07/21/2026
Sometimes the numbers just don’t work, and I’m not the loan officer who will force them to.
Yesterday, I had someone reach out to me about refinancing. Unfortunately, after a job loss in their family, they found themselves in a hard spot. They had just bought their home less than a year ago and needed to tap into their equity to pay off some debt.
After carefully reviewing everything, I had to deliver the bad news, it just didn’t work. And not only did it not work, but even if their debt to income ratio had supported it, they would have been taking on a higher interest rate, paying closing costs, paying for an appraisal that may not have even come back at the value needed, and walking away with far less cash than they were hoping for. In the end, it just didn’t seem like it made financial sense.
After speaking with them about it, they informed me that other lenders were able to make it work. I told them what to look out for to help protect themselves, and that if they found someone who could do it and they truly felt the pros outweighed the cons, I wished them nothing but the best. But from our end, it just didn’t work.
Here’s the hard part about this job: telling someone the numbers aren’t lining up, especially when you know they’re already in a difficult situation. It never feels good to deliver that kind of news.
Either way, I offered my help. I let them know that if they wanted me to review any Loan Estimates or fee estimates they received, I’d be more than happy to do so to make sure they weren’t being charged excessive fees and fully understood what they were signing.
I also reminded them that I’m here for them no matter what.
Honesty and transparency matter.
Doing what’s right for the client even when it doesn’t result in a loan matters.
That’s the kind of loan officer I’ll always strive to be.
Angelina Maldonado
Sr. Loan Officer
Revolution Mortgage
NMLS #2672239
