In December my wife and I responded to a home equity line of credit offer from Countrywide Home Loans located in Van Nuys Ca.
The loan process dragged on for over 2 months. When we made inquiries of our loan representative, we were told the Countrywide underwriting department was being overly particular and nitpicky. We considered cancelling the loan request, but as we had come that far in the process, we were disinclined to start the process over, and our loan representative kept assuring us it was a matter of a "couple of more days."
During this lengthy process period we were being asked for some of the same documentation over again. Some of the information they had was still current as we had previously been a Countrywide customer within the past 12 months.
We were also told erroneous and costly information by our loan representative and his team leader. We were told that our pool needed to be filled or gated. We explained that we wanted to resurface and repaint the pool before filling it and this would take some time. We were then told by our loan representative and his team leader that instead of filling the pool, we could cover it with plywood. We spent close to $300.00 at Home Depot to purchase the plywood and I cut and laid it late into the evening to prepare for the appraisal the next day.
Just before the appraisal, our loan representative informed us we would need to pay $300 for the appraisal up front. We paid the amount directly to the Appraiser. After the appraisal, our loan representative told us that although the pictures taken of the plywood covering the pool looked professional, he and his team leader had given us incorrect information. The plywood covering was unacceptable, and the pool must be filled with water. I had to take off work to have the time to resurface and repaint the pool for another appraisal as my loan representative said the condtion of the pool would cause a hold up or cancellation of the loan.
Our loan representative told us that we could submit our receipts and be reimbursed by Countrywide for the cost of the plywood. Upon receiving our settlement statement on March 1, we phoned immediately with the followind discrepancies:
1. Why our statement indicated the settlement date was February 14, the disbursement date was February 18, and yet we did not receive our loan proceeds until March 1. Our loan representative had no answer.
2. We informed our loan representative that $330.00 was debited from our proceeds for the appraisal which we paid up front. Our loan representative acknowledged an error had been made and assured us we would be reimbursed. To date we have not received our $330 back, despite our many calls and Countrwide's promise to repay us with interest.
3. We reminded our loan representative that he had told us we could submit our receipts for the plywood and be reimbursed. Our loan representative said Countrywide had absorbed some of the closing costs instead of re-paying us directly. The settlement statement does not reflect any credits and I asked which costs they had absorbed. I also asked for written confirmation, but it was never supplied.
4. We informed our loan representative that although our settlement statement indicated our property taxes had been paid directly to the County Tax Collector, we had checked and found our bill was still outstanding. We were concerned that Countrywide would pay our tax bill late. We were assured this would be taken care of immediately. Countrywide paid the tax bill almost 2 weeks later (and only after frequent reminders from us).
5. We told our loan representative that another of the checks made payable to one of our creditors had an incorrect name, and the creditor could not cash it until the name was corrected. We were told to send the check back to the settlement agent with a note of explanation. When a corrected check was Fed-exed to us, we were also presented with a $37.71 bill from Fedex. We asked Countrywide why we should receive a bill, and we were told they would take care of it. A month after this conversation, a 2nd reminder from Fedex was mailed to us requesting payment. We phoned Countrywide again, and we were told they would take care of it. We have assumed the bill was paid as we have not received another reminder notice from Fedex.
We are now awaiting a call back from a customer resolution representative from the president's office regarding the $330 plus the interest we were promised. We have checked their website and find their Code of Ethics written and posted, yet no one we have yet encountered in their organization appears to be familiar with them. We are filing a complaint with the Department of Corporations and are considering hiring a private attorney to obtain our refund plus any damages the law provides. We were told the customer resolution representative needs 48-72 hours beginning from May 26th to review the situation and contact us. We will update this site with any further developments.
Robert
Azusa, California
U.S.A.
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