AmeriSave Mortgage

I found Amerisave pop ads advertising "ten day closing". I am considering hiring an attorney to file charges of Deceptive Trade Practice. I feel I will find others who want to join me.

Nearly two months with no progress toward the loan. More lost forms and promises of a closing to be scheduled, but more and more requests for more information. They took weeks before contacting me. Each time I sent them info. When I took a week for a duplicate documentation request, they denied my loan for an incomplete application. Messed up credit. Was in high 700s. With the denial, I lost money paid for the appraisal and credit app. Will fight the attempt to charge my card $500.

But I guess when you apply and pick the rate, it shows credit toward closing based on the credit score and loan amount. Hence, I was concerned, because I picked the rate so I can get enough credit towards closing and so I don't have to pay any extra.

I went ahead and locked the rate after talking on the phone with a rep that if the appraisal comes higher, we can increase the loan amount and credit towards closing. As expected, appraisal came higher, and we increased the loan amount. I have to call numerous times to have them adjust the good faith estimate, because the credit towards closing was not adjusted after the increase in loan amount. This rep has to get approval from his manager, and the manager at Amerisave were always in a meeting or training. (Maybe these meetings were about how to screw up customers!).

Finally, everything got squared away and got the closing date, I have signed all the papers, but the disbursement date was 7/30/2010, and they did not send paperworks on time at the title company to disburse the funds. Then I called the closing department, and she did not even called me back. And after so many calls to Amerisave and email, I finally got an answer that the package was lost in the mail.

So finally whatever they did, they funded my existing loan on 8/5/2010. So I end up paying 6 days of interest with no fault. Then I asked for reimbursement of the interest I have paid. I am still asking, and they are not responding as of yet. I would by all means not recommend the Amerisave to anyone. First, their rate on the website looks good but the actual one comes with a lot of attachments (credit score, appraisal, closing fees were also higher than their quote). The worst part is the communication; they don't respond to your inquiry promptly.

On 5/31/2010, I received another online GFE from Amerisave that stated that the credit was now for $1,223.32. No explanation from Amerisave and no notification of the change. If it wasn't for my own due diligence to check my online paperwork frequently, I wouldn't have discovered these changes.

On 7/9/2010, I received another online GFE from Amerisave that stated that the credit was now for only $793.73. For this reduction in closing costs, it was a result of their rate lock expiring, and my request for a lower rate that was now available. They charged me to move to a lower available rate after having waited 39 days to have this loan closed, which it still wasn't.

On 7/13/2010, I received another online GFE from Amerisave that stated that there was no longer a credit and that I owe $13.77 towards closing costs. No explanation from Amerisave.

On 7/15/2010, I received another GFE from Amerisave that stated that there was no longer a credit and that I owe $498.27 towards closing costs. This was due to another rate lock expiring, but this time, no changes in the loan rate. Once again, Amerisave made another excuse for them to charge me for something. They even stated that the fees are higher, but we will split the costs with you.

I went through two rate locks that expired through no fault on my part, and, with the bait-and-switch tactics of their closing credits/charges, I decided to cancel my loan application with Amerisave. To add even more bad taste to their business practices and loan process, they threatened to charge me the $500 cancellation fee on several occasions, which they did.

I have no credit card debt, 800 FICO, 14 years at the same job, verifiable income, and a 55% loan-to-value. This should have been a no-brainer loan for Amerisave, but I think they were trying to get greedy. I'm really glad that I didn't give them my business.

Hind sight is 20/20, but I should have questioned them on each GFE update, but since it was happening so often, I thought it might have been an electronic mistake on their part and that I'll just wait for the "final" GFE. It's interesting to know that their system only keeps the last updated GFE and that the loan processor does not have access to the previous ones once it has been superseded. Hmm, covering their footsteps??? ?

After writing a confirmation email that I would only be charged the initial $35 for the credit report and not the fees for the appraisal ($325) or withdrawing from the application ($500 once the rate is locked) and receiving agreement to the information in that email, I ended the "business relationship" with Amerisave and its employees. As I wrote in what I hope to be my final email to Amerisave, I believe that ending the relationship with this company will reduce situational stress for Amerisave staff and, most importantly, for me. I am relieved that I have not lost funds other than the $35 and wish Amerisave and those going through Amerisave for "great rates" all the best in their endeavors. If there are no further entries, all that has been stated in the past 6 entries holds true and I have had no further issues and/or dealings with Amerisave.

I was not able to get details regarding the first date that it was available for viewing. I had to convince the representative to give me this information as borrowers are not supposed to call, only brokers and lenders. I explained that I had some issues with the broker which is why he provided basic info, no details. I promptly phoned both Lucas and Rebekah, both unavailable except for voicemail (always the case...a person never picks up the phone) and left voice messages for both that I was happy to report that the appraisal was available for viewing and for them to please obtain the copy and to proceed forward with my loan ASAP.

I also left both Lucas and Rebekah instructions to contact me promptly, sometime today (June 30) or no later than tomorrow (July 1) with information on the status of my loan "lock in" at 3.75% (the "promised" rate if all is in order) and details as to the status of the overall loan application. I urged both individuals to proceed as swiftly as possible (given the delays). The business day is now over (6:30pm) and I have heard nothing from either one of them throughout the rest of today. I left their messages at approx. 11:00 this morning.

I specifically asked the manager, Rebekah, to phone me with news of the appraisal. I did not receive a phone call from her despite my request. A Customer Service representative did call me today in response to a dissatisfied email I sent yesterday. I explained that I was concerned about the delays and negative information I had obtained about the company and that I am waiting to see how things will proceed from this point. They said that they would contact my representative (I am assuming that would be Mr. Lucas).

I will continue to monitor this situation publicly and guarantee that an entry will be posted tomorrow with current information (even if nothing is moving forward at all) regarding my loan application status. For those of you attracted to the current 3.75% posted on Amerisave's website, continue to monitor these daily entries to see if the 3.75% is truly as good as it sounds or a very enticing number sure to grab your attention and then loaded with unexpected issues...stay tuned.

I wrote a response to Ms. ** asking for a clearer definition of over soon. In addition, I explained to Ms. ** that Mr. ** had instructed me to contact the appraisal company 5 days ago to expedite matters, and indicated that Amerisave is not able to do so due to the HVCC rules. When I contacted the appraisal company, REALTrans, the representative looked up my name and property address, told me that the appraisal was in the system, told me that I was not to call but rather the broker/lender was to call, and advised me to tell Amerisave that they simply need to access the REALTrans system, enter their login information, and download the available appraisal.

I promptly called Mr. ** and left a voicemail message stating the outcome of my call to REALTrans and my frustration with needing to tell an Amerisave employee how to do his job. I wrote all of the above in an email to Ms. ** this evening. REALTrans is closed for the evening; I am not able to confirm that the appraisal is available, that the review is complete, and that Amerisave can access the appraisal until tomorrow after 9:00AM. I plan to contact them and ask them what over soon means and when Amerisave should have the completed and reviewed appraisal. Stay tuned.

This was not what was presented to me via the website, emails or phone calls. First, the website leads one to believe that the $35 fee locks the rate. Upon talking with my representative, Lucas **, I was led to believe that getting my documentation to Amerisave promptly (verification of wages which was faxed within several days of signing on) would assure the rate. Next, I was told that having the timely appraisal would assure the rate. The appraisal was completed within 5 days of my signing on. Upon "signing on" through the internet, I was immediately pursued by email and mail regarding the need to quickly complete paperwork and return it for the rate lock. Of course, I complied to get the great rate rather than taking the time I should have to peruse the documents diligently, again my fault.

At present, the application is in limbo as the appraisal is still not available after 8 days. Mr. ** assures me that he finds it ludicrous that it is taking so long. I was advised to call the appraisal company to hurry the process along. I did this and was told that the appraisal was available and that Amerisave needed to go online, enter their code, and upload the appraisal. Upon advising Mr. ** of this information, I was told that I was misinformed and that the appraisal is, in fact, not available. I was also told that this is a highly unusual situation that they find with my application and the length of time for the appraisal. I would only be able to get the actual name of the appraiser by going through Mr. **'s manager, Rebecca ** (not sure of last name). I told Mr. ** that rectifying the situation and assuring the ongoing, satisfactory completion of my application & refinancing process is left in his hands as this is work he tells me he has been doing for years.

I will continue to monitor this situation, live, on consumer affairs and I am hoping to have a favorable resolution to report. If this continues along an unfavorable path, I will document the course(s) of action that I take to rectify the situation on my behalf. I have successfully dealt with my finances for years and this is the first time that I have been what is beginning to feel like a compromising situation. Stay tuned. At present, I have paid $35 to "lock the rate" and Amerisave was provided my credit card number to charge the appraisal fee of $325 (which has not yet been charged).

They gave us the same value as that home's sales price. They came in with an unrealistic value about $30,000 less than our full appraisal so they wouldn't have to fund the loan. We think we were targeted for unfair refusal based on the number of foreclosures in our area of the country. We went through weeks of undue wasted time and energy getting paperwork done and paid over $300 for a full appraisal that they refused to use. The appraiser was contracted by AmeriSave. When we let the appraiser know what happened they were furious. We had another appraisal done with a different mortgage company and got our loan. However, AmeriSave's practice of profiling in certain areas is unethical and I would tell anyone not to waste his or her time on them.

The very first one starts with this question I asked: "A bank gave me a new refinance offer of 4.375%,$2263 monthly total with tax and escrow, and 15 years term. Can you do better?" HMs response was: "Of course click on the link below to get rates" So from there, the emails began. I am not a broker nor do I know much about mortgages, rates, and so on, so I proceeded to ask every detail I was confused about. I did not want to lose out on my other lender and needed to make sure Amerisaves pricing is actually what they tell me before I paid any fees.

After several emails and a few phone conversations, HM sent me this email: "Go ahead and complete the application and pay for the appraisal. Call me if you have any questions. "Still not convinced, I did more research and continued with my emails to HM. Email after email, HM was persistent. I kept asking him are there any hidden fees, anything that can change my rate once I paid, he kept insisting that is what it is. The application states to enter your home value and loan needed. How do I know my home value? I can only go by what I have on my paperwork from my last appraisal, right?

Only two years ago, I did my mortgage and Chase appraised my home for $350K. So all I did is enter this information in the application. HM never told me if your home value dropped then the rates will be higher than what you see. He just wanted to lure me in so kept pushing the low rates on me. So being unaware of this, I finally ended up paying the fees and applied. After 43 emails of HM telling me he has a better rate, and before the appraisal came, he redid the quote for me at $2233/mo, and I was satisfied. But once the appraisal returned at $285k , the monthly rate was much higher!

I requested for a refund, but was totally declined. I told them I was mislead and misguided. Amerisave did not want to listen to anything. I even told them my other lender appraised my home for $335k. This was like taking candy from a baby for them. I am clueless when it comes to mortgages. It was HMS job to tell me what surprises lies ahead and certain criteria needs to be met before those rates apply. I was not steered properly. I would keep away from this company totally. I wish I can post my 43 emails to show you just how badly I was lead. Loss of $325 which I paid twice (to them and other lender). Sucks. Misguided and misinformed. Thanks.

1.) The amerisave.com online application is deceptive and designed to lure prospective customers to their website with low rates/lender fees. The website content misleads the customer in thinking that what the rate that attracted them to the site will be "locked in" when they complete the online application process and are "pre-qualified" (the immediate "lock" is common practice by other online lenders). What the site does not tell the customer is that the rate is not locked in until the customer submits both income and asset verification to the satisfaction of Amerisave personnel. In my particular case, the "rate lock" was delayed because the loan agent (DeeAnn **) claimed she did not receive all of the documentation (I have documentation that I sent it via email attachment) and with "issues" brought up that had already been disclosed on my initial application. This caused both my loan rate and "lender fees" to increase, costing me more money to obtain the loan.

2. The Amerisave online application process asks the applicant to pay for a credit report. I lost a week’s worth of wages, had to pay penalties on early withdrawal of my 401k plus will have to pay tax penalties when I file my 2010 taxes, and my credit is ruined for an amount of $35 (April 6 price; I researched it and this fee has varied over months/years). In order to pay this, the application process asks for a credit card number. In my particular case, I entered my Discover Card number. Amerisave charged my credit card without authorization for an appraisal later on in the process. I disclosed my credit card number to Amerisave to pay for the credit report, not anything else. As a result of the unauthorized use of my credit card, I have filed a successful dispute with Discover Card. Once Amerisave knew that I had filed a complaint for an unauthorized use of my credit card with Discover Card, they quickly refunded my money for the appraisal.

3. I fully disclosed in the initial online application that the property to be refinanced (with cash out) had been on the market within the last 6 months. My appraisal was scheduled to take place (and did take place) on April 8, 2010, at 2:00 PM PDT. In an email on April 8, 2010, 8:31 PM EDT (5:31 PM PDT), after the appraisal had already been performed, DeeAnn ** sent me an email asking me, "When was the home taken off the market?" In all honesty, the date didn't matter in light of the fact that I had already disclosed that the home was on the market within the past 6 months in the initial April 6 online application. Of course, this resulted in Amerisave increasing the lender fees to the point that I had lost confidence in Amerisave and did indeed cancel the loan application on April 9, 2010, 4:29 PM PDT. Moreover, in an email dated April 9, 2010, 4:59 PM EDT, DeeAnn ** wrote me an email outlining several options, including a cancellation/refund of appraisal cost option.

As the reader can surmise, I took Option 1 and cancelled. However, Amerisave still without authorization charged my Discover account anyway. On April 9, 2010, 8:23 PM EDT, I received a "receipt" via email from Customer Service stating that my Discover Card had been charged for $350. I immediately replied via email (time stamp: 5:30 PM PDT) and stated that per DeeAnn ** there was to be a refund for the appraisal charge. On April 10, 2010, 10:42 AM EDT, I received an email from Jessica ** from Customer Service stating, "This appraisal was completed and the appraiser has been paid. This fee will not be refunded. "

There were a couple of problems with the appraisal. (1) The appraisal was already performed after DeeAnn ** came up with issues of when the house was taken off the market (I had already disclosed that it had been within the 6-month period) and other issues she disclosed. Thus, it was someone's error at Amerisave that overlooked this fact before it went to underwriting. (2) An employee of Amerisave that I was directly dealing with (DeeAnn **) neglected to have timelines in mind and offered what she could not deliver. That being said, I took Option 1 of her offering. In doing so, I was charged for the appraisal after the Amerisave employee stated in writing that I had the cancellation/refund option. (3) The appraisal only took 15 minutes! My independent appraiser (that I had done in late 2009), took some 40 minutes, by comparison.

For the sake of documentation, the Amerisave appraisal report was neither seen, downloaded nor otherwise, received by me. Although, Amerisave quickly made it available to me via email, in lieu of their documentation stating that it was "available after closing, upon request". Guess why they wanted me to download/see it? Of course, they could claim that I had "received it" and hence their charges were legitimate. So, so many ways they can work you!

If one takes the chain of events in mind, it was Amerisave who mishandled this loan, as what information I disclosed initially on the April 6, 2010 application never changed throughout the loan application process. The personnel involved in this transaction neglected and overlooked what I disclosed at the very beginning: The home had been on the market and that it had been within 6 months. How much clearer can an applicant be?

I finally lost confidence in Amerisave and cancelled the loan application on April 9, 2010. Luckily, I had not signed nor returned any documents which (beware) includes that you agree to a $500 cancellation fee, should you cancel the loan process. This $500 cancellation fee is well documented all over the Internet by other disgruntled borrowers. Needless to say, this firm has multiple ways of insuring that they milk their customers for everything they can. Their rate lock scheme is in a class by itself, as it floats by default until, and only until, they insure a higher rate/higher fees above what their web site automated scheme hooks you with! I sincerely doubt that any applicant gets the low rate that lured them to the Amerisave web site to begin with.

Oh, by the way, be careful with their deceptive "electronic signature" part of the loan documents section of their online process. Read the documents before you click that you eSign the documents! By default, you will be signing that you are "floating your loan rate"! These folks are a piece of art, worthy of federal and state investigation. They have so many ways to reap more money out of us! It is astonishing! They cost me the chance to refinance at a 5.00% rate at the time that it was available and at the lender fee structure that I was pre-qualified for. In the end, they did refund the $350 appraisal fee, but only after I had to dispute the charge. I was out $35 for the credit report (a scam in itself, as other lenders do not charge for this service).

Do yourself a favor, read the complaints that others have posted all over the Internet and notice all the similarities among what is posted or complained about. Yep! This is the classic "bait and switch" at its finest! Borrowers beware! Let's keep posting our horror experiences with Amerisave until we shut them down.

I have owned several similar properties and never had any bank, not loan, for that reason. I tried to talk to Mike's supervisor, but to no avail. I have talked to several banks in San Diego that I have had loans with before and they said that they could do loan and any bank should be able to. I have never heard of anyone being turned down for a loan for this reason.

Subsequently, I have seen many complaints about Amerisave on Consumer Complaint boards. I have owned and lived at the location since 1998. I had an original loan from Home Saving and did one refinance in 2001 as well. I never had a problem getting loan on this property or where I lived before.

On October 5, I was finalizing my application with PennyMac. Peter ** requested that I fill out loan documents that he sent me via email. On October 6, I signed and returned the documents via fax. All documents had to be signed and returned. The primary document titled "Loan Term Agreement" page 1 showed that I was "floating" and my rate was not locked. On October 7, 2009, Mr. ** sent me an email stating my loan was locked and ready to go, no appraisal had been done and I had not requested to lock.

I immediately sent him an email asking why it was locked and at what rate and fees. He emailed back that I had requested a lock, he did not send me the rate and fee information. I immediately told him to cancel the application because I requested to float and he was well aware of that. I pointed out to him my choice to float on the Loan Terms Agreement which he had completed. Mr. ** kept telling me that there was no choice to float on the document, I told him I was looking at it.

I also informed Mr. ** that I had cancelled the appraisal that was schedule for October 8, 2009 so as to not to incur that charge. Mr. ** told me he was going to charge me $500 if I cancelled the application. I told him a cancellation fee was never discussed, not on their website or in our discussions. He told me the $500 was for the rate lock which I had never requested. He sent me a form titled "AmeriSave Rate Lock Request" and claimed I had signed it electronically on October 6, 2009.

On October 6, 2009 (approximately 6:30 pm PST), I faxed all forms to him after signing by hand, my request as stated was to float. I have never signed any form electronically for any reason nor have I've ever been asked to. This amounts to plain out fraud and forgery. I have kept all documentation and I'm sure a computer expert can probably prove I never signed a document electronically. Mr. ** and AmeriSave illegally charged my credit card for the $500. They need to be stopped. There was no misunderstanding, just plain criminal fraud. My FICO is approximately 796.

3 months later, Mr. R. got back to me and said that they will not close the loan with 2 subs. He refused to refund the appraisal fee. Apparently, he lied to me when he initially said yes to refinance with two subs to lure me in the transaction hoping that I will proceed anyway by closing the HELOC because we already spent $675 on appraisal. I lost $675 and the chance to refinance my loan at an attractive rate.

Approximately two to three weeks following the closing of my loan on November 12, 2009, I contacted my credit card company to inquire regarding the credit. I was advised that a credit had not been issued. I immediately contacted Mr. ** and was assured that the necessary paperwork was submitted and the credit should be issued any day. Mr. ** promised to follow up and give me a call back on the status of the credit. Of course, I did not receive a return telephone call. Approximately a week or two later, I had not heard back. On or about December 7, 2009, I again contacted Mr. ** regarding the credit. He returned my telephone call the following day and apologized, as he claimed he was out of town. Mr. ** promised he would research my credit and send me the reference number for the credit so that I could follow up with my credit card company. I never heard back from Mr. ** and he did not respond to my emails and/or voicemail messages.

On December 16, 2009, I contacted Amerisave costumer service representative Jessica **. I should note that throughout the process, I had numerous complaints such as them setting up closing to sign loan documents and not informing me that it was cancelled as their paperwork was not completed. I had called costumer service several times, which nobody answers and only allows you to leave a message. Jessica was my one and only return call. I explained the circumstances and she promised to speak with Mr. ** and his supervisor and get back with me. Ms. ** contacted me the same day and advised me that the company had issued credits in the past, however, no longer did so. Additionally, she denied that the company was ever running such a promotion and indicated that she would have Mr. **'s supervisor contact me for further information. Of course, Mr. **'s supervisor never returned my call. I will say that I did get the loan at good rate, however, feel that their unethical, fraudulent and deceitful business practices need to be stopped and they should be held financially accountable.

After waiting 4 hours for the appraiser, he showed up an hour late. He did a quick appraisal and then left. I received a phone call from the appraisal company that he had to come back out because he forgot to take pictures. It's pretty basic stuff for an appraisal. I then had to have my wife wait for them to come back a couple of days later for pictures. When I saw the appraisal, I was shocked. My house was appraised lower than I could imagine. I see what they did. They took the prices that some of the houses around me sold for and then estimated the value of my house accordingly. They didn't take into account that the one house had a flooded basement and the other house was full of black mold. The appraisal was very poorly done.

They then sent me 50 pages of material to read, sign, and send back to them. Their fax didn't work, so I scanned and e-mailed the documents to them. I should have known then what type of company I was dealing with when they don't have a working fax machine. Once I sent all of the information in, my loan officer convinced me to increase the amount of my loan. I did as he recommended. I then once again had to read, sign, and send the 50 pages again. When the loan procedure went past 30 days, I became very concerned with their process. I was informed a couple of times that the loan was approved and that they were only waiting for info from the title company, etc. Please don't forget that this loan was to get money to tie into the city sewage system.

I really got frustrated when the loan when past the July 23 and I became in violation of the EPA laws. It is now August 5, and I was just informed that in order for Amerisave to give me a loan, I will have to tie into the city sewage system. Do you believe it? This is like them giving you a car loan only after you purchase the vehicle? By the way, Amerisave sells every loan they make. I think that they locked me in at a low interest rate and are now looking for a way to back out! This is after they wasted over a month of my time and have placed me in an illegal situation with the EPA. Do not use this company! Go to a bank.

On the same day, 1/12/09, my fiancee and I had a phone conversation with the loan officer, Jake **, expressing our concerns and decided to stop the process. My fiancee emailed from her work as a follow up to our phone conversation that morning our desire to stop the refinance since the numbers didn't work and the documentation was not in order. Amerisave (Jake) stated we were responsible for a $500 termination fee! We questioned that and were met with rudeness and the Underwriting manager, Darla **'s inappropriate response to involve my fiancee's place of business.

Darla thought my fiancee was a competing mortgage loan officer because she was employed with SunTrust, so she assumed SunTrust Mortgage when she was employed with SunTrust Bank. Darla sent the entire email communication about my refinance to SunTrust Mortgage's senior VP of correspondent relationship to leverage her position and create drama for my fiancee because Darla thought she was losing the deal to SunTrust - when in fact we were Amerisave's customers!

From 1/10/09 to 1/12/09 was when this matter occurred with most of the communication happening on 1/12/09 - the appraisal was done on 1/8 prior to us receiving any loan documents and when we had received the initial loan documents and disclosures. On 1/12/09, we requested the transaction stopped but were met with extreme resistance and had already been charged fees that we had not authorized.