Are Mortgage Lenders playing Hardball now

Are Mortgage Lenders playing hardball now? Are they punishing Buyers?  We recently had a situation with some Buyers. They tried to buy a house and were not successful.

 Excellent credit, excellent jobs and a healthy down payment. Oh yeah, the house appraised for more than the sale price, too.  So this deal did not come together, and it left my clients wondering if they were making the right decision in trying to buy now. They were pre-approved with the bank, and met all the criteria for a loan-until it came time to get one. Months of searching for the perfect home, missing out in multiple offers, and then THIS.

 And then I saw this LA Times article two weeks ago. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus4-2009oct04,0,2844447.column

 So I called the owner of an escrow company that I know and asked him what reasons they are seeing for escrows to cancel. Without hesitating, he answered, “No financing”.  Did the big banks get their “bailout money” and think they get to keep it all for themselves? It is starting to feel that way.

 So I would like to issue a challenge to someone from Bank of America to contact me and explain what is going on.

 I will happily post their reply here when I get one.

 So if anyone knows some bigwigs at BofA, have them read this and contact me. I’d love to hear their side of the story.