It was time, time for me to take control of my life. It was time to get a little healthier…but dropping a dress size or eating more greens was not the priority. I was after financial wellness.
Early last September we opted to refinance. It would be silly not to. We have a few kids, one in college and two in the pipeline. We’re rooted and settled in one of the highest taxed counties in the nation. That wasn’t in the plan, it’s just happens to be where we landed years ago. We would like to stay put for our children’s sake, and I happen to love New Jersey, but we need to find ways to curb our out of pocket and improve our savings.
In NJ there is no decent in-state college incentive or aid for the average Jo family. Few good programs exist that will give a student seeking higher education, cause to stick around. In-state tuitions are consistent to those our kids can secure out of state, and, they’re mighty exorbitant. Why New Jersey does not formulate programs similar to those offered to residents from, for example, Virginia or Texas, is beyond me. I’ll volunteer for that review committee, just sign me up.
We are the average household give or take. We work hard and value every dollar. Some years back, with the cost of day care, gas and other factors considered, it financially made sense for me to leave a good job and stay home with our kids. This choice was a blessing for all that family represents. Still, finances change. The big picture really begins to kick in when a child heads off to college and retirement is no longer this place far off in the distance. At least that was the catalyst for us. I sought to re-enter the job market amid a recession. What a nightmare that was. Like a car, my value depreciated significantly in the five years I chose family over corporate. To employers I had the exterior of a 1971 Ford Pinto. If they only opened the hood they would have seen a strong, reliable 2012 Audi TT engine.
It took some time but once again we’re a two income household. We value every penny that goes in and out which is why reducing our mortgage rate and long term exposure, made perfect sense. One easy step in the pursuit of wellness.
We called around, reviewed options and ultimately decided to utilize our current bank and mortgage holder, WF. They promised an easy streamlined process. The rate extended was decent. I was told 60-90 days, worst case. All of our ducks were in a row, we were deemed a good risk for WF and the process commenced. We forecasted and made financial decisions against the closing period promised by our bank. We were the 2nd party of this good faith agreement and had no cause to expect anything less than excellent service.
It’s likely, were I to read through every last page of documentation received from WF, that I would come upon the following disclaimer, in very small print;
‘Though we endeavor to close by a certain period we are by no means legally or ethically committed to do so. Furthermore, it is very likely that you will incur delays in closing that will result in your doing double work. You will be asked to clarify various deposits and withdrawals that have been made on behalf of your son’s college tuition. You will be asked to explain what a 529 plan is, make copies of checks and statements related to said savings plan even though the transaction was not expansive and has zero to do with your refinance. Due to our extensive delays you will be asked to secure certain documentation from your insurance provider that we know no insurance provider gives out. Our client care representative will even state those words. In the event your excellent insurance provider, NJM amidst dealing with Hurricane Sandy claims and chaos, bends over backwards to accommodate our ridiculous request, we’ll accept this documentation after much back and forth. Though we’ll have now passed our worst case ‘days to close’ estimate, and you’ve jumped through hoops for us multiple times, we will still drag our feet on your refinance. Though our delays have now resulted in your paying higher interest on your existing loan for X# of weeks, we will not credit the difference in consideration of our internal fall down nor will we make your loan retroactive. Additionally, though half of a year has gone by and interest rates have dropped, we will not consider your request to revise your rate to be consistent with lower levels available today. However, should you insist, we will offer a lower rate subject to your re-starting the entire loan process. What’s 6 months of your life? If you choose this option you will be required to pay for another appraisal and then some. Due to housing trends the newly appraised value of your home may result in a value to loan ratio that disqualifies you from gaining a refinance with our establishment. Wouldn’t that be a hoot? Also, during this process you will continue to pay our bank the current and far more profitable rates set in your existing WF mortgage. Our financial institution is not after your financial well-being; we’re after the most lucrative yields for our bank. Our intent is to secure as many clients as possible, lock them in, even if we do not have the man power to support and process their business timely. To the extent that you deem our handling of your loan as inept, frustrating and lacking customer focus, we will push things over the top. When we finally grant you a closing date, though we promised nothing due at close, which was a contingency of yours, dear borrower, as a result of our extensive delays we will now request that thousands of dollars in certified funds be handed over to us in order to close the deal. By the way, we’ll ask for this a week or so after the holidays when your bank accounts are no doubt lighter than usual.
Thank you for banking at WF
I understand that the grass is not always greener and that the policies maintained by WF may be synonymous with many banks across the country. Being part of the majority does not make it right. These are unfair practices, unethical in my opinion and this experience got me wondering. Which loans are being processed first? Is it the gentleman’s loan who also carries high yielding money markets and a far larger portfolio? Are customers who are new to the bank getting preferential treatment? Why rush along a refinance from an existing customer when you can continue to earn monies against their higher rate in the interim? These are speculations, of course, but I wonder what an audit would show regarding timelines and prioritization.
There was no customer focus, simply a series of black and white sop’s that were followed regardless of what circumstances or hiccups arose and none of the glitches that did come up were borne by customer error. A good business is run when words like personable, accountable and care, are not merely bold faced directives appearing on some mission statement. These words and mindset need to be implemented. Representatives of these establishments need to be given the freedom to advocate, edit and produce on behalf of their customer. Financial institutions must to be reminded that the pennies they are dealing with, and the policies they put in place to manage these pennies, whether they equate to accounts balances of $200.00 to $200,000.00 are attached to people and families. By no means should they make poor business decisions, our economy suffered enough of that already, but by all means they should treat each customer in the singular.
Obviously, we’re looking for a new, solid, customer focused banking institution. I plan to put a dollar in a cup for each day of my search. I won’t be richer but I’ll probably have $365 saved by 2014.
Cricklewood Gardens 