Terminating Loan, Am I being scammed?

[Wes Pracht]

We were supposed to close on a house just before Thanksgiving. Fast forward to today and we are terminating our loan and escrow. It was a Homepath properties (foreclosure) that we were going to get a rehab loan on.

We got a quote from a certified contractor and it was much higher than the initial quote from a different contractor. Although some of the work seemed fair there were other parts that were crazy high. We then went to the lender and brought a new quote from a different contractor and the lender said that the loan was going to have to go back to the front of the line in underwriting and we were nearing the Fannie Mae Homepath deadline for closing. 

Due to being hassled and my wife being out of state for a month trying to close a simple deal, we decided to terminate the contracts. We have between $1,200-$2,500 in inspections, appraisals, and travel expenses into the property.

We found out today that the loan officer and the contractor are married and that is why they were giving us a hard time about going to a different reasonable contractor.

Is there anything I can do to get my money back? or is this just a hard lesson to learn?

Thanks!

[Account Closed]

actually if what you say is true it could be a respa violation, affiliate business associates have to be disclosed, it could imply kick back arrangements, big fines