I have a question regarding my existing mortgage I am trying t get out of. I have a 30 year fixed loan from Chase Bank that originated in 2005. I did not have 20% to put down as a down payment so I had to take on a PMI, I understood and knew I would have a PMI, what nobody informed me of and I never signed any paper work to the effect of was that my PMI would be $315 every month. I attempted to call my loan officer who told me when my loan originated that I agreed to pay more than the house was worth, prior to signing the paperwork he told me "it was a problem that he would take care of it." Once I received my first mortgage statement from Chase I was shocked to see how much my PMI was, I attempted to contact my loan officer almost every day for approximately 6 months, needless to say he never returned one of my calls. I recently attempted to refinance at a lower interest rate, the process was going smoothly, I received my good faith estimate, signed the paperwork to lock in the rate and terms, the Appraisal was done. Nearing the end of the process my underwriter from Chase contacted me and asked if I had a copy of my PMI certificate, I told her that I had no such document, I never signed such a document and I had all my original loan papers but I had no such paper that stated how much my PMI would be, If I had known that I would have surely backed out. The underwriter stated that Chase did not have the original PMI certificate that I signed, which I never signed and does not exist. I questioned the underwriter since this document did not exist if Chase would have to recalculate my PMI at a sane rate (especially considering that I had paid them $30,000 in PMI in an 8 year span). She informed me that they would just bring the same PMI rate to the new loan, I told her that "this felt like something I should speak to an attorney about." She said she would be in touch, she did not return any of my calls for two weeks then the next communication I received from Chase was my letter declining my refinance two weeks later on a Saturday. My local brance manager contacted me about 6 weeks later to let me know they dropped the ball and would like to reapply my refinance, he called me 4 days later to sign the paperwork, I told him I was looking into going with another company. Do I have a legal leg to stand on to recoop any on my money or have they done anything wrong?
Optional Information: State/Country relating to question: Ohio Already Tried: I spoke to several mortgage companies and a few friends
I have a follow up to this, since I knew I would pay PMI, just never how much until I received the first statement then I am responsible in the eyes of a court for not being a responsible consumer. That is about the gist of it..., I knew there would be PMI, it is wrote into my home loan contract but they never disclosed the amount I would pay per month and I never signed a "PMI Certificate" which is what the underwriter called it that would state I agree to pay $315 per month. I have paid $17,000 off my principal and $29,000 in PMI in 8 years. I would never have agreed to that knowing the rate. But, in your opinion, would a court say I was not being a responsible consumer and since I knew there would be PMI but never asked how much and was never disclosed how much it is still my fault.
It is tough to say for sure, but most judges would say you should have asked how much your pmi would have been and hold you to it in my opinion. However, they should have disclosed your pmi amounts and pmi payments should cease once you have at least 80% equity in the home.
I think you have a chance at predatory lending, but that it is an uphill battle for you in the court.
Experience: Over 12 years of business and legal experience.