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| Quicken Loans TSI Appraisal Services Improper Fee Disclosure, Deposit Abuse, and Inaccurate Appraisals Livonia, Michigan |
| 26th of Nov, 2011 by User755829 |
| In regards to my Quicken Loan situation: The loan broker could not meet the terms of the loan rate and fee disclosed. They increased their disclosed rated and fees agreement by over $1600 from their good faith estimate. When noticed I asked them to respond or fix the $1600 increase in fees. In fact the fees went up twice during our negotiation. Originally quoted at $3900 over the phone and then increase to $5100. Once they agreed to meet a 4.75% rate they again gave me a revised disclosure with the rate at 4.75 and $5100 total fees after their $1000 discount. The fees were subsequently raised again to $7600 at which time I asked them honor their previous disclosure or end the loan process. They also did not meet their promise to match any other competitive rates backed up with good faith estimates which was a promised used as a coercive tactic to solicit a good faith deposit on my part. They stated "they are quicken and since they are a direct lender they can meet anyone's rates so there should be no worry that I give them a good faith deposit." In addition, I asked to be notified of any charges or services that would trigger a charge and when they would be posted. This promise was not met either. After multiple requests and lack of response to both phone calls and emails documenting the issue I again requested they release the pending $500 good faith deposit charge from my account as they were no services rendered and they could not meet the disclosed rate and fees. My bank account used for the deposit has been notified of the unauthorized pending charge and is monitoring the situation. I previously filed the above compliant on Quicken(complaint number 8761562). They admitted to mis-quoting the taxes required to pay off which accounted for the increase in fees and agreed to a partial refund of $71 out of the $500 disputed. I will say that the Quicken loans service department has been quick to try to resolve this issue but they still have more work to do. They also provided appraisal services for which there have been many errors and omissions. As an architect and contractor I identified the following issues and ask them to revise the appraisal report accordingly: -Remove Comparable sales located in lower value areas outside of my city and zip code that were not of similar quality, location, and/or condition. Some of the homes they selected were over a mile away. -I provided a list of recent home sales of several homes of the same age, amenities, upkeep, and range of square foot with in my neighborhood (within .5-.75 mile radius and zip code) for further analysis. These homes ranged from $200K-275K which is closer to the estimated value of our home rather then the $176K Appraised by Quicken/TSI. They would not consider these homes and provided inaccurate explanation of our home of "being located on a arterial street with 15,000-25,000 car per day". It should also be noted that homes from this very area were used in the appraisal when we originally purchased the home in 2006. I had real estate agents review the home prior to going for a refi and I received estimates and assumed 235-240K would be a fair estimate considering the comps and the fact that the property sold for that in 2004. Quicken assured me the loan would go through as long as the home priced out at 200K+. -TSI was also requested to revise one of the comps as it was actually a 2/2 not a 3/2 per the report. It is located on my street with the same traffic pattern. Is of similar quality, finish, size of lot, year built but only 1336 sf. It was the only truely comparable home they selected. The home was a distressed sale at $190K and TSI put our home lower then that at $176K. Simple math 190k/1336sf = $142.2sf. Our Home is 1604 sf x 142.2 = 228K -Inaccurate definition of street as arterial road with 15000-25000 cars per day. Per County Records our street is a 25mph neighborhood street with 6200 cars per day substantially less than estimated and more comparable to alternate homes I provided for their review. Records were provided to Quickens and TSI for their further correction of this error which is affecting our market fair value and comps selected. -A full list of upgrades were provided but not given fair value consideration such as: new roofing, travertine tile, crown molding, updated hardware, bathroom upgraded, granite counters, substantial wood deck, brick paver courtyards, new rock garden and field stone landscaping, new entry drive with blue granite and retaining blocks, extensive tropical landscape, added attic insulation/ventilation, new through out house, plumbing, updated electrical service, irrigation, hottub, green house, french glass doors though out, covered entry porch. They stated that these were just part of standard maintenance of an older home and for some they were not sure how to adjust the value. The amenities noted above were all qualities found in the several comps I asked them to review but were refused. -Inaccurate quoting of value depreciation at 53% decline since 2005 vs. 17% loss. TSI quoted Trulia Website for the 32789 zip code and when this information was checked it was found to be erroneous. They stated our home purchased for 315k x .53 = 185K. After researching the data I found Trulia actually stated 17% reduction off 2005 = $261K which is much closer estimates I received from local real estate agents prior to trying to refi. Trulia also noted median price home were increasing in value rather than decreasing as noted by TSI. -I found that TSI is Quicken's sole appraisal service and not a true 3rd party as the companies are very closely linked. Here's is the point. Quicken Loans is utilizing the deposit as a tool to strong arm potential borrowers. The tactic is to get people to make a small commitment suggesting refunds will be made to keep people locked in with Quicken . They use this in combination with pressure sales tactics to secure loans by claiming they will meet or beet any rate to coerce people into signing paperwork and pressuring people for quick decisions and turn around of signed paperwork. Further once the loan process is started, they are using TSI appraisal is closely related to Quicken. TSI is low balling estimates to protect Quicken's loan assets rather than provide true 3rd party market value appraisals as advertised. It should also be noted they charge twice for the TSI appraisal service. $325 was charged for the basic appraisal and an additional $80 was charged for an unexplained reason. Basically, they have all the rules and tactics set up to win regardless of providing a loan or not. We need some consumer protection for this issue. This not only for the protection of consumer rights in regards to loan disclosure, fees charged, anti coercion, etc...but more importantly towards our home values. Banks and appraisers are low balling appraisals in the benefit of the banks to over protect their loan assets rather than provide real market values. This is systematically devaluing our home values, increasing foreclosures and defaults, reducing the ability of individuals to secure loans, etc...we need critical review of this issue. At this point I am not interested in getting the loan. I don't even mind paying for the appraisal as long as it is accurate. I would like them to fix the errors or refund my money as they did not provide an accurate service. |
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You don't happen to be in GA do you? This happened to us almost exactly! In our case, the appraiser (TSI) inaccurately guesstimated (for real, she didn't even bring a tape measure) the square footage of our house. And based on her inaccurate guesstimation, our house is 300 sq ft smaller than it actually is. Based on her guesstimated size, our house is too small to compare to the other houses in our neighborhood, so every single comp she used is from a cheaper neighborhood over a mile away with smaller homes and lots in a different (not as good) school district.
We have also done a ton of upgrades to our house, new hardwood floors through out, renovated kitchen, porcelain tile, and she "mentioned" it briefly in the report but did not give us any credit for any of it. I too, would not mind paying for an appraisal but like you, I want the appraisal I pay for to be complete and accurate! It was understood when we paid the deposit for the refi that we would be having our ENTIRE house appraised, not just part of it! So far they are not doing anything to rectify the situation and I have complained to the BBB. They responded that they are standing firm and not issuing me a refund. I guess they figure they already have an A+ rating, so why would they care if they won't resolve this? |
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