Sorry for these questions as I found this site on a Google search and I know I'm not a banker, but my wife and I are extremely stressed out through the whole process of purchasing our first home. What exactly qualifies for a "bonafide personal financial emergency" to waive the 3 day waiting period? Let me explain my situation.

Our home closing was supposed to be yesterday (3/18) and Bank of America can't even give us an updated estimate when an underwriter is going to review our file. An underwriter was initially assigned to our case weeks ago and last Monday (3/11) she was supposed to go over our file to approve it, but called in sick. The underwriter's office didn't assign a new underwriter to handle our case until Wednesday (3/13) and the new underwriter didn't tell our loan officer all the additional documents (that he wanted, but the previous underwriter didn't need) we needed until Thursday (3/14). Some of these newly requested documents were, frankly, ridiculous and our loan officer was even getting annoyed and had to "fight" him to get him to drop some of the requirements.

For example, one of the things he was asking for was a letter of explanation regarding this "recurring" charge every other week for the past two months and if it was an additional liability for them to worry about. That recurring charge was a pizza place for which we'd ordered online from frequently because 5 members of my wife's family had been visiting from abroad and wanted food delivered to their AirBnB nearby and they didn't take cash on delivery for those orders (her family paid us in cash instead). Our loan officer didn't even ask us for the letter anymore and just sent the underwriter a google maps picture and location of the pizza place in question. As of now, as far as I know (our loan officer has not been very good at keeping us updated) we still haven't had an underwriter review the case.

That brings me to our other problem regarding the closing disclosure. We both received an email at around 243am on Monday (3/18) morning, the scheduled date of our home closing, that the Closing Disclosure was now available to review and acknowledge via their online banking's "Home Loan Navigator." (Didn't this need to be provided three days before our closing? Why are they only providing it to us on the day of closing?) Anyway, I logged onto my online account that morning, but I can't access the closing disclosure because I'm not the primary borrower (my wife is) and she needs to change a setting to allow online viewing. So I have my wife log on and it was then that we realized that she does not have access to the home loan navigator at all. Apparently when setting up our online banking accounts years ago, her SSN was never added to it.

So apparently it created a separate "dummy" account just for her SSN and the home loan navigator, but with no way for us to log on due to not having a username or password (and the online password recovery also gives an error when trying to recover these details, presumably because they don't exist). I called customer service right away and they said that we have two options: 1) create a new online banking acccount just to access the home loan navigator with her SSN or 2) visit a BofA financial center to have a banker add the SSN to her current online banking account.

We tried the first option, because it was suggested by tech support that it would be faster, but after creating said account - there's a 3-5 day waiting period before the password is mailed to us. Upon seeing this, we immediately head to the nearest branch. The banker who was assisting us was having issues with trying to add the SSN because it thinks that the account for that SSN already exists. Her manager ends up assisting us, but all he could do is file a request with their tech support to have the accounts merged (which takes 48 hours).

So now here we are. Sellers are willing to extend, but only until this Friday (3/22). We haven't received a closing disclosure yet, so the soonest we can close is sometime early next week. Sellers are threatening to pull out if we don't close this Friday because they have backup offers and could possibly be taking our $10,000 earnest money deposit with them. Our condo lease agreement also ends next Sunday (3/31) and we won't have a place to live from that point on, because our landlords have already found a new tenant.

After speaking to the sales manager boss of our loan officer today, she claimed that sellers cannot break the contract because contracts allow an extension for the 3 day waiting period delay of a closing disclosure. I just looked at our contract just now and it says nothing of the sort, only a 4 day extension if terms of the loan have changed. Is our situation something we can waive the 3 day waiting period on so that we can close this Friday?

This is all incredibly frustrating. And I feel like it's all Bank of America's fault.

It very well be BofA's fault, but it is a very good example of why you should not buy a house without engaging your own attorney in the process. These are transactions that most people conduct maybe a couple times in their lives and usually years apart. Listening to the seller's realtor or the bank, who do not represent you, does not give you much to go on. They want their commissions and can, and usually will, tell you anything.

I would be shocked if BofA is going to allow you to waive the 3 days, because they will say that poor planning is not a financial emergency and the only person the bank puts at risk by allowing a waiver is themselves.

While we all can feel your frustration, that is always the risk when you go with a large conglomerate rather than a local institution where you can actually walk in and see the people involved in your transaction. If your closing was suppose to be no later than 3/18 and it was not going to underwriting until 3/11 - well that leaves little if any wiggle room.

You failed to tell us when you originally applied for the loan, but to avoid most of this, people purchasing a house usually have their financing ready to go before they sign a purchase contract other than dotting the i's and crossing the t's when they find the property that they want.

We had been talking with our loan officer since the beginning of January. We officially submitted our loan application on January 28th.

Then on the face of it, you may have a case against BoA. I strongly urge you to contact a real estate attorney TODAY. It will likely cost you a pretty penny to have them drop everything and help you deal with this within the next 48 hours but it's that or lose your $10k and the house you want.