Friday the 13th, the Prequel

Somehow, our pursuit of a home loan has progressed from a general frenzy of activity to a trip into the twilight zone.  I am so dumbfounded by the latest turn of events as to become speechless.  Really.  I have no idea how to describe the current situation.

Let me go back to this past Monday.  We signed a paper that is known as the Condition 2 Statement.  It says:  THE PURCHASER, SELLER AND SELLING REAL ESTATE AGENT OR THE BROKER INVOLVED IN THE SALES TRANSACTION, HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE SALES CONTRACT ARE TRUE TO THE BEST OF THEIR KNOWLEDGE AND BELIEF AND THAT ANY OTHER AGREEMENT ENTERED INTO BY ANY OF THE PARTIES IN CONNECTION WITH THE REAL ESTATE TRANSACTION IS PART OF, OR ATTACHED TO, THE SALES AGREEMENT.

Somehow, I had thought that our signatures on the sales contract meant that, but apparently not.  Anyway, we signed it; the sellers signed it, the realtor signed it.  And I thought our trip to the land of the bizarre was over.

Sadly, no.  The VA also apparently requires a written Agreement (with the capital A) from the CDD (Community Development District) stating that they maintain the street.  A CDD is quite common in Florida.  It is a governing body established by a builder to provide the infrastructure for a community; similar to, but not the same as a Home Owners Association.  The CDD actually levys taxes to pay for the infrastructure — the county collects the moneys and distributes them to the CDDs.   Our realtor and the Title company lady have been unable to find any document that specifically states “The CDD maintains the streets.”  They have contacted the CDD director, gotten statements from him and copies of numerous public documents and even more documents from the CDDs lawyer.   There has been an ongoing flurry of emails to and from the bank, the realtor, the Title company, and the VA.

Our frustration level has been climbing all week. We have been anticipating a closing on Friday.   I have made deposits with the water, electric and gas companies.  All utilities are set to be put in our name as of the 13th.  We have the cable company coming to the house on Monday.  We have furniture being delivered on Tuesday.  The bank is closed on Monday due to a holiday.  We really need this to be resolved.

Since I have been dealing with bank personel in South Carolina and Arizona I felt that touching base with an actual human may prove helpful.  Today I went to the local branch of the bank to see if I could get any satisfaction.   I discussed the situation with a banker.  She and I and the gal in Arizona had a conference call.  I got answers to my questions.  (Mainly, the answer was, we are dealing with the VA and this is what they insist on.)  I wasn’t thrilled with the answers, but I had a better understanding of the process and was satisfied that things will move forward, not as fast as I would like, but hopefully in time to close late Friday.

I headed home by way of WalMart.  While I was in the check out line at WalMart, I got a call from the banker in Arizona asking if I had contacted the VA.  And from there things went right into the Twilight Zone.

When she contacted the VA office they said they won’t speak with the bank. They told her that the realtor and borrower had already contacted them and gotten instructions and they were not going to explain it again.

I am still stunned.  Neither Richard nor I have had any contact with the VA about this.  I told her that.  Nor has our realtor been in contact with the VA person(s) handling our loan.