Unlock

We're both on Social Security so we don't qualify for a home equity loan. But getting the equity agreement through Unlock was very simple. We could get the approval without payments and interest. There was no hassle. We were trying to determine what amount of money we wanted to pull out of equity based on a number of projects we wanted to do at the house. That caused a delay. They were rushing me but I wasn't ready yet. But they were flexible and they finally said, “Okay. Let us know when you're ready.” That was good. My rep Allison was very friendly and easygoing. I felt very comfortable throughout the process. All the questions they asked were answered and they didn't drag their feet.

The communication was good. It was either through text or a phone call or email. And Unlock walks us through step-by-step every phase of the loan application. I put in my information. I was connected with the representative for the loan, and it was the same person. That was nice. And he handled everything up through getting the appraisal schedules.

We wanted to keep the house, and Unlock was the only company that guaranteed would be able to do that. Once we had the appraisal, the process was quick. It took a week before we were ready to close. Our rep was very responsive. Whenever he had updates, he was very proactive in reaching out. It was a smooth experience. It was easy to deal with Unlock. They were very transparent about the whole process.

Working with the rep was fine until I needed to jump through a few more hoops to get the payment approved. I needed a signed letter from a judge and the payment had to be sent to my husband's lawyer's office as opposed to being given to me directly. That delayed things. My husband didn't have to move out until 30 days after he got the money then they gave me some funds, but they didn't want to give the majority of the funds to me to pay him out. That was a little frustrating.

The application process was simple and easy. The rep was really helpful and she explained it thoroughly to me. She returned calls the day after I would email or text her. It was a pleasant experience. Working with them has helped. If you need some capital and you don't have any other way of going about it conventional banking-wise, Unlock a good way to get some equity out of a property with a lot less hassle. I don't recall doing any bank statements or the regular banking hurdles they require you to get over to refinance or take equity out. That was pleasing. I had the equity and it's easy to get access to it.

Unlock is good. I like the availability for them to communicate. It'd be better if they ask for all documents upfront though. The process took a little longer than normal because of that.

The initial person I spoke with was very informative, patient and he answered all my questions. But the follow up was not as smooth because I was unfamiliar with the new person coming on. She didn't think to know everything that was going on. The application process took almost 2 months. Because I was familiar with DocuSign and a lot of the other application things they did, that part wasn't as stressful. But when I had a questions, the response wasn't immediate. The length of time that it took could have been a lot shorter. The transitioning made me a little uncomfortable. But the overall goal was a success.

The process to get equity was smooth. It was simple as long as you have the access to convert your documents to a PDF. All they needed was mortgage statements. They got the appraisal done and the money was in my account when they said it would be. The only thing is to take out 80 and owe 170 is bogus. But I'll deal with that when the time comes. 10 years doesn't warrant 110%. Other than that, my rep was a sweetheart and she was very helpful. I was impressed by the questions she was asking. She asked me questions about what mattered right then and she was on top of things. When I reached out to her, she was very quick to respond. So, in general, it was a good experience.

Unlock was doing six weeks while the other ones were six months with their service. During the process, there was a little bit of a bump in the road. It was on a Friday that we had an approval quote. The lady that was supposed to get it submitted to underwriting didn't do it until Monday. During that weekend and that following day, they changed the rates for whatever reason and we ended up paying more in interest because of that. It was a substantial amount. We got upset and asked for a new associate. We didn't wanna deal with the lady anymore because she blatantly dropped the ball. We were jumping through hoops to get all the information that she wanted to get it going. We had the paperwork that needed to be submitted by Thursday. But it ended up biting us in the butt anyway and that left a bad taste in our mouths.

When I started this process, I found the it to be very pleasant. However, now I am not sure. I have spent the week trying to reach out to three different individuals within the company to determine the status of my file. I hesitate to mention their names because there may be legitimate reasons for them not returning my calls. I am wondering if the company has gone out of business. I wish that someone would return my call so I can determine if I need to use alternatives to my satisfy my financial needs.