Okay, I’ve given up on my bank…ya know…the one I’ve done business with for decades…well, not really decades, just ever since they “borged” all the other banks and credit card companies (and home loan and car loan) that I used to belong to.
My bank…let’s just call it “Three Initial Corporation” (TIC) used to be a little savings and loan when I joined it, way back over 30 years ago.
Mergers, buyouts, and other 80’s and 90’s failures and various evil corporate shenanigans, and now *poof* I belong to a behemoth. One of the big three really.
BOA TIC has served me well up to this point…but it is evident that they have our relationship wrong.
I want this house. I need a loan. It’s not a big loan, and I’m not begging for it. I expect it. I am credit worthy. My “papers” and other “tracked to an obscene level” bios, stats, and history fit all the qualifiers, the appraisals all come in over the selling price, and still, they try to make me jump through hoops. It’s in their handbook. “Must do A, B, C, etc”. When I’ve already done A and B they find something new for me to do instead.
None of it has been what they said they’d do.
Dishonesty, even dishonesty caused by corporate bumbling and procedural mumbo jumbo that nobody can answer for, is unacceptable in my banking institution.
They want hoops. The hoops are not needed. There’s nobody to discuss it with. “Once it’s on the list, it’s got to be done.” etc. I can’t even talk to the loan underwriter. The certificate that says, “Commitment to Loan” does not mean that. Gad. Sad thing is it took them a month to get wound up to this point, which is most of the time on my contract. Now they want the seller to jump some hoops too. I guess they can’t comprehend that “as is” thing we all agreed on.
Oh, and there’s a holiday week next week, which further complicates everything.
Anyway, the relationship. Well, it’s like this…they don’t make money unless they lend it. I want a loan. Should work out, but for some reason they’ve assumed I am desperate and will do anything to get it. They’ve forgotten that in the end, they work for me. I guess they expect their customers to be desperate.
Oh, and worse, when “TIC” ordered another unnecessary expensive thing (an additional appraisal right after the unneeded survey), the appraiser was told it was on behalf of another lender…which after a little research I see that TIC now owns…and that lender has a terrible reputation for customer and loan service. I do not want to do business with that lender.
The wife and I aren’t complete morons…we saw the handwriting on the wall when the loan officer’s phone system wouldn’t let us through…it’s designed that way…nobody can get through. Voice Jail supreme. After much button pushing the message says to give them 36 hours to return your call…and the Internet checklist wouldn’t budge no matter how many documents I faxed to them. And then it got bigger!
So, a little over a week ago…on a Monday, we drove back to our new town and sat down with a local bank. This is what I should have done in the first place. They are going to know their own market, and when the loan is made, the money will stay in my region. I can talk to the underwriter, loan officer, and the VP of the bank all at the same time. They do what they tell me they are going to. They answer the phone.
They are left scrambling due to the short time left for closing and the holiday week ahead, but we still may make our closing date…so far, no problems, but we may miss it by a couple days. We’re pretty sure the seller will be okay with this, and I’ve been in continual contact the the Realtor.
Anyway, bail on the big banks guys…they’ve lost the customer service thing completely in the “efficient” phone systems and procedural manuals, and they don’t have a clue why customers are leaving.
All this waiting is making me nuts…another 11 days to go, only 4 of which are business days. Sigh. I really need something firm before that…I’ve got utilities to handle and so on. Ack.
When I say I “expect” this to work, I really do. By everybody’s measure, I qualify for this.
Money where my mouth is? Well, we’ve purchased tools and equipment for the coming changes we want to make to the house, new heaters, and such…A couple thousand dollars worth so far.
More later!
CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer
