CROOK ALERT! PULTE HOMES' PRE-APPROVED MORTGAGE DEALS
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Preapproved: Well it Sounded Good but it Turned into Sleaze
In her column in the NYTimes February 6, 2011, Gretchen Morgenson tells the sad tale of Melissa Calderone's recent nightmarish experience when she attempted to buy a home in Windemere, Florida from Pulte Homes, the nation's largest home builder.
Ms. Calderone was attracted to Pulte's Windemere development to be near her parents and a good school system for her children. Her local bank approved her application for a mortgage loan but a Pulte saleswoman offered her a $4,000 credit toward closing costs if she took our a loan with Pulte's bankin unit. Ms. Calderone agreed and made a $20,000 earnest money deposit with Pulte and set aside and additional $80,000 for a downpanment on the $347,000 Pulte house. She enrolled her children in Windemere schools and waited for the closing date. Her agreement with Pulte provided that her $20,000 would be refunded if she canceled the deal within 45 days. Sixty-seven days after she signed up with Pulte, the builder's banking unit began to raise issues concerning her mortgage application which had been preapproved by the lender. For three months Calderone continued to respond to questions regarding her application. During this period nothing had changed in her financial situation. The closing date passed with no contact from Pulte. And in September, unsure whether her children could enfoll in the Windemer schools, Calderone canceled her purchase contract and requested a refund of her $20,000 deposit. Pulte declined, claiming Calderone hadn't lived up to her obligations in the contract.
Ms. Calderone is not the only Pulte buyer who has experienced this kind of run-around. Last year the attorney general of Arizona filed a suit claiming that Pulte had deceived borrowers who thought their mortgages had been approved, when in fact they had not, and as a result lost their deposits ranging from $2500 to $25,000 each.
Pulte agreed to settle the lawsuit for $1.1 million, of course neither denying or admitting guilt. According to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, Pulte’s representatives will not represent or imply that they are able to “pre-qualify” Arizona consumers for home loans.
Gretchen Morgenson's article is linked below.
"Pre-approved: Well, It Sounded Good" by Gretchen Morgenson in the NY Times 2-6-11
- http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/business/06gret.html?_r=1&ref=business
Although she had been preapproved by Pulte, the company ultimately denied her the loan. Then, contending that Ms. Calderone had defaulted on the purchase agreement by failing to close on time, Pulte kept her $20,000 deposit.
10-10-11Pulte Settles Arizona Lawsuit over Lending Practices for $1.1 Million
- Pulte Homes settles lawsuit with AG for $1.1 million
Pulte Homes settled a lawsuit filed by Atty Gen Goddard for more than $1.1 million. The lawsuit alleges Pultes pre-qualification practices, earnest money deposit policies and Spanish-language marketing violated Arizonas consumer protection law.
The Mortgage Insider--Pulte Mortgage Review
- Pulte Mortgage Review Lender Reviews Mortgage Insider
"Watch out for builder incentives. Be sure to read the fine print because you may only get the incentives if you use the mortgage company owned by the builder."
Complaints About Pulte
- Pulte Homes Complaints - I'm done with them
Be careful when dealing with the mortgage team in Denver. They are the most unprofessional group of people I've ever worked with. They'll play a shell game with you to try to recoup their incentives they offered in a form of a fee or higher interest
Ripoff Report--Pulte Mortgage
- PULTE MORTGAGE | Ripoff Report Directory | Scams, Frauds, Reviews And Complaints
PULTE MORTGAGE Directory. These Ripoff Reports include scams, frauds, complaints or reviews. The Ripoff Report allows you a central place to enter complaints about companies or individuals who are fraudulent, scamming or ripping people off. Our repor
2-14-11NYTimes--Calculating the Annual Percentage Rate (A.P.R.)
- Do you know the difference between your mortgage's interest rate and its A.P.R.?
The answer, many mortgage experts say, may seem counterintuitive: while the A.P.R. is popularly seen as providing a more complete picture of what you are actually paying each month, it often omits some costs.
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That is rather frightening. My husband and I purchased a Pulte home in AZ last year when we made our move from the East Coast. I'm going to tell him to read this article when he gets home. Thanks for the heads up...
Good article,thanks.
Hello Ralph,
When the word "Pulte" caught my eye, I had to write. My husband and I activally fought against an active senior complex that was to be 2500 units on what used to be a sandpit in Wanaque, Northern New Jersey, built by Pulte. It is directly across the road from a Reservoir, and the land should have been protected by a law called The Highlands Act, passed about 8 yrs ago, but now stricken down by Chris Christie, our new Gov. Anyway, we did manage to have the amount of units lowered to 775. Our town really didn't have the sewer capacity, roads or services needed for all these people, and the land actually had a sewage treatment plant at the end of the road, something the realtors hid from the buyers. People bought the units for a low price as it's not very developed here. But of course, the smell of the sewage plant is an ongoing problem. The town broke it's own ordinances to build the units 4 stories high, making an expensive, new fire truck a neccesity. Pulte was supposed to pay for the million dollar fire truck, but never did. Our town changed radically with all the extra people, and all our services are stressed by them. Pulte jumped on the active senior--age 55 and up--bandwagon fast, and I'm sure as soon as the economy gets better, we'll be fighting them again. They cannot be trusted!
We're getting back to survival of the fittest. Thanks for your comment.
LillyGrillzit Level 1 Commenter 15 months ago
Thank you for this alert!