predatory bank lending

[floridian]

i was shafted by my local bank, who mortgaged my home..

i had a fixed rate mortgage with this bank and was told that i could get a lower rate mortgage fixed for 30 years... i had just sold a lot i owned and would put down 20k for the transaction....

the loan officer was distracted during my interview with personal phone calls from her daughter and i wondered if she was paying attention to what i was telling her..

she said no problem and she ordered a new survey and appraisal that cost 800 bucks...

several days later, she called to say there was a technical problem that she was not aware of an fannie mae wouldnt do the loan... she would get me an in-house loan, but it was an ARM, after 6 years....

i refused to take an ARM... now she tells me that i can refuse, but i owe the bank 800 bucks for the survey etc.

so, i went belly up and took the loan, thinking that i would re finance in a few years or sell the place...

the day of the closing, the title company calls and said to bring an additional 1200 bucks with me, due to the change in lenders... same deal, i can back out and pay the 800 bucks.....

fast foward 5 years and i have one more year before my rate changes... i feel like ive been screwed... excuse me if i dont feel sorry for these banks going under!!

im sure that i have no recourse other than to "whistle dixie", but i thought i would rant for a minute...

thanks for reading..

ps... i was boing to bk this home and walk... now it is necessary for me to retain it....i quit paying for a few months, but when i moved back, i paid all the money to make me current... so here i am..

[sweetpotato]

Thanks for your post fl. This may seem like a stupid question: Why didn't you just keep the current fixed rate mortgage and shop around at other banks for a better rate?

Our weapon against bad banks is to not do business with them. The same goes for all types of stores, if we do not do business with the bad stores then they will eventually fail.

I agree, I do not feel sorry for the banks, they have made lots of money from us.

i was shafted by my local bank, who mortgaged my home..

i had a fixed rate mortgage with this bank and was told that i could get a lower rate mortgage fixed for 30 years... i had just sold a lot i owned and would put down 20k for the transaction....

the loan officer was distracted during my interview with personal phone calls from her daughter and i wondered if she was paying attention to what i was telling her..

she said no problem and she ordered a new survey and appraisal that cost 800 bucks...

several days later, she called to say there was a technical problem that she was not aware of an fannie mae wouldnt do the loan... she would get me an in-house loan, but it was an ARM, after 6 years....

i refused to take an ARM... now she tells me that i can refuse, but i owe the bank 800 bucks for the survey etc.

so, i went belly up and took the loan, thinking that i would re finance in a few years or sell the place...

the day of the closing, the title company calls and said to bring an additional 1200 bucks with me, due to the change in lenders... same deal, i can back out and pay the 800 bucks.....

fast foward 5 years and i have one more year before my rate changes... i feel like ive been screwed... excuse me if i dont feel sorry for these banks going under!!

im sure that i have no recourse other than to "whistle dixie", but i thought i would rant for a minute...

thanks for reading..

ps... i was boing to bk this home and walk... now it is necessary for me to retain it....i quit paying for a few months, but when i moved back, i paid all the money to make me current... so here i am..

[floridian]

because they had me over a barrel for eight hundred bucks.... i didnt think i would be in the house for six years, to be hurt by the adjustable rate...it was their mistake, so they should have eaten the eight hundred bucks..

if the housing market had not of gone belly up, i could have sold the house... now, the inflated payments are getting closer and its gonna screw things up...

the whole point is, that i was promised a fixed rate mortgage and the used the eight hundred bucks as a tool to force me into the deal....

[Flamingo]

I feel for you...hidden in the fine print you signed when you applied for the new fixed rate loan was that you would be responsible for the cost of an appraisal and survey. That would have been listed on the settlement sheet under the buyer's column to be paid at settlement if you got the loan you applied for. They had you with that. I wonder what that "technical" issue was as you were looking around for a loan at the time when banks were starting to really make big bucks on mortgages. I'm surprised she did not give you more of an explanation and also advised you before she ordered the survey and appraisal that it would be at your cost.

[fltoo]

You were refinancing your loan. Didn't the loan officer tell you upfront what the costs would be?

The appraisal and survey are done by outside vendors and the guys have to be paid. There is no guarantee you will be approved when you apply for a loan. The loan has to be underwritten and approved.

There was something, having to do with your qualifications or the house, that would not pass Fannie guidelines, therefore the bank was going to be stuck with the loan. Sounds like they were inhousing the loan and the extra 1200 could have been some kind of point or origination fee. Did the bank say they were picking up the new title insurance, recording fees, etc?

Those fees are quite reasonable for a refi and the bank was in error only if this lady guaranteed you would be approved or didn't provide you with a truth in lending statement prior to your closing.

At first, it sounded like your bank was having some kind of special for its present customers to refi with no costs. But, the fact that they were selling to the secondary market says it was a conforming loan to be sold.

Since this woman used the term "technical" it almost sounds like there was something about the house that did not qualify. Is there anything unusual about the house.......small gross living area, code violations? Just guessing here since it could be one of many things. Did the appraiser mention anything?

[floridian]

once again, the point is, that the loan officer assured me there would be no problem.. the problem is, that "she didnt know her job" or didnt care to research it before SHE ordered the survey etc..

she should have researched it more before she spent my money... since it was not a problem with the home or anything on my end, the bank should have eaten the mistake, or given me a fixed rate loan insted of an ARM... since my place was already mortgaged with their bank, they had me in their grips and they new it... im sorry, but that is predatory..

but at the time this happened, things were rosey in the banking business and she just didnt give a damn.. 800 bucks may be beer money to some, but its big money to me!

[HHM]

I dunno...you ultimately did not have to sign up for the ARM.

Technically, predatory lending is far more technical because it deals with specific statutory claims under Fair Housing, RESPA, HOEPA, TILA, breach of contract, etc.

I hate to sound like a jerk, but we can only blame others too a point. You took a bad mortgage because you didn't want to pay $800 or take the time and effort to fight the $800 charge.

[floridian]

you can call it macaroni, if you want too... but if you take 800 bucks from someone, just because you can, thats is predatory... just because its legal, doesnt make it right..

im sure that if it happened to you, you wouldnt have a problem with it.. yeah buddy!

i dont know what the deal is with you HHM, but you sure like to bust my chops...

[HHM]

I am not saying it was fair for them to charge you, and it may not have been legal.

But at this point, what do you do to move foward? I don't think I am busting your chops, but at the same time, I have no problem giving information a person may "not want" to hear.

Also, it isn't just me saying you are off base on this one. We will empathize with a person all day long, but we are not going to "cry with you" if we disagree with the characterization.

[floridian]

them .

Also, it isn't just me saying you are off base on this one. We will empathize with a person all day long, but we are not going to "cry with you" if we disagree with the characterization.

there you go again, with the inflamatory remarks! i dont need you are anyone else to cry with me!

[floridian]

my reason for this post, was mostly just information... but since we have a wealth of knowledge on this forum. i was hoping that maybe someone could tell me a way that i could use the bank actions to my advantage and get better terms from the lender..

[Flamingo]

my reason for this post, was mostly just information... but since we have a wealth of knowledge on this forum. i was hoping that maybe someone could tell me a way that i could use the bank actions to my advantage and get better terms from the lender..

Since what you described occurred five years ago, there is nothing from that incident that you could utilize with that bank or any other to get you better rates. The experience of going through that is worth the most - this time, if you are refinancing again, make a list of questions and take it with you when you apply and read all fine print on documents prior to signing (the best thing to do is have an attorney review any documents before you sign but when one is low on funds that may not be possible). Make sure they give you copies of everything you sign. Make sure you know up front before you sign who is responsible for what and what may or may not occur if the loan does not go through and if that occurs, what are your options. Be savvy...you now have more knowledge about this than you did before and can use it to your advantage.