So you think you're smarter than all the other people who have posted reports of consumer fraud with QUICK-end? Yeah, I thought I was one of them. Got all the numbers worked out, approved for a great [REFI] 30-yr fixed FHA at 6%, and I'm thinking — this is too good to be true — let's get the appraisal and close this deal already.
BACKGROUND: At the outset, I explained in great depth that my duplex had one unit in mid-rehab, the other already done. No problem, right? No problem he said. Then, on the Sunday evening before the appraisal, I receive a call from the LO advising me to "hold off with the appraisal for a day or two — he has to check on something." That something is - oh yeah - we can't appraise or underwrite this mortgage unless the other unit is completed.
So I should go ahead and have "that" [the work I need the cash-out for] done and then we could get the appraisal. This "detail" should have shut this deal down in the first 5 minutes of conversation. No lender - conventional, subprime, Fannie-Freddie-Ginnie or FHA will underwrite a straight REFI on a property in REHAB process. Those loans are called, you got it - REHAB loans [aka construction, bridge loans for purchases]. So, ok, some time wasted perhaps, but I'm smarter for it. I'll just get my money back and be on my merry way, right?
Email#1: I kindly explain in an email that I will be withdrawing from the loan as I do not have the funds to complete the work and please refund my $400 deposit as I won't be needing an appraisal. I had, in the meantime, found a great FHA 203K Streamline, a program expressly for purchase/refi of REHABs, with a local bank, great rate, I'm happy. Just need that $400 bucks back pronto - Christmas is here - the tree is bare.
What do you think happened next? That's right, no refund.instead the LO calls to say we can still do this loan — blah blah — it was like talking to a fern, or should I say a QUICK-BOT. I could have said that a meteor the size of Saturn was hurling toward the earth and so I won't be needing that loan after all, and his response would have been... But the rates will go up after the meteor hits so..
This guy has clearly underestimated me.
Email #2: You want to play hardball? No problem. I email the LO [with read receipt] that I expect his email/voicemail by noon the following day stating my refund has been processed; if I do not, I will contact Quicken directly. QUICKBOT calls, leaves message, wants to discuss "loan situation".
Hardball rule #1: time for talk with QUICKBOT is over.
CHECKED OUT the following websites, with complaint forms accessed:
1. New York State Attorney General, Consumer Fraud
2. BBB [Better Business Bureau] of Eastern Michigan
3. Consumer Affairs [.com]
4. Federal Trade Department [FTC] - Fair Credit Reporting Act
5. Business Week - Quicken Org Chart [go right to the top]
Harball Rule #2: Give 'em one shot at making things right then start pitching hard and fast.
So I call the QuickenLoans Media Relations Team. I speak with Scott. I simply say, I have withdrawn my loan, however I am not able to receive my refund. He looks up my name, confirms my SSN, and states so matter of factly I think I'm hallucinating: "OK, I'll call the loan officer and have your loan removed from the system and your refund should be process within 24-48 hours and should appear in your bank system within 48-72 hours." I am stunned. I was prepared for an all out assault, both barrels loaded, and now I am getting my refund back? Just like that? But wait — there is one catch. They will credit the $400 less the credit report fee of $6.44 ~! I said, no problem, and thank you very much.
Stand by for an update on my QUICK-end refund but in the meantime, be v e r y v e r y careful if you dare venture into the land of QUICKBOTs.
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