House closing
 

After spending a couple of years reading this forum I decided that when I bought my new home in TV I would probably use Citizens Bank after all of the positives I read here. Flash forward to today when I was supposed to have the documents in my hand to sign for a closing tomorrow. Sometime around 2pm Eastern time it was determined after mutiple phone calls that there was going to be no closing tomorrow and In fact nobody seems to know when there will be. The loan officer ( who shall remain un named) has screwed the pooch so badly not even the banks vice president has an answer. So here I sit in California with airline reservations for Tuesday of next week that are pretty much worthless pieces of paper because there is no point in coming to TV. It seems Citizens isn't the efficient machine they were made out to be. Oh well, live and learn.

Hi r,
That's the pits. I hope they straighten it out in no time (Monday would be great :) ) and you can look back on this whole thing and laugh.

so sorry this happened to you! being a jersey girl, i would advise the vice president and the loan officer that you will be in the villages next tuesday for your closing...and if there is no closing, the customers in the bank who are transacting business will have the opportunity to see first hand your irate customer routine!

why let good plane tix go to watste?! grab a few nites at one of the local motels, go to the squares, have a few cocktails, and enjoy the trip. that irate customer routine can relieve a whole lotta stress - and the cocktails can take care of the rest!

seriously, i'll add you to my list of supplicants i pray for tonite - maybe it'll help.

njbchbum, what a wonderful answer to a terrible situation. I think you're super. :super:

Sorry for the problems, but I would keep pushing the loan officer, the VP, and your agent or title company. Depending on your type of transaction, MLS, VLS, FSBO, Title Company managed, there may be other culprits other then the bank. Go after them all. Make them earn their commissions.

I have had two closings with Citizens with zero issues. Both were VLS homes. Got another in the works which is a FSBO so will see how that goes.

I believe Citizens Bank is associated in some way with The Developer. I would see if the Developer can comp you for a few nights in one of their rentals since the bank was at fault, so at least your airline tickets wouldn't go to waste, and you'd get a little vacation out of the deal. But you may get lucky and they'll get this all straightened out. Its amazing what can happen in just a few hours/days. I've never heard of a Villages closing not happening on schedule. Best of luck.

What she said.

I'm with the other posters on this as well - continue to drill those at the bank and the others involved in getting the transaction to closing til you get some answers and prompt resolution. Regardless of that outcome, go to TV anyways and be able to get some face time with them.........and at a minimum, enjoy your time at TV!! :) Don't let the airline tickets go to waste.

Bill

Hi r foye:

What a bummer! I agree with Mary.

In a perfect world, they should reimburse you for the plane tickets as it was their screw-up, so you could have a free vacation. Make them pay for their mistakes as they wouldn't have a problem charging you for something if you had made a mistake.

I hope things workout for you and you can enjoy your stay in TV.

We closed through the mail, but we didn't have a mortgage. Let us know how this works out.

will you be bringing your beautiful dog?

Yes, Buddy the chocolate lab is going to take The Villages by storm.

Just nosy. Was this an "outside" agent or one from TV?

You said it was a new house but sometimes people use that term when it is new to them.

Although, there should be no difference when it comes to closing. Ten days is a long time!

But...I am thinking that in ten months it will all be water over the dam or under the bridge and you will be enjoying your life here in paradise with us.

When I am stressed out, I sometimes try to relieve it by humor.

Bring Buddy to the bank and let him/her bite the agent where their brains were that day. :)

If it was a newly constructed home and they gave you a closing date, read your contract. It should be spelled out what they will do to make it right for you. Our contract stated they would put you up, which meals they would pay, etc. We used them and it was a flawless transaction.

It was a resale but in reality the house is basically new barely lived in. My purpose in coming to TV next week was to change out some things in the house before we moved. So coming and staying in a hotel in the meantime doesn't do me much good since I have no house to work on. The problem lies entirely with the loan agent. I keep saying that the issue thats causing this delay didn't just appear yesterday, she had to know what was going on, she just closed her eyes and hoped things would work out. My agent sent a not so nice email to the banks VP last night and this morning he was called into Jennifer Parr's office to " talk" about it. So now the high muckity mucks at The Villages have become involved so maybe something will happen. It will all work out, it always does, but so much for the myth that everything runs smoothly when it comes to dealing with Citizens Bank.

Wow, we close in 6 days. You are making me nervous.:MOJE_whot:

Watch for new loan officer position opening.

Just to make you feel not so alone in this. Our loan officer sent all our closing paperwork to my inlaws. Why is beyond me, as we told them repeatedly that we would be at the closing. They had to have UPS do an immediate pickup and a next day delivery, and we closed on time.

I have a feeling if they don't have all their ducks in a row, that they cross their hands and confuse one loan with another. Either way, she appologized and it worked out.

Other than that. Citizens has been a first class operation in my book.

Please clarify so I get this straight. Is the house a resale listed by The Villages or is it listed by an MLS agent? Is your loan with Citizens Wholesale Mortgage Co.?

Thanks.

It is a resale listed by The Villages and the loan is with Citizens Wholesale Mortgage...

Citizens
 

Yes push them. I closed in September and my papers were very close to not getting done. They actually worked all weekend to get things in place. Citizens also apolagized and gave a small fee back. My question is why do you have to be present for closing? I bought a used home and I did not go to closing. It was much easier.

If Jennifer is involved you can be assured something will happen. She is Gary Morse's daughter and HEAD of sales.

Lean on them. They need to make this right and can. If nothing else Loan officers head should be on a tray. Being in the banking business; someone needs to make this right and take care of any unnecessary expense you have. I would also lean on the agent who sold you the home. Their commission being at stake can make things work also. Just my opinion.

`-p;.They said they would put us up
 

They told us that if for some reason they could not close on time they would put us up. Tell them "we will be there Tuesday, where will you be lodging us?
Does you realtor now this is going on. If not inform him/her? Ask what can be done. PUSH PUSH PUSH. Tell them you would hate to have them have to pay to fly you down again for the real closing. Look at your contract. It addresses what happens if the closing does not happen on the assigned day. Good Luck and don't let this turn you off. It is just a blip in the map to paradise. :beer3:

Take a deep breath and maybe ask the sellers if you can get in and do some of the things you wanted to do, Paint? Hang curtains? Since it isn't a new house, maybe you can negotiate and probably the other folks have vacated.....just thinking how you can make this better. Hmmm since you dealt with people who break in I bet you know how. It is your house anyway....;)

In the end, it is will be o.k. It will be all settled in no time. I can see how you have had this all planned and it is a real BIG mess up. I agree with whoever said that THE BIG GUYS are involved now and everything is being done that can be done.

I feel bad that this is the beginning of your life here. Feel this hug.

I don't believe you are allowed to "touch" anything in a house until it is closed and is yours.

I feel for you, r_foye, because I moved from CA also and the distance and time difference made the whole process even more frustrating. However, I was in contact with the underwriter directly once the mortgage agent turned over the paperwork to her and it made everything much more efficient. I closed via mail and it went very smoothly, even giving a key to a friend of mine who lives in TV so he could go in and inspect on closing day.

BTW, I JUST found out, and maybe I'm wrong, but Citizens Wholesale Mortgage is not connected with Citizens Bank... is this true, does anyone know???

Good Luck and you'll forget all of this once you're here with us enjoying this beautiful place.