I was applying for a Home Equity Loan and I told the Loan Offincer that
I wanted a 60,000 loan and a fixed rate. He took down my info and said
that since my husband and I have excellent credit that we will have no
problem. He then had his Loan Processor contact us and we gave her
additonal info she requested. A few days later I called the Loan
Officer and asked what our payment would be and he said just under
400.00. I asked if he could send us a good faith estimate and he said
he would, but it never came. I talked to him again, and then he said I
couldn't get a fixed rate and I told him I absolutely wanted a fixed
rate, so he said no problem and then said the payments were 424 a
month. It was more but I asked what he needed to proceed and he said he
was just waiting for us to decide (this was a week after he said our
payments were under 400.00) I thought he had locked the rate. Anyway I
said that was fine. So I recieve the good faith estimate along with the
other papers and then the monthly fee was 466.00 with a HELOC variable
rate. I called him and he said by law they have to send those and don't
worry about what's on there, just sign it and at the closing he'll have
the correct numbers. Well I didn't sign them and called the loan
processor and asked her to resend them with more accurate info. She
then asks me if I wanted a HELOC or 2nd mortgage. I had thought I had
made that perfectly clear many times before! I wanted a fixed rate.
They also discouraged me from buying points. Anyway, I went to ditech
to see what hey offered and the payments were just under 400.00. I
asked them if they could match that (I wouldn't use Ditech, but I
wanted another opinion) And then they called up and said our loan
didn't go through because one of our real estate properties payments
was over 30 days late and the underwriter wouldn't accept a letter
explaining why. This all took about 3 weeks!What do you make of this. I
have never been through anything like this before? Any comments? Thanks
for your time!

writes:
What do you make of this. I have never been through anything like
this before? Any comments? Thanks for your time!

I agree with their advice against buying points. It's generally never
a wise move unless you know with a high degree of certainty the life
of the loan will be beyond a certain number of years.

An unscrupulous lender (and there are certainly no shortage of these
nimwits) will screw ya with little recourse available to you. This is
why it's so important to identify an honest one ahead of time.
Unfortunately it's hard to do without having a recommendation from a
savvy sharp friend who's used them before and can vouch for their
efficacy.

Good faith estimates are just that--estimates. Even if it paints a
rosy happy picture and you sign it, nothing prevents a lender from
surprising you on closing day with higher closing cost numbers, and if
you're wedged with a transaction tha thas to happen, you'll end up
pretty much having to sign whatever those fees are that day, or
licking your wounds for the transaction not happening that day. I
think about the only thing they can't change on the GFE is the rate if
you locked, the term, and the loan amount.

A 30+ day past due at the time you apply for a loan is a very
unfortunate bad thing to have happen. That a lender wouldn't accept
a written explanation of it doesn't sound all that out of the
ordinary. It throws off their risk calculations on which the rate
they gave you was offered.

Hope you get it all sorted out.

--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/

wrote:

I was applying for a Home Equity Loan and I told the Loan Offincer that
I wanted a 60,000 loan and a fixed rate. He took down my info and said
that since my husband and I have excellent credit that we will have no
problem.

... I talked to him again, and then he said I
couldn't get a fixed rate and I told him I absolutely wanted a fixed
rate,

It's been a practice of scuzzy lenders for several years now to
pressure people into ARMs instead of fixed rate mortgages, because 1.
more people qualify for ARMs than for fixed mortgages, and more loans
means earning more commissions; and 2. the lender will make more money
on an ARM than a fixed-rate loan, since the interest rate adjusts.

It's fairly routine to have them agree to set you up with a fixed-rate
loan, only to arrive at closing and discover they've set you up with
an ARM. They're counting on you needing the loan badly enough that
you'll go along with it. Or that you won't read before signing, so you
won't even realize till too late that you've been strong-ARMed by your
lender. Don't fall for it.

So I recieve the good faith estimate along with the
other papers and then the monthly fee was 466.00 with a HELOC variable
rate. I called him and he said by law they have to send those and don't
worry about what's on there, just sign it and at the closing he'll have
the correct numbers.

He's a liar. Take your business elsewhere. Do not do business with
people who practice deception.

And then they called up and said our loan
didn't go through because one of our real estate properties payments
was over 30 days late and the underwriter wouldn't accept a letter
explaining why. This all took about 3 weeks!What do you make of this.

That explanation may be true. It may be bogus. They may have simply
not wanted to bother setting you up with a fixed rate loan. Once you
balked at a variable, this may have been the excuse they used to blow
you off.

Try another lender. Describe in writing the loan (amount, type) you
are seeking, so they can't claim they misunderstood what you were
asking for. If they indicate a desire to work with you, ask them to
quickly send the proposal in writing, and set a deadline to receive
it. If they don't get back to you in time, or if they change the terms
in the proposal, move on to another lender. And read everything
carefully before you sign.

And never, never assume your lender has your best interests in mind.
They're out to make a profit. It's up to you to determine what you can
afford, and upon what terms.

HellT

wrote in message
ps.com...
I was applying for a Home Equity Loan and I told the Loan Offincer that
I wanted a 60,000 loan and a fixed rate. He took down my info and said
that since my husband and I have excellent credit that we will have no
problem.
Problem story follows

There is no shortage of fixed rate home equity lenders, just go to another
one. You can get a list of lenders for your area at www.bankrate.com . Banks
such as Citizens Bank offer fixed rate home equity loans at fair rates and
"No application costs, no closing costs or annual fees ".

Hell Toupee wrote:

It's fairly routine to have them agree to set you up with a fixed-rate
loan, only to arrive at closing and discover they've set you up with
an ARM. They're counting on you needing the loan badly enough that
you'll go along with it.


And it's real fun when you discover this during a combined closing,
just after you've sold your old house. Now you're homeless when you
flip to the loan document and it says 12% ARM when you locked in at 5%
fixed. WTF?! AAARGH!


-rev

"The Reverend Natural Light" wrote:

And it's real fun when you discover this during a combined closing,
just after you've sold your old house. Now you're homeless when you
flip to the loan document and it says 12% ARM when you locked in at 5%
fixed. WTF?! AAARGH!

Which is why on my last couple of closings, I insist on copies of all the
paperwork at least two days before the actual closing. Had one closing agent
throw a hissy fit when I insisted on this and then two days later say she had
never done a closing so fast.

duh...

In article , "Clark W. Griswold, Jr." writes:
"The Reverend Natural Light" wrote:

And it's real fun when you discover this during a combined closing,
just after you've sold your old house. Now you're homeless when you
flip to the loan document and it says 12% ARM when you locked in at 5%
fixed. WTF?! AAARGH!

Which is why on my last couple of closings, I insist on copies of all the
paperwork at least two days before the actual closing. Had one closing agent
throw a hissy fit when I insisted on this and then two days later say she had
never done a closing so fast.

I'm curious how you were able to do that? I always insist too, but am
always ignored or rebuffed. Do you tell them that the transaction will be
cancelled if you don't get the paperwork?
(Last year I closed on a house purchase where this happened. I simply
could NOT get them to give me the final true cash amount I needed to bring, in
order to complete the closing. They kept telling me to just bring a check for
the amount in the GFE. The settlement agent did a double-take when she saw
that our check was over $1,000 MORE than the final amount we needed to pay. We
were lucky it was that way and not $1000 under! Still, refund check in hand,
I was not amused.)

- Sharon
"Gravity... is a harsh mistress!"

(Sharon) wrote:

I'm curious how you were able to do that? I always insist too, but am
always ignored or rebuffed. Do you tell them that the transaction will be
cancelled if you don't get the paperwork?
(Last year I closed on a house purchase where this happened. I simply
could NOT get them to give me the final true cash amount I needed to bring, in
order to complete the closing. They kept telling me to just bring a check for
the amount in the GFE. The settlement agent did a double-take when she saw
that our check was over $1,000 MORE than the final amount we needed to pay. We
were lucky it was that way and not $1000 under! Still, refund check in hand,
I was not amused.)

I just politely informed the closing agent that I wasn't going to spend two
hours reading documents in the title office and said that I knew they had to be
prepared ahead of time anyway, so please fax or email them to me. She wasn't
real happy, but when I repeated the request, she agreed.

catalpa wrote:
wrote in message
ps.com...
I was applying for a Home Equity Loan and I told the Loan Offincer that
I wanted a 60,000 loan and a fixed rate. He took down my info and said
that since my husband and I have excellent credit that we will have no
problem.
Problem story follows

There is no shortage of fixed rate home equity lenders, just go to another
one. You can get a list of lenders for your area at www.bankrate.com . Banks
such as Citizens Bank offer fixed rate home equity loans at fair rates and
"No application costs, no closing costs or annual fees ".

I agree. I'd also focus on the loan term and interest rate, as opposed
to what the monthly payment will be. You can always make the monthly
payment look smaller by quoting a longer term.

There are a ton of places to go to for a fixed mortgage, start calling
and checking elsewhere - why waste time being aggravated with a
company you already dont feel comfortable with.

Plus they need your business more than you need theirs, so chances are
theyll start getting competitive once they know youre checking with
several lenders.




Clark W. Griswold, Jr. wrote:
(Sharon) wrote:

I'm curious how you were able to do that? I always insist too, but am
always ignored or rebuffed. Do you tell them that the transaction will be
cancelled if you don't get the paperwork?
(Last year I closed on a house purchase where this happened. I simply
could NOT get them to give me the final true cash amount I needed to bring, in
order to complete the closing. They kept telling me to just bring a check for
the amount in the GFE. The settlement agent did a double-take when she saw
that our check was over $1,000 MORE than the final amount we needed to pay. We
were lucky it was that way and not $1000 under! Still, refund check in hand,
I was not amused.)

I just politely informed the closing agent that I wasn't going to spend two
hours reading documents in the title office and said that I knew they had to be
prepared ahead of time anyway, so please fax or email them to me. She wasn't
real happy, but when I repeated the request, she agreed.

wrote:

Anyway, for US, it worked very well. We got the mortgage, it really
didn't cost us anything

I'm glad it worked out for you, but it wasn't "no cost". The person who coined
that phrase should be hung up next to the person who came up with "new &
improved".

You're paying any closing costs in the rate spread between your loan and the
actual market rate at that time. Every month when you write that mortgage check,
a small portion of it goes towards the closing costs.

The lender is betting you'll hold the mortgage long enough that they will earn
the costs back. You're betting you won't. Since you know more than the lender,
it's quite possible you'll win the bet.

Clark W. Griswold, Jr. wrote:
wrote:

Anyway, for US, it worked very well. We got the mortgage, it really
didn't cost us anything

I'm glad it worked out for you, but it wasn't "no cost". The person who coined
that phrase should be hung up next to the person who came up with "new &
improved".

You're paying any closing costs in the rate spread between your loan and the
actual market rate at that time.

You are probably correct. When I was comparing rates at the time, the
one we ended up with was not the lowest nor highest of those listed in
the newspaper.

However, to me the good part is I KNEW what the rate and mortgage type
were, there were no games possible with "estimated costs" etc. While
marginally more expensive on the rate, it was certainly easier on the
brain.

All of which was much easier than any of the previous mortgages I have
held over the years.

While there is no particular reason to go with the same mortage company
(other than it seemed to work just fine, and these days that's a
serious plus), my future mortgages will certainly include considering
the no-cost type.