HSBC Mortgage Reviews

Escrow Disaster – Their Mistakes, My Problem. When I took out my mortgage, they insisted that I escrow both my property taxes and insurance. Fine. But guess what? They can’t even do that properly. Instead of making payments on time, they randomly pay late, and sometimes they don’t even pay the full amount listed on the bill. Who had to fix it? Me. That’s right—I had to personally contact the city and spend hours resolving an issue that HSBC should have handled in the first place. And customer service? Don’t even get me started. Every single time I reach out, I get the same copy-paste response: “Please email custserve@yourmortgageonline.com”. So I email them. Two to three weeks later, I might get a reply. Sometimes? No reply at all. And when I call them? “Oh, we didn’t see your email, but we’ll escalate it now.” Seriously? Do you even check your inbox? Or do you just enjoy wasting people’s time?

They Changed My Escrow Without Telling Me. Oh, but it gets better. When I first got my mortgage, HSBC required me to escrow my condo insurance. Then, a full year later, they suddenly changed their mind and decided that my unit insurance should be escrowed instead. Did they bother informing me? No. Instead, they just went ahead and changed my escrow setup without a single email, letter, or notification. And what does that mean for me? Oh, just a little thing called DOUBLE PAYMENT. Because before I even knew they switched things, they sent me a mail telling me to pay my unit insurance myself. So I did—only to later find out they had escrowed it. Meaning I paid twice. And their brilliant solution? “Just call your insurance company and ask for a refund.” Excuse me? How about you do your job properly the first time so I don’t have to clean up your mess?

Customer Service is Beyond Useless. Let me be crystal clear: HSBC customer service is absolutely useless. Their entire strategy is just bouncing you from one rep to another until you give up out of exhaustion. No one takes responsibility for anything, and no one seems to have the authority to actually fix anything. Calling them is like talking to a bunch of toddlers who don’t know how to read. I’ve had to explain the same issue to multiple people over multiple calls, only to be met with “Let me transfer you to another department” over and over again. How is a bank this dysfunctional? How do you operate like this? Do you even train your employees, or do you just throw them into customer service with a script and tell them to stall people as much as possible?

I Am Done – The Second Interest Rates Drop, I Am Out. The moment interest rates go down, I am refinancing immediately and cutting HSBC out of my life forever. I would rather deal with literally any other bank than continue suffering through this mess. HSBC is disorganized, incompetent, and borderline fraudulent in the way they handle escrows, payments, and customer service. If you value your time, money, and sanity, stay far, far away from HSBC. This bank is a walking disaster, and I wouldn’t trust them to manage a piggy bank, let alone a mortgage.

Over the course of 2 months in an attempt to get PRE-APPROVAL I was constantly told it was almost done and just to wait one more week or one more day. At the end of the day my loan was denied because THEY didn’t get in touch with building management and didn’t have information they needed for a lawsuit against the building that was disclosed from the beginning. I’ve started over with Citizens Bank and they’ve been more helpful in the few days I’ve been working with them than HSBC was the entire time I worked with them. I almost lost my apartment as a result of their incompetence. Never never again. Cannot discourage you enough from using HSBC Mortgage.

Coming to the end of our first rate-lock extension, we had to hound them to send us contracts for our review. Their attorneys called them three times, and the next communication from HSBC was a request for us to send them duplicate documents (the ones they got from us two months ago were supposedly out of date) along with a request for a letter attesting that no, we did not in fact own an apartment that we had rented more than a decade ago. Soon, perhaps, we will get closing documents to review, but the rate lock extension lapses in twelve days. This organization does not function well, and I am starting to worry that their loan servicing will be as disorganized as their underwriting process. Will they record our payments, or will I come how one day to a surprise foreclosure? I am thinking of walking away from this deal.

Despite being a premier international customer the service has been absolutely awful. It took over 3 months to close. I received conflicting emails from HSBC to the extent their advisor told me to ignore system generated emails received from HSBC. The mortgage team were switching between various email addresses and text messages meaning it was impossible to control back up of what had been said when and by whom. Every request would suddenly be a last minute emergency which had to be resolved immediately.

I started checking in with them in advance if we were all set for the next step, and whether anything was required, so we could prepare, particularly as I was dealing with overseas assets and time zones. Repeatedly I was told nothing was required and then we would get another Friday afternoon emergency where critical documentation was suddenly required immediately from overseas when the European banks had already closed. Requests for paperwork were contradictory. Some requests made no sense. My requests for clarification on what they were asking for would just result in them continuing to repeat the same request with no explanation. I realized they often didn't know what they were asking for either, requiring me to do my own research to figure it out.

We had to extend closing twice as HSBC would suddenly realize another document was required, or an already submitted and approved document was no longer what they needed. The fees just kept racking up and I stil don't understand how I incurred such high fees in refinancing when I believed we had initially discussed a much lower figure, but between the various erratic forms of communication I have no proof and I just wanted to get the whole experience over with.

When I asked for clarification of the very vague final statement of costs the agent was unable to fully explain what the various sums were for. During the time it took to refinance an existing mortgage with HSBC I viewed another property, purchased it, and rented it out (not through HSBC) while HSBC were still trying to refinance this property. I highly recommend anyone to steer clear of this bank for mortgage purposes, it was an absolute nightmare and highly stressful. I should have gone with the other bank. Save yourself the stress and go elsewhere.

Poorly communicated the status of missing documents, which were almost always positioned as last-minute emergencies instead of simple requests. Their online submission process is so inefficient and impossible to track. Constantly sent spam e-mails and texts that have nothing to do with the status of our loan, many of which actually confuse loan process. They processed the $500 appraisal fee without approving the property HOA. Every document sent had to be revised 3 times over and apparently internal communication is a joke. There is no point person that can guide you through the process as Greg in the end proved to be a completely inept and incompetent. I'd read terrible reviews before using them, but I gave them the benefit of the doubt since I used HSBC many years back but apparently things have fallen apart there. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME WITH HSBC and Gregory **.

Normally I assume you get complaints ‘after the fact’ so in actual fact little if anything can be done, however my issue is current. I have applied for a mortgage Ref No. ** and initially told two weeks for a decision but I had to produce some more documentation as the upload payslips we not 100%. I did so immediately. 2 weeks became 4 weeks. After some chasing up I was emailed back to say the underwriter found another property in my name. I immediately sent the sale completion statement as evidence that the property in question was sold in June.

Now coming into week 6 and poor communication, update, lack of acknowledgement of receipt of documents sent. I have tried is a series of emails to explain the vendor and estate agents may pull out because I keep promising ‘next week’. Too much to explain all here, you’d have to look into my case but if I would of known about this service I would have gone elsewhere. If after 6 weeks I get refused, I would be furious as I’d probably lose the property and have to start from scratch. As I said at the beginning, this is not after the fact. It’s happening now and could actually be resolved with some expedience. To be honest, I’m not holding out but the customer care has been so poor for such a big corporation. I’ve since google many similar reviews warning people away from HSBC mortgages. Anyway. If nothing else thanks for reading thus far.

The mortgage application took 6 months to process due to the lack of correspondence and due diligence from HSBC. My wife and I were anticipating closing in September, but due to multiple delays from HSBC we did not close till December. My wife and I are dealing with extra expenses due to the lost time in acquiring the new residence. These extra expense are causing us financial hardship that we did not anticipate. The lack of professionalism is unacceptable. My wife and I lost 6 months of our time and efforts. If I had the opportunity to start over I would stay clear of HSBC. Both Consumer Affairs and the Better Business Bureau rate HSBC mortgage at one star which is too high. I have tried multiple times to file complaints against the mortgage agent and the loan officer but they seem to fall on deaf ears. This is absolutely unacceptable from a bank that claims to be "world class".

3. The background noise when you're calling is extreme LOUD to a level your ear can't bear. And you never understand what the agent is talking about with that Indian tone. 4. Their online login the extremely complicated and frustrated. 5. Their online banking page looks like 90s but not like something in 2019. 6. Basically, everything in this bank is performed differently with the major banks in the States. So you won't get used to what you're expecting normally. 7. Very few branches with all Chinese only bankers and clients.

They throw a bunch of conditions at you online and you don't know what to do with them. And all the loan processors keep going to vacations and out of office one week at a time and the backups don't care to answer our questions. All in all after spending more than 45 days in painstaking answering all the stupid questions and conditions which are illogical, they still come back and say we decline your loan. I showed them seasoned hard cash sitting in my bank telling that I really don't need your loan. I can purchase cash out if I want. However I don't want to block my capital. So imagine, for a person of 800 credit score, more than 400K annual income with stable job of 15 years, showing a million dollars in the bank in cash, still they could not approve the loan. What are they going to do for medium income home buyers?

Sometimes I feel this whole loan processing buildup they are giving is something else to cover up the black activities that they are doing behind. I think they don't have an intention of giving loans at all. And therefore if they torture people, they will not back to HSBC. At the same time they can carry on their other activities behind the back. Bloody suckers. Please save your time and go to another lender. We sent all our experience and all these reviews to the VP of Mortgage copying all the other authorities. They reply back saying their decision is the same without giving any reasons. Again don't fall prey to their interest rates. It is a SCAM!!!

Their underwriters miscalculated the debt to income ratio by counting the property taxes and home insurance twice. Once I found out and corrected their mistake, they basically started the process all over again by putting us at the end of the line. Totally unfair. Believe me, you will go in for the low rates but you will suffer with these guys. I believe what they do should be illegal. Believe or not, this is for someone who has stellar financing record (ex. fico score of 811), 20% down payment, great job, and a solid 401k. I wonder what they do to with people who have marginal records or poor records. Please heed the warning and avoid HSBC. Check out their reviews. They had 288 reviews with 1/5 rating. How terrible is that?

HSBC applied the following maths. Mortgage 1 - mortgage 2 = £97,000 short of what we needed. I voiced concern this was wrong and this was ignored for 10 weeks straight, despite repeated e-mails and phone calls. 2 days before exchange our lawyers got involved and pointed this out. HSBC finally accepted the mistake as one of the advisors having made a cock-up. I expressed dismay that the mistake wasn't picked up by underwriting and the fact there's a single point of failure that can go all the way through to exchange.

I wrote a letter asking HSBC to alter their procedures so no single mistake could go through to exchange without a second check to detect it, a relatively easy process to employ. HSBC refused stating it was 'too difficult' to implement this. From someone that works in a safety related industry where procedures change the whole time I know this not to be true. HSBC then suggested it was the lawyers that were to blame, ironic when it was the lawyers that THEY INSISTED I use. That cost me £1004 in cancelled legal fees from the original lawyers I instructed. Again HSBC denied any wrongdoing as it's in their terms and conditions. I might also remind them 'learning from mistakes and putting things right is also in the T&Cs but they failed to do that by refusing to change very poor procedures. HSBC then went on to suggest I was the second line of defence on mistakes and I should have picked up the mistake.

I pointed out I was not a financial adviser but I had highlighted a mistake and I had been ignored. Ironically then HSBC seemed to ignore me when I further pushed this point. I would summarise they actively encourage weak procedures so they can use plausible deniability. In the end I was offered £250 and the ombudsman agreed this was fair because the legal issue and the procedures issue they do not look into as it's not their area of responsibility. I contacted the FCA who seemed largely disinterested but 'added it to their statistics'.

Now I know how the 2008 financial crash occurred. In my industry this standard would not be accepted. Taking my mortgage and bank elsewhere at the end of my fixed mortgage term. That will cost HSBC a lot more than £1004 I can assure them. In summary a totally incompetent and mismanaged process, and very unlikely to be a one off given the weak procedures to prevent such things happening.

They gave me the runaround. Every time I called, no one had the correct info and the file was all over the place, missed documents etc. I finally went to the MASS Atty General's Office and took the affordable homes course and they drafted a letter to HSBC. After HSBC received that certified letter, the next week my mortgage was sold to Caliber Loans for $293,000! And the process began again. They sold it to SPServicing within 2 months, who gave me a temporary 5 year and I am now selling this house.

THANKS to the CRIMINALS AT HSBC The loan I took out NINE YEARS AGO has an inflated balance of $292,200.00!!! AND I'VE MADE 9 YEARS OF MONTHLY PAYMENTS! HOW CAN THIS BE LEGAL?!! They took advantage of me at a hard time in my life and they should not be allowed to do this to consumers. I missed the chance to join the class action lawsuit against them and that's the second punch in the gut when it comes to this awful company.

Our existing mortgage did not include escrow for Homeowner's Insurance or Property taxes, so we were spending approximately $1650/month. Then medical issues happened, and we had no choice but to use credit. Then we got to the point where we were surviving, but not much better. We tried to refinance, they said no. We tried refinancing through another lender, but were unable to because HSBC refused to subordinate the 2nd loan. We continued to try to refinance. Then I read an article in a business magazine that said that because so much mortgage business is handled electronically, that it would be a good idea to ask your mortgage holder to prove that they held the mortgage, under some specific US Code.

I attempted 6 times to get them to provide me copies of our mortgage paperwork. They either sent a letter saying they "could not be located, at this time" or just didn't respond. As of last week, we still owed them $360K over 20 years, for the remainder of the mortgage, that originated at about $168K. This past weekend, we successfully completed our mortgage refinance through another lender, that is US Based, and we won't pay the new lender $300k over 30 years, It actually looks like refinancing at the rate we got (Low 4's) we will save almost $94,000. HSBC was uncooperative in every aspect, and during every conversation/phone call/letter. Take my advice, do not ever finance with HSBC, or any other bank that is headquartered outside of the United States for that matter.

I had the association's insurance agent call HSBC to find out what was necessary to cancel the flood insurance so I could move onto my refinance. She was told that I had to have a separate policy for the outside of the building...the association is responsible for that, not the unit owner. When I made multiple inquiries as to why my payments increased more than the monthly payment all I was told was flood insurance. Payments for the flood insurance were to begin August 2016, and they backdated the payments to April 2016. This company is the WORST I have ever dealt with. If your mortgage has been sold to this company refinance right away. They have done nothing for me and has stonewalled my refinance in every possible way.

When I requested a record of accounts/account history I was told no late payments were attached to my account, which is not true. I've paid late fees. The assistor told me I had to pay for the information. I told him that the three people I spoke to before him didn't say anything about paying for info. I have been paying the same $84K for several years and I want to know why. I reached out to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Consumer Protection Fraud. HSBC's reply did not address the issue, just the same old crap advising me of the flood insurance.

Bottom line, they would not cancel the insurance policy and when I made August and September inflated mortgage payments to move on, they canceled the policy, but not until I paid them $2200 dollars. I believe there are questionable financial issues. If you continue to have problems with this company I strongly suggest you reach out to these agencies, they do contact the company with the complaint immediately.

Our credit is garage now and I'M not giving up much home and why did our interest rate 8.9%, we'll never get it paid off. I want help and I want an attorney to help me. Sure hsbc signs Hillary Clinton - if any one thinks they can take get on fur my household and hundreds of others do anyone wanting to sure - Please help me start a proton Petition to sue. Alone we can't but Together we can and I am asking the Government, "Please help me get my modification. STOP saying YOUR HANDS ARE tied." MY cardiologists EVEN said it was a stress HEART ATTACK and now I am IN HEART Failure. PLEASE help me. I have paid on it for so LONG. It SHOULD BE paid IN full. Please - I pray you are going to do what is right for the PEOPLE and I still say Trey for president.

Well we started on 5/11/16 and we still can't get what we need. It's 7/14/16 now and they said maybe the payment history will get to me by 8/8/16 and I can't get one online because the HSBC area I live in doesn't allow you to print it online. The whole reason I need it was because HSBC doesn't report their customers to the credit reporting company. They don't have to I was told. They are charging me an interest rate of 11.75% and they don't want to give it up. They are doing everything they can to make this not happen for us. Please if you can avoid this company do so. They are the biggest crooks there are. Once they have you they will never let go. They do not even rate a one star but I have to put it in to do this.

We will probably lose our house because this company does not want to help their customer. It's a shame that they do not care what happens to you when you need help. If you are considering financing anything with HSBC, I would go somewhere else. This company need to close its door and not be in this type of business that results in good people having go through the extreme and perhaps end up being homeless.

One of the last straws came when during a call we were told we were approved. Got our hopes up even though I felt something wasn't right. After setting up a couple pre-approved payments to come out of our account, I asked about a HELOC we had open with them still and after checking and discovering there wasn't one (but there was) the lady apologized and said she was sorry but had mixed us up with another person with same name living in same state and that our loan was still in a denied state. TOTALLY unacceptable in my books. If I had felt like giving up before, this only fueled my fire to start fighting harder.

We found a company who promised they could get us a modification and they began the fight with HSBC for us and approximately 4-5 months later, our modification was approved and the loan was moved to another servicing company, which will remain our new mortgage company. The loan will not go back to HSBC. All I can suggest to those out there fighting this company: DO NOT GIVE UP THE FIGHT. Be persistent, call back many times, keep notes who you talked to, when, day, time, employee number. Make notes of what you fax, when and where. DO NOT GIVE UP even though you feel to. We started this battle with the company in November 2013 and it ended August 2015. Over 2 years to get to where we are today.