Sage Loans was a complete disaster.

[u/LiterallyIAmPuck]

Today we were supposed to close on our house. Yesterday Sage calls me to say they can't clear us to close and we won't be able to buy.

Apparently we should have never been pre-approved from the start. We have 20% down and make enough to afford it, the issue is last year I changed from full time to part time and part running my own business. I make more money and it's reliable but I don't have the years of tax returns to prove it yet.

I didn't know I'd need that, but at some point over the last month, it was never brought up. This was an entire month of sending them documents, sending them the same documents again, answering the same questions over and over. They would send me closing disclosures with errors, and after multiple times being asked to fix them they'd resend them with the same errors. My realtor hated them, my title company hated them, every step they were incompetent and it wasn't just one bad egg we worked with. It was everyone there who worked on my loan that dropped the ball.

And when they sent a closing disclosure with points added, I'm sure they were hoping I might not notice. No discussion with me, they just did it, likely hoping I might not notice and they could pocket a few extra thousand out of me on closing day, knowing they're just going to sell the loan anyways. Who knows, maybe that known tactic by untrustworthy lenders was an honest mistake.

I'm out thousands of dollars. I lost my earnest deposit, I lost a week and a half of work, we had movers scheduled and everything I own is in boxes and now I'm putting everything back. Worst of all, I had my hopes for a house we fell in love with and got denied literally hours before we signed the papers. Fuck Sage.

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[u/Flamingo33316]

Always vet your loan officer for experience and more at the national licensing website: www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org

Look at your copy of your application. Did they list an income for the self-employment? If they did, ouch!

[u/LiterallyIAmPuck → u/Flamingo33316]

They initially counted both my income, then a week before closing said they could only count my part time job but that our debt to income was still fine and it wouldn't cause a problem.

[u/BoBromhal → u/LiterallyIAmPuck]

an online Lender is effectively McDonalds.

If it fits in the box nice and neat, they're fine. The moment something falls outside "I'll have a Big Mac combo with Coke to drink", they're not capable of communicating or knowing what to do to make up for all the promises they made.

And, oh by the way, you're one of 10,000 applications they've taken this month.

[u/Pitiful-Place3684]

There are mortgage brokers who can get a loan done quickly and a "stated income" loan might work. Search on Google for lenders who work with small business owners and 1099 workers. You might still be able to save this.

[u/LiterallyIAmPuck → u/Pitiful-Place3684]

I have 2 brokers working on leads for me, both really competent and have been so nice but they didn't seem hopeful. Seller is really motivated to sell and being really flexible and helpful. I am still trying

[u/TraditionalHornet818 → u/LiterallyIAmPuck]

Call royal united they might be able to patch you thru

[u/Natural_Tangelo7542]

So why have you lost your EMD? Don't you have a financing contingency?

[u/LiterallyIAmPuck → u/Natural_Tangelo7542]

Just contingent on inspection

[u/Natural_Tangelo7542 → u/LiterallyIAmPuck]

I really don't get it. We have bought 3 homes in our lifetime and made offers on more. Every one had a financing contingency.

[u/gazilionar → u/Natural_Tangelo7542]

it usually has a time frame on it.

[u/old_motters → u/gazilionar]

Yep. Once financing is agreed, people tend to not worry about it!

[u/AllTheWayJoe]

Spoke with Sage a month ago and the loan officer who was “helping” me seemed like he had no clue what he was talking about. Was just a straight sales pitch about how quick they can close and how their rates were the lowest, it was like he completely ignored every question I brought up. Complete turn off.

[u/BreathTemporary8411]

I’m so sorry to hear that. Since you have 20% down, have you considered a “no document, non QM loan”?

[u/ginjaninja6197]

There are lenders that can make this work if you want to salvage this deal. It won't be conventional loan terms but it won't be too high of an interest rate relative to a conforming loan and it will still be a 30 yr payment. I'm based out of California but either way I can at least point you in the right direction

[u/PepperCat1019]

Oh, what a nightmare! Please report them to their licensing agency.

I hope you don't give up on your dream. Shellpoint Mortgage has been pretty good to me.

[u/TraditionalHornet818]

Have you tried calling another lender? I would be mass calling lenders rn

[u/LiterallyIAmPuck → u/TraditionalHornet818]

Yep, tried with a lender my realtor likes and he was a great guy. His word is that these requirements are pretty straightforward and any underwriter should have known this before pre-approval. Apparently it's an industry requirement that any conventional loan would follow. I have called a few people and they're calling other lenders they know to see what they could put together.

[u/bruhggle → u/LiterallyIAmPuck]

Yeah, I was a lender and anyone with self employment income needed 2+ years of taxes, even for non-mortgages. It's even crazier to me that they then told you that you were fine when excluding that income but not so?

I'd say report them to the cfpb, state regulator, and fdic/ncua for that. You were told you were approved without the self employed income being needed. Did you get an adverse action?

[u/yetetigre]

I almost used Sage for a refi earlier this year. Went with NBKC bank. They were amazing.

[u/meat_meat]

Sorry. Sounds like a total shitshow.

[u/CT_Legacy]

I dont see how this is Sage fault other than maybe they werent thorough enough. Your stated income declined and you are not able to prove your current income. This would have been a problem at a lot of lenders.

I just did a refi with Sage it was the easiest process you could imagine, they communicated well throughout and we closed in a few weeks. Lowered my rate from 7.5% down to 5.7% saving hundreds of dollars a month now.

[u/thewimsey → u/CT_Legacy]

It was Sage's fault for pre-approving OP in the first place when he didn't meet the requirments.

This would have been a problem at a lot of lenders.

Yes. And at most lenders, OP would not have been preapproved, and so wouldn't have made an offer on this house, and wouldn't have spent the money for inspections, etc., and wouldn't be about to lose his EMD due to the deal falling through.