Is Quicken Loans a Scam?
I HATE IT when I suggest a product or service to a friend, and it COMPLETELY bombs for them! This type of situation just sucks.
I recently suggest to one of my very best friends that he call Quicken Loans to refinance his Adjustable Rate Mortgage to take advantage of today’s great deals on 30 year fixed rates…they are under 5%. I had recently done business with Quicken loans, and had enjoyed a smooth and simple refinance.
My buddys wife calls the company to find out if they will qualify. The agent tells her that they will, and then in my buddys’ words…”pressures her to place a $750 “refundable” security deposit to cement their business relationship.” His wife was told that Quicken was confident they could get the loan done for them…but if they couldn’t, their $750 deposit would be refunded in full.
OF COURSE, Quicken is not able to get the loan done as they had thought…something about the home not appraising at the level they thought it would. No Big Deal, Right? Just send us our deposit back and we will try to make other arraignments. THEY WOULD NOT GIVE THEM THEIR $750 BACK! My buddy is MAD! He has made it his personal mission to tell everyone he knows to avoid Quicken Loans like the plague…and I don’t blame him.
I FEEL BAD about making the suggestion. My experience was fine. Maybe I had a better loan officer? Maybe I met their “perfect customer” profile? Either way, why are they charging $750 just to get a good faith estimate? That seems shady, especially if there is ANY chance that you may not get that money back if you get a crappy appraiser for your home.
Is anyone else out there having trouble with Mortgage Companies? Let me know your experience, good or bad. After I suggested QL to my buddy, I found this resource online…sounds like they are upsetting A LOT of customers these days.
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May 15th, 2009 at 11:18 am
When I was shopping for homes, I had a similar experience with Quicken Loans. The sales people were very pushy and wanted a deposit just to continue the application.
When I said I would think it over, I got calls DAILY, sometimes 2x a day from them, and multiple emails. Get a clue people, I don’t want to talk to you!
Personally, I didn’t feel comfortable dealing with them.
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Brandon Reply:
May 15th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
I’m sorry that you had that experience too, that is just wrong on so many levels to treat you that way. At least we have a place to vent our frustrations!
Brandons last blog post..Is Quicken Loans a Scam?
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John Reply:
October 21st, 2009 at 1:31 am
RUN RUN RUN away from Quicken Loans! I forgot the old adage, “if it sounds to good be true, it’s probably is!” I thought I was safe when Chase referred me to Quicken. My scam Quicken mortgage broker, Michael Golden, sold me a bill of goods. I have very good credit and was “approved” for my refinance. I paid my $500 appraisal fee- DON’T DO IT! The appraisal was then done by Imani Smoot of Metro West Appraisal of Atlanta, GA. My appraisal came in at 50% of what I paid for my house less than 2 years ago. The home prices in my neighborhood have remained steady. What is wrong with this picture? Well, Imani Smoot had her appraiser license revoked and was fined $3,000 in Illinois in 2009. I know that I am out $500- learn from me. Quicken Loans is an internet scam firm that has no itention of ever providing a loan or refinance.
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Jim Reply:
December 30th, 2009 at 3:05 am
I closed a loan with quicken and had a good experience. what i do read is mostly about the appraisal or the deposit which is required by all lenders. whether you pay it up front or at the door when the appraiser comes it is collected. lets be honest…no one wants to hear their home is worth less than they bought it for. my home has dropped over 50% but i cant blame others for it. i am not hear to defend any lender by any means but you have every right to get off the phone with any lender and not give them a dollar. quicken loans has no control of appraisals and from changes in the lending guidelines has made it very difficult to push or alter values whether its with quicken, chase, wells, etc. hope this helps with whomever you choose. the rule is….do your homework.
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Bob Reply:
December 30th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
No, MOST lenders do not charge up front the appraisal costs. Yes in the end if the loan is completed the cost will be in the closing costs. BIG difference in how you stated it in your comments. By any change are you in the business???
Jane Reply:
January 21st, 2010 at 5:01 am
I am dealing with Quicken right now on an appraisal matter. You are right that you cannot deal with lower property values. However, when the appraiser that Quicken calls to do the appraisal for you comes back with a report showing 6 comps with price per square foot for the dwelling ranging from $321 to $402 and then shows your home at $120 per square foot. SOMETHING IS WRONG with the appraisal!! I have been fighting this for two weeks with the appraiser asking him where he came up with this figure and he can’t say. Quicken refuses to help other than to say, we can’t do anything. Call the appraiser. Now that I have read all the complaints about Quicken, what is happening to me makes sense. Stay away from Quicken!!
May 15th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
I know how you feel… giving a recommendation invests you in the process. At some level you want that person to have an even better experience than you. It’s true of mortgage recommendations as well as restuarants.
At the same time, making recommendations is something of a risky proposition… given our invested position.
My wife and I have a favorite spot for Sunday brunch. We probably go once a quarter because it is something of a caloric indulgence… and when we go we either LOVE it of we’re disappointed. Either the chef is ON, or his (or her) replacement is working the kitchen. In the later case the food is ‘technically sound’ (the ingredients and presentation are the same) but it so clearly lacks ’something’.
For big companies - like Quicken - the same theory is true and it is replicated hour over hour, day over day, in cubical over cubical. It is virtually impossible to replicate a single good or bad experience.
In some ways the drive to standardize has locked in a midding level of service with good service being a rare exception because the process or system in place kills aspiration. Low service is a product of a learning curve and low retention rates and are largely accepted within those justifications.
So I’ve rambled much more than I had anticipated and I don’t know how much sense I’ve actually made… so I’ll stop with an illustration I read recently.
All the insurance companies (All State, State Farm, Progressive, Geiko, etc) are on TV endlessly talking about the amounts of money they are saving people. OK, but where are all those people coming from? They are not all coming from a single Mega-Price Brand Insurance Co. who is ironcially losing ALL their customers. No, rather the people are coming from those same companies (All State, StateFarm, Progressive, Geiko)… they are effectively swapping customers. There are deeper reasons for this - varied insurance markets - but for this purpose the summary is that they each have differing experiences unique to them and move for those same reasons.
That does nothing to lesson the sting of feeling like you led someone astray but unless a company has radically shifted their approach to service - Zappos I hear is an example - then offering recommendations will always be something of a risk… sometimes you’ll get the dinner chef doing brunch and sometimes, if you’re lucky, you get the brunch chef in a good mood and flat nailing the stuffed french toast and western omelette!
Thanks for getting me going…
Dave
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Brandon Reply:
May 15th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
Dave, I’ve told you this before, but YOU ARE THE MAN! Way to lay it out there, you are absolutly correct, I am invested in the situation. Any time you invest…you take a risk. The risk for me on this deal was that my friend would not get the same great service that I did…and that risk didn’t pay off with a happy friend who thinks I’m smart when it comes to dealing with financial matters.
Live and learn. And think about the downside when investing yourself into anything!
Brandons last blog post..Is Quicken Loans a Scam?
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May 15th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
[...] News Sources wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptI HATE IT when I suggest a product or service to a friend, and it COMPLETELY bombs for them! This type of situation just sucks. I recently suggest to one of my very best friends that he call Quicken Loans to refinance his Adjustable Rate Mortgage to take advantage of today’s great deals on 30 year fixed rates…they are under 5%. I had recently done business with Quicken loans, and had enjoyed a smooth and simple refinance. My buddys wife calls the company to find out if they will qualify. [...]
May 15th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Happens. Something which works for you might not work for someone else. Need to be cautious with recommendations.
Make Money Onlines last blog post..How To Manage Social Networking
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The Almost Millionaire Reply:
May 18th, 2009 at 11:57 am
It is sad that that is the case! I would expect consistancy from such a large organization…don’t companies like this get big from having superior training programs to replicate past successess?
The Almost Millionaires last blog post..Tips for starting a business in Michigan
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May 15th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
Hey, Brandon
Now that your readership is going up on your blog, you have influence over a company like this. Have you let them know of this post? Do they know that they are going to loose many potential customers due to their “shady” business practises? I certainly will never deal with them, and if I hear it mentioned while being a fly-on-the-wall somewhere, I will likely pipe up and recommend to stay clear. However, *perhaps* I would change my mind if they stood by their word and did the right thing and returned your friend’s money with a full apology for their actions. Hey, we all make mistakes sometimes…
Cheers,
Marcus
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The Almost Millionaire Reply:
May 18th, 2009 at 11:58 am
Marcus,
Thanks for bringing up such a great point! I am probably a small fly on the wall to Quicken, but they need to understand that there will be unmeasurable “blowback” when they decide to treat a customer unfairly.
The Almost Millionaires last blog post..Tips for starting a business in Michigan
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May 15th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
I don’t see how alot of these folks sleep at night… I mean seriously..
You can’t really blame yourself though Brandon, I mean you had a great experience so it’s kind of hard to put the blame on you… the COMPANY is the one to blame!
Jakes last blog post..Online Backup that Protects You Offline
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The Almost Millionaire Reply:
May 18th, 2009 at 11:59 am
I agree completely Jake, but it is hard not to feel bad…I lost sleep over it. But you are right, I’m moving on immediatel, as life is short.
The Almost Millionaires last blog post..Tips for starting a business in Michigan
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May 16th, 2009 at 8:26 am
Hi
Recommending a service of any kind to friends is a bit of a minefield (as pointed out above). I would suggest that one only does this for companies that you have a long experience of.
I know from personal experience that if I recommend a restaurant it’s going to have an “off night” when my friends visit!
Neils last blog post..Making a Budget Is Not the Hard Part
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The Almost Millionaire Reply:
May 18th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
That is the way it goes, isn’t it Neil! I’ve been there with restuarants too. The theme I’m coming to understand from all these comments, it that we humans are really looking for consistancy in our service providers…that is why McDonalds can feed us garbage, while we smile and thank them for it…we knew what we were getting.
The Almost Millionaires last blog post..Tips for starting a business in Michigan
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May 17th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
This has got to be one of the biggest bonehead moves that a company can make. You have to treat people fair and with care, or the internet makes it possible for EVERYONE ON EARTH to know how much your company sucks.
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May 18th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
Thanks for going to the mat on this issue dogg!
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May 19th, 2009 at 1:20 am
Hi everybody - I’m Kelly and I work at Quicken Loans. First off, thanks to both of you for considering working with us. I’m sorry to hear about your friend’s experience. While I don’t know all the details of the loan and can’t promise anything, I’d like to investigate further internally. Can you have your friend contact me so I can look into it? My e-mail is KellyLaVaute@QuickenLoans.com.
For anyone else who might be wondering about our deposit, you can read about it on our website here - https://www.quickenloans.com/about/quicken-loans-deposit or watch a video about it here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nd0vm707bwg.
Again, I’m sorry about this particular experience and please have your friend contact me. Please let me know if anyone else has any questions as well. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
Kelly @ Quicken Loanss last blog post..Quicken Loans Capital Markets Update – Bond Prices Reflect Dampened Hopes
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The Almost Millionaire Reply:
May 19th, 2009 at 11:50 am
Kelly,
Thanks for reaching out. I hope you are able to help my friend. I will be seeing him today and giving him your contact information…you can then hear about his unique situation directly from him. I will then be happy to blog about the outcome, as I’m confident he will be happy with your service.
Best,
TAM
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May 19th, 2009 at 6:17 am
I’m glad to read this post. Finally I understand this subject clearly now. Keep update and i will come regularly to check your post in this site. Thanks
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May 20th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
I found your blog online while researching mortgages. I’m sorry to hear about the trouble your friend is having. I hope that Kelly from the comment above is able to help. Please keep us posted on what happens.
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May 21st, 2009 at 3:00 pm
This is interesting, can’t wait to see how it unfolds. I think it is very smart of Quicken to hear out your friend and help get him happy so you can be typing good things about them again.
Matts last blog post..Another Coffee Chug - UH OH
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May 22nd, 2009 at 8:37 pm
I can’t believe that you write this post and then the same thing happens to us. That is just so wrong!
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May 28th, 2009 at 12:35 am
Don’t feel bad about it. When you recommend someone advice, just let them know that there could be a different outcome. People are adults. They should be able to research on their own, or they should have asked for the name of your guy.
CD Rates Guys last blog post..Ally Bank CD Rates - 9 Month CD Deal
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June 2nd, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Hi everybody! Just a note that I haven’t heard from your friend yet. Again, I’d love to look into any issues anyone might have - feel free to contact me - KellyLaVaute@QuickenLoans.com Have a good one!
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June 3rd, 2009 at 11:13 am
Every time I recommend a service to a friend I always add something like “well it worked for me at least, maybe you should give it a try”. This way I avoid people thinking that I was just screwing with them.
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July 13th, 2009 at 9:32 am
One thing that’s for sure - with money advice, you can never recommend anything with 100% assurance. Because should the advice backfire, you’re partly responsible for your friends’ lost money. And that sucks.
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September 9th, 2009 at 1:44 am
This is really good information to know.
When I read things like this, coupled with the forced upgrade/continuity program that they implemented with Quicken, it seems like Intuit only cares about cashing your check and nothing else.
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September 29th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Well how did it turn out? The last comment from the QuikenLoan employee said they hadnt heard from your friend, then nothing after that. What did they settle out of court and arent allowed to talk about it anymore? Anyway thanks for sharing the experience and hope your friends situation was resolved.
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The Almost Millionaire Reply:
October 2nd, 2009 at 12:13 am
@Gjake
My buddy was not able to get a refund or refinance. I guess that quicken is taking advantage of alot of folks in Michigan by not “pre-warning” them that their house is probably worth considerably less than what they think it is. I feel bad that my friend wasted $500 bucks!
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November 10th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
We are dealing with the same thing from Quicken Loans. We had a bad experience in Nov. 2006 when we bought our home. Since Quicken Loans always watches for programs that would benefit a loan that they have had before they call periodically. I received a call in October. After explaining what a bad experience we had before I was reassured this experience would be different. I was all but guaranteed that our home would appraise at between $220,000-$230,000 based on the programs Quicken Loans has. I had also explained that my husband is self-employed and that was not a problem either. Credit scores were 750-753 so all was good now all I needed to do was give the $500 deposit on my credit card. Once I gave the deposit everything went downhill and just so happen there was not a loan out there for us. I’m now emailing several quicken loans to try to get my deposit back. We are not in any need to do a refinance and I trusted that Tom at Quicken Loans knew what they were talking about. Their job is supposedly to take care of their customers. I also referred my parents and my sister to Tom at Quicken Loans which has be really scared now.
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TAM Reply:
November 11th, 2009 at 1:21 am
Wow Shannon, it is amazing how many of us have experienced the same problem with Quicken. I would STRONGLY encourage all of our readers to think twice about giving them that $500 that they ask for…go instead to a nice little community bank and do things the old fashioned, and less risky way! Thanks for sharing.
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November 12th, 2009 at 1:28 am
Shannon, it sounds like quicken is trying to make it right with you…they sent me an e-mail. Good luck!
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November 12th, 2009 at 1:28 am
Hi Shannon - I got your email and your deposit is being refunded in full. You should be hearing from our Client Relations team to go over it very soon. If you don’t, email me again. I’m sorry for the inconvenience and we appreciate your patience.
TAM - I never heard from your friend so I’m still unaware of what happened. Also - we have no control over appraisals. In fact, it’s illegal for us to have any influence over a home’s value. That’s why we hire appraisers. And in the case of a low appraisal value, we refund all money not spent on the client’s behalf. We make nothing. We have no gain by working with a client we can’t help. This is not a scam.
As always, happy to help anyone or answer any questions. Thanks for letting me reply - I appreciate it!
Thanks
Kelly
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November 12th, 2009 at 2:29 am
Kelly thank you for checking into my situation. I am pleased with the way Quicken Loans handled my refund. I truly don’t think I will ever deal with Quicken Loans again on anything. I’m beginning to think small town mortgage companies are the safest way to go.
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November 18th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
Take enough money for your trip and some back-up funds such as traveller
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December 1st, 2009 at 6:22 pm
I just started an application with Quicken. Here are my initial thoughts:
Lots of refinance products require up front costs of the borrower. If you apply for a refi from the local bank, you’ll have to pay the appraiser when they show up at your house (typically $350-450). Yes, there are exceptions. But paying up-front for an appraisal is probably more common, than uncommon (at least it was when I was an appraiser). If your home does not make value, then yes, you’re out the appraisal fee and you won’t get your chosen loan product. No different than what Quicken does. The only difference is that Quicken physically pays the appraiser rather than the borrower. I was told via email that if I pull the plug on the mortgage before the appraial, I’ll get a refund. However, after the appraisal, I’m on the hook.Having it in writing gives me confidence.
Many lenders also require application fees. from what I’ve seen they range anywhere between $100-250. Again, not every lender has an application fee, but such costs aren’t a red flag for a scam operation.
The downside of working with Quiken, or any other online lender is that they have little knowledge of the area where the property is located. WIth a little research, the average homeowner can come up with a pretty good idea of what their home is worth. Go to Zillow.com and find 3-4 comparable homes that recently sold. Be realistic. Don’t compare a 1,200 sqft ranch with a 3,000 sqft McMansion. Don’t compare a 40 year old, 3 bedroom home with a crawl space; with a two year old, 5 bedroom home with a finished basement. Being familiar with the area, the homeowner should have a good idea of which homes are comparable to theirs. An out-of-state lender certainly won’t, although they should be able to guess within 10-15%. Of course, 10-15% can easily make the difference between getting a loan, or not. If the homeowner doesn’t feel they’re capable of making an honest value assesment, they should definitely use a local lender. No question.
I’m not sure why I felt compelled to even write this. I guess its because I’ve personally heard so many good things about Quicken, I didn’t feel it fair to let them get bashed. To be honest, after reading “some” accounts, the bashing was a bit unfair. Just my opinion, but I feel the up front deposit is perfectly reasonable. Whats fair about having a lender process paperwork and pay for appraisals, only to have the borrower back out in favor of another lender thats giving away toasters with every mortgage?
Now I’m sure Quicken has screwed some people. Every large company does on occasion. I’d just wager that any company that manages to stay in business and rapidly expand is probably pleasing A LOT more people then they’re pissing off. Of course, we’ll see how they treat me. It could get ugly. Statistically, I feel pretty good about it though.
Just my .02
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December 2nd, 2009 at 12:22 am
Ted,
Thanks alot brother, your input and insights are valuable and appreciated. It is good to have differing points of view. I always want a balance conversation…when possible…so it was difficult to tag a post…”Is Quicken Loans a Scam?” The only reason that I was able to do it in good faith was because they owe me $750 that I feel I will probably never get back. We will see.
Thanks,
TAM
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December 2nd, 2009 at 3:40 am
Good Luck Ted. I had two bad experiences with Quicken Loans within a 3 years time frame. I did receive my full deposit back for my last experience with them because I was told false information. Just be careful and document everything that is said on each conversation. All of their conversations are recorded so if you have a problem they can pull the recorded tapes. That is how I got my refund back….it was all on tape. I will never use Quicken Loans again from my experience.
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December 18th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
What’s up?. Thanks a bunch for the blog. I’ve been digging around looking some info up for shool, but there is so much out there. Google lead me here - good for you i suppose! Keep up the good work. I will be coming back in a couple of days to see if there is any more info.
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December 21st, 2009 at 7:32 pm
Hi everyone,
I just got off the phone with a Quicken Loans salesman about refinancing and I too felt like was “suckered” in to providing my CC# for the good faith deposit. After reading NUMEROUS complaints from NUMEROUS websites, I’m starting to question whether I should just leave now or see what the final approval status and monthly payment is. My main concern is…if I do leave now, will I be able to get a full refund on my $500 deposit? I did not sign anything, did not fax/email them anything…I just got off the phone with them with an initial Q&A session and providing my CC info. But what I did do over the phone was approve them to access my credit reports and verify that I wanted to lock in their rate.
Please advise…$500 is a lot of money to me! I’ve learned my lesson…hopefully it’s not too late to do anything about it…
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December 21st, 2009 at 8:53 pm
I’m afraid it is probably too late to do anything about the $500. I’m sure they’ve already charged your card. Once they pulled your credit the charges starting adding up. Maybe you will be a lucky one and everything will work for you. Good Luck!
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December 23rd, 2009 at 11:13 am
What’s up?.
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December 25th, 2009 at 4:22 am
Hello all, I have just started the process of refi with Quicken and have had credit check, faxed tax info. Have not given cc# or authorization for the (good faith deposit) and don’t think I should, I am thinking of pulling out of the process after reading posts from many different sites (Paranoid about this for sure) Hope the hit on my credit doesn’t hurt it to bad and having my personal info out there scares me alot!! just don’t know what to expect when I pull out . any suggestions? Thanks, Ray.
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December 25th, 2009 at 4:26 am
Ray you should be ok. You’re lucky they have done that much w/o asking for your credit card #. They wanted to charge me $30 for a credit report. All conversations are recorded so I would go ahead and tell them you’ve changed your mind. If they ask why I would tell them it is due to all of the scam information you have read on the internet. They only way they are going to find out they need to change their work ethics is to know that there is information about their scam all over the internet.
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Ray Reply:
December 27th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Thanks Shannon, I’ll keep you posted. I suspect I’ll be hearing from them Monday .. Ray..
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The Almost Millionaire Reply:
December 28th, 2009 at 12:21 am
Ray,
If you are concerned about the appraisal of your home coming in too low (as was the case with my friend) you could ask your mortgage officer to research comparable home sales in your area, and if the outcome looks, you could THEN let them order an appraisal.
Good luck!
-TAM
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December 29th, 2009 at 5:21 am
Thanks Tam, great suggestion,I have checked the BBB and quicken has an “A” rating with a little over 900 complaints in the past 36 months. In view of the amount of mortgages they close in a month Was told by mike (the guy I’m dealing with) 16,000 last month?? so that would be a low percentage. I am still entertaining the prospect of this mortgage, even after reading the complaints, I will decide by tomorrow afternoon after trying your suggestion Tam. one thing for sure I can”t say I was not warned.Thanks for all your comments and suggestions from this site. Ray… P.S. I will let you know in the end..
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December 29th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
My wife and I have excellent credit as well as enough in savings to buy our vacation home outright. Our loan was approved, everything looked good and suddenly it all came to a screeching halt. We have been playing the ‘we need more documents’ game with Quicken for almost 3 weeks now. My closing has been pushed out another 3-4 weeks from what was promised. I call and complain, I get told that my ‘Rep’ will look into it and call me right back. No call, no email. My $500 is long gone and Quicken has copies of all my financial documents. I want to stop the appraisal and not incur more fees but cannot get that through to them via email or voice mail. Looks like i will be calling the BBB and going to another (local) lender.
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December 30th, 2009 at 3:58 am
Bob keep calling them. Make sure you are telling the person you speak with that you are wanting to stop the loan process before incurring any other expenses. All of the phones calls are recorded and they can go back and listen to them. If you do not get anywhere email me and I’ll give you some names to send emails to that will get some attention for you. remodu@bellsouth.net
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January 1st, 2010 at 12:48 pm
That deposit that didn’t get refunded is not small money at all! There should be some form of recourse to avoid being taken by charlatans in this manner. This is nonsense!
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January 6th, 2010 at 3:14 am
Just getting back to you all. as it turned out the loan was not approved due to debt to income ratio. everything else was very good, and I must say that my dealing with Quicken was also quite good in the manor of how they proceeded. They did not charge my card, and did the loan app including credit check, kept me apprised along the way,returned my calls in a timely manor. overall, with the exception of not getting the loan, I am pleased with how they handled the situation. so there you are , make of it what you will. Regards, and Thanks again, Ray..
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The Almost Millionaire Reply:
January 8th, 2010 at 12:17 am
Your follow up is much appreciated! Sounds like you will probably give Quicken Loans another shot in the future!
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Ray Reply:
January 8th, 2010 at 4:34 am
I suppose its possible, However, its also possible I just got lucky, in view of what I have been reading? I’m thinking I will go with a traditional mortgage, perhaps it will cost more out of pocket but at least I will be able to deal with someone face to face. Ray..
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January 8th, 2010 at 1:58 am
Quicken would not complete my refinance due to there being a mobile home located on the same property as my home. The mobile home is a rental…very well maintained. They claim it will negatively impact the marketability of my home if I default on the loan. My wife and I were “approved” with some conditions. This issue arose after the appraisal. We never had issue with this during refinance in the past. Quicken refuses to refund my $500 dollars even though we met all the listed qualifications. BEWARE of Quicken Loans.
Chris- still seeking a refund
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January 8th, 2010 at 1:07 pm
Ray I’m confused on how they could tell you your debt to income ratio was too low w/o starting the loan process, which would include your appraisal. The first credit check is only to give them your credit score to see if they can even create a loan for you. The debt to income ration would have been discovered after the loan amount you needed would have been determined. This is telling them that you have more debt than you can afford including your mortgage payment and they are afraid you will default on the mortgage. If I were you I would check your credit card to make sure you weren’t charged. Your probably going to run into the same debt to ratio income with any mortgage company.
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Ray Reply:
January 9th, 2010 at 2:41 am
Shannon the process was started. The amount had been determined, the intrest rate, term, and what the payment would have been. Then it was submitted to the underwriter, then refused apparently by them, resubmitted with a lower amount and I was told that did not work also. So I am taking their word for it. The night I gave them my dc # after the first submission, I thought about it and decided the next day to put a lock on the account,because I did not think I would be approved and did not want to lose the money. At that time they had not taken the deposit. This was between the first application and the resubmit. When Mike called to give me the news about the second app (he left a message) and said they did not charge my card and would not. I called him back and (left a message) asking him to shred all my doc’s and clear his hard drive of my info. He called back and confirmed that he did that. And, yes, I pretty much knew I didn’t have a good chance to get the loan or another at this time, but thought I would try and see what would happen. I was very reluctant after hearing about the (good faith deposit)and made that clear when starting this process. Perhaps that is why they did not charge my card right away. As far as the appraisal figuring in to all this I was told that when the underwriter accepted me for the loan, (and also, at that time, the rate would locked for 45 days) my card would be charged. In the end, Of course all depended on the appraisal. No doubt after reading this, Shannon you will even more confused. I certainly am. Ray..
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January 9th, 2010 at 3:36 am
Hi Ray-I’m not at all confused. My thoughts are that your credit looked so bad that they would not have even considered you for a loan to begin with. So therefore they denied you the loan after looking further into your credit report so there was no need to order the appraisal.
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Ray Reply:
January 9th, 2010 at 4:07 am
Perhaps not confused (just using your words) However, your thoughts are in error. My credit is 745 759 770. As I said, debt to income ratio.. is the problem at this time. Ray..
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January 9th, 2010 at 4:18 am
Ok Ray then you just owe way more in debt than you can afford. You don’t make enough money to support the amount of debt you have. Sorry maybe your credit is good now but could have the tendency to become bad due to the debt you have and your income.
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Ray Reply:
January 9th, 2010 at 6:11 am
Ya know Shannon, your assumptions astound me. I have never missed a payment in my life, I pay all my debts with $ to spare and save as well, It is true that the last couple of years has seen the economy take a dive thus affecting many, including myself to an extent, However, for you to make these assumptions without the slightest knowledge of what my financial situation is, is to say the least shortsighted. if not down right rude.. I looked to this site to see what others have experienced, and chose to share my experiences in an effort to help others. not to have my financial status be second guessed, or to be up for discussion.. in short, you have no idea what your talking about when it comes to me and my financial status..
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The Almost Millionaire Reply:
January 9th, 2010 at 1:34 pm
Ray,
I also have no idea about your financial status, but I will tell you from experience that there are HUNDREDS of reasons why bank formulas that used to work are no longer working. I have credit similar to yours, strong income, and multiple streams of income…but when I refinanced with Quicken in June of last year…they made me jump through some CRAZY hoops. I finally got the deal through, but it was WAY more difficult in the past.
Good luck and thanks for the comments!
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January 9th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
1/9/10
Just wanted to share a recent experience with Quicken: i contacted them for a refi, looking to take advantage of the current low rates on 15yr mortgages. My Bank (Wells fargo) could not get the deal done despite great credit & income, current house values kept us just under the 80% rule.
Quicken deals in high pressure, fast talk, get the money up front business. Our agent was proffessional, informative but obviously lied about the ability of FHA to handle our needs. Thankfully, due to double checking on my part we pulled out of the deal after one week of business. Yes, he has ny soc# and DOB, yes i approved $400 for an appraisal, probably not too smart on my part. but i cancelled in writing and as of today, they have not charged me anything .. just have to deal with the daily phone calls trying to win us back (!).
Like any business out there, do your homework, don’t jump at the first offer… and as my Dad (and yours, i’m sure) always told me .. if it seems to good to be true .. you know the rest.
Quicken is not a mortgage company they are a collector and reseller. i will not say don’t do business with them .. just be very carefully if this is the way you think you want to go.
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The Almost Millionaire Reply:
January 10th, 2010 at 11:25 pm
Thanks for sharing Peter!
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February 6th, 2010 at 12:15 am
Well, I suppose you can add me onto the list of offended and dissatisfied Quicken Loans customers. I contacted them for a 30 year fixed FHA loan and (stupidly) gave them the $500 deposit. Going though the application process, the agent was VERY nice and extremely friendly, but he did rush me along and the whole situation was extremely high pressure.
The problem came when I decided I didn’t want to go through with the refinance (for various reasons, finding out about their reputation was certainly one).
I called in and was put on a conference call from one loan officer to another and explained that I was no longer interested in doing business with them, which was when the first loan officer (who had been secretly listening on hold the entire time) broke in and began barraging me with questions about why I would want to back out of closing. I held my ground and the two of them began to grow angry and fairly hostile, using every “hard-sell” technique in the book on me (saying they hopes they won’t get fired because of this, asking me what they’re supposed to tell their bosses, various scare tactics, lording nonrefuldable deposit over me, etc).
I was having none of it, but was still (foolishly?) trying to be civil but firm. They barely even allowed me to speak. Eventually after about 20 minutes, the first agent hung up on me in apparent disgust, leaving me to talk with the “lower level” guy whom I felt was also talking down to me in a distainful way, and being very combative without letting me talk.
Eventually (after about another 5 minutes) I just said “I’m done, that’s the end of it.” He said “fine” and hung up.
Needless to day the entire ordeal was NOT a pleasant one and left me somewhat shaken. It felt more like breaking up with an abusive spouse, not a professional company which I had CHOSEN to take my business to.
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The Almost Millionaire Reply:
February 6th, 2010 at 6:19 pm
Wow Kevin, that is bad news! I surely hope that someone from their company reached out to you with an apology and a refund. Keep us posted!
TAM
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February 11th, 2010 at 10:03 pm
Found this post after my own falling out with Quicken and googling to find out if I was alone. So I figure I’ll share my own story…
When I used Quicken on my original home purchase 4.5 years ago, I had a good experience, finding them to be competitive, straightforward, and efficient. So I called them back earlier this year when I wanted to re-fi. Something appears to have changed with they do business.
Initially, my banker quoted me a reasonable rate on a 30 yr fixed mortgage, with about a half point in origination fees. Reasonable. So I put down a $400 deposit with them to initiate the appraisal. Appraisal came in at $4,000 less than the assumption we based the first good faith estimate (GFE) on, which just meant I had to come up with $3200 more at close, no big deal. But in the meantime, the wife and I decided that a 5/1 ARM would better suit our situation, so I asked my banker what he could do for me in that product, and he quoted me a rate that was reasonable, but higher than the national average.
So a week goes by, and I log into the quicken website to update some bank/funding info for them, and I notice that it says it is waiting for confirmation of funds to close in an amount significantly higher than the first GFE plus the extra $3200 in principal buy-down. And there is no updated GFE. So I ask him about this, and he sends me a new GFE, and lo and behold, the new GFE on the 5/1 ARM contains an extra point ($2K) in origination costs compared with the initial quote. Let me stress that he NEVER mentioned he was doing this when he quoted me the rate on the 5/1 ARM — he just said that my closing costs would be higher (due to the lower appraisal and extra money to get to 80% loan-to-value). So at this point I smell classic bait-and-switch. I call my banker about it, and he mumbles something about not realizing he had put in a “discount” fee to get the rate he quoted me, and that he thought he could probably still get the rate he quoted without the extra $2K in origination — he just had to “talk to his manager”. What, am I buying a used car here? Of course, he never got back to me on that, apparently just hoping I’d ride things out since I’d already put down a deposit with them. The whole thing sat very wrong with me, so I found another lender to give me a significantly better rate, at significantly lower cost, and most of all somebody that I feel is being honest with me.
I asked my new lender about using the appraisal Quicken commissioned, so that I wouldn’t have to take a complete loss on the $400 deposit. His response was rather telling. He said he would rather just order a new one and pay for it himself, since they had several issues with Quicken transferring appraisals in the past, and with them doing everything they could to sabotage deals after they had lost them. That sounds like par for the course with Quicken Loans these days.
Perhaps this is about one banker’s underhanded tactics, and other bankers at Quicken are honest and reputable. But I sure wouldn’t want to take that chance.
After telling Quicken how I felt about all of this, I ended up speaking at some length with someone fairly high up in their organization. For the sake of fairness, I will tell you what Quicken’s explanation is. They say that when they switched my “product” after the appraisal, the “good” past-customer pricing didn’t automatically carry over, that it requires some sort of supervisor approval. So, their story goes, he quoted me the rate he knew he could get me, entering it with a discount fee, fully intending to back that out later after getting supervisor approval for the “good” pricing. The problem with that explanation, as I see it, is that a week after he switched my product, and I put him on notice that there seemed to be an issue with the “funds to close” amount and asked for documentation (new GFE), he took about a day and a half to respond to my request, and when he did he sent me a GFE that included the extra $2K origination. Now if it was something waiting on some clerical approval that he fully intended to remove, that certainly would have been the time to remove it. The fact that he left it in there is telling. My firm opinion is that they were ready to pull out that extra origination if I squwaked, but the hope was that they could slide it by and sort of hide it behind the extra principle amount needed to close.
To sum it up: they quoted me good pricing to get me to put down a deposit, then they switched me to garbage pricing when I changed what I was asking for, and then they were going to put me back in the good pricing if I complained (blaming some clerical oversight), but leave me in the garbage pricing if they could. It’s not so much actively dishonest and predatory, it’s just typical cheap sales tactics. I believe there are lots of lenders out there who do not operate this way, so for that reason I would recommend staying far clear of Quicken Loans.
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February 26th, 2010 at 10:47 pm
Going through Quicken loan now, just go the appraisal in and was $15000.00 less than others around me that have refin with other place, now it seems the % of loan value keeps dropping with each phone call I get, the reason for the loan in the first place was to pay off credit cards and get lower rate. Which is now is getting to the point of not being able to pay off anyone, and giving quicken loan several thousands of dollars to get a check for less than 1800.00 which will not pay off anyone. Just could be me, but this loan is starting to smell a bit.
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March 11th, 2010 at 11:13 pm
Sounds like people who refinance are having problems, how about people who are using them to purchase a new home? The one response I read said that it went well, any others care to comment as I am about to fill out their pre approval form?
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March 11th, 2010 at 11:58 pm
Do not give them any cash up-front until you are approved. Just my thoughts and from what I see on this forum others feel the same way.
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