Why I'll never do business with Countrywide - You be the judge
Written: Nov 04 '05
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Pros: Haven't seen any yet.
Cons: Stay away from them. They'll buy up your loan, and you'll regret it.
The Bottom Line: Absolutely without question the worst mortgage lender I have ever dealt with. Read my entire post, along with the other 1-star posts, and decide for yourself.
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| ryan_in_co's Full Review: Countrywide |
I received a call from an alleged Countrywide mortgage rep late last night at about 8:30pm regarding my home equity line of credit (HELOC) loan. Her foreign overseas accent was so thick I could barely understand her, accompanied by the drowning noise of the huge call center chatter in the background, she obviously worked for an outsourced overseas company who does the calling for Countrywide. According to her, Countrywide had recently bought it from the original loan servicing company (who shall remain nameless). The rep indicated that my October payment had been received by Countrywide but was short by roughly $130.00 dollars. Obviously, I asked why. (Side info: My payments are only $150 a month and I set up all my bills with automatic bill pay. While on the phone, I also remembered that I had not received an October statement from them, but was not overly concerned, because I know the automatic bill pay had paid the October bill, as it showed paid in my bank account for exactly $150.) Her point in calling was that I was still $130 behind in the last payment. With limited information, she really couldn't tell me much about my account, other than she "guessed that my interest rate had gone up, causing the change in payment." I reassured her that this isn't possible, my original loan (before they bought it) was a fixed rate APR of 4.75%. Of course, she couldn't provide me with any further details and instructed me to call their loan servicing department in the morning.
I called a guy at Countrywide loan department customer service inquiring about the previous nights phone call, and my recent interest rate hike from 4.75 to 10%. Told him that not only had I not received an October statement, but I had not been notified of any rate hike. He said that my loan was indeed a variable rate loan (contrary to my original HELOC loan agreement at a 4.75 fixed), and that my interest rate had actually been increasing 1/4 of a point every month since they bought it from my loans original lender (This makes no sense, Countrywide had only owned the loan for 3 or 4 months by this point). Again, I asked why I wasn't notified of the changes. He said Countrywide sends notices of these types via email to the customer and not via US mail. So, I asked what email they had on file for me, since I had received no such email notices either. To no surprise, they did not have an email address on record for my account. I was livid. I expressed a series of "how stupid are you people?" type of questions and asked what they planned to do to correct it. He gave me the same (and quite expected) "I'm just a customer service rep and can't do much myself" excuse. He indicated that countrywide does not offer fixed rate HELOC's and that he would have to transfer me to a loan sales rep who could assist me in refinancing the HELOC into a different type of loan that has a fixed rate. Again, he missed my point so I chastised him for a few more minutes, until I felt relatively drained.
I then gave the gentleman two options: 1.) Countrywide can continue to keep my business by making right what they had made wrong. Put my HELOC back to a 4.75 fixed rate loan (just like it was when they bought it from the previous loan company) and remove all associated charges and additional fees from my account. or 2.) He can give me a pay off quote right now, and I'll take my business elsewhere within the week.
Again, he gave me the phone number for their sales dept. so I could "refinance it again." (that's pronounced: incur even more refi charges, fees, and hidden expenses). Needless to say, I hung up the phone and will now, always and forever, express my deep loving passion for the anti-customer oriented approach that the huge conglomerate Countrywide Mortgage lends to it's customers. NEVER AGAIN will they get my business, or that of anyone who asks me for my opinion of them. They bought my HELOC from my previous lender who was awesome, and turned it into a variable rate HELOC and didn't bother to inform me until the rates had hiked up so high, my payments fell short, at which point some overseas non-English speaking person calls me up at home at 8:30pm in the middle of dinner to tell me my rate had doubled, I owed them twice as much now, and I had 15 days to cough up the difference or my credit would be tarnished with a late payment entry. How would you feel?
You know... the sad thing is, I'd be willing to pay the 10% (although stupid given my great credit rating) for a loan at a company who actually cares about their customers, knows how to take care of them, and knows how to keep them!
If you find your existing loan is getting bought up by Countrywide, I'd seriously consider taking your loan elsewere before the headaches start. Just a reminder to all: The biggest lender isn't always the best. They often forget about who should be their #1 priority... the customer.
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ryan_in_co
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