Waterstone Mortgage

In November 2010 we contacted Waterstone Mortgage, in the person of Beth Cherry. We had “special” circumstances and needed to know that in a year from that date we would be able to secure a mortgage on a house we wanted to buy. The house was what you would call a villa or duplex, however, the county listed it as a condo. The “mortgage” for that year was going to be held by the owners with the assurance that we would refinance at the end of that term. We laid out the entire situation to Beth and she told us that, barring any changes in income, debt or value of property, refinancing would not be a problem. My wife cashed out her 401s and we put $30,000 down on the property which we moved into on Dec 1, 2011. Since then we added another $15,000 in upgrades to the house. The owners would hold a note for the remaining $80,000, which we have been making payments on at the rate of 6%. On November 16, 2011 we went to Beth to refinance the house. We were approved for a $100,000 mortgage through VA - until they read the condo documents. The docs contained a paragraph that was unacceptable to VA. We found out that in the world of condos, VA, FHA and regular convention- al loans would NOT be approved for condos with this type clause in the docs. Even single family homes within HOA would not either. We found out the Beth was about the ONLY one who did not know this, as I contacted several other companies, banks and realtors who did. We attempted to get the association to remove that paragraph - they would not. We attempted to get the owners to grant a 17 month extension - they would not. November is the height of the tourist season and the best time to sell property. Since we could not meet the balloon payment, we would have to put the house up for sale. She asked us not to for she thought she could get the financing through FHA - she could not. She then started work on a portfolio loan of which we never did hear the outcome of. She advised us to take what was our last $5,000 and pay down some creditors, thus raising our credit score. We did - and it did not. We are now looking at foreclosure, the loss of $45,000 and the loss of ability to ever buy another house due to a foreclosure on our record. Beth Cherry, from the outset, furnished us with incorrect advice. Although 20+ years in the business, she did not remain current on the market situation especially after the market went south. She cost us dearly from where we can never recover. We have just spent the worst 4 months of our lives because of this woman. Beth refused to take our calls, answer our texts, and would not provide us updates on what she was (or was not) doing. Her attitude toward two people who were about to lose everything was, “I couldn’t care less”. The level of frustration, fear, anxiety we went through was unparalleled in our lives. She is totally incompetent not only to be in this business but in her present position as sales manager. We have warned realtors, prospective buyers of her, hired an attorney (more money spent), and filed complaints with the BBB and the state. A four page letter was sent to the home office, to the VP overseeing all branch managers, and we have yet to hear one word from him. He obviously cares about as much as Beth did. We urge everyone to find a REPUTABLE lending institution to do business with. In today’s world, it is too important not to. Waterstone Mortgage is not such a company.