Atlantic Bay Mortgage - Jennifer Wright

To Whom It May Concern:

Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group, L.L.C. ("Atlantic Bay") is in receipt of the above-listed complaint, received May 5, 2020. The complaint filed by Mr. Derrick *** with the Revdex.com ("Revdex.com") expressed dissatisfaction with his experience throughout the mortgage process due to the customer service and lack of communication that he had received from his Mortgage Banker. Additionally, the complaint indicated that Atlantic Bay denied his loan after we issued an approval letter, and that based off Mr. interactions with his real estate agent, it is his belief that his Mortgage Banker was providing a "kickback" to the real estate agent. On April 15, 2020, Mr. filed a similar complaint with Atlantic Bay directly, in which we completed an internal investigation and had communicated with him directly in an attempt to resolve his concerns.

Atlantic Bay has duly investigated the complaint. On February 5, 2020, Mr. initiated a mortgage application with Atlantic Bay Mortgage Banker Jennifer W, and authorized Atlantic Bay to obtain his credit report for the mortgage application for loan #XXXXXX*** That same day, following a review of the application Atlantic Bay issued Mr. a pre-qualification letter, pending selection of a property. Please note that Atlantic Bay does not issue pre-approval letters, and pre-qualification letters are not a commitment to lend; all loans are subject to income verification, credit approval, and property appraisal, and Atlantic Bay is an Equal Housing lender. According to Atlantic Bay's records on April 2, 2020, the loan application was updated for the property address *** According to Atlantic Bay's records, the fully ratified Offer to Purchase and Contract was dated April 1, 2020 for the subject property. Our records indicate that on April 15, 2020, Jennifer W communicated to Mr. that due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the current market environment, the federal agency's loan guidelines and requirements were rapidly changing. She further communicated that an updated credit inquiry could be helpful in the review of the application, and upon receiving Mr. authorization, an updated credit inquiry was performed which identified a new negative notation, which effected his credit score. The same day, Ms. W informed Mr. of the details of the updated inquiry via email and communicated her concerns specific to his credit score and credit obligations as they pertain to new loan program guidelines and requirements issued by agencies given the current market. Following Mr. complaint to Atlantic Bay on April 15th, the matter was escalated to Ms. W's sales manager, who performed a secondary review of the application, and assessed the credit profile of a potential co-borrower as well, but unfortunately Atlantic Bay was not able to provide mortgage financing for Mr. or his co-borrower at this time based upon a review of the two credit profiles and existing underwriting guidelines. On April 29, 2020, the application for loan #XXXXXX***was denied due to delinquent past or present credit obligations with others, and a Statement of Credit Denial, Termination or Change was mailed to him.

Atlantic Bay's review of this matter did not identify any evidence that any type of payment, "kickback", or any other type of financial benefit had been provided and/or exchanged between the Mortgage Banker and Mr. real estate agent. Mr. indicated that his assertion that a kickback arrangement existed between the parties was based upon the fact that when told his agent he wanted to transfer his application to a different mortgage lender/banker, his agent advised him that he should stay with Ms. W as she was a good mortgage banker, and Atlantic Bay was a good company. Again, Atlantic Bay strenuously denies any involvement in the allegations concerning the kickbacks, as Atlantic Bay takes its obligations under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act ("RESPA") very seriously.

Based upon the foregoing circumstances, from our review it appears that Atlantic Bay worked as expeditiously as possible throughout the loan process and in accordance with regulatory requirements. Atlantic Bay would like to note that the mortgage lending industry as a whole is currently experiencing historic volumes due to the current rate environment, and that any delays in communication experienced were due to this. While we understand that Mr. is requesting reimbursement for the due diligence monies he has expended, as well as additional amounts property storage, rent payments, etc., Atlantic Bay politely declines as it does not feel that such reimbursement is merited given the results of its investigation. Notwithstanding the above findings, Mr. experience as a customer matters to Atlantic Bay. We pride ourselves in giving our customers a first-class experience, and we apologize if Mr. feels that his experience with Atlantic Bay fell short of those standards. We are truly disappointed that we were unable to provide mortgage financing in this instance.

We hope that this response resolves the complaint. Please contact Melissa G Director of Corporate Risk and Compliance, Corporate Counsel, at *** if you have any questions.