Denied by Lender Question

[Michael A Silva-Sampaio]

This may be a little off topic since it does not pertain to an investment property, but a friend of mine has found herself in a pickle! This friend had a house built and claims that the builder, title, and lender are the same company. She currently works in travel healthcare and is being told that because she does not have two years of employment history she is being denied the loan. When she was originally approved conditionally for the loan and began this process when she had worked at a facility for the last 10 years. Fast forward a few months later--the house has been completed and despite being in a new job making substantially more than the amount she previously made, she now finds herself with the prospect of losing her down payment of $17k with only three days left to close! What are some of the options she can do to either recuperate all or some of her down payment or actually close on the house in time to minimize or nullify completely any additional fees? Thank you in advance.

[Bob Okenwa]

@Michael A Silva-Sampaio

1. We have no idea what is in her purchase contract. Or the conversations that have taken place between her and the lender. Haven't seen someone lose their down payment as that typically comes at the end when you're at the closing table. Is that 17k a deposit?

2. Find a new lender. I didn't have 2 years of work history when I bought my home a few years back and it was never mentioned by the lender. I made enough money and had very good credit and that was all that mattered to them. This too was a new construction home and I used the builder's lender and preferred title company as well.

3. Builder's lender usually sucks. I've seen it multiple times where they take your application, conditionally approve it, then sit on it for months only to come up with BS as the last second that should have been caught when you first applied for the loan.