I've owned my home financed via a VA 30yr fixed @4.5APR for less than a year and was contacted by a MIC telemarketer on my brother's prepaid cellphone. Ridiculously low rates downwards of 2.5% are quoted to me and when I asked if this is a 'fixed' loan I am told 'there are many refinance options available' yet this is not a valid answer. I eventually give in and schedule an appointment with an agent so I can take a look at real numbers on PAPER.
Arriving on time at the appointed date MIC's agent, a Mary Mycer, proceeds to give me a long winded presentation about how great MIC is and what it does for veterans but I could care less. I want to look at disclosures and numbers usually found in the fine print, but she will have none of that.
With my current bank, to pre-approve and lock in my rate for my first home purchase I only needed to sign one sheet and from there on during the rest of the closing I was handed copies of every document with unlimited time to review and sign them all. Mary didn't want to leave copies of anything and when she put "Chuck" on speakerphone to double tap me I got the feeling I was in one of those cloak and dagger spy movies, whereas MIC's policy is to leave no evidence of wrong doing behind.
As Chuck hangs up, my inquiries and requests for more information to review are diverted with classic high pressure tactics up to attacking my character and my audacity to be suspicious of her and the company. She asked if I was paranoid, to which I responded that I was when dealing with such contracts. She calls me 'disgusting' - her own words, shortly before collecting all papers and leaving no copies for me to review or scrutinize, making sure to take back her business card as well; in turn I partially collect the only paper I signed, as my name and cellphone number remained on the other half of it which she ripped apart in a bold display of conceited, unprofessional behavior when I asked for it. All the way from my front porch back to her car I overheard her 'dissatisfaction' with me through the walls.
I have never and will never sign a binding contract without first examining the entire legal framework of such, reading through all the disclosures and completely understanding what exactly I am agreeing to. What MIC pressures their agents to do it seems, is to basically get clients to sign all documents needed for the closing right there and then, worry about approval later. It is the near equivalent of a pink slip contract at a car dealership.
In order to stay in business the company must have a legitimate product, but the way this product is presented and sold is unethical, damaging even; a VA Adjustable Rate Mortgage with steep closing costs that you may as well pay towards your own principal effectively lowering your total payed interest long-term and avoid the hassle of refinancing all together.
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