Complain about a product or service

NovaStar Mortgage Inc.

Selena of Hubbardston MA (05/06/08)
we were told that NovaStar was the only lender who would lend to us so we were facing losing the house we were in so we decided to go with it. HUGE mistake!!! They gave us an inflated appraisal the broker we used followed suit with them and poked us for every penny they could, and gave us different numbers at closing andthen never bothered to send any statements to us in order for us to send the payments to them.

We have had a mortgage thru them for 2 years and we have never seen a statement from them. when i called them on this they said oh well, computer shows its going out so theres nothign i can do for u.

then they didnt get a payment due to this issue and immeadiately put us in pre-forclosure and refused to work in any way with us. they stopped taking payments and that put us even further behind then started adding on attorney's fee's which made it impossible and would up foreclosing on our home this past month. they had an illegal auction of which we were never informed of and a foreclosure that we were never made aware of and now are giving me, my husband and 4 children 60 days to vacate. How do u do this to a family and still look at yourself in the mirror???

I lost my job. I work retail and my employer due to the foreclosure felt i was a risk for theft. I might even lose my marriage...How can they be allowd to do this???

Darlene of Poplar Grove IL (02/25/08)
I got a 2 year fixed with an arm every 6 months. I bought the house as an investment to keep for a short time. I'm near foreclosure because I can't sell it for the price I need to, to get my money back out of it. I bought it with investment money, no job. What can I do about losing all my money now to a quick sale? I have a part time job for right now in the evenings,so I can contact offices during the day to find out if they should be sued or not? Please help.

I'm losing all my investment money.

Darren of Lyndhurst OH (02/15/08)
I contacted NovaStar mortgage several times regarding my ARM. I spoke with Charla in the prevention workout department hopinh they will assist in modifying our loan. In June of 2007, Charla stated we needed to fax documents along with a completed application stating our income, expenses, etc. They ran our credit which Charla stated they would not have to and they did not assist us anyway. In July of 2007, after not hearing from Charla for over a month, her coworkers answered for her and asked what have we done to help ourselves? I informed them we are going to be increasing our household income by $15,000 and we were going to pay off old debts and we had a budget in place. Still no assistance. Two months later my mortgage was transferred to Saxon mortgage company. We currently have a 13.75% interest rate which started off at 10.15%. We signed the documents to our new home and we were excited in July 2004. The first two years were good but then the ARM began. Although we did not know or understand what was going to take place, we know NovaStar mortgage did.

We have a monthly mortgage payment that someone with a low interest rate may pay for a $300,000 home and we do not have a $300,000 home but we love our home. We are barely making our monthly payments right before the 30 day mark hits to avoid credit bureaus being notified. Don't mortgage companies obtain enough money from individuals, why can't all loans be fixed especially when payments have been maintained and not missed a payment?

Jo of Denver CO (02/11/08)
In December 07, Novastar called me to 're-evaluate the loan'. Said I could re-fi at 6.5 %, fixed, for 30 yrs. Great. The agent said since my original loan was with Novastar, they could disregard the pre-payment penalty. An appraisal that costs $350 and 3 weeks later, I had a closing date supposedly set for Friday, Jan. 25th. I called numerous times on the morning of the closing, no answer. I called on Mnday. The supervisor, Brian, said they couldn't do the loan unless I could come up with the 12$K to cover the prepayment penalty that was supposedly waived.

I asked for re-imbursement of my appraisal fee, because I had it done in good faith that the loan officer was truthful about waiving the pre-payment fee. The supervisor said he'd call me back and let me know. Of course, I haven't heard back, and now they are out of business. (The appraiser was local and did receive the money.)

Dawn of Long Beach CA (02/01/08)
In Nov of 2006, we obtain a home loan in long beach ca. from novastar mortgage. Just before the close of the loan there was a house fire. I was talked into letting the loan close by everyone in the case. They insured me that the house would be fixed. So the loan close in Dec 2006.

The broker said we would not have a payment until Feb. but that did not happen. I called novastar and asked what is happening as the house is not fix and it was over $150,000 damage. They said that they could not help since we had paid for the house. We had two house notes. The insurance co. did pay in 4-20-06, but the payment went to the old owner who took off with the payment. I called novastar almost everyday to get some kind of help but all I get is that I have to pay for the loan. After many times calling novestar they agreed to let me do a short sell that took them over 30 days to ok. Never nice, I asked for a hardship but they said no. Even after showing them all the paper work on the house and doing our best to pay two house we never got to move in to. They just did not care. I belive that they know about the fire now. I also know now that the loan should have been lower. Before the fire it was for $409,000 and at close it was the same.

I have damage loss to both homes, $198,000 on short sell, credit lowered a lot, no help to get the old owner who just walk away with $150,000. We have made payments on a house we never could live in. The broker had us put a 1,2 mortgage and we could not get a loan to fix the house. I think I will never believe no one again. I had to lose my dog I had had for over 5ys as I am now living in apartment.

Judy of Marshalltown IA (01/16/07)
My mother in law refinanced her home with Simplicity then the loan was sold to NovaStar. They convinced her to borrow $112,000 on a house that is only worth $60,000. They were very high pressured and refused to tell her the monthly payments.She and her daughter went ahead and signed the loan papers and now they are not able to make the payment. It is their own fault but NovaStar refuses to work with them to lower the payments and now are threatening foreclosure.

My mother in law and her daughter will in all likely hood lose their house. They have nowhere to go to live!

James of Lyons MI (10/11/05)
I was contacted Last month around Sept, 4th by Ms. Latoya Martin who works for the Retention Dept. of NovaStar Mortgage. Over the phone she made an offer to refinance my current mortgage, and pay-off an other outstanding loan, lower my mortgage payment, and reduse my interest rate. She stated verbally that I would NOT have to make a payment for September nor may a payment for October and that my payment would be due November 1st after we closed by the end of September.

Ms. Martin stated that I would have to pay a $350.00 appraisal fee to have the house appraised. I told her that I could not afford to make this payment and she convinced me that since I did not have to make Septembers payment that we could take it out of that payment. I agreed to that on the premise that I would be approved for the loan. They took the money for the appraisal out of my account and did an appraisal.

The house appraised for $100,000 which was less then they made the loan papers out for. It also appraised for this amount in 2002. NovaStar sent me a loan agreement in the mail (my copy) which gave me a monthly payment of $697.00, and a 6.7% interest rate. I received this packet before the appraisal was done. The appraisal was a week late due to the appraiser not being able to get in the house which was left unlocked and a note of instructions on the door.

Once the appraisal was done, Ms. Martin contacted me and stated that we could not do the original loan sent to me in the mail but they could get me into a fixed rate mortgage for 2 tenths less interest and 2 dollars less a month payment. Ms. Martin verbally stated over the phone that I would not have to make Septembers, Octobers, nor Novembers payments and that they would send the appraisal fee back too because the original loan could not be honored. Today, I had a phone conversation with Ms. Martin who basically said that I have a negative amortization on the home. That it would be against the law for them to go ahead with any loan for more then the house was worth and that I was not eligible to be refinanced in any capacity given the standing of my loan.

Ms. Martin stated I would have to make September's payment as soon as possible but would not be charged any late fees nor have any negative reports sent to the credit bureau. I asked about being reimbursed for the appraisal fee since no loan was going to be structured and she informed me that I could have a copy of the appraisal mailed to me in the mail.

Alexis of Santa Fe NM (06/19/04)
My husband and I initiated a refinancing process here in New Mexico in December 2003 with Heartland Finance located in Albuquerque. When the loan officer (Chad) we were working with told us it was too big a deal for him, he sent us to his college buddy, Mr. T,  at Novastar Finance in Irvine, California, who represented Nationwide Mortgage Company.

Mr. T was very slick and confident, assuring us that refinancing our home and getting an equity loan would be no problem and take no time at all. He had us sign a good faith estimate on December 12, 2003, promising us that the transaction would be taken care of in a matter of weeks, though it actually ended after 4 very long and unpleasant months. He  dishonestly encouraged us to do business with him by making promises he was unable to keep, and then once we were stuck with him in this horrendous process, he started raising the interest rates.

When I finally lost my temper  after 4 months of stalling tactics, he had the audacity to say that because I did so, we could take our business elsewhere, though it wasn't worded quite as politely as that. I had angrily confronted him on the phone about all the lies he'd told us and I let him know that we no longer trusted him.

Susan of Redding CA (03/11/04)
My husband and I applied for a mortgage loan refinance in November 2003. We found Novastar through an internet loan search. We were quoted an interest rate of 6.25% after our credit was reviewed. We were told to order and pay for the appraisal on our property. The cost was $375. We were also advised that there was no need to pay the December mortgage, as this would come out of escrow. We complied with all of Novastar's requests.

The appraisal was performed, paid for by us and sent to Novastar. It was then that we received the very first disclosure documents from them regarding our loan, after we were already committed. I noticed the interest rate was almost one half percent higher than we had originally been quoted. We decided at that time that this loan program was not for us and, honestly, I was not happy with the way Novastar changed our interest rate after we were financially vested in this loan process. We no longer wanted to do business with them.

We immediately contacted Novastar via telephone and fax requesting that they close our loan file and cancel our application. Mr. Felahy proceeded to have a fit on the phone, was very rude and unprofessional, yelling something about how much work he had done on this for us. However, we too had an investment at this point...financial, in the form of a $375 appraisal report. We requested, in writing, that our appraisal report be released to the new local lender, who was offering a much better program.

On December 5, 2003, we received a fax from Mr. Felahy stating that Pursuant to Federal Regulations (in the disclosures we sent you) we will be releasing your appraisal via email on Wednesday, the 3rd of March, exactly 90 days from the receipt of your fax. It is now the 11th of March and I still have not received my appraisal report nor have we been able to refinance yet. Further, I have done some research into State Law and found that, in fact, Novastar had only 15 days from the date of my written request or from receipt of my appraisal in which to release it.

They were, and still are, in direct violation of State Law.

James of Lincoln City OR (01/28/04)
We applied for a refinance on October 7, 2003 with LendingTree and chose to accept the offer of Novastar Mortgage. Today is January 27, 2004 and we have signed final papers twice and the last time the funds were suppose to be released on 01/21/04 and we still have not received them. Our credit is destroyed by this because we have been waiting for almost four months and the only thing that has happened is our terms changed drastically. Now the mortgage broker will not give us any information and the lender New Century just refers us back to the broker.

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