Housing Debacle Continues

I am about ready to tear my hair out in frustration over our housing co-operative's conversion to condos. Pretty much everything that can go wrong has. Delays abound and the latest error is that my name is completely removed from the loan documents. Oh, and the interest rate in said loan docs varies from everything to 6% to 6.875% to 7%. And we're listed as providing over $1200 at closing, even though this is supposed to be a cashless refinance, and we're not supposed to have to pay anything. Also, the conversion & refinance fees are now estimated at $7,000 instead of the $5,100 we'd last been told. We still do not know if we're approved or not, yet we are required to sign inaccurate loan contracts "as a preliminary" and we're supposed to provide more personal documents to the same folk who have already confessed to me that they've lost my application and personal info once before. We'd been told that we'd all save approximately $100 per month with the refinance, but the increase in fees we have to roll into the mortgage is quickly wiping out any potential benefits....it's looking like we'd be lucky if we save $50 per month, and it may not even be that much if the closings are delayed further and we have higher interest rates as a result.

The last several times we have asked when we'll find out if we're approved, our questions have been sidestepped. I just sent an e-mail to the loan officers again asking, point blank, to know when we'll find out if we're approved, and explaining that if we are denied we need enough time to come up with the funds via cashing out retirement accounts, and borrowing money from family who must close CDs, sell stocks, etc. From my understanding of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, one of the provisions therein is that a potential creditor must let you know if you are approved or not within 30 days. Today is the 30 day point, and no one will tell us if we're approved.

I am meeting with my lawyers on Monday afternoon, and I will be discussing this with them, to make sure there isn't some provision specific to mortgages which I am not aware of which would allow them to delay the timeframe in which the mortgage company must let us know the status of our loan. I had heard from a coworker who is also a member of our co-op that she'd been told we'll only have 2 weeks turn around time between when we find out if we're approved or not & when everyone must be converted to a condo (or forced into the "mini-coop" option which results in extra fees and an extra $100 per month in payments, with a provision that you must sell your home and vacate within 2 years). This is unfair as it really does not allow folk enough time to potentially come up with alternate funding (through a different mortgage company, by cashing in stocks/bonds/retirement accounts/etc., or by securing personal loans through family/friends). Plus, I don't see how that can be the case, as my knowledge of/understanding of the consumer protection laws which regulate credit do not allow this (hence my chat with my lawyers to ensure our rights will be covered).

I am in the midst of a span of working 12 out of 14 days straight, so all these housing related headaches couldn't come at a worse time. I really do not have the time or energy to deal with all this. I had last Thursday off, and will have the upcoming Tuesday off, but that is it. Otherwise I will be working solid, a full workday's shift each day, and do not have the time to drop everything so I can yell at the conversion folk and the mortgage people. I barely have time to talk to my roommate & dogs, sleep, shower and eat. I have not had time to socialize (other than popping on Facebook once a day), work in the garden, read my blogs, catch up on the news, engage in any leisure activities other than a little sleep, etc.

This housing debacle is all giving me a pretty grand headache and making me wish I could go to sleep and not wake up until it's sometime in 2010. Other than getting Streak, 2009 has pretty much sucked all around, and I'd gladly sleep through the rest of this year if I could, as I don't foresee it getting any better. I hope all is well with my blog friends, and that everyone else are enjoying their summer more than I.