Beware of internet lenders

I just closed a transaction for a buyer who had a major problem with his lender that I have also ran into in the past. When I first meet with a buyer, I provide them with a list of lenders that I have done business with in the past and have proven themselves to give good service and competitive interest rates and closing costs. It is a common mistake for home buyers to search the Internet for their loan source to purchase one of the most important investments they will make in their lives. This particular buyer found a lender who actually is a very recognized bank. I will call them BPA for the purposes of this blog. I actually recommend BPA to my buyer's through a local loan officer that I have experience with in Dallas. This buyer through the Internet ended up with a loan officer in South Carolina. During the processing of this loan he informed me that he had taken the loan application and would no longer be involved in the closing of the loan. He told me to deal with the loan processor from that point forward. We were under a deadline to close as is the case with most home sales since the principals have to make plans by taking off work, schedule movers, schedule utilities, and many times are purchasing a home after their sale. It is a very hectic time for all the parties. The loan processor took her vacation during the middle of this loan and it was turned over to another party to process. The other processor had her own clients to close so our deal was put on the back burner. The loan officer as promised was no help at all. We got to the closing date and the seller required that the buyer pay them $50.00 per day until it closed. The buyer agreed to this as he wanted the house and had spent over $750.00 prior to this in appraisal and inspection fees. Plus he had to move from where he was living. We ended up closing 13 days late which cost the buyer $650.00 extra. The processor a who was actually in a different state than the loan officer let us know through her actions that she frankly did not care about the buyer or seller's problems. By this time it is too late to change loan company's as it would delay the closing even further. We also found out the underwriter who would be approving the loan is on the West Coast which even further delayed the deal. AND the person who would approve the funding was on the East coast! This nightmare could have been avoided if the buyer would have used the person I recommended here in Dallas, who ironically was with the same company. She has a relationship with me and will take care of my customers as she knows she has to give good service to continue our relationship. The out of town BPA branch knew they would get no further business from either me or the borrower, so their priority was to take care of their local people. I get no monetary compensation from any mortgage company. I just get the satisfaction that my client's will be taken care of fairly and very rarely will there be a delay in closing, due to the lenders incompetence.