Washington Mutual Home Equity Loans

They changed the terms of my home equity line of credit from a fixed rate to a variable rate without my consent. I was then paying interest only. When I tried repeatedly in person to have this resolved, I was repeatedly given the runaround and my account was being frozen constantly. In addition, I have reason to believe that the appraisal itself had been inflated to $217,000. The most recent appraisal from the mortgage holder was $115,000. On December 11, 2009, I filed a Quit Claim Deed. I have also filed and been granted Chapter 7 bankruptcy. This is due to my dealings with CitiMortgage, which is another horror story. There is extreme emotional duress, I believe, that contributed to my having to undergo a major operation.

Washington Mutual gave us a home equity loan of $150,000 in 2007 based on false value of our home. Now we are upside down on our loan and cannot sell our home. They estimated a false income for my home business. If my home equity loan did not exist, I could sell my home and not go into foreclosure.

I had a home equity line of credit that was a fixed rate. Without my consent, they changed it to a variable rate. I have since filed a Quit Claim on the property to CitiMortgage with whom I had a short sale agreement. I have copies of all the letters that I had written to both banks. In addition, I had written to the office of the Attorney General of the State of CT. I received assistance form CT Fair Housing after I had written to the Dean Of the University of CT Law School. I have submitted a petition for Chapter 7 bankruptcy to the US Federal Court in New Haven, CT. I have also asked for assistance form Yale University Law School. I have written to the local ABC news station asking for assistance. I feel that WAMU may have engaged in predatory lending. They inflated the appraisal of the property. They refused to return the line of credit to a fixed rate. I have a great deal of documentation that I would like to share.

Several years ago we opened a Home Equity Line of Credit as a "back up" in case we needed it..rates were low so we took advantage. We have NEVER been late on a payment and always pay more to try to pay down as much as we can. Our credit is EXCELLENT 780 plus! Like so many I have read..they too asked for pay stubs or letter stating that we are business owners (which we are) and a signed IRS form to check up on our income.

After provinding them with the requested documents they froze our credit line. no longer able to access it only to continue making payments until paid in full. This BETTER not hurt our credit!

Theyre reasoning was that there was a change in our income! Absolutely not true! what do we do now. I do not feel they should be able to get away with this. if this was an isolated case. I wouldnt think too much of it but as I read on and on and on they are doing this to ALOT of us and we should be able to do something about it.

I had a home equity loan with Bank United, who was then purchased by WAMU. The loan was paid in full in September of 2001 and a release of lein has never been filed. Since then Chase has bought WAMU but since the deal is not final they will not help me either. I have requested that WAMU release the lein several times, and no reply or response.

I am trying to get a home equity loan, but with this still on the home as being unreleased, although it shows as paid on credit report it can not go through. This has been a nightmare.

I've been a Washington Mutual customer for over 30 years and have excellent credit. Early in 2006, I opened my third HELOC with WaMu, having paid off the previous two in full, and never missed a payment on any of them, ever. At the time I opened the latest HELOC, I opted for a no doc loan and pay a margin premium for the life of the loan for this feature. Recently, Chase, which acquired Wa Mu after it failed last year, demanded I supply pay stubs and fill out a release for the IRS to supply it with tax returns. I contacted the bank and pointed out the loan documents did not allow them to change the terms of the agreement except by mutual consent and that the only documentation they could require of me were those of the same type provided at the time the loan was made.

Chase refused to honor the terms of the agreement and told me the loan would be placed in default if I did not comply with their demands. It's fairly obvious what the agenda is behind these tactics. Chase expects to be unjustly enriched by being able to market pools of these types of loans under more favorable underwriting standards, and at a higher rate of interest than that charged to customers who opened full doc loans at the time.

Chase has since notified me they have placed the account in default and that I will no longer have access to the line of credit. This potentially hurts my credit score and access to credit from other sources, and I'm paying a premium interest rate for a feature of the loan I'm not receiving.

I have a line of credit with WAMU. I have had it for three years. After the first year they sent me a letter stating I did not have adequate flood insurance. I increased it to their requirement. My line of credit is for $234,000. My insurance is for $112,000. After three years they now are saying I need to increase my policy $76,402.00 This would make my policy at $186,000. Now this coverage is for the dwelling not the interior. The home is 1400 sq. ft. Cost to replace the block which is the only thing covered under this policy is less that $186,000. My home owners covers the interior. I am told by my insurance agent cost to replace the Whole house would be $169,000. Replacing the block should not cost more than $100,000??? This would be double insurance for my home which is NOT NECESSARY. What can I do to stop this robbery being required by WAMU?

Flood insurance is very expensive for just covering the exterior. Resonable coverages for exterior replacement needs to be mandated to the mortgages. They are just going by what is owed and requiring that amount and not by what the actual cost would be to replace the exterior.

I aquired a HOME EQUITY LOAN with Washington Mutual about 5 years ago, the loan was At Prime Rate The problem is that when the Prime Rate went up, the Payment went up immediatley day by day, but when the Prime rate goes down, WAMU does not adjust it, sometimes it takes months and only adjust it when you complain. I am amazed that a sharp Lawyer does not look into this practice and form a class action lawsuit. this is a Multi Million dollar FRAUD!

I end up paying More! and theres no way to determine exactly how much more.

WAMU took $21,000.00 from my Home Equity Loan. I filed an Affidavit within the bank in November 2008 and they said that my claim for reimbursement will not be honored because I reported the fraud more than 60 days of the statement date.

The bank has been charging interest since July 2007 to the current date. This issue is draining me physically and emotionally.

Borrowed nothing; cost $500. I applied for a no-cost home equity line of credit, and never used it. A year and one-half later, I wanted to cancel it so that I could refinance a different mortgage. The standard cancellation fee with WaMu was $500. A very polite and knowledgeable supervisor in a Texas office, C. Bartz (if I got the name correct) told me that nothing could be done about it because it was a clause in the loan agreement. (Yes, it is there)

They will collect $500 anytime within three years in order to recovered their alleged expenses in extending the line of credit. This might be fair, but it was certainly not pointed out to me when applied for the so-called no-cost line of credit. Truth in advertising? Probably not.

Unexpected $500 expense for no money borrowed.

When I opened my HELOC with Washington Mutual for $100,000, their computer could not handle six digits so they input the line for $99,999.99 and told me not to worry about it. I had not used the line at all and began getting threatening letters saying I owed them $0.01, thats right a penny. I called them and they again told me not to worry about it and apologized. The problem is that they reported it to the credit bureau and it is still showing as a delinquent payment.

I would like to enter this in a stupid bank contest.

To add insult to injury they lowered my HELOC from $100,000 to $10,700 in violation of Reg Z, The Truth in Lending Act, Reg B, The Fair Housing Act, and yes they used unfair and deceptive practices. They used a bogus fly by appraisal, which was almost $100,000 less than recent comparable sales in my small neighborhood within the previous two months. There is a reason why they went belly up and the new owner is no better.

When I opened my statement to see how much I needed to pay on my equity line of credit.. I noticed that there were charges that I did not place on my account. I am 'mad,anger, disappointed' that someone did not pick up the fact that I rarely, if every use the credit card and now someone was charging gas to the card more 3 times a day for 20 days.

WHen I called to notify them, WaMu, that the card was stolen I was disconnected 3 times; so I went to the Bank. At the bank the rep was transfer 11 times with no sucess in trying to resolve or report the fraud that occured on my account. After an 1 1/2 hours at the bank I left to go pick up my daugther from school. I called Risk Management, who would not talk with me because I failed all of the security questions.. I guess I did not own houses in the correct location.

When I returned to the Bank, a Manager helped me and she was able to connect with someone after being transfer 2 times. She placed me on the phone with operator LLM and she said my case was noted then transferred me to a recording that disconnected me without telling me what to expect. The Manager of the Branch called back to clarify what was going to happened. My concerns is that my equity line is maxed out and they expect me to pay the overage charges,interest and my payment, within 5 days of my due date; otherwise it will get report on my credit report at being late..

I have been using the Equity Exselerator Program with Washington Mutual. This is where my payments are made every two weeks and are automatically taken from my bank account. I have had many harrassing phone calls regarding payments not being made but have automatically been withdrawn from my checking account. I have had my escrow payments increase by $200.00 A MONTH and Late fees attached to my account even though payments are automatically done and the responsibility of Washington Mutual.

I would relay the problem to those individuals that called stating to them that the payment had already been removed from my account and that they should get organized because payment had been made. Late fees were incurred anyway by Washington Mutual

Extreme stress mentally and constant harrassment by Washington Mutual personnel. Due to the $200.00 a month increase in payments, i have not been able to buy my diabetes medicines which has caused a hospital stay due to severe high blood sugar. Which is caused and aggrevated by stress.

I was approved for a home equity line of credit at $40,000. In August 2008 I wrote a check to use the balance after paying it down to zero balance. I was informed after couple of days that the check was returned for Insufficient Fund and later received a letter stating my credit line was decreased to $12,000 due to declining home values. At the time i had several transactions pilled up in my other paying account.

All transactions started bouncing and had an overdraft of around three hundred dollars, I really suffered serious embarrassment. I was in the middle of my home improvement projects working on my roof, basement, driveway, and pave walkways. I called the customer service number to find out what happened. The representative stated my home equity line was decreased due to declining home values.

I was referred to LSI for reappraisal. I never bothered because I know I will be wasting my precious time. Now they want me to fax copies of the returned checks for reconsideration but the fax number is non-functioning. Now Im stock, I just dont know what to do as I really need the money

I took out a home equity loan in 10/07. At that time I informed the manager that I was in a flood zone and had already paid my insurance for 2007-11/08. He proceeded to assure me all was okay. My loan went through and several weeks later, I started to get letters about flood insurance. Every time I got one, I sent/or AAA sent a copy of my policy to Wash.Mutual. Finally the letters stopped coming.

About one month ago, they started up again and I had AAA fax another copy to the number I was given. I went into the branch - it was obvious that the manager and his assistant had no knowledge of flood insurance requirements. For 14 years I paid flood insurance according to my mortgage amount and now told WaMu reguires the maximum flood for $250,000. No conversations, no followup from my faxs declaring a paid flood insurance policy. They purchased additional flood ins and removed the money from my bank account.

Since this has happened, I have been researching their claim and the bank does set the flood insurance requirement. In this instance they are requiring maximum insurance for a very small loan. (under 25K) The asst branch manager, and the person in the exec office will not give me the name or contact information for any supervisor. They claim that basically one size fits all customers and there is no discussion.

The asst got so frustrated with my instance on personal service for my needs, she told me that if I didn't like the way WaMu does business, I could pay off the loan and leave the bank. My reply was - gladly, however, unless I keep the loan for 3 years (2010) it will cost me $1000 pre payment penalty. A fact she chooses to ignore.

$1000 pre payment penalty to close the loan. $1300 - 1500 per year for the next two years for flood insurance when my payments could be in the mid $200 range.

Late last summer, I called to have a transfer made from my home equity line of credit to my checking account at WaMu for $500. I talked with a man who was nice and friendly, but the amount never trasnferred. I bounced several checks and because of a recent tragedy in my family literally freaked out.

The next person (actually 11 people later) asked for my confirmation number. I hadn't be given one. He then of course blamed me for not checking to see if there was a number and did nothing for me except to transfer the $500. I thought that as usual, I have to do everyone's work for them on top of my three jobs and was very angry--but I got nowhere.

for the next transfer, I made sure to ask for a confirmation number because the phone representative did not come forth with one. He told me there weren't confirmation numbers. I insisted that he give me some number, any number. He checked with his manager and she told him there was a number but it had a different name, like transaction number or transfer number--who knows--some bank jargon. He was nice and apologized that he didn't know about the number and gave me something. To me that was proof that one hand doesen't know what the other is doing. So I lodged a complaint, asking for simply the fees for the checks that had bounced with the first non-transfer. That was a year ago and I haven't heard a word. I don't expect to, although some representatives tell me that the complaint is still active.

I lost about $100 in bounced check fees, but because of the recent suicide of my step-son, I was an emotional wreck for about a week. When things go wrong, I flash back to how many things went wrong with my step-son. There was quite a bit of agony (and still is, but for other reasons). All I want is an apology and the bounced check fees reimbursed.

I had a home equity line of $42,000. Today, 06/27/08, I checked my account and it was reduced by about 46% or to $22,800 of which $21,700 is the principal balance. This does not leave me much. I did receive the letter that Washington Mutual was supposed to have sent.

i may have to use my credit cards and I might be in a bind because their limits are shrinking.

We have tried twice to pay off and close our home equity loan and line of credit. The first time WAMU posted the payment late and charged me additional finance charges they refused to write off. They also referred my account to collections for a measly $700 that remained after getting a $37k check two weeks beforehand. We requested another payoff amount, and sent them the payment via UPS overnight mail. They received and signed for the check, but never posted it to my account.

They are researching it now and ask me to call in daily to see if it was resolved. Im told if they dont find where they have the check I will be responsible for addtional inerest and late payment charges!. They refuse my requests to speak with a supervisor, and only disclose their first names. They do not note the account when I call in, so I have to start from scratch with each rep I reach.

Im worried this has affected my credit. I want them to post the payment and close my account once and for all!

It all started Oct 07' when I started a remodel of my home. I had an equity line of credit with WaMu for over $300k. March 31st I was in the middle of this huge remodel when out of the blue my checks to the contractors started bouncing all in one day. Then came a nice letter in the mail the next day stating they decreased my loan by about $150k. Thanks for the notice. Then came the fees associated with all my newly non-funded checks. That made me real happy.

reinstated and submit pictures of the house under construction. No problem, except the fax number wouldn't go through all day. So I went down to my local WaMu branch and spoke with the loan manager there.(If there is a word for more than useless that wasn't profanity I would use it). He tried faxing it with no luck while I tried to re-contact the supervisor on my cell phone that I had spoken with before. Ya Right, did I honestly think I would ever talk to the same person twice there.

Anyways, spoke w/ another supervisor who gave a different fax # and he stated he would make sure it got to the review department(or escellation team)personally. So after phone calls every 2 days and weeks later they finally decided to tell me I would need an appraisal for my home. ok great, so wamu was paying for it right...wrong, that would be the second wrong assumption I would make so far, the first being having a loan with Washington Mutual. So after going round and round with them they stated I could do what they called a "BPO", Broker Pricing Offer. This basically was an estimate of the value of my home if it were to be put for sale on the market today, done by a licensed realestate agent.

No problem, I called up the agent that sold us the house. I had him write up a nice letter stating what the value of the house was at that time and sent it off to Wamu. So once again every 2 days I called them to find out the statis and everything was fine just being reviewed. Don't worry Mrs. blah blah blah it just takes time. Ok so 30 days has gone by when I call back again they inform me that they are no longer allowing "BPO"s, I would have to resubmit an appraisal from LSI. What out of the blue...just all the sudden...great, what else could they possibly throw at me...little did I know.... So I called LSI and made an appointment. In the meantime I called back WaMu and asked what my home would have to appraise at to have the loan reinstated. They stated $720K. What I bought the house for more than that 2 1/2 years ago and there was nothing in the neighborhood for less than $900K.

I wasn't worried but just out of curiosity I asked what it had been reassessed at? oh....$600K Are you kidding me.......I don't think you can even find a house within 10 miles of me for that price. So anyways LSI came out and did the appraisal. Funny thing was the appraiser asked what it need to be apprasied at and when I told her she laughed and said I'm not appraising it for a penny less than $1M. So $350.00 and 5 days later I received the report which they wanted me to fax(which by the way was 30 pages long) so I spoke with another Supervisor who gave me her email address and said she would personally submit it directly to the the escellation team. Sound Familiar.

So May 28 I called and they had received the email...ok, looks good right... so every 2 days again I'm calling and you know everything is just going, still under review, it just takes time Mrs. Blah, Blah ,Blah. So here we are, June 26, I call to find out the statis, geez, it should be close to the 15 to 30 day window they like to give and the supersivor proceeds to tell me that the review department has not been reviewing my appraisal.....What Whay not!!!!well it never made it to the review dept., they can't really review something they don't have.....are you guys screwing with me...so until now every 2 days they have been blowing smoke up my you know what telling me everything is fine when they really have been doing nothing and by the way all those supervisors I had spoken with before no longer work there.

So let me think....March, April ,May, June....thats alot more than 15 to 30 business days....so today I refaxed the appraisal, all 30 pages to another supervisor who said he would personally make sure it got to the review team...right....I just can't wait....and once he submits it to the review team it takes 3 business days for them to confirm receipt. Great, what's 3 more days when you've been waiting 4 months and are looking at another one. So I've called back frustrated yelling one minute, sweet as pie the next, demanding to speak to the supervisors supervisor(which they say they don't have) trying to figure out what works with them, appearantly nothing. I just want to know who does the firing around that place they have to have a boss or is it that bad that they don't need a boss they just all quit because Washington Mutual is that screwed up.

Today I told the supervisor I spoke with that if they don't want to reinstate my loan, just tell me but don't keep stringing me along with alot of fluff and lies when I'm living in a half finished house without a kitchen since October. So for now I would tell anybody that asked me get your money out of WaMu and run, and never look back. This is the worst experience dealing with people that don't want to take responsibility for there screw ups....appearantly it's all my fault, well I guess in some ways it is because i should have gotten out along time ago. So beware.....and good luck

I was approved for a home equity line of credit at $110,000. In may 2008 i received a letter stating my credit line was decreased to $33,000 due to decining home values. At the time i had a $16,000 balance. It was spring and i have numerous home improvement projects scheduled for spring/summer 2008. Refinishing a basement, landscaping, driveway extension, and paver walkways.

I called the customer service number to find out what happened. The representative stated my home equity line was decreased due to declining home values. I asked what the new value was and they stated $537,000. I said that was absurd i have proof of neighbors selling comparable homes for $580-600k. They said it was a nationwide % average reduction and locally i may have a higher value. They informed me i could appeal the decrease by having their appraisal company LSI come out and do an actual appraisal and if it appraised higher than their assesed value they would refund the appraisal fee and adjust the equity line.

I went through the process: called LSI, scheduled and appointment, paid for the $150 appraisal (walkthrough with pictures), and waited. I was told that Washington mutual should be contacteing me within a coupole days of the appraisal report being completed. The report was e-mailed to me and another week went by and nobody from Washingtom Mutual contacted me.

I called customer service to inquire about status of the appeal. They said i needed to send my report to the Decrease Department fax# and it would take 15-30 business days to get a response. I said what is there to reply on the appraisal came in at $570k and you have my home assessed at $537k. They said there is a possibility that the credit line may not be increased. I said nobody explained that to me during my last call. She asked me to hold to do some quick calculations.

She came back on and said they would not increase my credit line unless my appraisal was $595k or higher, and even if i send my appraisal in it will most likely be declined. I said that is rediculous nobody explained that to me during the first inquiry 3 weeks ago. Had i know that i would not have wasted my time jumping through hoops trying to show you my house is not diminished in value at my expense. The original representative said as long as the home appraises higher than their electronic assessment they will refund the appraisal fee and increase my credit line.

I asked to speak to a supervisor to find out why my home had to appraise from $537k to $595k for them to do anything about it. She said that the LTV value also went down to 75% and that is why it has to reappraise for such a high amount. I said under those standards and the original $537k appraisal i should only be able to borrow $13k.

This makes no sense. I followed their instructions and they changed the rules along the way. I wasted my time and money of a futule effort. When i pointed this out the the supervisor and demanded my appraisal fee be refunded since the original instruction and goals were met; to have a higher yielding appraisal than they originally estimated. She denied the refund. Whe i said this is poor customer service if they do this then why give the impression that the credit line decrease can be appealed. Why not just decrease the credit lines and not offer an appeal process. The supervisor responded well then we would have customers that are upset. I responded, well what do you think you have now, after i wasted my time AND money to reach the same end result!

I wasted 3 weeks time in trying to get my home reappraised and then $150 in appraisal fee with no increase in credit line. I then wasted 6 weeks trying to refinance with another lender and delaying my home improvment projects over 2 months due to lack of funding.

I was approved for a home equity line of credit at $110,000. In may 2008 i received a letter stating my credit line was decreased to $33,000 due to decining home values. At the time i had a $16,000 balance. It was spring and i have numerous home improvement projects scheduled for spring/summer 2008. Refinishing a basement, landscaping, driveway extension, and paver walkways. I called the customer service number to find out what happened.

The representative stated my home equity line was decreased due to declining home values. I asked what the new value was and they stated $537,000. I said that was absurd i have proof of neighbors selling comparable homes for $580-600k. They said it was a nationwide % average reduction and locally i may have a higher value. They informed me i could appeal the decrease by having their appraisal company LSI come out and do an actual appraisal and if it appraised higher than their assesed value they would refund the appraisal fee and adjust the equity line. I went through the process: called LSI, scheduled and appointment, paid for the $150 appraisal (walkthrough with pictures), and waited. I was told that Washington mutual should be contacteing me within a coupole days of the appraisal report being completed.

The report was e-mailed to me and another week went by and nobody from Washingtom Mutual contacted me. I called customer service to inquire about status of the appeal. They said i needed to send my report to the Decrease Department fax# and it would take 15-30 business days to get a response. I said what is there to reply on the appraisal came in at $570k and you have my home assessed at $537k. They said there is a possibility that the credit line may not be increased. I said nobody explained that to me during my last call. She asked me to hold to do some quick calculations. She came back on and said they would not increase my credit line unless my appraisal was $595k or higher, and even if i send my appraisal in it will most likely be declined. I said that is rediculous nobody explained that to me during the first inquiry 3 weeks ago.

Had i know that i would not have wasted my time jumping through hoops trying to show you my house is not diminished in value at my expense. The original representative said as long as the home appraises higher than their electronic assessment they will refund the appraisal fee and increase my credit line. I asked to speak to a supervisor to find out why my home had to appraise from $537k to $595k for them to do anything about it. She said that the LTV value also went down to 75% and that is why it has to reappraise for such a high amount. I said under those standards and the original $537k appraisal i should only be able to borrow $13k.

This makes no sense. I followed their instructions and they changed the rules along the way. I wasted my time and money of a futule effort. When i pointed this out the the supervisor and demanded my appraisal fee be refunded since the original instruction and goals were met; to have a higher yielding appraisal than they originally estimated. She denied the refund. Whe i said this is poor customer service if they do this then why give the impression that the credit line decrease can be appealed. Why not just decrease the credit lines and not offer an appeal process. The supervisor responded "well then we would have customers that are upset". I responded, well what do you think you have now, after i wasted my time AND money to reach the same end result!

I wasted 3 weeks time in trying to get my home reappraised and then $150 in appraisal fee with no increase in credit line. I then wasted 6 weeks trying to refinance with another lender and delaying my home improvement projects over 2 months due to lack of funding.

I have a mortgage equity increaser progam with you. You deduct money from my checking account every 2 weeks then pay my mortgage holder, Priemer Mortgage. The problem is a payment is scheduled to be paid my June 1st. My payment amount has changed. Priemer mortgage says they will return my payment if it is short again. I cannot find my account. When I call you I cannot talk to a real person because I do not have my account number.

I will be in default of my mortgage even though you have my money. Please help

Last year I got Equity Line of Credit from WaMu in amount of $230 000. I used around $17000 and planned to use this summer more to open a small business. But last week I received a letter from them advising me that my Line of Credit was reduced from $230 000 to $23 000. It is unbelievable; they have reduced it for 90%.

I believe that this is illegal. I understand that home values fell 10-15% in a year, but there is no excuse to reduce Line of Credit for 90%. Someone needs to protect consumers from this kind of practice.

Washington Mutual re-assessed property values and in turn reduced my avaialable credit on my home equity line.....with out any warning that they were going to do so. I simply received a letter on May 2, 2008-reducing my HELOC in half! I have excellent credit, my mortgage and equity payments have ALWAYS been on time. Now I have no availability on this equity line as they reduced the line to just a tad over what I owe on it.

Wamu claims I can have an apprasial done on my home by a company named L.S.I.. I CAN NOT bring in an independent appraiser. They claim they will refund me the appraisal amount if my home comes in at $xx. I asked Wamu to forwrard me thier recent appraisal findings and they said they were unable to do so. Their figure shows my property value is now worth $60,000 LESS than it was 18 months ago.

Also, I am paying taxes and insurance on the original appraised amount (higher amount). So really my mortgage payment should be decreased (as my taxes and insurances are escrowed) to fit the NEW appraisal amount. The rep for Wamu told me that my insurance companies would have to call them to discuss that. I am already in a dispute with them (18 months now) over my oringinal mortgage loan that they botched and still have not corrected the situation.

Between my battle over the botched mortage loan and the recent HELOC nightmare--this is going to kill me financially. I honestly do not know what I am going to do. My equity line is used as buffer and provides me with a sense of security in case of emergency etc..I need to have access to that money. I am a hard working, educated single parent. This company has ruined me. I can't sell my home and I can't keep my home. I will fight them to the end though.

Washington Mutual re-assessed property values on their home equity line of credit and reduced the available credit without notice. We had 80,000.00 left on our line of credit always paid on time, my last statement showed this available credit, but on Friday, April 11th, the available credit was only 4900.00 (approx). when my husband called he was told they will be sending out a letter explaining this soon.

I have now heard 5 other stories that this has happened, one person was remodeling a home and they yanked the rest of the funds needed to finish, another was using this money to live on, my self, this money was taken out on a home my grandfather gave to me he is 97 years old and my mother 73 and uncle 72 live in the other house on the property, the balance 80,000.00 was being used to pay for the mortgage on these 2 homes and I was going to need a little to refi my own home, it keeps adjusting too high. It's gone without notice.

The people who knew took their money out before Wednesday 4/9 I would have if I knew. Now I will lose the home for my mom, uncle and G-pa and possibly my home. This is like your mortgage lender without notice calls your loan due in full, pay now or move. I am worried that this will lead to banks closing with our funds, etc

The lost of 3 homes, 3 elderly folks without a home and a family of 4. with a good credit history, now probably foreclosure,bankruptcy

Though they are written providing notice, WAMU has now begun reducing lines in FL. I received notice this week basing the decision on a significant decline in the value of my property. However, how significant is defined cannot be determined, since WAMU, through their loan care center in TX, stated that they will not provide the updated value they are relying on to make this decision. Do I not smell a regulatory compliance issue here? The language included in my orig. loan documents define the basis of a significant decline as the value they relied on at the time of application - which was never provided to me as the borrower. Again, misleading.

In addition, should you want to dispute this action, you as the customer, are required to pay for the cost of a full appraisal, which would cost $200-$300. Once again, a requirement that was never included or stated in the original loan documents. Is WAMU possibly making these rules up as they go? And none of this is helping those WAMU borrowers who are and have faithfully met their obligations to WAMU without issue. In fact, you are likely being double penalized because as they reduce your line, your utilization rate effectively increases which will likely have an unfavorable impact on your overall credit score. Nice. Beware - folks, things with WAMU are not as they may seem. Make their primary regulator, the Office of Thrift Supervision, aware of it. Send your issue(s) regarding WAMU to The Office of Thrift Supervision Consumer Affairs Department.

Reduced Credit Line w/o warning, and not supported by any documentation to show action warranted within the terms of the original contract, and negative impact to a consumer's credit score w/o any negative action whatsoever by the consumer.

My 85 year old father wanted some information on a loan that he would be eligible for so that he could make repairs on his home. Washington Mutual talked him into taking out an $150,000 equity line of credit on his home. He did not request this high of an amount. My father had cataracts which prevented him from reading the documents he signed at the bank. In October of 2007, my father passed away and in his will left his estate to his eldest son (who is handicapped), his daughter and 3 grandchildren. Upon learning of this loan and contacting Washington Mutual, it was learned that we had to sell his home and payoff this loan. My father had no income to pay back this loan to begin with and if they had done a credit check or the like, Washington Mutual would have known that my father wasn't eligible for such a high loan amount.

Due to this situation the family is forced to sell the home and it is extremely difficult to relocate 3 grandchildren ages 9,17, and 20 also the handicapped adult can not survive on his own when there is no money left after the sale of said home. His ability to hold employment is limited due to the extent of his disability. I also am currently out of work on disability and cannot support my brother. I could at least maintain the existing home if that loan didn't exist.

I took out a home equiline loan from Washington Mutual. I was told that in addition to using checks, I could use a VISA card that worked like a debit card. No mention was made of any fees for using the card at this time, or at any time I worked with a sales person. However, when I used the card at my primary back to get a cashiers check the boat vender requested for a purchase of a boat, I was charge a 2% fee.

Now that doesn't sound like much, but it was $160 on $8,000, plus interest the expected interest. I called customer service to ask about this fee, when no fee was mentioned to me when I got the loan, and the card was referred to being like a debit card. Debit cards don't have fees, they are like writting checks. The first customer service person, said that was a VISA fee and she could not help me. I asked for a superviser and talked to Stacy. She again said she couldn't do anything about this fee. I said the fee was on the Washington Mutual Bill, so of course they could do something about it. She said no they couldn't do anything and the fee was in the paperwork.

I said I am sure it was, but I didn't read all the millions of words that was involved in the 100 plus pages of the paperwork. This type of fee should be mentioned by the sales person, otherwise it is just in the small print and deceptive to the consumer. Or the sales person should never refer to the card as debit, only as a credit card charged to the loan. Credit cards generally charge a fee, either to the merchant, or to the consumer, depending upon how it is used.

I have a home equity line of credit with Washington Mutual (WAMU) since March 2001. It's an interest only required payment. Payment is due on the 1st of each month. There is a grace period of 15 days. I generally pay more to reduce the balance. In November 2005, I noticed that the entire payment (interest plus what I thought would go to principal) went towards interest only. I though this to be a mistake. December's payment was applied correctly. In January and February the payment was again applied to interest.

I have called WAMU and talke to several people. Who have told me the loan documents I signed stated that if my payment reaches them after their drop date (the date the new statements are generated which is apparently around the 7th of the month) that when the receive my payment it is all applied to interest and nother towards principal. I have read my loan documents and do not seen anything that says that. I have talked to the local WAMU branch and they were not aware of this either. It is hard to believe that this is even legal.

But if it is a legal practice, shouldn't I have been made aware of it before I agreed to the loan. Shouldn't they at least make things "right" for past payments and apply their rules for future payments since I am now aware? Please help me I am so fustrated. I asked to talk to Kerry Kellinger, Head of the company, and was told they didn't have his number and didn't know if he had a secretary.

I have a Home Equity loan. Starting in September 2005 I began calling Washington Mutual to try to obtain information on what my options were if I was not able to continue making payments. I wanted to see if I could get my payments reduced. Since February 2005 I had been paying all the bills myself because of divorce. I knew I was not going to be able to continue this and wanted to find out what my options were. The house had been on the market since June 1st without any movement.

If I was not cut off by their telephone system, I was repeatedly told that until I was at least 45 days late the collections department would not talk with me. So I didn't make my October payment. I waited until the end of October and tried to get through again and was unsuccessful. I now have an offer on the house and can not move forward until I can get an answer from Washington Mutual regarding a short sale. I am extremely concerned and do not want to lose this sale. I believe I am going to be between $7500 to $8000 short.

The only thing I have been told is that I have to pay this or I will go into collections and they will not release the lein on the property until they are paid. This means I can not sell the house. This not only leaves me in dire straights it also leaves the first mortgage company, which happens to also be Washington Mutual, at risk of having to proceed with foreclosure. All I need is to be able to discuss this with the correct area so I can try to get all this resolved with as little impact to my credit rating as possible.

I have tried to be up front and honest and get ahead of all this but I have just been beating my head against a brick wall. It is really a sad statement to say that if I neglected my obligations then I would be able to get answers.

We had a home loan and an equity loan with Wamu.We refinanced and they were paid off everything including the $500 cancellation fee. Almost a year later we go for a home loan to purchase a property and we find out that they never closed out our account and are saying we owe tham a $500 pre-payment fee and are charging us interest every month we don't pay it and it is reflecting negatively on our credit report.

We have proof we paid them everything and they are doing nothing about it. We have reported it to the Attorney Generals office but they say there is only so much they can do if Wamu doesn't respond. It has been really bad for us and we don't have the money it would take to hire an Attorney.