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John of Media PA (07/02/08)
A representative of Washington Mutual's Mortgage department contacted me regarding my current mortgage with them. He called to find out how I was doing with my current mortgage situation. My mortgage is about two years old and I have paid it on time and have no late charges. He offered a lower interest rate on my current loan, but on one lower offering I would have to pay $2200.00, or on a lesser interest rate reduction, I would not have to pay any points. I opted for the latter, but the rep then had to order a credit report which turned out to be lower than fannie mae's standard. I was then turned down.
To me this was a half-hearted attempt by WaMu to offer help to a current homeowner for a reporting purpose whether to the Feds or somebody else. WaMu gave me no consideration nor asknowledgement of my payment history. This offer to me was a sham and only lowers my opinion of WaMu. This and other lenders are not sincere in helping borrowers, and will use such half-handed schemes to advertise their so-called efforts to help people. I just want you to know that my house has not declined greatly in value.
Sharon of Whittier CA (06/24/08)
My husband died and I tried to have his name removed as primary. No matter how much documentation I provided, they kept asking for more (most of which I had never heard of, nor had my attorney). I finally gave up on that. Now I have paid off my loan and I am trying to get something official from them to show that it is paid off and I no longer need flood insurance, and I am getting nowhere with that either. Allstate Insurance Flood insurance refuses to cancel and keeps dunning me to pay the premium and I am concerned that my credit rating may suffer. What can I do?
The insurance co is telling that I need to pay $800.00+ and I refuse because I no longer need the insurance and they are not accepting my cancellation request because they say they need an official statement from WaMu saying that I am no longer required to have flood insurance.
Dina of Niles IL (06/24/08)
In the middle of working with the loss medigation dept to refi our home loan due to falling behind on payments because my husband was unemployed for 7 months. The forms requested bank info which i gave so they started drafting large amounts of money out of my account nobody authorized & i did not have the funds so i was charged a numerous amount of NSF fees that they will not cover. When we call we are put on hold or transfered to different dept where they just give you the run around & have no excuse for what they are doing.
Virginia of Princeton NJ (06/21/08)
WM routinely ignores letters, adds fees, overestimates tax payments, and increases house payments on fixed mortgages. Requests for payoff amounts are not directly acknowledged, although a recent review of 6 years' documentation show that within weeks of request for payoff or credit reporting, a foreclosure complaint is filed.
This time, Jan. 08, was unexpected. Our payments had been made on a timely basis through December 07, and January 08's payment was in the mail. In their complaint WM's attorneys claimed no payments had been made since July 2005; mortgage payment amount placed at $2842 per month ($1154.37); demanded full payment of original mortgage and contained factual errors in almost every count. They also informed that although mortgage was acquired by them 7 years ago, it was yet to be recorded. I only had 2 weeks before the court date and I answered pro se requesting court costs, damages and relief from predatory lender.
My documentation verified my statements above and the judge suggested the attorney and I discuss the matter, setting a second conference date the following week. Two days later WM's attorney called to say he dropped off a Motion to Dismiss at court and put a copy in the mail to me (never received). He secured an Order to Dismiss the following day by stating I had agreed to same, without prejudice or costs. There was to be no conference. I wrote the atty and the judge that counsel misrepresented the facts, that I wanted a full discussion of complaints on both sides.
In the meantime January through April's amount due had not been settled, we mailed May's check to the attorney as instructed, however he returned it in June suggesting we contact WM ourselves. I actually attempted to, but was almost immediately locked out of the website. I wanted to be left alone, to sell my condo without threat of foreclosure, or refusal of payoff figure, an accounting of all charges made and monies paid by me before putting it on the market and certainly before closing. My credit report showed in April mortgage default since July 2005 - the first time credit information was ever submitted.
In May another report showed that I have been in default since October of 2007. This month another report showed 360 months of payments at $1350/mo due and owing. I assume they are in the process of filing a foreclosure complaint for default. One credit report clearly lists nonpayment of the months not paid this year (due to their legal action.) In this one Complaint, WM was in violation of Fair Credit Reporting Act, Bankruptcy code for Chapt. 13, Fair Debt Collection Act, filing false information with the court and attorney misconduct. Is there any law they can be made to follow?
I can't find an attorney. I want declaratory relief at least. My answer was good, but I do not know the law. I am profoundly depressed and under doctor's care - they've sent an inspector to the house, no payments have been deposited by them since December and it does not take much to see the setup here. I am legally disabled and in my 60's and, if not enough, have approximately $200K in equity that I cannot touch. Otherwise, I am without funds beyond monthly social security, my son is in college and my life is being wrecked as I am pushed further into debt by foreclosure mills. I need medical care. I need help in so many ways I cannot list them. Without WM's foot pressing on the back of my neck, I could help myself. Honestly, I can't bear it anymore. Thanks for your attention.
Roshandell of Desoto TX (06/17/08)
On June 16 2008, I called Wamu to try and make a mortgage payment over the phone. I have two different loans on my account. After speaking with the Rep, he informed me there will be a $15.oo charge to pay over the phone. I gave him my checking account information to process the payment. I then asked the Rep, will there only be one 15.00 charge for the both accounts? He stated each account will be charged $15.00. I promptly stated to the Rep. to cancel the transaction, I would walk the payment in to a branch, in which I did.
On the morning of the 17th, I checked my account, as I do every day, only to discover Wamu had processed the payment anyway, after being told not to. I called the customer service line, which was no help. A manager had the nerve to tell me I wouldn't not be reimbursed because there were no notations on my account. My question is, how am I suppose to know if the Rep properly notated the account or not. I am not there with him. I see why Wamu has a bad reputation. I was seriously considering transferring all of my banking needs to Wamu. I don't think so!!!
As a result of Wamu's negligence, my account is severely overdrawn. Which will cost me several hundreds of dollars I will be out of, and everything I have purchased using my card will be either returned or paid with a 35.00 NSF fee that I will incur. THANKS WAMU!!!!!!!!!!
David of Las Vegas NV (06/11/08)
On April 29th of this year, my client-investor foreclosed a second mortgage on a home upon which WaMu has a first mortgage. On May 1, we supplied WaMu a copy of the Trustee's Deed, as well as an authorization letter signed by my investor, asking for bring-current information on the first, so my client could bring the loan current. The supervisor of loss mitigation informed me that my investor had no right to the information and that in fact she did not know what a Trustee's Deed is and does not acknowlege that my investor is the owner of the property!
I have attempted to communicate with executives further up the food chain at WaMu and without exception they have completely ignored my requests. You might think they would want to receive payments regularly, but apparently their so-called privacy rules are more important!
At some point, WaMu will want to foreclose their loan, and cause my client more dollars for foreclosure and late fees! This hardly seems fair when they will not provide the information to my client to cure any defaults!
Leevell of North Highlands CA (06/05/08)
I suffered a double stroke in June 2007. The second stroke left me wheelchair bound, and my left hand completely unusable. It took some time for finances to get in order but I told WAMU about my disability situation and they asked me about doing a short sale. I placed the house on the Market in October 2007 while being told if it didn't sell, they would allow me to do a Deed in Lieu. Well, they received 4 offers (not even close to what I owed) but they received offers and strung my realtor along for five months.
In March 2008, some new guy took over in Loss Mitigation and told my realtor....he refused to take any of the offers because they were too low. WELL we are almost in a recession (if we're not already) and property values werte dropping like crazy. A month later, they went to the duplex, told the tenants they had 30 days to move and that I no longer owned the property. They moved on 5/15/08 and now the property is just sitting there vacant, no signs outside or on the property.
I never was informed by WAMU that they were taking over the property. I was never, ever offered a Deed in Lieu as promised. My tenants did move and I will give them back their saecurity deposit this week. I wanted to respond because if anyone is successful in starting a class action lawsuit against WAMU, I'll be anxious to get in on it.
Other than stress and physical headaches, which I did not need, because there was another place to live at that time I was fortunate to not be homeless with my 2 grown children. We are all recovering at this time. With all the stuff about good or bad credit my credit, I'm sure will be ruined.
Laura of Washington NJ (06/02/08)
WaMu was always a nightmare to deal with for us. In 2005, we declared ch. 13 bankruptcy (re-organisation of debt)and we were told that this would not change the fact that we still had to pay our mortgage at its full amount and no chance of making some kind of change in the payment amount as PER NJ STATE LAW. Gee, thanks NJ!
In March 2006 my mother passed away and my sister and I settled the estate by June. IN July I paid off my mortgage IN FULL. now, 2008 with my bankcruptcy dismissed, my credit report still shows a balance with WAMU of $186,000. I have a letter from the executive offices stateing that the loand was indeed paid in full! They cant communicate to Transunion, Experion and Equifax that I have no debt with them?
Still contacting these people at Corporate to clean up their act and my credit report. I cannot get a small equity loan to fix my house until this is done.
Terri of Novato CA (05/20/08)
Jameel was one one of numerous people at WAMU who never returned my calls. I notified WAMU before I began disability for a recurrence of cancer. I asked them to work with me to modify my loan, do a loan forbearance, or anything else possible, while I was on disability. I could make the minimum payment but did not know how long the disability would last and had other debts to pay as well. I was told to contact them after I got behind. When I did contact them, I was told I didn't qualify for any modification plan because I didn't have good credit, and I was behind in my mortgage!
To add insult to injury, I had moved out of my house to try to sell it, then needed to move back in. Hoping, that WAMU would work with me. While still in pre-foreclosure and requesting additional documentation from me for a workout, they (1) sent an inspection company to the house - who then drilled out the deadbolt on the house. Keep in mind there is a huge FOR SALE sign by the realty company in the front yard, a lockbox with a key on the front door, and numerous ways to contact me for permission. (2) After I called the inspection company and WAMU to complain, they then CHANGED the locks so I could not get into my own house. When I called WAMU, another anonymous customer rep told me they had the right to do whatever they wanted because I was late on my mortgage, and if I needed a place to live, I could pay for a locksmith to redrill the locks and get a new key.
I was forced to look into a reorganization bankruptcy, but when WAMU repeatedly refused to communicate with me (even though I had a short sale offer on the house), I was advised to file for a total dissolution bankruptcy. Because they were not willing to work with me at all, there was no motivation to try to keep the house even in bankruptcy. I proved to them that even on disability I could make the minimum payments, but they would not consider working with me at all unless I paid every single penny I was late on. They would not roll the amount into the loan, or add it as a balloon payment. I was told that if I could catch EVERYTHING up, THEN, they would consider me for a loan modification. I finally got someone to be honest and tell me that EVEN IF I were to catch all payments up to date, my credit was already ruined and they would NOT work with me. When I asked if I could talk to someone about doing a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure instead of filing for bankruptcy, they said they would send me the paperwork for approval. Just before hanging up the phone, I heard the customer rep say I don't know why these people wait until they get foreclosed on before trying to do something.
I called one more time about being locked out of the house, and was told again, we can send you a key, your realtor can let you in, or you can hire a locksmith. However, no one could assure me that the foreclosure had been put on hold even though a short sale contract had been submitted and I had offered to catch up the past due amounts. I am proceeding with bankruptcy, and am looking to move back home with family.
I tried to be responsible, never complained about the adjustable rate, paid my payments on time, and tried to get ahead of the problem while working through a second recurrence of cancer. I did not want to walk away from the responsibility, I did not want to file for bankruptcy, and I wanted to keep the house, and was willing to keep the mortgage even though the market value had dropped by almost $100,000. WAMU's response was to lock me out of my house before foreclosure, without notice, without permission, without apology, and without legal right.
I would like to know if anyone else has been illegally kicked out of their home before foreclosure, while still being told they are still legally responsible for the debt?
Shanta of Sunrise FL (05/15/08)
On May 30th 2007 I purchased a home using Washington Mutual as the financial institution. Washington Mutual had the house appraised using their appraiser. I received a home equity line of credit from WaMu for thirty five thousand dollars which their appraiser approved. On March 11th 2008 I paid eight thousand dollars towards my principal balance of thirty five thousand. On April 10th 2008 I received a letter from WaMu stating that my home equity line of credit has been reduced to twenty eight thousand dollars and that I only have one thousand four hundred dollars that is available to me on the line of credit.
My concern is that the other six thousand six hundred dollars now vanished into thin air. When I contacted WaMu about the credit reduction on my home they stated that in 2007 the home was appraised for thirty five thousand more than it was worth and now the value has decreased based on their home value assessment, that was the cause for the reduction on the line of credit. They stated, Even if I did not pay eight thousand on the principal I would still owe thirty five thousand. I should not be penalized by them for their mistake. I consider myself a valued customer because I have never been delinquent on any payments.
I expressed my concern to their consumer lending support center and they have not offered a solution to the problem. I believe that if I paid eight thousand dollars they should apply it to the new reduced amount of twenty eight thousand or they should increase the home equity line back to thirty five thousand. My six thousand dollars should not have vanished into thin air. I would appreciate your prompt inquiry into this matter.
Lori of West Monroe, LA (05/08/08)
In November 2007 my house payment jumped $1370.00 more a month. I spent December and January trying to find out why, no one knows. My house house gone into foreclosure and a sell date has been set for June 11th.
I have been faxing the same paperwork to countless fax numbers and spent hours repeating my name, address, phone and last 4 digits of my ss# to no avail. I still have no loan modification, no answer as to why my payment jumped so much a month. I have explained myself to tears and now in the next month will loose my home, and my 3 children and I will have no place to live.
George of Corona CA (04/26/08)
Beware of Washington Mutual bank.When you send home mortgage's payment with different checking account. Wamu reps/teller they will throw it away or deliberate to hold it then record it later into their account and charge you with late fees.Meanwhile they use their accuse and blame on : lost/misplate or Post office mistake .I really need help to file a class action law suit.Anybody???
In number of time I've been question with all WaMu branches managers about my issues and they just ignore my issues.
Alex of San Jose CA (04/25/08)
WAMU is refusing to sell a home to us based on our ethnis background as well as taking personal property in excess of $15,000.We have been denigrated, threatened and laughed at.We have tried to resolve this problem for over 3mos but to vo avail.We purchased a home from an individual who unbeknown to us had liens against the property by WAMU. Once we learned we had been ripped off we arttempted to repurchase the property from WAMU at fair market value (through an appraisal of a neutral source) the refused and asked for over $200,000 above the property value but offerred to sell to someone else at fair market value.
Reps for WAMU informed us that they would never sell to us an intimated we were the wrong shade.They kicked us out off the property with 1 day notice and refused to allow us to take our SS cards,pass- ports and the medication need for my children and myself as well as clothing wedding rings,computers and many other items including cash.
We are now homeless.Even worse, an employee in the Executive Office said to get over it and start new and that if someone in my family died we would have insurance to start over!!!We wrote to the top officials at WAMU,Kerry Killinger and Stephen Rotella and they refused to intervene or respond.When we called back we were told these persons agreed with the treatment we received and we should be glad we werent sued for wasting their time.
We have had real estate agents and mortgage bankers call so we could buy the property but when it was indicated we were the purchasers WAMU cut off all communication. While we have called WAMU in excess of 30 times to resolve this problem we have only receive 1 callback though we are promised a response within 48 business hours.Based on their treatment of us we have to assumed this is somehow ethnically based which is illegal;when we suggested this we were told to sue and see how far it goes and that they have been sued before and havent loss.....
We are homeless without medical care, prescribed medication and 98% of our personal property.The doctors feel that I may suffer another heart attack due to the stress ar posssibly a stroke.My children are constantly ill and missing school and my wife is considering a divorce or separation at best.While the financial strain may be intolerable at this point the mental stress on us is incalculable.
William of Clifton NJ (04/21/08)
I am set to close in a few days, WAMU, after changing the terms of my mtg a few weeks ago, is now wasting time and delaying our closing. I have emails from the underwriter saying she had everything she needed and today, 4 days before everyone else is scheduled and ready, WAMU says there's a problem with the income. They have emailed our lawyer saying there's a problem with the income but YET, have NOT contacted ME to clarify/explain anything. i think I would be the person to ask about MY income.
At this point, after talking to my sister inlaw, a family friend in the mtg ind and my brother in law, an appraiser, it seems we may be victims of a BAIT & SWITCH.. Meaning, WAMU baited us with a PROMISE and COMMITMENT of 5.125% but NOW are scurrying around because THAT RATE does NOT EXIST!!! I am being told by EVERYONE that this rate hasn't existed in months. My lawyer is recommending we seek other lenders! WHY??? Why isn't he STRONGARMING them into the rate they promised us and the rate we signed for with NO POINTS??? Shouldn't my attorney being making WAMU aware of the RESPA & HUD LAWS??? And that by changing ANY part of what they promised and agreed to, they are opening themselves up to being sued for bait and switch????
I am at my wit's end.. It seems like NO ONE in the Realestate Business is ethical or looks out for the BUYER!! Everything's about money no matter WHO gets hurt... WAMU WILL be held accountable for turning my life into the turmoil that they have.
We have lost money for all inspections, surveys, legal fees... We have been through nothing but emotional turmoil since 4/10. I am physically and emotionally drained. I will not have any faith in the legal or real estate professions if this is ALLOWED to go on. I cannot believe there isn't more Federal Regulation of lending ins
Michelle of Poland ME (04/15/08)
We just were served with papers of foreclosure on our mortgage after having the home under contract to sell for 5 months. WAMU was called for a payoff and decided that instead of giving us the payoff they would file for foreclosure. We were supposed to close on the home on April 11th and WAMU filed for foreclosure on April 11th. The government needs to enforce their new rules on these companies immediately.
Kim of Roxbury NJ (04/13/08)
In january 2008 my husband and I went to WAMU for a mortgage for a home we were buying. We found the home we wanted to buy in February 2008 and Andie, our WAMU mortgage agent, locked in our rate at 5.1%. The terms of the mortgage we agreed to were that we would put 5% of the purchase price as a Down payment. These were Wamu's terms Our closing date was set for April 25, 2008 and everything was moving alone consistently and smoothly.
On April 10,2008, 15 days before we are scheduled to close on our home we receive a call from WAMU and Andie says this: While your house appraised for what you are offering, due to the declining market value of homes we are now going to require 10% of the purchase price to be put down on the house OR 5.75% rate... WHAT??? But we were locked in and the house was appraised at WHAT we offered??? How can you determine if it will deline in value or not.. They're changing the terms o my MORTGAGE because of their ASSUMPTIONS? This is 2 weeks before closing...
Then we begin to read of the events that took place at WAMU days before we were informed of these changes to our LOCKED IN RATE.. April 10, 2008: Last date to submit new applications or locks. May 31, 2008: All WaMu Wholesale Sales Centers will be closed by this date. June 13, 2008: Generally, all loans must be closed/funded by this date. We will, however, honor outstanding loan commitments with expiration dates after June 13, 2008 up until the expiration dates set forth in those commitments. June 30, 2008: All WaMu Wholesale loan fulfillment centers (LFCs) [San Diego, CA; Pleasanton, CA; Downers Grove, IL; and Jacksonville, FL] will be closed by this date. Current Pipeline: *Locked loans with an expiration date prior to June 13, 2008 may be extended per current policy provided the loan is closed/funded by June 13, 2008. *Effective April 8, 2008, a condition will be added to each new commitment which will supersede the normal expiration provision. *Floating loans must generally be locked, closed/funded by June 13, 2008. Again, they may only close and funded after June 13, 2008 if a loan commitment has already been issued and the commitment expires after June 13, 2008. *If a loan is locked with an expiration date past June 13, 2008, it will not be honored unless a loan commitment has been issued and the commitment expires after June 13, 2008. *We are unable to make any exceptions regarding the closed/funded date of June 13, 2008. Again, however, we will honor outstanding commitments with commitment expiration dates beyond June 13, 2008. WaMu will continue to originate loans through Consumer Direct and our Retail Lending channel.
HOW ironic is it that the date my WAMU mtg agent called was April 10? Then I see a news clip about how WAMU Raised $7 Billion on 4/7. I cannot believe that I now have to use this HORRIFIC company but at least I'll be able to refi with another lender in a year or so.. Whatever happened to LOCK IN RATES being contractual? It's also odd that SINCE we put an offer on our home We've RECEIVED nothing from WAMU about our Mtg. No Commitment, no loan agreements.. NOTHING. I am requesting tomorrow that they send me anything and EVERYTHING they have that is associated with our purchase. I am now beginning to think that our Loan Agent NEVER locked us in as she said... otherwise I don't know how the can renege on a CONTRACT!
2 weeks before our 4/25/08 closing date my husband and I were informed that WAMU changed the terms of the MTG we were Locked into and told us that instead of the 5% down that they said they required.. NOW, on 4/10/08, they will NEED 10% down or charge us 5.75% and points.....
Nicole of Fontana CA (04/05/08)
Wamu closed a loan on my house without my authorization. They accepted documents that were obvious forgery. The signatures were drastically different. When I brought this to their attention they said there was nothing they could do because I had paid the loan off with another loan. I feel I had to. I was about to lose my house. I didn't find out about the wamu loan until my house was in foreclosure. Is there anything I can do?
The original loan was $100,000. All of that money was paid to 2 people. There was no balance on my house. It had been paid for cash! Now I have this huge balance and I'm about to lose the house again because I can't afford the payments.
Steve of Mission Viejo CA (03/10/08)
We wanted to refinance our home in order to pull out enough equity for us to cover any moving or other expenses while we downsized to a smaller home and to help our daughter with her college expenses. We were told we had gotten a 6-month loan at 1% interest which would have made our monthly payment around $800 month. We were warned that we had to sell within 6 months or the loan would become prohibitively expensive. After things were approved, we waited around 2-3 weeks for the documents to be drawn up. Our agent, Mr. Wigley, brought all of the paperwork to our home along with a Notary. Mostly because we had done quite a bit of previous business with Mr. Wigley, we did not go over the documents. Mr. Wigley did not explain things page by page - nor did the Notary. During the signing process, Mr. Wigley kept assuring my wife that this was a great loan package and all we needed to do was pay the $800/month and sell our home within the 6 month time frame. Because we knew and trusted Mr. Wigley, WE DID NOT GIVE MORE THAN A CURSORY LOOK AT THE PAPERS which turned out to be a huge mistake! We were never informed of any changes to the loan, and we were never informed of any problems with the loan.
The initial Universal Residential Loan Application we received had Mr. Wigley's name as the interviewer. However, when we received the FINAL paperwork, Mr. Wigley's name had been replaced on that document with the name of the brother of the owner of Capital Funding Group. We have never met, nor have we ever spoken with, this individual. When we received our first monthly mortgage statement, the P&I payment was for more than $7,200 rather than the $800 promised payment. In addition, we had been told that Capital Funding would pay for six (6) months of Mortgage Insurance since our loan was so close to the 90% loan to value ratio. In looking at the loan documents we had signed, we also noticed that we had agreed to a 3% prepayment penalty if we sold out house with a year, and a 2% prepayment penalty if we sold withing 2 years, etc. HAD WE KNOWN, WE WOULD NEVER HAVE AGREED TO SUCH TERMS BECAUSE OUR PRIMARY REASON FOR REFINANCING WAS WANTING TO SELL OUR HOME AND DOWNSIZE!
While trying to find out what had happened I was informed by Mr. Wigley that his former employer had closed his business, and he was now working for a relative of the former owner. When Mr. Wigley started asking questions about the changes made to our loan, he was fired from the new company. We soon found out that either Capitol Funding didn't make the promised mortgage insurance payment, or WaMu incorrectly applied that money to our principal and interest rather than the impound account as our payments have skyrocketed. It's been extremely difficult to get access to any of the original paperwork as the former company is no longer in business, and WaMu (our lender) has also been of little help. WaMu has not let me see their records of what might have happened to this money; and as a result our monthly payment to our impound (escrow) account is more than $1,300. When I've tried to show WaMu they are double billing us for home owner's insurance, they tell me they had a shortage and needed to make it up by increasing our monthly payments. This shortage can not be verified in looking at my records. Mr. Wigley is willing to cooperate with anyone looking into this matter since he too was improperly treated (for example, his last two (2) paychecks have never been sent to him).
We will not be able to keep paying the minimum Neg-am payments of $4,500 a month. We have exhausted our savings, we have exhausted our daughter's college funds, and we have been paying the mortgage for the last few months with our credit cards.
Sharon of Fairland IN (03/08/08)
Originally we had 5 or 6 mortgages at the same time with WaMu. All were paid off years early except 1 with a current balance of $10,700. The payments are only $220 a month. We didn't risk our credit rating by skipping a $220 monthly payment when our average income is $200,000 generated by 24 rentals in Indianapolis. Last fall we began shopping for a first mortgage on our personal residence. We own a $420,000 home free and clear. A mortgage for $300,000 would pay off everything we owe saving $4,000 in monthly payments but we are being denied a first mortgage by lenders because we had a late payment in the last 12 months. That late payment was the one reported by WaMu.
I argued with WaMu until I was hoarse because I made that payment five days early. I can't produce a confirmation number, and they waited 33 days to call! Several loan officers and their supervisors have called WaMu, but they won't admit they might have made an error in processing the payment; and even though we have excellent credit history, it isn't good enough to take my word. I agreed to make the payment again, but the total was much higher than one monthly payment so I asked for a breakdown. In addition to the late payment I was also charged for the following month (not due for another 20 days) AND $15 for the late payment--and $15 for the advance payment for making payments (2) by phone. I was livid and made no bones about it. One $15 fee was dropped.
Now WaMu is the very first thing on our credit indicating a 30 days late payment, and it is the only one on a 30+ page credit report. As far as I know, it is the only one in 25 years. Those bums didn't call until the 33rd day so they could collect extra fees and unearned interest. How many others have been duped for a phone payment or lost check? Because of one late payment (a payment I made by phone five days before due but not processed), our credit score dropped to 680 from the first tier above 800 (800 according to Huntington Mutual). WaMu has falsely reported a late payment and wrecked our chance of getting a mortgage while the rates are low. Thank you.
Our credit score dropped to 680 (last time I checked) and we have been denied a first mortgage by several lenders because of a late payment in the last twelve months. Lenders have called WaMu, but they won't budge or admit they may have made a mistake processing my phone payment. The late payment they reported to the credit bureaus has kept us from getting a first mortgage to consolidate monthly payments and save thousands a month in payments and interest.
Vicki of Merritt Island FL (03/08/08)
I have long been trying to have my deceased husband's name removed from my mortgage, but no one at Washington Mutual seems to have an address for their mortgage loan dept. All they can give are names of floating representatives who have no interest in resolving problems with existing loans because they get paid to spend their time making new loans. I have been given three different addresses to send death certificates, and none of them are valid. Because my payments come directly from my bank account, I don't have a current address. Is it possible that bank employees have no way to access addresses of their own offices that provide customer services?
I can tell you this, the representative at the office I went to in Merritt Island told me that the loan number wasn't right. As she kept typing on her computer, I thought she was straightening out the situation. She looked up about three minutes later and said, "Oh, you're still here?" I replied, "Yes, Ma'am, I'd like an accurate account number." She responded, "Ohhhh, just eliminate the first four numbers."
It looks like I'll have to re-mortgage just to resolve the issue, but it sure won't be with WAMU! If I want to sell my home or if I should die in an accident, my personal finances will be a mess because no one in this day and age of technology can give me a valid address.
David of Simi Valley CA (03/01/08)
In early 2002-03, I was forced to file a Chapter 11. During the time before all this was occurring my mortgage company sold our mortgage. I don't have the specifics in front of me, but I still have a large folder with all the info. This occurred one last time when Washington Mutual acquired the mortgage. My wife sent payments to the lender before Washington Mutual for an entire year before I finally sold the house and the Chapter 11 was a done deal. My own attorney was telling me: Don't worry about the payments! Washington Mutual was still receiving the payments because I have the cancelled checks to prove that they were diverted over to them. But in the long run they claimed I never paid them for a year. And this became part of my Chapter 11.
They would not give me straight answers and directed my calls to out of state. They would not even give me a last name as to whom I was dealing with. Years went by, I sold the house and messed up my credit worse than it should have been. Upon filing taxes two years too late, I questioned Washington Mutual again on these mortgage payments as I felt I needed a refund. I thought I had actually got somewhere when a girl (and I have her full name on file) said she would look into it. A month later I received the interest form for tax filing purposes(INT 99?) with the dollar amount of the money they claimed I never paid marked down as interest paid for that year. I took what I could, as there was a cap on the maximum interest paid I could deduct. Not sure if I got what I deserved on this one? Payments totaled over 14,000 dollars .
Brett of Mulino OR (02/18/08)
MY Home is getting foreclosed, and I need advice. On several occasions I have spoken with several WAMU Representatives. I called the numbers that were listed in the paperwork that was sent to my home. I am beginning to believe that it does not matter if it is a customer care representative, or even a manager/supervisor at the local branch. I believe the result is never what it should be, and I am realizing that the service is almost always below average. The normal call usually ends up with me being transferred a couple times. (I have been told, it is because they are working out the phone system issues--supposedly still after a year.) Ultimately the call ends up with someone who does not put any notes in the system about my concerns, but informs me they are documenting everything. Then a few weeks go by, and I get another letter. I am sure this is because my previous calls were not documented properly; or the notes, if they were recorded, are probably located in a different part of the system that they cannot access at this department. (This is a typical response from one of their customer service reps.) The entire customer service experience with WAMU has been nothing but a waste of time and a huge inconvenience to me.
I have contacted The Better Business Bureau; however, since WAMU is sprawling everywhere and has call centers across the United States, it seems my complaints fall on deaf ears. I would like to point out that I have been working with loss mitigation steadily for months now. I have sent in whatever was asked of me in a timely manner. I also requested on numerous occasions to be transferred to an agent who is at least in my time zone. I was completely shocked when I was expecting to get a letter of approval for my loan modification, and instead I got a letter saying No Response and a letter from their Attorney with a Sale date of May 18th, 2008. I have enclosed pages from my Cellular provider (Sprint) that clearly shows I was taking action. Every time I called specifically, the representative I spoke with (Loss mitigation, foreclosure, home preservation, customer service, etc.) failed to document every call. I also made calls from my home phone, and those toll free calls are not documented. I have a detailed list of the calls from my cell to WAMU that were documented. After speaking with loss mitigation on Dec. 3rd, I was informed that all information that was required by me had been submitted, and my loan modification program was just waiting approval.
Alma of St Louis MO (02/13/08)
My Principal amount on my loan is not going down. I have been with this company for years & I owe almost as much as when I started. I don't think they are applying my payments correctly. Also this company becomes very threatening if you are late on your payment. Threatening foreclosure when you're not even a month behind. They also hold your checks and then charge you for a late payment
This is causing mental stress.
Della of Umpqua OR (12/08/07)
My sister and her husband fell on hard times because of the son-in-law abandoning pregnant wife and children and asked the bank to work with them on an overdraft fee. WaMu bank refused and is collecting fees daily .
They are losing their home, they have no money to move elsewhere, and have 3 grandchildren plus a daughter to take care of. They have been put in a terrifying position because of Washington Mutual not willing to work a little with them. My son and daughter-in-law have been customers of the bank for 20 years, and they are closing their account because of this.
Kim of Accord MA (10/30/07)
I applied through WAMU home loan center via phone. I was approved and offered specific terms for the loan. After finding the property and getting back to them I received a commitment letter directly from the office manager. The terms that were on the papers at closing were very different and in their favor. By this time, I was already committed and due to our specific situation had to close or would have incurred @$20,000 in costs if we had not closed that day. Without another lender lined up and ready to go right away we signed. Since then I have been trying to get the issue resolved (or at least the prepayment penalty canceled so I can refinance with someone else). I spoke to so many different people in so many different departments now. The office manager will not return phone calls, e-mails, letters. Now the executive resolution center will only refer me to their Ft. Worth Texas center. That office won't speak with me any further because I have OTS to report their dishonesty.
My image has definitely suffered after I was unable to smoothly carry out this transaction. My real estate broker as well as my attorney and coworkers have all lost confidence in my professional abilities as an investor due to Wamu's incompetence. Never again will I use them! Secondly, I pay an unnecessarily high interest rate which was outbid by other lenders in the initial stages. Then Wamu dishonored their commitment. The income property now costs me out of my own pocket monthly, until I can refinance which will be more costs as well.
Lee of Dover NH (10/01/07)
In July I signed up for AutoPay with WaMu to have my mortgage payments debited automatically from my checking account. I misunderstood when the autopay would start and the 7/07 payment never was debited, I overnighted the payment and it took them 2 weeks to post it. Then it was August and the payment was not debitted. I got a phone call from WaMu and authorized a debit for the 8/07 payment explaining about the autopay. The person on the phone wanted me preauthorize the September payment, and I said I was afraid to because of the autopay. She said there was nothing in the system for it so I preauthorized a September payment. The August authorized payment went thru. Then the 9/07 autopay went through, and then the preauthorized payment went through. Now my account is overdrawn (dramatically). I called, and it seemed all taken care of: they reverse the payment and eat $76.00 in overdraft fees. This all ocured from 9/16/07 to 9/21/07. On 9/24/07 WaMu redeposited the preauthorized 9/07 payment. Now I am overdrawn out of control and have over $400.00 in overdraft fees. I could not reach anyone at WaMu over the week end to resolve this and my bank said their hands are tied. They couldn't do anything. I got through to WaMu this AM and they say it isn't showing and fax them the print out from my bank. I have not received any response.
The first time I had drive home on empty and borrow money from my 87-year-old Aunt who lives with us. This time I can get home from work (I commute 70 miles each way) but don't know how I'll get to work in the AM. I can't pay my bills, buy groceries, get oil delivered to heat the house. My husband has kidney failure, is on dialysis, waiting for a kidney transplant, and I can't buy his medication. If I am not reimbursed the overdraft fees, I will not be able to pay my mortgage this month.
James of Martinez CA (07/12/07)
Washington Mutual Bank did a buy-out from Sierra Pacific Mortgage and took over our account. When my wife did not receive a mortgage payment notice, she contacted a representative at Sierra Pacific and was told there is a time period of 30 to 60 days for everything to get caught up with the new bank receiving all the accounting information. My wife was further advised to call Washington Mutual and check with them as well. When my wife called Washington Mutual Home Loans, they did not have any information in regards to our account.
When my wife informed the Washington Mutual representative of the buy-out from Sierra Pacific Mortgage, the person she talked to told her the same thing as the representative from Sierra Pacific, that there is a 30 to 60 day grace period for the information to be updated into Washington Mutual’s files, and the mortgage payment billing would be sent out.
After my wife sent a payment in, we were hit with a Notice of Collection. When we sent letters to Washington Mutual, they ignored the letters and placed a 30 day late payment notice on my credit report. Washington Mutual also demanded another payment (therefore a double payment) to bring our payments up to date.
Holly of Fort Lauderdale FL (04/09/07)
Washington Mutual filed foreclosure against my property in June, 2006. I had gone through their Homeowners Assistance Program in Jan 04, which ended up being a nightmare and only the beginning. I never missed a payment since the Loan Modification Agreement was signed in March 04. I am now eight months into my fight. I have attorneys fees of almost $5,000.00. Attorney and myself just spent 5 hours on Saturday figuring out their creative accounting practices. I have received mailboxes full of fliers from attorneys, real estate agents, etc. to represent me or sell my home. I have had more phone calls than anyone can imagine. I have even had people knocking at my door. This has ruined my credit. I cannot even finance a car. I have become physically ill - shingles. I have gained almost 40 pounds. And I have NO savings left whatsoever. My heart bleeds for those who do not have the money to hire an attorney and fight. I find it hard to believe that I am the only one that WAMU has done this to. Remember, I cannot refinance or sell at this point. I am stuck with these folks.
Cindy of Shelby NC (04/04/07)
I originally had a loan with another company for my modular home. It was bought out by Washington Mutual. It went from a fixed rate to an ARM. I had no input nor was I given any consideration when this was changed. Washington Mutual has ruined my life. I also worked with a loss mitigation specialist who promised to help lower my payments but instead almost doubled them. I am going to lose my home because of this. They never send a statement. They call when I am not at home even though I have told them the hours I can be reached at home.
Because of the dirty tricks by this company I am now in danger of loosing my home. I am now taking heart medicine, blood pressure medicine, and insulin. I did not have any of these health problems until Washington Mutual entered my life. I have even had reps that I have tried to talk to tell me to get the hell over it. I have been lied to and have been a victim of every dirty trick this lender has up it's sleeve.
Yolanda Hill of Baton Rouge LA (03/20/07)
My husband and I own a real estate brokerage firm. We are Realtors and we also have origination licenses. We originate first mortgages and refinance mortgages for a local mortgage broker. We are very knowledgeable of FHA, FannieMae, and all of the government lending guidelines. We are extremely aware of all of the unscrupulous, predatory practices of many of the sub prime lenders. In September 2005 we were granted a 90 day deferment to pay our personal mortgage on our personal home with Washington Mutual because our home was located in the Katrina/Rita Disaster areas. We made our mortgage payment on November 30, 2005 as agreed with the deferment agreement. Washington Mutual told us that we would not be reported as late and that no late fees would we added nor collected during this special 90 day period. In December 2006 we had our credit pulled so that we could refinance our mortgage out of the ARM which has been increasing by 1% every six months, only to find that Washington Mutual had not only reported our mortgage late during the 90 day deferment period but that they had in fact reported our mortgage as 6 months late which is considered in a foreclosure status to most lenders.
Margie of Grand Junction CO (01/17/07)
Going through hardship, I contacted WaMu regarding my home payments; I was three months behind. They set me up with a Loss Mitigation Specialist who said she would work with me to try and refinance to a lower house payment. This was March of 2006. After faxing and mailing all the information she requested, over a period of 4 months (she kept requesting more and different info everytime I talked with her) and, in the mean time WaMu started foreclosure proceedings, she finally sent paperwork. Not for the refinancing, but to pay back the attorney fees for (2) letters sent out by their attorney in the amount of almost $3,000.
Then, after 4 months of payments, I receive paperwork in December for the actual refinance. Not only did they get the paperwork wrong, the monthly payment went up, not down like promised. I call WaMu to inform them that their paperwork was in error and I get directed to a new Loss Mitigation Specialist who informed me that the paperwork sent to the first Specialist was missing and I must start all over again. He assures me that until I get the new paperwork, nothing will happen to my account until they get their error corrected. Right!!! I have tried faxing the paperwork to fax numbers that do not answer, I get the run around when I call to speak to ANY supervisor, and my stress level goes through the roof everytime I try to get a live person.
Because of this past year's worth of trying to get help from this company, I have lost many hours of my life on the phone, faxing to unusable fax numbers, and worries of losing my home.
Lesley of Bowie TX (11/13/06)
Washington Mutual has threatened foreclosure on my home 5 times in the last three years! Each time they claim payments have not been made and I get a letter with ridiculous amounts due in order to cure the default. Each time I have had to prove their records are incorrect. In order to do this I have to take days off of work and spend HOURS on the phone, being switched back and forth between departments and each time I'm transferred I have to start over explaining the past three years experiences to phone operators who act like they could care less.
Every now and then, I get a person who seems willing to help, but then there is no follow through. When I follow up, there is no record of the conversations I have had with them previously. No one has an extension number that I can use to reach them again. Each time it takes at least two months of my life to get resolution, during which time I am pushed to my limits by the stress. Each time they have researched their records and found they were incorrect, and all charges are dismissed. A few months go by, and then they hit me again.
I am at this moment going yet another round with them. Today I took off work and spent 3 hours on the phone talking to 11 different people, none of which had access to the records which show my account as current. At this point, I have faxed documents to them showing the results of their last incorrect claim (6 months ago) and copies of their statements showing the payments I have made since then. Being just out of Ch 13 bankruptcy, I cannot qualify for a new mortgage with a decent interest rate. I am currently trying to sell our home just to get away from Washington Mutual's incompetence and life-disrupting antics.
Mr N of Valinda CA (09/29/06)
In the process of selling our home, we discovered that a line of credit had been taken out on our property. A Ma Alexander Kuang Shin has a $173,000 credit line (revolving) on our home of address. This loan was provided by Washington Mutual. We spoke to Washington Mutual on many occasions trying to clear up this dilema. They are unwilling to help or investigate this situation. They claim they cannot look up any such accounts unless the actual loanee asks for it. Washington Mutual suggested we contact ITC title company, and ITC says to contact Washington Mutual. The sheriff will not do anything without an account number, which we don't have. We feel there has been some fraud in which our home was used as collateral. We are not wealthy and cannot hire an attorney, or private investigator.
Currently we cannot sell our home and with the current drop in property values, will lose money in the next few months.
Sheila of Delray Beach FL (08/20/06)
I paid the May mortgage payment late and was in the process of paying in Aug (all payments, June,July and Aug) when they sent back the May payment and foreclosed. I cannot get in touch with the attorneys representing them and am trying to get in touch with their work out dept. I was trying to catch up due to my son being involved in a divorce, which has cost me personally $45,000 i had to borrow and am repaying it, plus he borrowed $50,000 on his home.
I am in my late 60's working and going through emotional and physical trauma because of this divorce and now this foreclosure. I simply want to pay the mortgage and get on with my life.
Kimberly of Jasper GA (07/20/06)
Washington Mutual Mortgage decided we needed wind insurance for our home. We already had wind insurance on our current policy. No one notified us about this change! Our payments went up over $300.00 a month. My husband and insurance agent worked on getting the bogus insurance removed and our payment back to normal. We were told that it would be corrected. Our house payment was supposed to go back to the regular amount and the money they took from escrow repaced. Today I received a call telling my the payemnts were still wrong and they were once again taking the money out of escrow. I tried to explain the the woman about the insurance mistake, but she wouldn't talk about it. My husband is once again taking off from work to go to try and straighten this out. Washington Mutual is not helping us.
We are being charged $300.00 a month more for insurance we already have. They are depleting our escrow account and will not replace it.
Doreen of Berwyn PA (05/25/06)
I have contacted Washington Mutual on more than one occassion for failure to pay my property taxes. Taxes were due on 3/29 and the response received Please accept our apologies a property tax payment was made from your escrow account on 04/12 all penalties were paid from our funds. Now, they paid my homeowners insurance in error and cannot reverse their mistake.
This error will reduce the amount of money in escrow and in turn I will not have enough to cover taxes.
Mike of Springfield TN (04/01/06)
I was discharged from a Chapter 13 back in November 05 and was to start making my regular payments in December 05. I made two payments in January 06 which would have been December and January's payments. I did not make February's payment, but did receive a statement that a payment was made in February. I called and talked to WAMU in March and was informed that I was four months behind and in Foreclosure. Of course I freaked out, knowing that I only owe two payments not four.
I was ready to pay for the two months that I did owe, but they wouldn't accept that and told me to hang on to my payments. They made the mistake not me and now I am paying for it.
My home is in foreclosure in a non-judiciary state which means no court hearing to dispute this. They are wanting my house so bad there is already a sale date. I have faxed a payment dispute, but of course that takes time. So what do you when they are holding all the cards and you know what you owe them and it is not four payments. I have already been at the bottom and this company is trying to put me there again.
Martha of Perkiomenville PA (03/28/06)
House went into foreclosure after husband lost job. Washington Mutual uncooperative. Put house up for sale through RE/MAX. Thirty people came through and only one buyer. There is a signed sale contract in the amount of $294,900 that Washington Mutual is refusing. Because of a "driveby" inspection, they feel we should get more money for the house. The house is in need of lots of work so potential buyers were turned off. Washington Mutual is charging us $630.10 for this driveby inspection. Nobody from this outfit stepped foot in this house to inspect it and they are charging us that exhorbitant amount for someone to inspect from the street?
Tomorrow, March 29, 2006, is the sheriff's sale because they refused to accept the buyer's offer of $294,900. Washington Mutual wanted the co-brokers to come down on their commissions but refused to adjust their own fees. Their other fees are: $3,379.50 for attorney costs; $1,250.00 for attorney fees; $5,159.84 for sheriff's commission. Why should someone get paid $630.10 for inspecting this house when they never even came inside? Julie in Loss Mitigation is one of the nastiest people I have dealt with. (Plus, she doesn't have clue as to how to read a bank statement!)
My realtor and my husband spoke to her and agreed with my assessment. So tomorrow, March 29, 2006 at 1:00 p.m., the sheriff's sales takes place and if Washington Mutual gets a satisfactory offer, my daughter and I will be evicted. Maybe, if there is a God, Washington Mutual won't end up getting the exhorbitant fee of $630.10 for an inspection that never happened. When I grow up, I want to be an inspector for Washington Mutual. When I really grow up, I want Washington Mutual out of the home loan business.
Jeffrey of Milford NH (03/10/06)
As a result of the mergers and acquisitions in the finance industry in the late '90s early '00s, I ended up with existing mortgages for both my home and rental property being taken over by Homeside, then by Washington Mutual Home Loans. When they changed over the existing loan numbers to their numbering system, a year later when they changed their own numbering system due to their database software upgrades, when they first implemented "ACH Drafting automatic draft service"; all these would end up with me getting a delinquent loan payment threat letter for one property mortgage or the other.
Each time the onus was on me to contact customer care, so I would have their record of me paying them as well as my bank statement. Armed with these, then I would have to fight with the Credit Dispute and various other departments to get the threat letters stopped and the late fees removed. None of this guaranteed that the “credit delinquency” was removed from all three credit report agencies.
I enrolled in Washington Mutuals ACH Drafting when they launched it thinking there would be less chance of them screwing it up. Four months into it, I’m on the phone with WashMut Customer Care who are telling me this month is late and I’m not even enrolled in ACH. Had to jump through all the same hoops again to get the late fees dropped.
I went back to paper checks and when they contacted me to ask why I wanted to cease enrollment in their ACH Draft service I told them I thought they were too stupid to operate it. I thought WashMut was just maliciously trying to rack up as many late fees as they could but I became convinced after a while that they were really just incompetent.
WashMut contacted me end of ‘03 to solicit my enrollment in ACH again with assurances the bugs were out of their program/process, but the same thing happened again.
During the sale of my rental property in ‘04, for the purchase of rental properties closer to home, I took the opportunity to change the mortgage company on my residence from WashMut as well. The purchase of the second rental property was held up for about a day for a “credit delinquency” in my record. WashMut should be required to remove their mistakes from all three credit reporting agencies.
Denise of Petaluma CA (03/10/06)
For the past 6 to 8 months we have been trying to get the proper payoff amount and have had NO success. WAMU is overcharging and not applying payments properly. I am at my wits end and am filing a formal complaint with the Comptroller of the Currency and Equal Housing Lender. I will also forward this via email to Channel 2, Channel 4, Channel 5, Channel 7 and whoever else will listen because we know Washington Mutual is NOT!!! You really need to have someone take care of damage control. Because this is a train wreck waiting to happen.
All I want to do is refinance and get a better rate and not have to deal with Washington Mutual anymore… I cannot take it!!! I am going to have a nervous breakdown, heart attack or some other health issue. I am finished with WAMU not applying my payments properly and are trying to double charge me for property taxes. I did not sign or apply for an impound account!!!! What is up with the property tax issue? Chicago Title stated that they paid my property taxes and The Sonoma County Tax Collectors Office has now informed us that they have returned the payment that Washington Mutual said they paid in the amount of $5310.58 dated June of 2005 which would have been for my property taxes of 2004 which we are now told Chicago Title paid for.
So what’s up with that, why are you still trying to get the money from me??? Why are you still treating this as an impound account when it is NOT an impound account!!!
Maria of Montgomery, AL (02/25/06)
Our home loan was transferred to Washington Mutual. It took several months before we even received information on where and how to make payments. The customer service department is rude, unknowledgeable and unhelpful.
Also, unlike most mortgage companies today, Washington Mutual doesn't provide a way to make payments online. On the other hand, Washington Mutual makes applying for a loan easily accessible online.
I firmly believe Washington Mutual doesn't make this option available in order to pocket more late fee income.
Brian of Howards Grove WI (02/09/06)
This company has consistently failed to post my payments thus causing my payments to be late and billing me late fees. They have also changed payment addresses more than four times and further claim my payments are late. I have made all payments and they have entered my property into foreclosure. They lied to the court claiming I have not made several payments and later stated they are holding onto the payments.
Deirdre of Butte MT (02/07/06)
I made my home loan payment for April 2004 on time, as usual. WAMU did not cash the check until June 21, 2004. They reported it as late and the person I talked to at WAMU was really nasty when I asked them to remove it.
S. of Puyallup WA (02/03/06)
Foreclosure procedings started after I called asking about balance on account. They informed me a returned check 10/04 1747.26 and no payment 7/05 balance owed $3473.67.When advised something is not right and I called them back advising an error in the amount of the returned check and where is the other money. They said I would have to get a copy of my cancelled check. Within 3 weeks (November) they sent foreclosure papers saying I owed for Sept-Dec 05. I paid November, they sent it bak mid December, and refused my Dec. payment.
There is more, but the bottom line is they orcherstrated the situation to meet their needs. I had the money arranged to pay in Dec. and they said I have to go through their attorneys ie pay $2000 in legal gratuity. They did tell me also, I took to long to get back to them.
Beth of Sarasota FL (01/21/06)
Washington Mutual has misapplied our mortgage payments for more than 6 six months. They did the same thing last year, it took us months to get it straightened out. They have done it again. Customer service is useless. They all say the same thing, fax a request.
Iva of Greenwell Springs LA (01/17/06)
This company holds our payments and then bills us for 2 months with late fees. I have mailed the payments with tracking numbers and they are received before the payment is due. They are in the processing of doing the same thing right now. They claim that they have not received my payment for December or January and now are asking for late fees. This is a racket with these people. I bet if you check into this that you would find a lot of this.
Katherine of Bala Cynwyd PA (01/11/06)
Washington, which holds my mortgage, consisently mis-posts payments to my account, requiring me to make telephone calls to correct. Some telephone operators are rude. Supervisors always are. With each payment, I send extra money to apply to my principal. Invariably I find that the money is either not applied to principal or is applied to future payments. Not clear to me why the posters would make those decisions rather than following instructions on the payment remittance, which is quite clear as to where the extra money should be posted.
Mona of Louisville KY (01/07/06)
My parents were behind on my house payments due to illness. They had been talking to the same person at Washington Mutual. They sent a check to catch up all the payments. Only to find their check being held--The company said it was short. After my daughter talked to the company it was discovered the check was $21.00 short. Washington Mutual held the check and sent my home into foreclosure.
For over a week we have been talking to the same people to get a final amount to remove the home from foreclosure. They keep putting us off, and will not give us a figure. What can we do???? The attorneys working on this case is a huge law firm in Atlanta that only handles foreclosures. How do these people live with themselves?
Joe of Jacksonville FL (12/27/05)
Received November 2005 Statement indicating I had missed a monthly payment. Contacted Customer Service and was told I had missed June 2005 payment. I denied it and faxed them copies of my bank statements and copies of my cancelled checks. Never heard back from them concerning "missed payment". Received December 2005 Statement once again showing I had missed a monthly payment.
Called Customer Service and this time they stated I had missed July 2005 payment. It evidently didn't do my any good to e-mail them copies of my statements and cancelled checks. In addition, I had mailed them a letter with copies of those 2005 Statements and cancelled checks. Since they now told me on this date (12/27/05) that it was July 2005 payment I had missed, I once again, this date, faxed them copies of my cancelled checks for 2005 which they cashed. I requested they call me to straighten this out, but have NOT heard from them and they still insist I missed a payment, even after I sent them copies of my cancelled checks.
The only response I received from them was a letter stating that I had been short in my payments during 2004, and owed them approx. $151.00 towards my Escrow, which I will pay when I make my next payment.
William of Long Beach CA (11/19/05)
Washington Mutual (WAMU) took over my loan from Great Western Bank some years ago, that I initiated in July of 1979. There were occasional problems but the real incompetence did not emerge until I attempted to obtain insurance coverage on my now-vacant property so I could begin rehabilitation. Previously WAMU had forced me to initiate an escrow account to cover property insurance on this address.
When I first contacted WAMU to inform them that I had obtained my new coverage on my own and that the property is now vacant, the individual I spoke with assured me that WAMU would pay my insurance company with the funds set aside for that purpose. Foolishly, I believed that story. Needless to say, they failed in their promise. The second call went very much like the first with considerably more rancor on my part, but the result was the same.
The third call resulted in yet another promise to send payment and now involved my agent directly, through a faxed billing for the premium WAMU had previously collected for that very purpose. The fourth call was very contentious and not at all pleasant. WAMU employees continue to insist on doing things in their own timeframe despite the major disruptions they have occasioned in my life due to their entrenched and epidemic lack of competence and their abysmal ignorance of the concept of customer service and business ethics.
To this day, they hold my money extracted from my hide for the purpose of paying for insurance coverage and steadfastly refuse to pay for te coverage I have arranged.
Denise of Plano TX (10/19/05)
My loan was with Homeside Lending in Florida when it was bought by WAMU. The only way I knew this had occured was I happened to be working there at the time. They changed the mailing address numerous times with no previous notice, I went for over one year with no coupons or statements with which to send in my payment, and at one point, while working there, I was told that I could now send my payment into the servicing department in our overnight work and it would be posted the next day.
The servicing department lost it! They were going to charge me a late fee until I explained what had happened. After I left Washington Mutual, the mailing address changes continued so I would just take my payment to a local branch once they could finally process them. The final straw was when my mother took a payment up to me and was informed that the payment had been increased by $40+ dollars. They had violated numerous deed restrictions, but after talking to old friends at FNMA (where I used to work and who owns the paper) and the Assistant Attorney General of Texas (who agreed that they were in the wrong) I was convenced that there was no way I could take them on. But believe me, if I had broken any of the deed restrictions, they would be calling my note!
Jean of Detroit writes (4/16/03):
PNC purchased our mortgage from Comerica in 2001. We utilized EFT payments of $550 and still maintained 6.0% interest and Bi-Saver automatic payments with no problem. Problems began in September, 2001 when Washington failed to deduct. Calls went back and forth and we were told they had entered an incorrect loan number.
9/28/01 permission was granted to 'Cyndy" at Washington to automatically deduct $550.56 from our account with no penalty as the mistake was theirs, we received another notice from Washington Mutual stating they had purchased our mortgage and requesting another signed check to continue our automatic payments, which we resubmitted. We received a threatening letter from Washington Mutual that we were 3 months in arrears.
Conferences with the Comerica bank manager discovered that the spin-off from PNC to Washington Mutual did not go smoothly and that Washington neglected to automatically deduct our payments. Then we were told that they had an incorrect loan number for us but would correct it (October 2001). This was confirmed wihen we had a 3-way conference call with Washington's Chris Long, a Cyndy Morris in accounting and a Mary in Homeowner's Assistance. Mary set-up a repayment plan. We sent a certified check for $1441 with 2 more to follow.
A call from Chris Long changed this an said we were $10,158.45 in arrearage and needed to buy ourselves out of foreclosure and bankruptcy or our home would be sold. We received several mailings on this which knocked us to our knees. We were asked to send $2000 and 8 payments of $1007 on or before the 29th of each month statring December 29th, 2002. We have mailed all of these.
Last week we received notice that they are accelerating because our March payment was late and did not arrive until April 4th and that we had to send an additional late fee of $686. This is not true and we have the Postal receipt with the tracking number on it. The check left the Post Office on March 25th for overnite delivery for which we paid. We sent complaints to the Better Business Bureau and every one we could think of. My husband will be 80 in September and is on chemo with prostate cancer.
I am 71 and have taken on extra classes where I am professor at Wayne State and Wayne County Community College. This has taken a tremendous toll on our family. We would appreciate anny assistance you can give us. We have never been in bankruptcy. Prior to Washington Mutual we maintained good credit with Comerica and everyone else. Now they have ruined our credit as it takes all our Social Security and Pension checks just to pay them and they keep adding more costs. We have several letters that we have gone back and forth with this company. We are at our wit's end and this is compounding my husband's illness.
Michelle of Versailles OH (4/10/03):
In September of 2002 We signed up for auto-draft of our checking account to pay our mortgage. Between the time of signing up and the auto-draft taking effect, we fell behind in payments. The auto-draft NEVER STARTED. In February of 2003 we brought our account current and then in March 2003, we were auto-drafted without notice of any kind. Since we were unaware of the auto-draft coming out we had written MANY checks to this account and racked up over $500 in NSF fees. I and several customer service reps at first thought that this occurred because of a computer error but was later told by a "supervisor " that our auto draft had been "suspended" due to our falling behind in payments.
I requested that the money be refunded back into our account and at first was told it would be, but 2-3 days later was informed that it would not be. Subsequently, was told that I could put in a request for the fees, which I did and as of today (4-10-03) was informed that notated on my account that "nothing wrong was done on our(Washington Mutual) part". Throughout this situation (March 19th was when I found out about the auto draft) I have been calling every other day to weekly, I don't want them to forget me but I don't want to tick them off either and I have spoken with 10-15 different people and had to explain the situation to ALL of them and no one can seem to give me a straight answer, or the answer changes depending on the day and who you talk to.
I should also add that I requested and received, in November 2002 an application for auto-draft, and in looking it over, have found nothing regarding "suspension" due to late payment. If I knew that auto-draft was in effect would I have requested another application? My main question is: Is this suspension valid, shouldn't we have been informed that the draft was indeed going to be taken out after 5 months? Or are they juat covering their b****? And is there anything else I can do about it. Also,to make matters more confusing, the mortgage was apparently taken over from Homeside Lending by Washington Mutual.
We live from check to check as it is and we were trying to do well and get our financial situation back on track. However, since our account went negative and some of the checks that we wrote were for OTHER BILLS we are now in serious trouble with the other institution. It is extremely stressful and you feel as though they just think, Oh well, we have their money and they can't very well do anything else, so tough luck.
Randy of Clovis CA (5/21/02):
I am a mortgage customer of WAMU and feel that I have been wronged very badly by them! In July 2000 we purchased a new home in Clovis, CA. The sales price was $238,000 and our payment through PNC Mortgage (later bought by Washington Mutual) was $2,078. This represented $1,666 in P & I, and $412 to Escrow/Impound. The rate was at 8.0%.
In November 2000, we received a letter from WAMU stating that they would be our new lender as they have purchased PNC Mortgage. All terms would remain the same on the loan, however our payments would be sent to WAMU starting in December. In November I received a letter from PNC and a escrow surplus refund check for $180. They also stated that I had $2,084 remaining in the impound. We continued to make the same payment amount as above until March 2001, at which time I contacted WAMU to inquire on a possibly re-financing to a lower rate.
I spoke to a Rudy M, who is a loan specialist with WAMU. In our conversation he asked me what my goal was in re-financing. I explained that I would like to lower my rate and my payment amount. He asked if I was shopping around, I said yes and told him details on the other offers that I had. He wanted to look over my loan file and call me back in a few days.
When he got back to me he said he had GREAT news...he determined that my ESCROW/ IMPOUND account was way OVER impounded, and that he can get me a surplus refund of around $3,500, and lower my rate to 6.875, all this at NO OUT OF POCKET TO ME! I said great, so where do I sign? Along came a check for $3500, and our payment was now going to be $1,566 TOTAL! This lowered monthly payment equaled a savings of close to $500 a month for our family!
Because the service that WAMU was giving us, we opened an account at a local WAMU with the refund and transferred our other accounts there. Since this money was originally paid towards our home we eventually decided to reinvest it in our home, and add backyard landscaping and other home improvements. We have made these reduced payments for over a year now. ...and I decided to call WAMU last month to see if we were eligible for any kind of surplus refund from our Escrow account as in the past.
In reading my WAMU statement, the escrow amount balance had a negative sign (-) next to it. I was thinking this meant that I had a refund coming to me but when I called WAMU, they stated that my escrow account was over $5,000 in the negative, and that WAMU will be reviewing my account next week. This is the first I have ever heard of this from them.
Well, they reviewed my escrow balance, sent me a statement outlining my new payment amount, and notified me that my payment has automatically been increased to over $2,300 starting next month! This is $200 more than my payment was when I originally had the loan at 8%! They are being "nice" enough to spread the deficit over 12 months, raising my payment $440.00 to pay this portion back, and they are going to raise my payment another $250 a month to cover the monthly negative needed for ongoing escrow disbursements.
Remember my original Escrow was $412, and after re-financing it was lowered to $163, there is the $250 increase! When I spoke to WAMU today, she stated that someone really did screw up, and tried to lie to me by saying that Rudy M was not an employee of WAMU. They stated they did not recognize the name, or Mr. M's phone number. I grabbed my cellphone and called the number and extension I had on record for Rudy M. I held it to the phone and it said, "Hi, you have reached Rudy M with Washington Mutual Home Loans..." After hearing this, the Customer Service person went and immediatley got me a Supervisor. The both of them were now on the phone and listened to me tell the whole story over again, while the original person took notes for a written statement.
They then offered to spread the deficit over 24 months, due to "their" error, I was still unhappy, so they offered to spread it over 36 months, I said NO, that is not good enough. I said that I want my payment raised to the needed monthly amount to cover my escrow needs, and I want them to eat the 12 months of deficit that they created by their mistake. I explained that this is unfair and this kind of payment increase would put a hardship on my family! She said she would have to consult with Corporate, however she highly doubted they would do that.
I recently had a legal consultation with a local Real Estate/Escrow attorney when I first heard of this mess and he stated that in actuality I probably do legally owe the money, however there is more than likely several legal issues here -- negligence, misrepresentation, and so on. He went on to say that their are probably hundreds or thousands of other consumers that this happened to.
Andrew of Garadiner NY (3/25/02):
I had PNC for 2 years and was over $5000 ahead in prinicipal payments. In Jan. 2001, Washington Mutual took over my loan. In June I recieved notice from WAMU that they considered 4 of my payments late (my loan had a grace period to the 16th). I tried to resolve the matter but got nowhere. In 2 years with PNC I never had a single late charge, I made payments between the 6th and the 10th. I averaged an extra principal payment amount of $250/mth with each loan payment.
They lost my July payment. Held my September payment for 2 months and sent my late notices. I made call after call and got nowhere. I refinanced my house with Charter One. The loan was paid off in full on Dec. 17th, 2001. The had cashed all of my payments but the lost one and were reporting me as 3 months late and sent me a foreclosure notice. I have never had ANY late payments in my life put on my credit report until WAMU came along.
Pamela of Novato CA (3/22/02):
I have been writing and calling Washington Mutual since Sept 2001. Three days prior to the close of our loan (8/31/01), we were informed by our loan agent that Washington Mutual would only process our loan if we agreed to have tax and insurance impounds. With only three three days left prior to close and another bidder agressively pursuing the same home we had no alternative to move forward with the impounds. We had already been preapproved and had been working with our loan agent for a couple of months and she had been working with washington mutual all along. Never was it disclosed to us that we would only be able to get the loan from them if we allowed impounds.
With 3 days to close, we had no other options without risking losing the home. WE have an excellent financial rating so we were at a loss at why they would spring this requirment on us. I wrote to washington mutual on sept 24, 2001 advsing them that we would handle the taxes and insurance and to close the escrow account and refund money. I did not hear from them and continued to pay the full loan amount including impounds as i did not want to default on the loan. I paid two months with loan impounds. (total 2 mos. $1082.32 plus escrow charges and tax impounds the grand total was $6069.48) I received a refund check for $4314.14 dated Oct 29, 2001 but this is short $1755.34. I have repeatedly called, written, faxed with no response. I have asked that they either refund the difference of $1755.34 or provide a written statement explaining why this amount will not be refunded. I last called on 2/11/02 and was advised I should write to the quality service mgmt department which I did on 2/11/02. To date, I still have not received a response.
Deborah of Bossier City LA (3/16/02):
Washington Mutual bought my mortgage from North Amercan Mortgage Co. They failed to pay my taxes and I got a note that my house was going up for sheriff's sale. They also took money out of my escrow account and paid someone else's taxes with it. They acknowledged the mistake but never corrected it. This was over a year ago.
I refused to pay the extra 450.00 per month that they were trying to charge me because of "escrow deficit". They continued to harrass me unmercifully, then refused my mortgage payments saying they did not accept "incomplete payments" and stated that my mortgage was now in default. They tried to foreclose and take my house, but I hired a lawyer to write a letter of warning to them.
I am a single mother with children. I put my life savings in my house. How can I be thrown out on the street when these thugs made the mistake? I have done nothing wrong!! Now I have to pay an attorney $1,500.00 retainer with money I had to scrape up because of this horrible company! How are they still in business? How can this happen in America?
Clementina of Whitestone NY (1/22/02):
Washington Mutual took over my mortgage in July of 2000. Since that time they have repeatedly paid someone else's property taxes along with my taxes. I had received several letters from the tax collector's office that I was deliquent in my property taxes and when I contacted Wash. Mutual they said they would take care of it. It continued to happen to date. But now Wash. Mutual sent me a letter stating that my escrow account had been depleted and I need to send them a check for $2,350.00 to cover my expenses for the upcoming year (2002), or increase my monthly mortgage payments by $200.00.
This is my summer home in Absecon, New Jersey. I have in my possession all the correspondence since year 2000 when Ms. Riplinger (who was helpful in that year) tried straightening it out and failed. However, I contacted Wash. Mutual about this matter on Dec. 17, 2001 and told them that I wanted to see all the monies that were refunded from the tax collectors office, to my escrow account. To date all I have gotten was: "Your taxes are not deliquent." I wrote and told them that wasn't the issue at this time. Then they wrote me: "Trust us, the monies were returned to your escrow account."
I would like to contact some government agency to look into this Washington Mutual Co. and shake them up a little, very bad way to do business, or get in touch with the media about this matter, this might draw some attention, but I have exhausted myself with this matter.
Marvin of Gig Harbor WA (1/18/02):
Washington Mutual assumed our mortgage contract on Dec 1 2001. First payment made via temporary payment coupon (Which we received on the 3rd of Dec) for the original amount we had been paying to ABN AMRO $1556.09 On the 4th of Dec. Was not recorded till the 20th of Dec. 28th of Dec received a letter informing us that we were $246.00 short on our payment. Contacted WMMO and was informed this was for $175.00 increase in our escrow and $71 late fee.
We informed them that we had not received any information pertaining to the increase. We were told that they would get that information out to us and would drop the late fee because we had not been informed. Add the $175.00 to the January payment to correct this problem for a total of $1906.20 (New payment $1731.26 +175.00) as arranged with a representative named Kathy. (sent this payment Priority Mail with delivery confirmation January 3, 2002) not recorded till the 9th.
January 16, 2002 Received new statement with a double payment due. Again contacted WMMO and was informed that we had not paid the late charge (Which was to have been removed) so Dec Payment was still in suspense. And again assured that the late charge would be dropped and the account brought current. January 18, 2002 checked account status via web to find not only have they not dropped the first late charge but have added a second late charge (for their mistake).
January 18, 2002 again called them and was informed that the late charges would be reversed. But this would happen before the end of the month. (why so long?) We have had similar problems with WMMO in the past We went back and forth with them for 6 mo.. The resolution at that time was to refinance and get a different lender.
Greg of Olney, MD, writes (4/23/01):
I am a financial consultant and am writing to inform you of what I believe to be misrepresentation and “bait and switch” on the part of Washington Mutual Bank. At a minimum, this story should serve as a warning to borrowers whenever they believe they have “locked” a loan rate. The particulars of this complaint follow.
My client is a former computer professional, a certified network engineer, with nearly twenty years work experience. In April 2000, he resigned his professional position following receipt of a substantial divorce settlement. While he has decided to not resume his computer career, he could re-enter the work force with ease. During his last year of employment, he earned over $100,000 in wages and bonuses.
Since his resignation, he has been an investor in the stock market. In the abysmal market of 2000, he successfully traded stocks for a profit of over $126,000. During 2001, he has continued to successfully trade and is projecting similar profits as in 2000. He is also receiving dividends and interest at an annualized rate of over $60,000. At present, he has a net worth in excess of $2 million, of which nearly $900,000 is in CASH. He presently owns a home valued at $350,000 with a mortgage balance of approximately $245,000. My client has one car payment totaling approximately $320 per month and no other debt service.
As his current home loan is an Adjustable Rate Mortgage, I recommended that he refinance the loan to a fixed rate 15-year mortgage. I recommended a local mortgage broker, Madison Financial Corporation, and they processed his paper work for submission to Washington Mutual Bank, a lender with whom they had a wholesale lending relationship. The loan was locked for 30 days at an interest rate of 6 1/4 percent plus 0 points on March 21, 2001.
The loan was submitted as a “full documentation” package and included my client’s 1999 and 2000 W2s, current income statements from trading, and bank/brokerage statements to reflect interest and dividends that had been earned. It should be noted that a “low documentation” option where income is NOT verified but assets ARE verified was available for an extra 1/2 point paid at closing. This option requires the borrower to produce liquid asset verification equal to six months of the stated income required to qualify for the loan. The stated income requirement to qualify for my client’s loan would have been approximately $80,000 per year. Since his liquid assets represented approximately 25 plus YEARS of stated income, FIFTY times the amount of assets required, it was deemed unnecessary to use the “low documentation” loan program.
The loan was submitted on April 4, 2001 and was approved through on-line underwriting known as DU. Following loan approval, a preliminary appraisal was performed. At the end of an additional period of manual underwriting, his 2000 Federal income tax return and the most recent account statements were requested and provided. Subsequently, his 1999 tax return was also requested.
Knowing that rates had risen sharply, I started to become suspicious at these continual requests for additional information. On Friday April 13, one business day prior to scheduled settlement on April 16, 2001, the underwriter informed broker Madison Financial that Washington Mutual could not approve the loan under “full documentation” guidelines. The broker then requested that the loan be done as a “low documentation” loan since the assets were far and above the requirements for such a loan. Washington Mutual stated that this was not possible since the ORIGINAL application had been received as a “full documentation” loan and consequently an underwriter could not review a “low documentation” package when they had already seen income information.
This was an utterly lame excuse for refusing a “low documentation” submittal because nothing in the documentation that had been previously provided was contradictory to the stated income information that would be included in a “low documentation” loan package. Washington Mutual then attempted to convince the broker to submit the loan under a higher rate portfolio program. My client’s current loan is a portfolio program and Washington Mutual is his current lender! This was hardly a viable or suitable option for him.
It is my contention that Washington Mutual chose to not approve this loan because, in the weeks following the lock at the 6 1/4 percent rate, mortgage rates moved up and they no longer wanted to deliver such an attractive loan. Here are some compelling points to consider:
- Washington Mutual contends that my client’s interest and dividend history did not cover a two-year period. This is not a valid criterion since he only received the divorce settlement a little over a year ago. This is not a business venture for which a two-year history is necessary. He has $900,000 in cash alone. Why must that cash be examined for a two-year period? They also failed to credit him with any of the $130,000 in trading profits that he earned in 2000. The irony here is that any shortfall in qualifying income can be imputed through an entry-level computer data entry position if he so desired.
- My client has a stellar credit history with a FICO score well over 720. He has generated no new debt since resigning his job, and all accounts are current. Common sense would dictate that he must have been earning sufficient income to meet his obligations.
- He is currently carrying a 30-year loan payment at 8+ percent with the same Washington Mutual Bank! Yet, they find him to be a risk for a 6 1/4 percent loan? This conflict of interest, no pun intended, makes their concerns for payment risk absurd.
- Even if one concedes the rejection under “full documentation” guidelines, there is no valid reason to refuse a “low documentation” program option simply because income information had been previously included. Underwriters often recommend that loan submissions be switched from “full” to “low” documentation when the underwriter believes the borrower may not qualify otherwise. I know this because I have had Washington Mutual underwriters recommend that in the past. Moreover, there is absolute consistency between the “stated income” and the actual income. In fact, the ACTUAL verified income is HIGHER!
As I believe there is nothing in my client’s financial profile to warrant concern regarding his ability to pay, I can only believe that Washington Mutual was looking for any excuse to deny him a loan because they did not wish to deliver such an attractive program. Washington Mutual’s rejection is ludicrous since he:
- has over $100,000 in equity in his home;
- has over $2 million in other assets, equivalent to nearly 1,000 mortgage payments;
- is currently making payments on a higher rate mortgage with Washington Mutual; and
- was offered a higher rate portfolio program by Washington Mutual.
It is the final item that goes to the issue of the “bait and switch” aspect of this complaint. Offering the borrower a portfolio program similar to the one he already has with Washington Mutual is tantamount to “churning”. I believe this to be a blatant case of deception to lull my client into the security of a promised low rate loan and to then deny him the loan when Washington Mutual’s offer appeared to be too attractive for the current interest rate climate.
I believe that, but for the fact that the offered rate was well below market conditions at the scheduled time of settlement, this loan application would have easily been approved. I know this because other clients whose financial strength was weaker have had comparable loans approved in the past with Washington Mutual Bank. While the egregious actions of Washington Mutual Bank have severely affected my professional credibility with this client, I seek no financial reward from this complaint. I only wish to see this type of predatory lending practice cease.
Debra of Portland OR writes (10/1/01):
Problems with refinancing our home:
- Misquoted interest rates.
- Incorrect credit information.
- Repeatedly changing the closings date due, to there own errors.
- Ignoring/refusing to return phone calls, e-mails.
- Not updating loan information.
- Changing the the Good Faith Estimate repeatedly.
- Charging for fees or services that were not provided.
- Contract written without costs for interest rate.
The refinace was to pay for an addition to our home. We were told by Beverly on August 23, 2001. that it would take a couple of days to revise the paperwork, and get it express mailed to us, and then we would have the 72 hour waiting period. We left no less than 10 phone messages and e-mails with all involed parties between August 30, 2001 and September 6, 2001.
On September 7, 2001 we were told that our loan took a backseat to new home loans because it was the eand of the month. And that it should be in our hands for signing by September 14, 2001. Because of these statements we began construction on September 5, 2001, and used our cash advance option on our credit cards. We had a payment schedule with the contractor, and by Washington Mutual's repeated statements believed that we would only have to use our credit cards for one payment.
We have had to use our credit cards with a maximum intrest rate of 21.99% to pay for the entire amount -- $18,900. And as of today October 1, 2001, we still have not received the loan papers for signing. With costs for the cash advances and addional intrest we estimate this has costs us over $400.00.
We also believe that Washington Mutual misrepresented their fees and service charges for things that were either not done or had to be redone due to there mistakes. We estimate that it over- or mis-charged us over $2,000.00 for these errors.
I have tried to explain to each person at Washington Mutual that we are acquiring this addition to our home because we just had twin girls and need more space. I don't think you can estimate the stress they have put on our lives the last couple of months. We would like them to acknowledge their mistakes and pay back what they have charged in error.
Wendy of Tinton Falls, NJ (9/10/01):
I submitted an application to refinance my mortgage. I paid a $300.00 application fee. I was told that the mortgage had been approved and that we would close in about a week from that time. About 2 weeks later, Ivy called me and said that I could not get my mortgage refinanced because my property is a Mt. Laurel property and I did not have enough equity in it.
She told me that my $300.00 application fee would not be refunded, but could not give me a specific reason why. I have since called her, but she has never returned my calls.
I am a widow with a young child to support, which of course, Ivy is well aware of. I am very upset about this whole situation. I trusted that, as my home loan consultant, Ivy would have my best interest at heart. She wasted 3-4 weeks of my time and kept $300.00 of mine.
Susan of Conway PA (9/5/01):
I have had my mortgage with PNC since the mid 1990's with not a problem. In Sept 1997 I enrolled and paid a one-time fee of $379.00 in a Bi-Saver Program offered to me thru PNC. When my mortgage was sold to Washington Mutual in late spring 2001 the automatic withdraw of 1/2 the monthly morgage payment was denied in early June. I still do not understand why it was showing as NSF since the funds were deposited into the proper acct.
When I found that this way denied, I called Washington Mutual feeling that an error had been made and possibly they had tried to withdraw the full month's payment instead. At this time I was put on hold for 2 hours and 17 min. (late June). They to this date are unable to answer my questions, claiming most of the time that they do not have access to the PNC accounts at this time.
I offered to make payment to them at this time and payments were made. I was told that when the loan became current I would be put on the BiSaver Program but until then I would have to make payments by mail. I continued to do this and still do while trying to get back on the program. I made numerous calls with no help and was given numbers to call all over the country and nobody seems to know what is going on.
Finally in July, I spoke to Washington Mutual and they said they would send me a form to get back on Bi-Saver. I received the form in mail but when i went to complete the form I realized there was no area to check for bi-saver program. Once again I am referred all over the country and put on hold numerous times, transfered and still all staff memebers are clueless. All the while I am getting notice for foreclosure and to call 1-877-850-8100 for assisatance on payments.
I call and this numberand it is not one of Washington Mutual numbers but of a private individual who is getting numerous calls! The number has since been disconnected and I don't blame this gentleman one bit!
When I finally do talk to a representative they tell me to call Bi-Savers and give me the number. I call Bi-Savers and yes at Bi-Savers they do have an idea what is going on. It was explained to me that when Washington mutual took over PNC mortages WA Mutual was not a customer of Bi-Saver but used a competitor, Alltel, instead and I would need to call Alltel. I did and once again explained the situation. I was transferred to a supervisor, Dennis. I left a message on his voice mail and several days later he decided to respond to me via my voice mail and gave me a number to call. He sent me back to Bi-Savers.
I have called him back 3 times in the course of a week and he will not return my calls. His direct dial number is listed above. I feel that Washington Mutual has first cheated me out of my one time registration fee for this type of program and I also feel that they do not want me on such a program since the projected savings on my mortgage is $29.847.12 and reduces my mortgage time by 6.5 years.
Chris of Morro Bay CA (7/25/01):
Original home loan with them May 17, 2000. Refinanced with another bank July 5, 2001. Payoff was wired to Wash Mutual at 1:25PM July 6, 2001. We have written proof. Wash Mutual applied payoff on July 12, 2001, thereby collected a few extra hundred dollars in interest. They also deducted an extra payment ($83) from escrow for PMI on July 13, 2001.
In addition we had set up a autodraft payment on the 10th of each month so they just withdraw the monthly mortgage payment of $1707 on the 10th. Since they didn't credit the payoff until the 12th, they also withdrew a $1707 payment on the 10th. We have called and have gotten nowhere. They say they will research and get back to us. We had a prior problem when they made an error on an insurance payment and it took 2 and a half months to get back $300 after many frustrating calls and we finally found their error.
My wife and I are out approx $2300+ and have spent a few hours of phone time and severe emotional distress feeling absolutely helpless. I don't know the law regarding their responsibilty to give us our money back and they have a system that keeps anyone from talking to those who make decisions.
Rebecca of San Diego (7/7/01):
Washington Mutual is my former mortgage lender. They somehow managed to "lose" the payoff funds that were wired to them when the loan was refinanced. Because the payoff was not "found" and recorded until 7/05/01, Washington Mutual began sending me delinquent account notices and claiming that my mortgage was in default.
Although they did eventually find the money and zero out the loan balance, they are still holding my impound account funds (as of 7/7/01), and they missed the July 5th deadline for contacting FHA to start the MIP refund process (this was an FHA loan). It is my understanding that federal law requires the former lender to refund any funds in the impound account and contact FHA/HUD within 30 days after the loan has been bought by another lender. Escrow closed on 6/6/01, meaning that the deadline was 7/05/01.
A WAMU representative (Pam) called me on on 7/6 and left a message on my answering machine. She said that my escrow refund and letter of apology will be sent by overnight delivery, but I'm not holding my breath. Washington Mutual most likely violated a number of federal and state laws (they are based in CA) with their actions.
To wit:
- They classified my loan as delinquent. This apparently violates RESPA regulations.
- They failed to contact the FHA about the MIP refund within 15-30 days after the close of escrow.
- They failed to refund the impound account funds within 30 days after escrow closed. They also have not sent me a statement indicating what the impound account balance was as of 6/06/01.
The economic damage is that I still do not have my impound account refund (I think it is about $1200, but I'm not sure because they haven't sent me a closing statement!). Washington Mutual's blunder also means that my FHA MIP refund (about $2400) will be delayed by an additional 2-4 weeks (the timeframe in which WAMU was supposed to have contacted the FHA). This represents money that I *could* be using, but can't because these incompetent jerks "lost" my payoff funds. I also wasted considerable time (about full 2 working days) trying to sort this mess out. Based on the wage I get when I teach as an independent contractor (about $70/hour), that works out to about $1120.
Steve of Alameda CA (20/23/00):
I am a Realtor. Based on Larry of Washington Mutual's promise that my pre-approved client's loan could be processed in 7 days, I scheduled a close of escrow in 21 days, allowing 2 weeks for delays. Two weeks later I called Washington Mutual for a progress report. I was assured that my client had provided all the necessary items, that everything was on schedule, and that the loan would definitely be funded on time.
When the necessary loan documents were not received in a timely manner, I called again and was told by Sam that Larry was out sick and that a multitude of necessary steps had not been completed, including things which would need to have been done prior to their previous assurances, i.e. appraisal of the property, underwriter's review, etc.
At this point I began expediting the processing of the loan and through Washington Mutual's departmental buckpassing, I talked to a half dozen different people, each of whom in turn had a new and diffferent reason why they couldn't get the job done, except for Sam, the department head, who promised it would be no more that two days late. It was ultimately a week late.
My client's daughter in law, who was to move into the property, was left with no time to make the place habitable, which it desperately needed. The seller of the property, who needed the proceeds of the sale to buy her new home was delayed as well. There are no specified monetary damages, but the seller could have nullified the contract based on Washington Mutual's failure to fund on time.
Terri of Fullerton CA (7/31/00):
I've been going through a divorce. From Sept 22, 1999 until March of 2000 I made six inquieries regarding the removal of my name from the home loan my ex-husband and I had through Washington Mutual. The loan department informed me on those occasions that my only required action was to send in a copy of the quit claim deed (the document in which I signed over the property to my ex-husband) in order to have my name removed from the loan.
I did so, not once but three times, two by fax and one by mail since they repeatedly told me it was not received. When I made subsequent calls I was told that the action had been completed and my name was no longer on the loan.
In late March, while I was in the midst of seeking to purchase a home for myself, a credit check revealed that my name had not been removed as I had been told by Washington Mutual's loan department, and that instead I had to order an assumption package which cost $25.00. The removal of my name from the home loan and deed is essential because I could be held accountable if my ex-husband defaults on the loan payments or fails to pay property tax. Also it makes it difficult for any financial institution to consider me for a new home loan when my credit report still shows my responsibility for this loan.
Imagine my panic when Washington Mutual's loan department now informs me that they have no copy of the deed I sent three times! Since I had mailed them my original, I had no choice but to reconstruct the document (notary stamp and all) to file at the county registrar's office. Upon receiving the assumption package in the mail I discovered that the fees for the removal of my name and their review of my ex-husband assuming the loan by himself would total over $1175.00! (Sub-escrow $275; Assumption fee $600 and Non refundable processing fee $300)
For two people who have just gone through a divorce and have no cash to spare this was financially impossible. In my investigation I discovered the assumption fee of 1% of the loan was pure profit for the bank! In addition I was told there would be other fees such as one for approximately $200 to file my already completed quitclaim deed. The actual cost is a mere $6 to file at the county registrar's office!
Of course I did as most consumers would do, I called the assumption department of the bank, and spoke to supervisors and managers to see if this could be streamlined and the fees eliminated or significantly reduced since they had repeatedly and grossly misinformed me of the proper procedure and cost and now time was of the essence.
Washington Mutual has already made their money on this couple many times over during our 1998 re-fi and in interest over the term of our loan! The lack of interest in maintaining goodwill with the customer was one glaring factor in all of these conversations. Not one of the supervisors would take any concrete action to assist me. (One said "perhaps" they might reduce the 1% fee to 1/2%, but she was not willing to put forth the effort to pursue this avenue for me.) Some of the loan personnel would not even reveal the name of their supervisors! No one could or would tell me the name of the vice-president of the bank!
I do not think it is ethical for any financial institution to put a pricetag on my financial freedom and profit from my misery. Finally, after months of battling the assumption issue, I found one supervisor willing to help and she got Washington Mutual to reduce the fees to $300. We were able to move complete the assumption, remove my name from the home and I finally in July was able to purchase my new home (but the new loan was NOT through Washington Mutual!)
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