AmeriSave Mortgage Reviews

The mortgage industry practices are highly scrutinized. Many mortgage companies have federal civil and federal criminal complaints against them. Individuals such as underwriters can be subjected to federal action if they are careless in approving loans. So it is no mystery that a large percentage of those who have great credit and good sources of income will still be denied.

It only takes one bad mark or one failed inquiry to take you out of the running. I just have to say that my experience was not a cake walk. I expected that my loan may be denied due to a number of rental properties that we own. All in all, it worked out. We closed on time. My wife and I received a great loan at practically no closing cost!

Good luck on whoever you choose to service your loan, but be aware that the game has changed.

On August 29, after I had been constantly asking for status, they informed me the underwriting will not accept the funds. They forced me to take a loan from 401k or personal gifts. AmeriSave VP of Sales Joseph ** has a very poor way of addressing consumer concerns. In fact, he blamed me that I am not interested in loan refinancing. It was because I was upset that the adjustments to my rates were not made. Now, with no fault of mine, they are asking me to pay $500 for doing nothing for me. Instead, I got a disappointing, unsatisfactory service.

I have faxed them every single document and every single detail of my whole life, in order to get my loan go through, for the past 30 days. They asked me to provide closing cost funds, which I did upon their request. And I followed their steps to get the money arranged. Now, they have trouble in accepting the funds. I did not ask them to cancel my loan. They refused to accept the 10,000 dollars that I arranged with my bank for closing cost. And they forced me to roll over this money into loan amount, which I do not want to do. I have spent a lot of time dealing with them. Also, I consider them responsible for $375 plus $8 fees that I have paid them for the loan processing. After I fulfilled all of their conditions and arranged money for closing cost, they declined my loan application. And they threaten me that I should be paying them $500 for cancellation. They cancelled my loan by themselves. I did not ask them to cancel it. I am seeking justice.

We only have 2 cards and we pay them off every month. They just contented that they use a model that is proprietary, thus not easily explainable and that it was a take it or leave it deal. These loan representatives are essentially push paper loan brokers executing on corporate directives to extract more yield from their customers. They can't answer questions that require any thinking, they're not paid to think. Otherwise, they're pleasant folks.

Note: I spent 1 hour with each of the credit reporting agencies to understand their scoring model and why they diverged so much from AmeriSave's. The answer: AmeriSave (and other brokers) have discretion to adjust the credit score for credit applicants without telling them why. The 'why' is simple; sell consumers on a higher rate than initially stated.

I am partially disabled. However, they would not count my disability income payments, which is contrary to The Americans with Disabilities Act. Even still, our income was more than sufficient according to Federal Standards. This should have been a slam dunk deal because my wife and I have credit scores of 800 each. And we have substantial financial resources. So, this have been wrapped up quickly.

AmeriSave will ask unending, arcane questions, spread out over time in an out of sequence manner. They will tell you that the loan approval and closing is imminent and they just need additional information for their records. After providing that inconsequential information, we would wait expecting approval as they wrap up the paperwork. Then, they will come back and ask for more mundane information. It is both frustrating and time consuming to deal with them. Plus, they have substantial staff turn over. So, your point of contact changes, further slowing the process. They are very slow to return phone calls and respond to emails. Amerisave is totally awful and unpredictable to deal with on an important transaction. They will consume vast quantities of your time and they are unprofessional in their conduct. Their low rates are illusionary. They are one of the few national mortgage brokers that is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau. If you are considering Amerisave, you should run away.

I refinanced elsewhere at 4.5%. My payment is $1,370.02 and I got the loan, not feeding Amerisave application fees and credit fees then hearing all their BS. I sent them papers 4 and 5 times until they milked the lock time and I lost my lock. Again, I say, they are shysters!

First, they asked for a credit card number to which they charged an appraisal fee and cost of a credit report review. Those costs were advertised as being included in the closing costs. See later, that they omitted to deduct this prepayment from the closing cost estimates. They asked interminably for bank statements and tax returns and even asked for the same things multiple times after we had sent them. They asked even for explanations of individual deposits as low as $100 which they called "unexplained large deposits". Then they asked for explanations of these in writing signed by the applicant.

All of these they blamed on the underwriter's caution, but I have never ever seen any delaying tactics like this before. They provided settlement statement estimates which were incomprehensible and impossible to determine the bottom line. This made me suspect they were attempting to conceal illegal fees. They omitted to give credit for the prepaid items such as the appraisal. I sent them a spreadsheet showing that they had overstated settlement costs by $2000 due to this and other errors.

As others have reported, they included a whole year's escrow prepayment in the settlement costs which we objected to vehemently. To eliminate this, we paid the property taxes early so that there would be no need to establish a huge escrow. That was a chunk of change out of our bank accounts. Basically, they would never come clean about the bottom line, which I would simply say is "NewLoanAmount - PayoffAmount + Fees - LenderCredit" and should be equal to about $400. I asked them to reconcile the numbers by phone, but they would not talk about it. They simply said all would become clear at closing. I do not buy this as I want to know what I am getting in to somewhat before we get to closing.

All their documents kept coming up with figures between $2000 and $8000, and they would then ask for proof that we could come up with the cash at settlement, which I believe was another subterfuge to continue to delay things until the lock ran out. Then they said we had to pay for multiple lock extensions and the costs would go up - except we had not requested any lock extensions, as their own documentation (and the law) says is required, because we did not believe that rates were heading up any time soon. Their documentation also states, as many lenders do, that if you get the HIGHER of the previously locked rate plus extension fees or the current rate if the rate lock expires (subject to applicable law). I trust that applicable law says this is not legal if you did not request a rate lock extension. If it doesn't, regulators need to get off their fat ** and take care of this.

They also said if we canceled, there would be a $500 cancellation fee which I believe is an illegal attempt at fraud because such a fee was never disclosed in any of the documents that were signed or even in documents that were not signed. Also, the bullying tone of communication from notably Sharon ** is very grating to any consumer as it attempts to dominate and browbeat them into acceptance of anything they say.

My conclusion is that this company is probably a scam and I have kept copies of all documents and email correspondence if any attorney out there thinks that they have transgressed legal business business practices and ants to pursue them. I have three excellent experiences of refinancing within the last three years with Quicken loans, who I can thoroughly recommend, whereas Amerisave is truly the worst company I have ever had the misfortune to deal with. After two months, a loan on acceptable terms is not yet in sight and I have come to the conclusion that they are not in the business of wanting to close on loans.

The home is a large three story Victorian home that has a kitchen, 3/4 bath, living & dining rooms, parlor, and foyer. The second floor has two bedrooms, 3/4 bath, laundry room, and a den. Our third floor has one bedroom, one utility room, 3/4 bath and a large family room with a kitchenette or "wet bar". The kitchenette consists of a small cabinet with a sink and a small refrigerator and is used to store snacks in the family room area so as not to have to go down two flights of stairs to get a cold beverage.

The appraiser called the third floor a "mother-in-law apartment" and was clear to state that it was only useful as a mother-in-law unit because the only entrance to the unit was through the middle of the main house. Even though we and the previous owner (since 1982) had used this house as a single family dwelling, AmeriSave rejected the comparable properties and requested that the appraiser find different comparable homes with accessory units, which he was unable to do. We have been consistently shopping homes in our area for years and can confirm that the appraiser is correct about this one fact – that there just aren't any big old Victorian homes with accessory units in our area (including ours)! In the end, we believe that the staff at AmeriSave just did not believe the appraiser's assessment of the property because there were so many errors.

One major problem that we have with AmeriSave is the lack of a single contact person. Our initial contact was with Neal **. Once Mr. ** got us to give him our credit card number to charge a fee for checking our credit, we were handed off to Senior Loan Processor John **. Mr. ** asked for income and asset documentation, photo ID and tax/insurance documentation for the property and for signatures on all the proper loan documents and disclosures. He also ordered the appraisal and four times sent us an email asking to lock in our interest rate before he could progress (we locked in rates on their online system at least this many times). After the appraisal was received, he also notified us four times by email that there was an updated appraisal.

Around the time that the appraisal was received, we were contacted by Kim ** stating that she was the processor on our loan. One day later, Ms. ** asked for additional documentation requested by the underwriter. The questions were about specific transactions seen on our credit and deposit accounts and also inquiring if the amount of cash needed to close was what we were expecting. This final question was definitely repetitive since the other two contacts had already covered it. All of her inquiries were answered with the proper documentation and she never asked a single question about our property or appraisal.

The day after her last request, we received a notification from John ** stating that there was a new appraisal to download and on that date we were issued a denial of credit based solely on the appraisal. This was mailed by another contact, David **, listed as the Loan Originator. The day after we were notified of the denial, Mr. John ** started sending us solicitations stating, "Mortgage rates have fallen, giving you another opportunity to refinance." Thanks, John!

He explained the $35 preapproval charge (I still don't agree with it, but it was credited back when the loan processing was closed). He explained that appraisal is a third party, nonrefundable fee (I already knew that, and no bank or mortgage company ever refunds appraisals). He also told me that the initial rate and fees from the website were for those who are ready to lock; other than that, it is a tool to check rates while we're waiting to lock. I did what he said, and I was able to lock the next day, but rates had gone up slightly.

Don asked, “Do you want to float the rate or lock at today's rate?” I have chosen to lock. He emailed me the lock confirmation for my records. He explained the $500 fee to cancel once locked. Anytime I called Don, he answered or he called me back right away. I am not sure if Amerisave is changing its practices or if it was just working with Don, but I had no problems. I am already working with him again on a purchase. My advice is to call Don before even starting. He'll answer every question. By the way, I originally went to Chase and they wanted over $2000 more in fees at a rate of .25 percent higher. Can you guess who my loan is being transferred to from Amerisave? Yes, to Chase.

I would need $8000 to close and $2000 more to buy points. So, I have spent $435 to have them try to cheat me out of more than $10,000 that was never talked about until the closing time. They tried to tell me everything would be rolled in the loan and that it would be a cheaper payment, even though I was going from a 30-year loan to 15 years. I feel cheated and violated for paying that much money, and for giving them all of my private information that I now understand some of it were not needed.

(1) Missing co-applicant in the application form for two times (at least the application were rejected two times for this same reason!)

(2) Repeatedly asking for the documents (several of them) for multiple times. When his job was taken over by a co-worker Stacy **, some documents submitted earlier were totally missing in Amerisave file system.

(3) Not responsive to my questions as a representative of my loan. Mostly avoiding answer questions to the point.

(4) So far, the reasons from the underwriter to turn down my loan application are completely due to human errors, delay of process, and misrepresentation. I am not aware of any requirements to obtain a 3.625% rate mortgage in October can disqualify my application. No one reason so far is due to my qualification! But as of now, the rate has risen to 3.875% APR and its going up higher and higher and I still did not get my loan even locked in rate! This is a ridiculous processing game Amerisave has played with me! (I am not a first time home purchaser, nor a first time refinancer. I have never seen such an inefficient process ever. Nor do I even consider working with Amerisave mortgage forever. )

(5) I have thousands of dollars of lost in accountable measure and more unaccountable mental/spiritual/life losses that need to be compensated.

I told him that in the disclosures, it says that I have the option of choosing a different rate with lower fees. There he stopped talking to me and about a month later, he came pretending that everything was okay. He wanted to close the deal. Now I am out of $385.00. I can't believe that they are ripping people off so easily and there is no place to turn.

By 1:30 pm, because no one had called back, I emailed their customer service department who replied that my loan processor was Keith ****. How am I supposed to know that if after filling the application, the system assigned me to Theodore? After that, I contacted Keith **** on October 2, 2010 and I reiterated that we were looking to refinance for $170,000 for a 30 years fixed at the lowest possible cost with a minimal closing cost. He didn't bother to email back so I contacted him again on October 5, 2010.

On October 27, 2010, Keith **** emailed us to let us know that we needed to send more documents. When I looked at the disclosures sent by him, I found the application to be incorrect. It stated that we were applying for a refinance loan of $160,000 and we’re seeking $15,477.57 cash as well. I emailed him to make him aware about the mistakes. From his response, it sounded that we had filled our application incorrectly. I emailed him a copy of my initial application and the application he had sent me for review prepared by Dustin **** and explained to him that I had highlighted the fields that didn't match.

Having not gotten any response, I emailed Keith **** again on October 29, 2010 to ask if any decision about our file had been made. I was very shocked by the response I got from him because our home was valued at less at what we had paid for when we bought it. We were expected to bring in $10,000 at the closing for Amerisave to process our loan application. This is a joke. On October 29, 2010, I went to their website to get a rate quote and entered all the information: amount needed value of the home, loan terms, credit score and it gave me again a great rate quote, never saying anywhere that the loan to value ratio was too high. They just lure you to fill out their application and enter your credit card number so they can charge you for credit check and appraisal and then check if they can really lend you a mortgage or not.

Now Amerisave cannot refinance us, they charged us $335 for nothing and on top of that because they requested a credit history, our score has decreased. I emailed Carol ***, their CEO but haven't heard anything. I contacted the BBB and their response was that I didn't fill out the application correctly. They are just thieves. It is because of lenders like them that the housing bubble occurred.

They also show the cost breakdown of a "Good Faith Estimate" so that you see how the credit they are applying will cause your closing cost to be almost nothing. I was also locked in with a rate of 4.125% for a 30 year fixed loan no points. I had to rush and send Amerisave last 2 years of my federal tax returns (in full), 2 pay stubs, last 2 years w2, mortgage statement, photo ID, and bank account information. All this to get the lock in.

I was also asked for a credit card # to charge the appraisal fee of $375.00. An appraisal came to my house and estimated the value to be 750K. I was refinancing for 320K. Amerisave charge my credit card for another $30 for a credit report, which they claimed it would be credited at closing. This all happened within the first week. For almost 2 months nothing happened.

I kept calling to find out what was the delay and always with some story. But always sending me form that they needed signed to move the loan forward. At the end of October, they let me know that it was with the underwriter and it would be quick. Finally, in early November Amerisave told me the loan was approved if I sent them more information, my mortgage statement, 2 year of Federal tax return again, pay stubs, insurance information, picture Id of wife, letters stating how I was going to use the cash-out. All done.

Now I received their 1003 loan estimates, which made no sense to me and I make changes to the amounts and asked them to correct it. I get another 1003 form and again many items are work, including all the closing cost estimates. It include stuff that I never heard of like county Taxes escrow in addition to property taxes, the had all these other closing cost figures which I still do not understand. The amount to pay the off my original loan was wrong. Even after I got the current balance of the loan and sent to them they added another 3K to the payoff amount. In total, there was about 13K in hidden or fraud closing cost on top of the so-called credit they gave of 1,193.00.

During this time, I kept asking Amerisave to send me the HUD or a clear breakdown of these costs. They kept telling me not to worry, the HUD form I would receive will cover and explain everything. My closing was scheduled for 11/10 and I received the HUD settlement breakdown 4:45PM, which when I read it it still had all the fraud cost. I tried calling to cancel the closing, sent emails but no one from Amerisave called. Later tonight, some called me to confirm the closing, which stated to them I have to cancel. What a sad ride I've been through.

It cost me $405.00. I trusted Amerisave with all my personal information. This has caused me and my family a lot of stress,not getting the 30 year fixed loan with no points at 4.125% will now cost me at least $50,000 more even if I attempt to refinance now, because rates have gone up. I feel humiliated, depressed and angry. I would hope others will read this and not do any business with Amerisave. They should be shut down.

10/11 I spoke with Kathryn and pointed out the errors. She was unable to explain why the error were made but said to go ahead and sign them that they would not affect any aspect of my loan application. I signed them. 10/12 my house was appraised by Shari Horn

10/13 The appraisal came in at $250K. I was shocked. Paid 300K 5/05 and have put another 40K into it. I questioned the appraisal/appraiser and they wouldn't move on the appraisal. Because the Appraisal came in below 80% LTV I was told I had to escrow my insurance and by 1 year of PMI of 7K.

I tried for several days to get Kathryn to call me via email and phone requests to discuss the loan and find out what I needed to do next if anything.

10/25 Kathryn finally called. We discussed the loan and I specifically asked her to reassure me that I was still locked in at my original rate of 3.25. She said just a minute and came back and said yes I was.

10/26 Kathryn called and asked if I read her email that she sent after our conversation. I said no. She said well unfortunately I was not locked in. Adn if I wanted to lock in that day at the same rate the lender fees would be ~$1960.00. $1300 more than what I was told I was locked into during my original conversation 10/8.

After a long discussion that went no where, I asked to speak to her supervisor. Her supervisor Darla ** called later that day and said I had never locked in and that by electronically signing my papers, I agreed to float the loan. I explained to her that I was never informed of that. I told her that I had a type "A" personality and if I would have known the loan was going to float, I would have locked in when I applied which I thought I had. Darla walked me through the "lock-in" process and told me she would take $300 off my lending fees if I wanted to proceed with the application. I said please proceed.

On 11/3, while checking the rates and fees, I locked in to a 3.375% 10 year fixed loan for $200,000. I was going to pay the balance of my mortgage at closing (~$7,000) to get to 80% LTV and avoid having to pay the escrow and the PMI. I phoned both Kathryn ** and Darla ** and informed them of my lock online. I also emailed Kathryn and asked her to call me and confirm she got the lock notice. In the early afternoon, Kathryn sent me a long email stating that when she submitted my appraisal for review to "core logic". They re-reviewed my appraisal 3 times and came back with an appraised value for my house at $200,000. And that I no longer could qualify for my mortgage unless I could come up with the cash to get the loan value to $190,000 and that I would also be required to escrow and pay PMI. The only other possibility was to go to FHA.

I immediately called Kathryn and I questioned her and their AmeriSave integrity. They had lied to me on several occasions and led me to believe the loan was complete and was in the process to close. I asked Kathryn to have Darla call me. I asked her not to do anything with the loan application until I spoke with Darla. I also called Darla and asked her to call me back. I also emailed Kathryn and asked her to have Darla call me. There has been no return calls to me.

I then discussed my current loan which was a 4.5% FRM. I told her I will proceed only if I get a better deal which is a no cost, no original fee loan which has a better interest rate. She said to watch for the rates. After 2 weeks, their website was offering 4.25 30-year FRM at 4.25 for no closing costs and no points. I immediately loved the loan, however the GFE that I received later was completely different. It had FRM at 4.5 with a $2000 closing cost. I immediately emailed Daphne and called her as well and let her know to cancel the loan as the GFE was not what we agreed on. This is a classic bait-and-switch company. She said okay.

A few days later, an appraiser showed up at our house and did a appraisal, I was at work and my wife let him in, not knowing he was from AmeriSave. I had applied for refinance with another company as well and we were expecting an appraiser from that company. A week or so later, I got a $400 credit card charge for appraisal which I never ordered. I had specifically canceled the loan process by sending emails and voice mails.

I disputed the CC transaction and I got a credit. Now after 6 weeks, I got a response saying I am charged $400 because I initiated the loan process. There is no document which I signed authorizing the appraisal. I am in the process of getting the paperwork from the CC company. In summary, this is the most dishonest company I had dealt with in my 20 years here in the US. I need to contact the Better Business Bureau in Georgia. Again I am writing this so that others are forewarned.

It was a classic bait & switch. Note that my wife's and my credit scores are excellent. I'm sure they would ordinarily be able to claim the rates went up a bit because the credit scores were less than stellar. Not this time. Moving forward, they touted (via voice recording) their on-time-closing guarantee wherein they promised to pay me $1000 if they failed to close on time. That is what really suckered me in, as I wanted someone who took closing on time seriously. Note that no human at Amerisave even knew I existed yet.

Amerisave uses automated systems to do the bait & switch, get me to jump through all of the hoops & pay for an appraisal up front, so I'm invested in it before they start reneging. To make a long story short, their underwriter was just not ready to close, so they start throwing frivolous demands at me for the purpose of stalling (example: tax returns for my business for years that it didn't exist; insurance documents for an unrelated property, to show that it had no lien on it, even though the type of insurance policy would not show a lien holder under any circumstance.

A letter from my CPA stating that using $60k of my ~$300k in cash reserves for a down payment on the property would not put me in financial jeopardy; then making him do it over again, for a higher amount and to include his license number on it something that nobody has asked him for in 30 years also. Note that the amount I had to bring to closing was less than the amount on his original letter they were just volleying the ball back into my court to stall). I jumped though every one of their hoops and met their frivolous demands quickly, even after it became painfully obvious that they were just stalling for time.

The closing date came and went. They kept allowing me to believe that we would close the very next day, only to come up with a new twist or another frivolous demand at the last instant. Eventually, they just stopped even bothering to come up with new excuses, and began stonewalling. It became painfully obvious that they scheduled too many loans in too short a time for them to be able to do them all as promised.

After a week of their stalling past the scheduled closing date, my wife had to go back to work out of state, so we needed to do a specific limited power of attorney in order to close. This is a very common practice, and the Title Company provided their standard form, which we filled out and had notarized. Amerisave used that as an excuse for further stalling, saying the Title Company's form wasn't acceptable, but also refusing to provide one that was, or even committing to any specific date at which time they would agree to provide their own form (note that we shouldn't have even needed a form, as my wife was home for the entire week after the scheduled Monday closing).

Bottom line: They jerked us around for two weeks beyond the scheduled closing date before they were suddenly ready to close (maybe they were waiting for their rates to drop a little, or they had to wait for funding). They did not provide the $1000 compensation for the late closing per their guarantee and they have blown me off and each time I have inquired about that liability since then.They run a great scam. They invest nothing until the mark has invested too much to quit on them, then they introduce the screwing a little bit at a time, instead of all at once like slowly boiling the frog in the pot instead of dropping him into it.

Another week passed with no status update. Finally, after two and one half weeks on a Saturday, I get an email that my loan was denied because of incomplete credit application. The following Monday, Larry ** emails me and tells me that my loan was not approved because of my debt to income ratio. I am livid because I believe that my loan was not approved because my credit application was incomplete as per my "official" denial from Amerisave.

I believe that Larry ** did not want to deal with a complicated loan file and told me that the debt to income ratio was bad just to get rid of my file. I spent today calling Larry ** and his supervisor Joseph ** and no one will return my call. I believe that Larry ** did not want to deal with a complicated loan file and told me that the debt to income ratio was bad just to get rid of my file. I spent today calling Larry ** and his supervisor Joseph ** and no one will return my call. I am now going to pursue this to a federal regulatory agency since I am fully aware that they must disclose the reason for the denial and I have two different reasons.

After waiting for 10 days, he sent me an email saying my application was also denied the second time due to 'too high debt to income ratio'. I was confused and I did my number. My DTI is still within the 29% for mortgage only and less than 40% combined with tax/insurance. I asked him to send a letter to the UW to reconsider which he said 'there is not much I can do". To confirm my calculation, I have asked QuickenLoan to do the automated Underwriting to calculate my DTI (Debt to Income) ratio and it was approved. I have an excellent credit score and my property has less than 80% LTV. With enough DTI, I should be qualified to get the refinancing. It seems to me, Amerisave is a scam corporation. They might not be able to find investor to find the mortgage based on their promised interest, perhaps? Or perhaps they are in the business in getting $35 credit and $325 appraisal money? Who knows, but definitely one is for sure: They will find ways to decline your application.

You think to yourself, "Why would I want to cancel a great deal like this? And you click, ooops. Now, you are really hooked in and believe (wrongly) that it can't get worse. But believe me, it does. Remember that great rate? No matter what your credit (I was an 800 score) salary (I earn $550,000 a year) or assets (I have $2 million in stocks and the bank) your "lock rate" will turn out to be adjusted up, up, up (for those who have read this far, I had only an 80% loan to value mortgage.). My interest rate jumped by .75 and my points trebled! I can't believe Bankrate.com allows them to advertise on their site! I am so frustrated. These people must be indicted.

Amerisave's email ended conversations providing no other options, including no returned phone calls or emails, on next steps. Then, we received an email a month later from Amerisave saying we didn't complete the credit application and were denied because of that. I reported the company to State Financial Regulatory agencies. Avoid this company like the plague.

He also said the $35 credit application fee was fully refundable. He told me I had to lock in my rate to get my appraisal started and the first part was the credit application. I went online and paid my $35. The VA funding fees on the exact same loan shot up to $3,432. Naturally, I printed the sheet out. Next, everyone I talked to at Amerisave told me they are always that high. Why? The rates that day were about 3.20%, so a 4% rate wasn't something I was buying down. Anyway, if they are always that high, why weren't they before I put my money in? I sent several emails and left voicemails for the guy I'd been talking to and got ignored. Finally, I emailed and told him I was out and to refund my money. The guy acted like I was getting a deal and emailed that I was dropping 3% off my rate! For the second time, he didn't even know whose loan he was talking about. I was only dropping 1%!

Why would I add nearly $4,000 back onto my loan just to reduce my payment by $160/month? I would be adding almost a year of additional payments just to get back to where I started! That's not a deal! I told him again that I was done and wanted my money back. Then I found out the $35 credit application fee that was "fully refundable" is only refundable if you close on a loan. In other words, they screwed me out of $35 by misleading me with fake rates at the outset. I wouldn't trust this company. I'll bet they rake in $35 a lot with those fake numbers.

He said the credit agencies get the money for your credit report, but we all know you can buy your credit report with your rating on it for $8. I'm so angry because I kept asking questions and Kyle kept not really answering them, but talking around them. I was kind of suspicious, but figured I would try to make it work. Amerisave managed to take advantage of a single mom for $35. They should be ashamed of themselves, but I can promise you they aren't.

I was telling some of my co-workers about it because I was so excited that it was working out great, only to come home to a voicemail saying please call me there is a slight problem. So I immediately called and he explained that my debt to income ratio was too high and that I would need to pay off some of my other debt before being eligible for this loan. Not having to finance a home in over 14 years did I once think about my debt to income ratio, nor is it mentioned in their documents, nor does their loan officer remind you this may prevent you from qualifying.

There must be some mistake. His response to me was, "Well, doesn’t your company ever make mistakes?” Well, of course we all do, and so does the company I work for. The difference in my company and Amerisave is if we made the mistake or we mislead the customer into believing all is well, we refund the customer their costs and may even offer customer satisfaction if we have created a hardship for the customer.

My company is about taking care of its customers and customer retention. My company wants to keep its customers business, not chase them to the internet to post negative things about them. My loan officer then advised me his boss was the one who told him that this was the problem. So I asked if I could speak to his boss. He said sure let me give you his number. I asked if he couldn’t just transfer me because I had already read that their management team will not return phone calls or answer emails.

Let's see, easy and straightforward.

Then why didn’t someone tell me wait before you start the loan process and let’s see if your debt to income ratio is in line? I checked on the internet to see how it's done. I'm no financial wizard, but it only took me a few minutes to check it and I didn’t need a credit report or appraisal for that. Hmm? Then they boast about how you can do this online in minutes. Okay, I'll buy that but some of the stuff you have to read, you need a financial interpreter to help you understand. So much for the easy and "in minutes."

Then there's the thing about technology shopping in seconds. Why did my loan officer tell me this was the waiting game part of it and it will take four to six weeks but the very next day I get a denial? I might not be the brightest crayon in the box, but I do know when someone's ** me. My employees know their job and know how to explain situations when they go wrong and if the customer isn’t happy with the answer they send it up the chain to me.

If my employee mislead someone or advised them incorrectly, then I coach them so that it doesn’t happen again. From what I see, this company doesn’t learn from its mistakes. Doesn’t learn from consumer complaints and is just waiting for the next individual to come along and read the information on their site giving the impression: We Are All About Helping You. Don’t get me wrong, my loan officer was a real friendly person and seemed to know what he was talking about when he advised me what I needed to do. But when he advised me there was a problem with my income to debt ratio, his solution was to take a larger loan out and for a longer term to pay off my truck that will be paid off in a year.

I was simply looking for a 10-year fixed loan so that I could pay off my house in no more than 10 years due to medical problems that are progressing. While I'm still able to work this sounded like a great opportunity, but it is very misleading. So if you don’t know anything about refinancing or getting a mortgage, I recommend you find someone well experienced or well versed in it. My loan adviser promptly told me I could not get my money back. He dade no mention of a cancellation fee, but I'm sure if I ever speak to his supervisor that will be my next complaint. Amerisave, if you are reading these, it might behoove you to monitor your sessions and educate your consumers before allowing them to go into more debt. Because believe it or not, it will come back to haunt you one day. Just look at some of the banks that created our economic state we're in. This could be you next. Consumers: don’t buy into “it's easy, it's simple and you'll get a really great reduce rate with this company's help.”

I'm out $385.00 for now, but how much more is it going to cost me? What happens if I don’t cancel? They have my credit card number, but the only approved charge should be for the $35 credit report and the $350 appraisal.

They are very slow to respond and though they demand all kinds of stuff. I know that mortgage lenders are getting tougher, but this is incredible. BTW, I'm refinancing a mortgage that I had with Wells Fargo from 2 years ago (when I thought it was much harder to get a loan) but these guys are much worse. I've probably gotten over a dozen home mortgages over the last 20 years and these guys are easily the worst and now I'm out the appraisal and who knows what else.

Than it was we need more docs, rental agreements and a copy of 2008 w2. the program than froze again, you have to do this all thru email an online as they do not answer the phones. Again he went missing and nothing till I called and emailed over and over on Sept 30, by this time very annoyed, I get an email from a Rebeccah ** that She reviewed my application last night and have been turned down because of loan to debt. yet remember they never took into consideration that my units that I own are rented or rentable.Now I have read this site and went oh boy,,,, I wasted almost a month speaking with this company, does anyone care, is any one watching this company, this is absolutely not right.this was written to me on Sept 9

I had a Senior Mortgage Consultant whose name was Robbin **, who provided close to zero assistance in processing my application. I spent two weeks unable to get logged into their online system to check my loan and sign papers because their system did not recognize my Qwest email account which is simply @q.com.

After a dozen calls to Robbin ** and to the customer service line, I was fortunate to be connected to the only competent and honest person in the company. Cynthia ** who was a delight to talk to and competent enough to figure out the problem was as simple as using an alternate email address.

Finally, on September 13th, I was able to log in and sign the mandatory documents, in the interim I had provided them 100% of the documents they required from me. The appraisal was conducted and came in well beyond what is owed on the house, over $200,000 in equity.

On Tuesday, September 21st, Ms. ** called me to tell me that all of the requirements had been met and that the loan was being transferred to Underwriting. Then on Thursday at 0803, I received two emails one from Ms. ** with a link to my appraisal and one from her supervisor Todd ** telling me the loan was declined due to Credit Application Incomplete.

I then tried calling both Ms. ** and Mr. ** four to five times each and sent them both several emails asking for a call back to advise me on what had gone wrong from Tuesday when Ms. ** advised me that all of the documentation was complete and was being transferred to Underwriting and Thursday when the loan was declined.

After 5 days, I have not received a phone call or an email back from either of them. They are truly a classless and dishonest company. My advice is to avoid Amerisave like the plague; all they are doing is collecting the credit report and appraisal funds and then dropping your application. What a disgrace.

He said he would Have Teresa ** call me and get the application going. Teresa ** did not call me, but responded to an email saying: "There is a debt to income issue. Therefore, they sent the file back to me. I am trying to work it out. I will be working on your file this weekend to see what I can do with DTI issue. As soon as I do, I will have the file reinstated. I will call you Monday." I have not been able to get either her or Michael ** to contact me since that email on the 18th of September, despite numerous emails. I left a message for each, but again, cannot get anyone to contact me. There is no change in my income or debt since the loan process started. So, I don't see how I can be denied based on that.

Why are they waiting until now to tell us we haven't signed it. We basically have no only $9000 left on a new car and owe no one anything. I have never been so frustrated in dealing with a bank or mortgage company. Their customer service is the worst. I have given them every chance. They obviously do not operate from a location where there is any management to talk with. They apparently all operate out of their individual homes. They are a joke!

Another red flag was discovered in Amerisave's loan disclosure document that describes how a "teaser" rate may be reserved during the loan application process while the loan application is being approved and closed. At this point of the disclosure, then, despite being told verbally that the rate for which I applied had been locked, it states in writing that the rates and terms are subject to change.

Red flag #3 -- Despite dutifully submitting all of the paperwork electronically, by Fax and by FedEx, my Amerisave online account kept showing that they still needed these items. I informed Jeffrey ** of this and he stated that the web site was slow at updating and that they actually had everything they needed. Eventually, however, my loan was denied on the grounds that my credit application was incomplete. I won't refute this with them because I refuse to subject myself further to them. Red flag #4 -- weeks had passed and I had not heard from anyone at Amerisave.

I sent e-mails and left phone message with Mr. Jeffrey, which went unanswered. I only wanted to know the status of my loan application. More than 60 days had passed since my initial application, and Mr. Jeffrey had said that we could close in 45 days. The stress from waiting and wondering what this company was up to was horrible.

I email and call back to explain that it may take 45 days to get my credit report fixed but no one responds. I also ask how they want my other documents, no response. Yet every single day, I get emails for them asking me for things and acting like I need to hurry because my rate is changing. Yet they do not call back or reply to my emails. Talk about mixed messages. They are just about getting your credit card info so they can charge it. Stay away!

I cannot get a response from anyone on the status of my loan. They send questionnaires asking for my opinion of their service, to which I responded terribly. Despite numerous request for an update on my loan status, I have not had a response from Amerisave for three weeks. Now rates are going up and I have no idea if the rate I locked with Amerisave is even available.

They keep saying they could not confirm the rate I was looking at on their website. I provided a snapshot of their rate and fees and they finally agreed, but they would never confirm the new rate and fees. I am into this loan 35 days with the rate lock and no communication for 2.5 weeks. They then requested 2 years of tax returns, which I had provided 4 weeks previous. They stated the previous returns were password protected and were not acceptable. I advised they were given the password previously. They then wanted a signature. I signed the signature page and resent via email. I asked to release my rate as the rates had dropped and by their policy, the rate cannot lock until all the paperwork was completed; they refused.

A week later, my loan was denied due to high debt to income ratio. My loan was only a refinance with no cash back, 40% loan to value. A credit of $800, no debt, income to debt ratio of under 27% including the refinance. It’s crazy. I have made multiple calls to their supervisor and loan representatives with no return calls. It has been a week. I want an explanation. This appears to be fraud in many ways. I was charged for appraisal without consent and was charged higher fees and rates than are shown on their website; no basis for not approving the loan and no communication by the loan service or supervisor. Beware.

The Amerisave site states that many of its loans close within 10 days, and essentially all close within 30 days. Even though my loan processor, Jeff **, represented that he "could lock the rate at any time" for me, and despite my specific requests to lock the rate on August 12th - as well as repeated requests to Jeff to do so after that date, nothing was done. I was also promised a no-cost loan. I escalated the matter to his manager Dustin ** on August 27th after having waited 25 days for my application to be processed. Rather than reply, Dustin sent an email 2 days later denying the loan based on an "incomplete credit application.” I asked for an explanation, and received none. In my view, my application was complete; this non-specific and unsubstantiated reason for credit denial was without merit. I escalated the request to Mr. Mark **, Chief Credit Officer and Ms. Carol **, President of Operations. I did not even receive the courtesy of a reply from either of them.

Due to Amerisave's delays and unprofessional conduct, I now have to restart the loan application process, and may have to pay substantial fees and a higher rate. I have lost $435. In fees already paid to Amerisave. Since Amerisave refused to respond to my requests for clarification, it was impossible to resolve the problems note above. This very poor customer service is unprofessional, unacceptable, and appears to be in deliberate bad faith.

I explained that we pay our property taxes and we do not want an impound account. I am being told it is the "law" but of course, they can not tell me what "law" this is. I contacted our Credit Union and asked about this "law" and they said when they refinance a mortgage, they would only request payment of property taxes if the loan was closing at the end of November. The fact that the amount is different from our tax bill is an issue that they just can't answer. I would never deal with this company again. I should have never contacted this company.

AmeriSave just have a third party put some wrong information as estimate and add another 15% on top of that. When I verify with the sheriff's office and confirm, the information was all wrong; AmeriSave refused to correct the mistakes. A person titling herself as "national sales manager" put this in email as response: "Per RESPA law, we have to go with these dates and numbers.” Does RESPA law say you need to go with information you already know is wrong? I need AmeriSave to get their hands off my tax matter that is 4 full months away. I'm waiting for corrections before closing could happen.

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.