I know, I know, I'm asking a financial question on a BMW forum...But there's a lot of smart folks here who I respect.
Heres the deal. In the middle of a cash-out refi to consolidate our primary mortgage, HELOC we used to help buy some vacant land for a future home build, and pull some additional cash out to help with pre-construction costs. 4 weeks ago when we initially got the closing cost estimate worksheet from the bank they had our rate at 3.375% with no points. Today I get the closing docs and they've snuck in a 0.5% rate buy-down, AKA "points" while keeping us at 3.375%. I called the out on it and they said that the original number they used for our estimated property value was $100k above what it actually assessed at. What it assessed at was within $6,000 of what my wife and I figured it would. Where they got this number that was $100k above is beyond me. They are telling me that because the house appraised significantly lower than "we" anticipated, it bumped us up into a higher rate and they had to add the points in to keep us at that rate. Of course none of this was ever discussed. Just 'Hey, here's your closing docs, sign and you're all good."
So to me, it seems like they artificially inflated the estimated home value to secure a more attractive rate, then tried to sneak the points in at the end. Is that shit legal?! Seems like a serious bait and switch to me.
