Record Setting Day

Today was the hottest day in the history of Seattle. Temperatures at SEA-TAC reached 102 - now that's hot!

In other news after a week of anxiety and running around in circles Chase finally decided to approve my mortgage. I'm not sure if it set a record for the most run-around and incompetence ever encountered for a loan but it sure felt that way. I know that the housing market is different now but it seems like they have gone from one extreme to another. Where 3 or 4 years ago you didn't need to prove you had a job or finances and now you need to provide document upon document.

On one hand it was rather comical the stuff they kept coming back to me and asking. Yesterday I had the same conversation with 2 different people and I had the conversation with one of them earlier in the week as well.

Last week they asked for documentation that I was paying my rent in the UK, so the property manager sent an email and a letter explaining how much I paid and how long I was a tenant. The letter wasn't good enough so they had to send a form. The form asked the same questions and they gave the same answers but that was good enough. Two hours after they had received it I was told that I needed to sign the document as well and that was holding up the loan - I hadn't ever been sent the document to sign in the first place.

The worst part came at 2 PM yesterday when I get the call that they've just realized that they missed a previous condition on the loan which requires documentation of where the money that was transferred into my HSBC checking account came from. I had already sent a letter explaining all this but that wasn't good enough. Of course HSBC in the UK is closed at this point and there is nothing I can do. After freaking out for a minute I realize that I have the statements from my checking account which shows regular transfers from my checking into the savings account. I write a letter which provides the account numbers I print out 8 months worth of statements and circle every transfer from my checking to the savings account and state that the savings account was closed 60 days ago. I sign everything and send it over, of course by this time I'm shaking I'm so angry and anxious because if this doesn't work they've said they'll deny the loan. I eventually stopped shaking last night after finishing my first martini.

I have no idea why after having the paperwork for 30 days they all of sudden start realizing that they need more documentation. This has honestly been one of the more stressful things I have ever gone through in my life. I sincerely appreciate the support my friends and family have shown over the last week allowing me to vent, cry and laugh over this. Some of the funnier things that were said:

"What do they care where you lived? Maybe you were trading sexual favors for a cardboard box in someone's backyard."

"You should have told them that the money came from dealing drugs, gambling, or money laundering ."

And yes I'm very thankful that at least I won't be sharing my condo with 200 bats!

Everything appears to be in order and if all goes right I will have the keys either tomorrow or Friday which is good because all my stuff is being delivered. When I spoke to my relocation agent this afternoon she told me that they'll arrange for my stuff from MA to be delivered with the international stuff on Saturday. The driver arrived today and they unloaded everything as they knew I was having problems with the closing and they were going to waive any storage fees.