BB&T Mortgage in Lynchburg, VA Review

A couple months ago, I contacted BB&T mortgage to see about financing for a single family home. The man in the Lynchburg, VA downtown branch was unavailable so I left a message. The message clearly stated not to call during my work hours because my cell phone is turned on while I am working for emergencies only. Even though I listed the hours in the message, he called in the middle of my work day. This seemed very unprofessional and I never returned his call.

I contacted another person in the mortgage department at the same BB&T branch, Teresa Lyles. She seemed genuinely nice. We filled out all of the paperwork over the phone. She told me the needed amount for the down payment and the estimated closing costs. I informed her that the deal involved the seller paying the closing costs. She said all that was needed then was the down payment. Verifying that I had that much in my checking account, she ran the credit report.

I was surprised when I got a letter from Cyndee Pooley, the person who my file had been turned over to at the BB&T branch located in Richmond, Virginia. I was further surprised that she spelled my name wrong in the letter.

Teresa Lyles never said that she only took the application and that a mortgage loan processor would be contacting me. She also didn't tell me anything about prepaid expenses. Most banks combine the prepaid and closing into one estimate, but she did not. She was fully aware that I was new to the home buying experience, and yet, she left out this vital piece of information. Technically, I had enough money since the seller was paying the closing, but Cyndee Pooley was unaware of this since Teresa Lyles never told her the details of the agreement.

Teresa Lyles also didn't share with Cyndee Pooley that I was no longer interested in the property that I was trying to buy and was looking for another. I explained to Cyndee Pooley that the house I had wanted would not work because my job required high speed internet at home and did not allow satellite, and that house could only get satellite. The agent had mistakenly assumed it could get cable internet was why we went so far into the buying process before finding out that home would not work. I explained to Cyndee Pooley that I needed time to find another house.

She responded that I only had until the end of the month to find a house. I told her that Teresa had said I had about three months. I do not understand why the information was so contradictory.

Her response was shocking. She said that if buying a house was too hard... And she continued on from there. It was as if she was trying to goad me into buying a house - even if it was one that I could not work in. Her attitude was uncalled for and completely unprofessional. After all, if I couldn't work in the house, how would I make the mortgage payments?

The most shocking part in all of this is what BB&T did next. I told Teresa in no uncertain terms that my physical address was not my mailing address. I explained how we were trying to quietly move to avoid any problems. Since the Patriot Act requires the collection of physical addresses, I had no other choice but to provide them with my physical address. Teresa Lyles assured me that my information was safe and that they would only send mail to my post office box.

BB&T violated my privacy by mailing a letter to my physical address with BB&T Mortgage clearly on the envelope. What if I had been trying to escape an abusive situation? They would have been putting my very life in danger. It is scary the lengths that BB&T are willing to go to in order to make a sale.

Needless to say, I am no longer interested in letting BB&T handle my mortgage and plan to take my business elsewhere when I find a home that I both want and also has DSL or cable internet available.