Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/26/2025

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Nature of the Complaint:
  I am filing this complaint due to misleading practices, lack of communication, and negligence by Dominion Financial and loan officer ***** ******* resulting in financial losses and damage to business relationships.
  
  Issues Experienced:
  Lack of Communication & Delays:
  
  Submitted an application with a business partner and received no response for over 10 days.
  
  The loan officer failed to provide updates or address concerns in a timely manner.
  
  False Assurances & Misrepresentation:
  
  Ethan Alioto assured a first-time investor: "I can get this done. You have 25% down—we can do that."
  
  He misled me, my realtor, and the title company by claiming the deal was progressing and could close within 48 hours.
  
  These statements turned out to be false, causing unnecessary delays and stress.
  
  Financial & Business Damages:
  
  Due to *****’s failure to disclose issues earlier, the deal collapsed, resulting in lost escrow money.
  
  The property was lost, along with business relationships built in the local community.
  
  Unethical Last-Minute Actions:
  
  On closing day, ***** sent an email attempting to force a co-buyer into the loan despite prior agreements.
  
  This last-minute demand was unprofessional and unacceptable.
  
  Requested Resolution:
  Restitution for lost escrow money.
  
  Formal documentation of this complaint to warn future clients.
  
  A review of Dominion Financial’s lending practices for ethical and fiduciary compliance.
  
  Dominion Financial and ***** Alioto failed to uphold their professional responsibilities, leading to financial and personal harm. I strongly advise others to proceed with caution before working with this company.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/08/2025

  First and foremost, I'm sorry that this deal didn't work out for you guys. I know its frustrating. I assure you that ***** didn't mishandle your file. We did have a misalignment of expectations, though, on the profile of deal you were bringing to us. That set things out on the wrong foot. ***** gave you verbal assurances that your situation was a good fit for us based on you having no previous experience, but being willing to put down 25% on a higher purchase price and lower rehab deal. The deal that you presented, however, had a $34K purchase price and $76.5K rehab. Given that you don't have any previous real estate investing experience, I hemmed and hawed about this transaction. ***** did you a solid and advocated for you two. He stated that your brother **** was a contractor and would be GCing the deal. I came around and green-lighted the quoted, as long as **** was willing to be a guarantor. I wasn't worried about ****'s credit profile, as long as we had alignment between everyone involved in the project. We quoted the loan based on the LTARV that someone who hasn't done a deal before is eligible for. Given the numbers of your deal, however, this meant that you needed to bring more than 25% of the purchase price (which would only be $8.5K). Here's where we hit a snag. You aren't working with enough operating capital to bring that down payment, closing costs, make interest payments and get the rehab started. This is the problem, and you're going to continue to have this problem. $20K isn't enough operating capital to flip houses. If you'd started there with *****, we'd have all not wasted a bunch of time working on a deal that wasn't going to happen.
  Its our view as a lender that you need to come to a deal with some combination of 1) cash, 2) credit, 3) experience. Unfortunately, you're working with maybe half of one of these. I'm sorry that the deal didn't work out. I don't think ***** did you wrong. I think that it would have been prudent to get a loan quote before going hard on a deposit, when you're not well qualified. I'm sorry for the tough words, but they would have saved you an EMD here, so I hope thats the last EMD you lose this way.
  I hope you have lots of success. Again, I'm sorry this didn't work out.
  -**** ******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/18/2024

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On August 19, 2024, Robert W*********, a representative of Dominion Financial Services ("DFS") provided me a loan quote to refinance a property located at **** * *****, Cleveland, OH 44120 9the ("Property"). I am aware that loan quotes are not guarantees of financing but I paid the appraisal fee and submitted all required documents. On September 9, 2024 the appraisal on the Property was performed. That appraisal is attached. I and the Property met the requisite loan parameters. As of October, 6 the loan was scheduled to close (see attached email). The loan was then rescheduled to close on November 6, 2024. That date came and passed. DFS then reached out to reschedule the closing. Yet, once I reached out, Robert relayed that DFS would no longer be able to close the loan. When I asked for a refund for my appraisal fee he denied my request. While I cannot expect financing, I can expect to only pay for services that I actually receive. The appraisal was a lender demanded service in order for them to fund my loan. Since they chose not to fund my loan, I am entitled to a refund of the appraisal that is useless to me.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/06/2024

  Dear BBB, 
  
  Attached you will find the following documents: Loan Commitment, Copy of Appraisal, Proof the client refused to close.

  This complaint is misleading, and the client is misrepresenting the facts of the situation.

  Our institution was prepared to close the client’s loan, and at no point did we deny the loan or indicate that we would be unable to close. Although there were some delays in the closing process, we never issued a denial letter, nor did we make any statements refusing to close. The appraisal was ordered through an ********* ********** ******* (***), which is an independent third party, and the appraisal services were rendered for a loan that was ready to be closed.

  The client ultimately refused to proceed with closing despite the issuance of a loan commitment and a "clear to close" being communicated to the title company. As such, there is no basis for a refund of appraisal fees, particularly in the absence of a denial letter or any other indication that we were unwilling to proceed.

  Attached are the necessary documents, including proof of appraisal, the loan commitment, and evidence of the client’s refusal to proceed. We respectfully request that this case be dismissed and that this matter not negatively impact our standing, as the complaint lacks factual merit.

  Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/12/2022

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  We have repeatedly requested that your junk mail and postcards stop. Please respect our request.
  

  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/21/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/11/14) */
  Mr ********** was added to our do not mail list effective 11/7/22. Any mail received after that date had already been postmarked.
  
  Thank you.
  -Jack B*****, Partner