and I would sign the documents on Monday May 24th.  I felt very frustrated and upset and felt crummy the whole weekend thinking that at best I would sign the documents on Monday May 24th and May 28th Friday was getting closer and closer.  I even quoted Scott Schang on “timing is everything” and you have the loan documents signed 5 to 7 days before closing.  I was anxious and (Loan Officer) was calm as usual and he again told me how everything is fine.  I was upset because he promised me that I would sign the loan documents on Thursday May 20th or Friday May 21.  I guess promises don’t mean anything.  Now, I was losing sleep and losing more confidence in (Loan Officer).  My family, friends, and co-workers asked me on Monday, If I had signed the papers on Friday May 21st.  No I will be signing them on Monday May 24th.  Monday comes and I go to AAA automobile club and take out a personal property insurance policy as my real estate agent advised me and I really did not know when to start the coverage because I really did not know what date to use nor did the insurance agent.  So I put down June 1, 2010.  I dedicated Monday May 24th to be the day I would finally sign the papers.

Later I call (Loan Officer) to find out when I would sign and he tells me there is problems.  On Tuesday night May 18th when he promised me that he would have me sign the loan documents Thursday or Friday he PROMISED me that Ryan Ellis his boss would call me so I could better about this process because I was already feeling time is slipping away.  On Monday May 24th when I called (Loan Officer) and he told me that corporate is “working on my loan” documents I was again got a bad feeling.  I said I really need to talk to your bossy Ryan Ellis.  I talked to Ryan and brought up my concerns detailed in the above paragraphs and Ryan agree that (Loan Officer) SHOULD HAVE CONSULTED WITH ME AS TO WHETHER I WANTED TO LOWER MY INTEREST RATE BUT DELAY THE LOAN SIGNING.  Ryan told me that when the interest rate was lowered and accept there were several steps that now had to take place before the loan docs could be signed.  I am thinking, (Loan Officer) knew how much I wanted to sign the loan documents on Thursday or Friday, why didn’t he consult with me.  Why would he dare accept a lower interest rate (which I believe amounts to $27.00 a month when I absolutely had made it clear to him that I wanted no more delays.    So around 3:00 I am talking to (Loan Officer) asking when I will be signing the loan documents because time is running out as escrow closes at 5:30PM and it is already 3:00 and he has not called me to let me know that corporate has issued loan docs and then escrow will make an appointment with me if there is time and availibility.  Ryan Ellis assures me he will work on my account and hopefully he will get them to escrow before 5:30pm or tomorrow Tuesday.  I wait for the phone to ring and of course I hear nothing at the day ends.

Tuesday May 25 I call at 12:15 and I talk to (Loan Officer).  (Loan Officer) says how are you doing Mr. (Home Buyer)? and without allowing even 1/10th of a second begins to start talking and I said wait,  If you really came about how I am doing let me answer the question.  I am doing lousy.  I feel crappy!  I was supposed to sign the documents last Thursday and Friday according to your promises and now it is Tuesday and I still haven’t signed them.  By the way (Loan Officer), why did agree to an interest rate change without consulting with me.  You knew I did not want any delays.  How dare you act without consulting me.  Now its Tuesday and I still have not signed.  (Loan Officer) said,  “There was a communication processing problem.”  I asked what does that mean.  He told me on Friday he was talking to a woman at Broadview and discussing another man’s loan and told the woman to let it float and accidentally (Loan Processor) let (Home Buyer) account float also and that is how the interest rate changed.  (Loan Officer) minimized his role in this “Mistake.”  He did apologize and then it is like we were to just move on as if nothing serious had transpired.  A couple of weeks ago (Home Buyer) let me know that a page from my checking account did not come over the fax and neither did my eduational achievement certificate.  He told me time was important.  Now when something he is totally responsible occurs and it changes the loan signing from Friday May 21st to at best Tuesday May 25th he does not seem all that concerned.  A quick apology and lets just move on.  I was very angry and upset.
Then (Loan Officer) and later Ryan tell me that Escrow screwed up and double charged fees on the Hud 1 and 2 and Broadview is waiting for (Escrow Company)
company to change the fees and get it right.  Escrow is now the reason my account is being held up.  Ryan assures me he will try to get things in order and he will talk to (Loan Officer) about what is happening.   He asks me what I want him to do.  I don’t know what to say except I am frustrated by these delays.  What I think later is I want (Loan Officer) to stop making mistakes and excused and get things done or I need someone else to handle this account and how is it you have people employed by you making these false promises and mistakes.

Wednesday at 3:00 I call up Ryan and find out that the loan documents have now been sent to Escrow and they will be calling me.  I leave work once again and rush to my credit union and at 4:40pm Escrow says I need a cashiers check for $18,000.  I get it done and 10 minutes later I am rushing to the Escrow company in Fullerton near the airport.  I am on the far side of Whittier.  I call Ryan and tell him it is 4:50pm and I will be at Escrow around 5:20 or 5:15 but they close at 5:30 and it is already Wed May 26th and I have 2 days to close.  I sign lots of papers and the two women at escrow are working very hard.  Some of the pages do not print out completely.  They try to fix the problem.  They wonder why there were no e-mail instructions on how to print the papers correctly.  (Escrow Officer) in Escrow works that these papers will be not be legal or acceptable.  (Escrow Officer) calls (Loan Officer and he says, “it will be all right”.  I will pick them up tomorrow Thursday at 10:00am.  I am so lucky that (Escrow Officer) stays till 6:50PM to help me fill out all the papers even though her child calls and says, Mommy, when are you coming home.
The next day I get a call in the morning during work that I need to come in and sign the papers that were not printed fully.  I once again leave work, cancel appointments and drive to Escrow and sign the papers.  I ask (Escrow Officer), when did you send the Hud 1 and Hud 2 reports to Broadview and who did you send them to.  She gets an e-mail and shows me (Escrow Officer) sent the e-mail to (Loan Processor) on Wednesday May 18th and in the short e-mail (Escrow Officer) says that she is not sure how to prepare this report exactly and (Loan Processor) needs to look it over and feel free to get back to (Escrow Officer).  Now I am really mad.  (Loan Officer) and Ryan had told me on Tuesday that the latest delay is because Escrow had extra fees or the same fees twice on Hud 1 and 2.

I am thinking, (Escrow Officer) sends an e-mail to (Loan Processor) on Tuesday May 18th and (Loan Processor) apparently does not read the e-mail or she reads it and does nothing that I can see until Tuesday when she seems to be real alert and finds the mistake.  WHY DID NOT (Loan Processor) NOT LOOK AT THIS E-MAIL AND FIND THE MISTAKEN FEES ON WED MAY19TH OR THURSDAY MAY 20TH OR FRIDAY MAY 21ST OR EVEN MONDAY MAY 24TH.  Nope, the first time she apparently says something to someone is on Tuesday May May 25th 3 days before the end of the 30 day escrow.

NOW I REALLY THINK THAT SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT AT BROADVIEW MORTGAGE.  I HEAR LOTS OF BLAMING AND EXCUSES BUT MOST OF THE MISTAKES SEEM TO BE CREATED BY EMPLOYEES OF BROADVIEW.  WHERE IS THE ETHICS AND COMPETENCE THAT SCOTT SCHANG TALKED ABOUT.  I heard scott tell stories of other lenders who had ethical or competency issues but now getting hurt mistakes made by Broadview employees and I am really mad.  I call Ryan Ellis immediately and ask him to return my call.  He calls me while I am signing the escrow papers and I say I want to read you an e-mail from (Escrow Officer) to (Loan Processor) on May 18th and I can’t imagine why (Loan Processor) did not check out these documents and talk to people at Broadview like she did on Tuesday May 25th.  He says that he does not know what correspondence occurred and I tell him I am reading the e-mail word for word.  He then says that Maybe (Loan Processor) sent e-mails back to Escrow.  Yes this is possible but I am sitting right in front of (Escrow Officer) and I don’t think she would let an e-mail sit at her computer for days without reviewing it and responding.

I am going to send this part of the e-mail right now because I am exhausted and tired and don’t want to lose what I have written.  I hope to finish writing you the end of this account that ends with Ryan Ellis telling me, I am sorry Mr. (Home Buyer) we could not fund your account today.  I had been promised all along that everything would be ok but I got was alot of non-deliver promises. cover-ups, excuses and blaming of escrow or (Loan Officer) from the past.

Ok.  I went to the bathroom and my boss said I look like hell!  She knows from looking at my face that I have been trying to buy this house and thought everything was finally get close to the final resolution as I was to sign my loan documents last Thursday or Friday.  These events remind me of how some businesses get a very bad reputation.  They make phony promises, they are sloppy and make crucial mistakes, they blame everyone else, and then they tell you everything is going fine, and even ask you insincere questions like “How are you doing today” and really don’t care and don’t even wait to hear the answer.  This is not a good way or the right way to do business.  Maybe all of your employees should either have to watch your webinars or go to training.  Yes, I am sure they have been trained!  Maybe someone needs to monitor them or talk to them or something more severe until they start doing their jobs right.

Anyway, I am very tired but I am going to try to finish this report right now.  As it is I am going to be really upset for the next 3 days and I was already planning on trying to move some furniture and appliances into the condo but everything is on hold once again.  I was so upset at some point I sent an e-mail to you, Scott Schang
because I have to find someone who is going to monitor what is going on at Broadview.  I can’t wait for the employees themselves to give adequate service.  They just seem to continue making mistakes and then trying to cover-up and blame others.  Maybe my e-mail to you Mr. Schang pompted Ryan Ellis to give me a call as I was trying to get back to work.  He told me that you would be calling me and that he wanted Ryan Ellis to take over this account or make it work.  I felt very good that Ryan was going to help out and get this done.  I wondered if he could overcome all the delays and I wondered who else in Broadview was going to make a mistake or cause a delay or maybe Escrow would take their turn and make a mistake.  Time was running out fast.  Mistakes had already lead to many days of delay.  I was thinking Maybe Scott Called Ryan Ellis and asked, “what is going on there” and gave Ryan some directions.  Good for Scott! Someone has to be managing these employees and this business.  Ryan’s voice seemed calm and he was no longer upset and trying to tell me that Maybe (Loan Processor) send e-mails back to Escrow and they screwed up.  Ryan even said he could find no evidence of e-mails from (Loan Processor) to the Escrow Company.  He told me was going to take over this loan process and make it work by Friday.  I liked that he was taking it over and he had urgency in his voice and I once again had some confidence.  Ryan told me that everything should get funded on Thursday or Friday.  I waited all day Thursday and heard nothing.  Those were 9 or ten very long hours.  I was thinking I could do more.  I had communicated many, many times with my loan office to no avail.  I went to his boss and even e-mailed the manager of the Katella Office Scott Schang.

Friday morning, Escrow calls me at around 9:30 and says that I need to come over and sign about 5 pages that were sent over from my Lender Broadview Mortgage Company.  I immediately cancelled appointments once again and let work to rush to the Escrow company.  I had already complained to Ryan Ellis that I getting tired of leaving work, cancelling appointments, meeting my loan officer in La Habra on a weekday evening, rushing to the bank, rushing to escrow while mistakes are being made by the people I am paying to get me the condo.  When I get to Escrow and sign the papers they tell me that by 12:00 I need to call my insurance company, and tell them to fax over the insurance papers showing that I have coverage.  I leave several messages (Insurance Agent), the person I signed the property insurance with.  I even give him authorization to fax the information to (Escrow Officer).  I call back and leave a message for him to even call her directly before 12:00.  I then call back and get customer service and said to (Insurance Agent), can you please get someone to send my policy over to (Escrow Company) by 12:00 to help me buy this condo.  She took 10 minutes and did it herself and sent the faxes.  I asked for her bosses name and said I want to talk to your boss and commend your efforts on my behalf.  I felt good now.  Everything should be fine.

I left messages at the office and on Ryan Ellis’s cell phone saying that I wanted to hear the latest update of what is going. I thanked him in advance for the work he was doing as I was confident he would do everything he could.  I don’t doubt Ryan Ellis did try to do everything he could but he told me that because the effective date of the insurance policy on was June 1, 2010 Corporate would not lend the funds.  He even promised corporate that (Home Buyer) will call his insurance company and get the date changed.  I immediatedly called (Insurance Company) and told them I wanted to change the effective date to May 28th.  They told me I had to get the Lender Broadview to fax a form over to get the date changed.  When I called Ryan Ellis back, he said it is too late.  Corporate will not send the funds.

Anyway Ryan apologized and said Broadview would send the funds Tuesday June 1.  I asked him what if the seller says, the 30 days is up and the deal  is off.  He assured me that they wouldn’t. I was very calm with Scott as now there was nothing I could do.  I felt like crap on the inside.  I felt betrayed and cheated by Broadview.  A bunch of promises and mistakes.  Yes, there always is going to be some delays, some frustration, some difficulties but too many things did not seem right to me.  The escrow woman, may not know everything even though she has worked for almost 15 years there but she said that the property was covered by HOA and HO6 and any additional insurance that I bought is person and Broadview could have funded this loan and the insurance I bought was personal and extra and she has never experienced this in 15 years of business. Maybe she is wrong although this would just be one final straw among many.

I wonder why nobody, my lender or escrow ever questiong why this insurance policy was going to be effective June 1st and that could be a problem.  No one ever sent me an e-mail or literature and said if you buy property insurance date it when you think its going to close.  Anyway if you are still reading, I am going to sign off now as I am very tired.  I noticed I did not spell contingency correctly in the beginning of this paper and really can’t even re-read this.

I think I have made the point that I am a very unhappy client of Broadview.  You get to determine if mistakes were made by Broadview employees and if anything needs to be changed or addressed.  At this point I really don’t want any apologies or someone telling me they will talk to (Loan Processor & Loan Officer).  I wanted results and I did not get them!

And then, the email I received on Tuesday, June 2nd 2010 which led to the exchange that began this story:

Dear Scott,

A few minutes ago I just received word from Escrow that my loan was funded and I am very grateful and thankful.  I know that the loan process has its moments, delays, frustrations, changes, problems, obstacles etc but I still think my last 3 weeks including my last 3 long weekends were extra stressful because a couple of employees made some “blantant, unexcusable mistakes.”  Anyway, I am grateful that it all worked out in the end and the results are what truly count.  I was very worried when the escrow was not carried out in 30 days according to the contract last Friday May 28th and had to fear that I would lose the condo.  Even this weekend I could rest very easy or make the kind of plans I wanted to.

Thank you for reading my e-mails and taking whatever actions you decide to take to make Broadview the best possible company it can be.

Ok, if you’ve stuck with me this far, let me tell you what I have learned and what I ultimately wanted to share with you.

First Lesson: The emotional roller coaster that this home buyer experienced is not unlike the frustration, expectation, anticipation and elation (when finished) that all home buyers feel while walking the 30 day “green mile” from the the acceptance of your offer to the anticipated close of escrow, and ultimately – home ownership.

Second Lesson: It’s not how many times you fall down – it’s how many times you get back up.  There are ALWAYS challenges even when there are no communication challenges and everyone does their job.  I get nervous when things go too smoothly, seriously, it’s always something.

There are so many different parties involved (seller’s agent, buyer’s agent, escrow company, escrow officer, title company, lender, loan officer, loan processor, loan underwriter, home inspector, home appraiser, insurance company) in a home purchase that it is always a new adventure navigating the process and keeping track of all of the moving parts.

Encountering challenges and miscommunication among the many parties involved in the home buying process is not at all unusual.  Working to resolve these challenges as quickly as possible is always the goal of the teams.

Third Lesson: When I step back, and reflect on this once it’s over, here is my opinion of how we failed this home buyer:

There was a miscommunication between the Loan Officer and Processor and the buyer’s interest rate was reduced without having a prior conversation with the buyer.  This caused a delay of several days.

When the opportunity to float down (lower) the interest rate came up, there were many buyers that we were scrambling to help.  There was a mix up between this buyer’s loan and another buyer with whom we already had a conversation and an “ok” to reduce the rate.  This was an internal communication challenge which we have implemented steps to reduce or eliminate the opportunity for this to happen in the future.

The loan officer committed the cardinal sin of “promising” a time line to the home buyer.  It is probably the single most difficult discipline that loan officers have to learn and that’s having the strength to not tell the home buyer what they want to hear.

Ultimately, we get so much pleasure and reward from helping families become home owners, It is the hardest thing in the world to have to say “I can’t make that promise” when asked “When do you think we will be done?”.  This is not an excuse.  We screwed up.

Fourth Lesson: Even though there were multiple challenges by multiple parties throughout this transaction, which resulted in this escrow closing 4 days later than scheduled (because of the date on an insurance policy and a holiday), the buyer got the best deal available to them (lower interest rate), and all parties worked together as a team to overcome and resolve the all too common challenges that we encounter as lenders, real estate agents and escrow companies.

I want to thank you once again (home buyer) for allowing me to share this story with our readers.

This is a rare opportunity for prospective buyers to learn from this and realize that even though the specific challenges differ, encountering  various challenges throughout the process is not at all uncommon.  What is most common is that everything works out in the end and we get to congratulate another home buyer on your purchase!