Getting cold feet on refinance with unknown 3d party credit union
March 6, 2014 7:12 PM

Does anyone know the skinny on CU Community, a credit union lender based in Springfield, MO?

I asked my credit union here in Nashville back in January about refinancing my house, and they began the process, telling me that they worked through a fellow credit union in Knoxville.I had had a very good experience with another loan officer buying a car, getting a heloc, etc. but this request was assigned to another official in the same Nashville credit union.

Over the past 5-6 weeks, I got the impression that she and her assistant might be learning the ropes, because there were a lot of revisions, rescheduling, little inaccuracies (e.g., 'please bring proof that you have paid off X,'when I clearly stated that I had not paid it off.). Today I got papers that listed as a debt a $10K line of credit, gat they apparently got from one of 2 contradictory credit reports rare than from the lender (ironically, the local credit union itself).

At that, my mild irritation has tipped over into anxiety. I googled CU Community, and the only reviews were on Yelp, and both 1-star/very critical.

I am wondering if I should back out even if having to pay the appraisal fee. The original lender, US Bank, has been easy to deal with, but I was trying to retire the helicopter and lower my mortgage payments prior to retirement (and another thing - the original quote on payment amount has gone up, from $90 lower to only$50 lower). Maybe I'm overreacting, but trust is eroding, and the housing horror stories out there are all too real.
posted by mmiddle to Law & Government (6 answers total)
You could ask for another loan officer, but in my experience the people doing the paperwork/processing are shared between a bunch of loan officers. A swap within the same bank or credit union is unlikely to help much. Having bought, sold and refied a few times I can say that many mortgage lenders do incredibly sloppy work. I've caught huge errors on final paperwork (a greatly increased interest rate, an adjustable rate mortgage instead of a fixed rate) and so many errors in the loan processing that I can barely remember them all. My standard position on any mortgage transaction is that you need to watch every little thing.

Yelp is probably a terrible indicator here. Very few people are going to yelp their mortgage company unless 1. it's frakking horrible or 2. the mortgage officer is a friend. The many, many people who had a standard loan aren't going to give a review.

Who do you know who's bought or refinanced lately? Get a referral. (If you're in Southern California, I have two mortgage lenders that I can recommend.)
posted by 26.2 at 8:24 PM on March 6, 2014


Or call Quicken or Lending Tree.

See what they can do for you.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 5:27 AM on March 7, 2014


I have no knowledge of CU Community but have some banking and CU contacts in Knoxville. MeMail me if I can be of any help.
posted by workerant at 6:30 AM on March 7, 2014


Thanks, folks! I really appreciate your thoughts.
This morning it turns out that the third party cu is planning to pass this on (entirely) to a fourth party, TrueHomes [Mortgages], which has the same kind of gimmicky sound as Countrywide. TrueHomes has had over 10 complaints per year to BBB, although BBB does give them its A rating (for what that's worth). My local agent had no knowledge of the planned handoff, but is checking for me [she says that her company, my local cu, cannot do mortgages for more than 15 years - thus handoff#1]. The fact that workerant has never heard of the third party CU, despite knowing this sector in Knoxville, does not reassure me.
posted by mmiddle at 6:49 AM on March 7, 2014


You don't have to accept this deal. If you're uncomfortable, walk, and find another institution to re-fi you.

At the end of the day, who you re-fi with doesn't indicate who you'll be doing business with, I'd say that at least 70% of all mortagages are sold after the closing anyway.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 7:46 AM on March 7, 2014


I'm leaning that way! Turns out that TruHomes is a fairly new division of LendingTree, which does not get good reviews - maybe they set up TruHomes as a way of avoiding the impact of those reviews. I do need to rewind and start over with a new lender.
posted by mmiddle at 8:26 AM on March 7, 2014


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