Great use of technology, too bad their human component doesn't match up
Written: Jul 28 '06
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Pros: Superb website, terrific payment options and detail available on the web.
Cons: No one in their service department seems to have higher than a 5th-grade education.
The Bottom Line: The mortgage business stinks; Countrywide is among the best of the worst. It's great if you'll never need to call customer service and if humans will never be involved.
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| sandalwood9's Full Review: Countrywide |
We originally got our mortgage through a different company, which then sold our mortgage to Countrywide.
As soon as that transaction took place, we received literature from Countrywide fully explaining the entire situation, (which is a very common one - many mortgage brokers will sell the mortgage to one of the mortgage giants), and also fully explaining anything that we needed to do as result of our switch to Countrywide (update our homeowners' insurance company with the new mortgage lender name and address, etc.).
I was very pleased with the promptness and clarity of all of the information we received.
In addition to the mail communication we received, I visited Countrywide's website and was also thoroughly impressed with that as well.
Countrywide's website leads the pack as far as I'm concerned. Not only can you view your entire actual mortgage documents on there, plus any addendums, etc., but you can also at any moment 24/7 view the entire list of transactions that have been made to your account since its inception. This comes in handy when you're wondering if they've paid your tax bill, or if that extra payment you made towards the principal was counted, etc.
Another great feature is the ability to pay online. I know this is (or should be) standard for most companies, but believe it or not, there are some large companies (such as CarMax) who still do not have this option, so it was a huge relief to see that Countrywide had it.
What's great about Countrywide's online bill pay, is that it doesn't just give you the opportunity to make a flat payment - it gives you the chance to break it down however you see fit. For example, you can elect to pay an additional amount towards the principal for just that month. Or, if you know your tax bill or insurance bill is about to skyrocket, you can elect to pay an additional amount into your escrow account, in addition to your regular mortgage payment. I find all of these features fantastic - no messy checks, no postage needed, no having to provide a handwritten letter telling your mortgage company to put the additional payment toward the principal (which is how some mortgage lenders operate - they will refuse to put your extra payment toward the principal unless you request it in writing! So antiquated!)
Also, we live in a state where if you pay your taxes 5 months earlier than the final due date, you receive a huge discount ($500-$700 or so). Since we had the money available in escrow, I wanted to make sure we were able to take advantage of this savings. I called Countrywide, and they assured me they would do their best to make sure the payment was made early, and it was. They do mention on the FAQ section of their website that they can't promise to pay your taxes early though, so I'd recommend calling to make sure it happens if you're in a similar situation.
So for the first 11 months of our relationship with Countrywide, everything went very smoothly and we were very pleased, despite some of our friends' experiences to the contrary.
But, I soon found out why so many people have had problems with this lender.
Our homeowners' insurance was due. Fortunately, we received a copy of our bill from the insurance company as a courtesy. If I hadn't received that bill and known to follow up on it, I have no idea what would have happened. We live in FL, where homeowners' insurance policies are being cancelled by insurance companies every time the wind changes, so I cannot express to you how it is of the utmost importance that your premiums are paid on time.
As soon as I got the bill (the premium payment for the year was due in a month) I called Countrywide, because I checked our mortgage online and was surprised to see that a payment was not already in the works nor had been sent out. The person I spoke with said he would generate a payment to my insurance company immediately and everything would be fine. While I had him on the phone, I asked him what address they had for the insurance company. They had the wrong address - they had the company's headquarters address instead of the payment processing center - so I gave him the correct address and he told me he changed it in their computer system. Thank goodness I called, I'm thinking.
According to my account online, the payment was sent out, but not that day - it actually did not get sent out until 7 days after I called (and this was in June, nowhere near any holidays or anything). But at least it had been issued in plenty of time (3 weeks) to get to our insurance company before our premium due date. So I thought.
The real trouble began when I heard from our insurance company (3 weeks later) telling us that they had not received any payment. After hours on the phone with Countrywide, a rep told our insurance company that they had mailed a "bulk check" (a check worth hundreds of thousands of dollars with hundreds of different insurance policies listed on the check). Not a very good way to make sure a payment is processed quickly if you ask me. But apparently the real problem was that in addition to this, they had sent the payment to the same WRONG ADDRESS that I had corrected when I called Countrywide the first time!!
In my honest opinion, I don't think Countrywide ever even sent the first check, because it was never found. Ever. I was told by Countrywide that they would put a stop payment on the original check sent out (heaven knows what happened to all those other policies which were supposedly being paid with that same check), and that they would overnight a new insurance check for just my policy. I gave them a street address with an actual person's name at the insurance company to whom the check should be sent to. Our premium was now one day late.
A full week later, our insurance company had STILL not received the insurance payment from Countrywide. I called Countrywide and spoke to a rep, who told me that the check had been overnighted to the SAME WRONG ADDRESS AGAIN!!!! To add insult to injury, this wrong address was a P.O. box. And so the rep was all snotty to me, saying, "Well ma'am, as I'm sure you know we can't overnight anything to a P.O. Box, so that's why your payment did not arrive." I tried to explain to her the fact that I'd provided them with a real person's name and the street address of the company, but she didn't seem to get it or care!!!!
I finally spoke with a supervisor, who apologized greatly (our insurance premium was now over a week late and our homeowners' insurance policy now temporarily cancelled - right in the middle of hurricane season!). I gave him the same street address and person's name at the insurance company to overnight the check to, and he swore he'd take care of it. Another week later, our payment had still not arrived and I was really starting to freak out, as there was now a tropical storm lurking. If there had been a hurricane, there is the distinct possibility that we would not have been covered!!! According to our paperwork, it's "at the insurance agency's discretion" whether to pay up or not in the case of an emergency when a premium has not been paid. Hmmm! That's a toughie to figure out!
I called the supervisor back, who told me that YET AGAIN, the payment had been sent to the SAME WRONG ADDRESS! On top of that, this time he was rude. He was like "Well I see you're *extremely* concerned about your homeowners' insurance." I was like of course I am! I live in the hurricane capital of the U.S.!
He tracked the overnight payment and saw who signed for it, then called the address where it had been sent, and miraculously, they located the package, and kindly overnighted it to the correct address.
So now our insurance had been reinstated and we had coverage again. But still, our problems with Countrywide were not over. I checked our account online and was shocked to see that our escrow account was now $500 in the negative. It was because they had deducted the several-thousand-dollar insurance payment TWICE from our account! I called back the supervisor who lied to me first, saying they were waiting for the insurance co. to refund the money, but after I reminded him that the check had never been cashed (they'd stopped payment on it) he finally agreed to put the money back into our account.
If you are up-to-date on your mortgage payments, and own 20% of your home, you are entitled to pay your own insurance and taxes on your own, instead of going through escrow. The real kicker was that I wasn't able to set this up in the middle of all this because (at the fault of Countrywide) our escrow account was in the negative. Just today the credit posted to our account and you can bet I'm calling to arrange all that.
So at least at Countrywide Mortgage, computers really are smarter than people. All of the automatically generated stuff that goes on is perfect, brilliant, exact, and no-muss. But the customer reps AND supervisors, are absolute ninnys.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
sandalwood9
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Reviews written: 32
Trusted by: 6 members
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