Complaint Review: Accredited Home Lenders Inc. - San Diego California

I currently have a mortgage with this company at the tune of $1200 per month because of the arm being a variable, but this was not explained correctly. Then you see that this is a little too high, so you call to see about getting a loan modification. While this procedure is being determined, they do the modification based on your gross pay instead of your net pay and only drop the payments by $124.00 per month. Now one of the owners loses their job and attempts to explain this to customer service since being laid off. The rude staff continue to state that they have looked over your paystubs and that you can afford the house. The staff also tells you that if you can't afford the house then sell it. In the meantime, you end up in Pre-Foreclosure status because the staff and company don't really care that you lost your job because they will inform you that you are not looking hard enough. If you are not down graded enough, because you are in pre-foreclosure, they send a company out by the name of CBCInnovis to pull into your driveway, take pictures of the hours and peep through your windows to see if the house is still occupied. This is such an invansion of privacy it ain't funny. And if you pull into the driveway and find them there, they will quickly try to pull out and do major property damage to your car. Or if you come out to protect your property, you will also be in the wrong according to Accredited. Of course the loss mitigation staff will deny that they had anything to do with this because it supposedly comes from an attornies office in Pa although the notice of intent to foreclose comes from Dallas, TX.

I have seen a lot of people complain about Accredited Home Lenders and thought I would chime in with my opinion. I purchased a condo in Feburary of last year. My broker parked me with Accredited with the following explaination...i requested that he find me something that had no PMI requirement, even if the interest rate was a bit higher. He VERY clearly explained the terms to me. I even told him that I could pay more monthly than what the mortgage payment came to. He said no, I would be better off make darn sure that that payment was on time, everytime. I also was totally aware that Accredited would sell the servicing to this mortgage almost immediatly and sure enough they did. My experience, I think shows that you should not get into a mortgage unless you have done your research, have a broker you can trust, have some money down (that always makes shaky credit a little less relevant) and READ, READ, READ!!!! EVERYTHING you are shown to sign and keep copies and above all MAKE YOUR PAYMENT ON TIME!!!!!!!!! Accredited and other companies like this write mortgages to people like me, who through being young and stupid have messed up our credit. I have worked long and hard to improve my creditworthiness and Accredited gave my the chance to prove that I have grown up and can handle it. Sure I pay a higher interest rate, but folks...that is the cost for having lousy credit. I know that i can refinance to much more attractive terms soon and will always appreciate the chance that Accredited took to let me own my first home !!

Im a former employee with Home Funds Direct and even though I'm not there anymore I still feel like that company is my 2nd family. If it wasn't for family reasons I would still be with this company. Now I'm a broker, and Accredited is just as competitive as any other lender out there for b and c loans. Just like any company, mortgages, insurance, or the gas station down the street there's always going to be a bad seed. I was with Home funds direct for almost 3 yrs, and this complaint of my rate has been on here since 2001 with really no updates as long as I was with the company and to now see so much response on it, it really makes you wonder are protecting your interest or are you trying to compare (manhoods) between broker and lenders. By the way this customer was a purchase - so there isn't a 3 day receission on it. To the consumers, Accredited is a great place with great SR. Leadership, actually I still have a lot of stock in the company until I believe differently, and your right its always good to shop around, but if you trust the person your working with a .25% difference isn't a significant enough difference to go with someone you don't feel comfortable with. Hell even .50%, so the easiest way to resolve this, is if you don't like the rate, you don't trust your loan officer, broker, or the company don't sign with them its that simple. Hell a concept I think a lot of people have a problem with is they don't "READ WHAT THEY SIGN" and then want to complain and get angry about there own dumb a*s mistake and blame it on someone else other then themselves.

...but that situation could happen at any company. Firstly, we don't rate lock loans. However, our rates don't usually fluctuate on a daily basis as some companies rates do. My suggestion is that if an HFD employee changed terms that much on you, report them to senior management. I have seen two employees fired on the spot for the first offense for doing anything close to that. It is not tolerated here. Have you reported the situation to senior management? I would happily provide you with that contact information if you need it. The good point that you bring up is that until the underwriter signs off on the loan, and the notary is sitting in front of you with the loan docs, it's all talk. From anyone. Even a loan lock is not a commitment to give you a loan at any given rate. A Good Faith Estimate is no guarantee. It is an ESTIMATE. Many loan officers/companies even put in writing a better offer than they can deliver on. You need to go with your gut, find a loan officer broker you feel you can trust, and bottom line if the deal changes and you're not happy DON'T SIGN. Many things change your rate and term form when a proposal is made to when the loan signs... appraised value, title issues or leins that need to be paid, payoff amounts, all of which we are estimating when we make a proposal. A good loan officer leaves room for a lot of things to go wrong and still be able to deliver. When you go rate shopping as most borrowers do, you end up with the biggest liar. When I make a proposal, I tell my customers a higher rate than I think I can actually do, tell them less cash back than I think I can get. In the end, when I deliver better than what I promised I don't get any complaints.

I just wanted to chime in on this little discussion on Accredited Home/Home Funds Direct. As I have only just begun to deal with Accredited Home, I really cannot complain. And I honestly do not believe I will have a problem with them as my mortgage is being paid automatically through my Bank of America checking account, so I won't have to deal with them much, if at all. I kind of see things from both sides, I can understand when you feel like someone has taken advantage of you and you're so pissed off you can barely see. I can also see from the employee's standpoint where they feel like they are working for an exceptional company and they know that they are doing the best they can with what some of us as consumers bring to the table. I did want to reply to John, who seemed pretty happy that no one mentioned having problems with Home Funds Direct. Well I will say that although in the end, I did sign my mortgage paperwork with Home Funds Direct (after shopping around with 6 other lenders), I was really pissed about the way my situation was handled. I was blatantly lied to about the deal the Sr. loan officer said she would bring to the table. And the worst thing yet, was that I didn't find out about the lies until the night before my closing. I look at my situation and I know I had a few credit issues but my credit wasn't horrible, my middle score was 620 at the time, it's 680 right now (that increase is in a 3 month period of time). The loan officer did not offer to lock my rate and she didn't lock my rate, so my rate went from a promise of 7.2% to 8.299% on the 1st mtg and from 10% to 11.02% on the 2nd mtg. I was told that my closing costs could be capped to as close to $5,000 as possible (builder was paying $4,500), that too was a lie. I RECEIVED AN EMAIL, MIND YOU, NOT A PHONE CALL, to advise me that instead of the $500 I was initially told to bring to closing had been changed to $1,900. I listened to the advice of a close friend, that is the only reason I signed the papers in the end, knowing I could refinance in 2 years. I stopped working with a loan officer from another mortgage company (gave up a 7.5% one mtg loan with no PMI) to accept this deal because I honestly believed in the crap the Home Funds Direct officer was feeding me. It will definitely not happen again. CONSUMERS BEWARE...NOT NECESSARILY OF ACCREDITED HOME LENDERS AND HOME FUNDS DIRECT, BUT ANY AND ALL LENDERS, BROKERS, LOAN OFFICERS, ETC. DO NOT TRUST THESE PEOPLE WITH YOUR LIFE, MONEY, MORTGAGE, ETC. Research and make the best decision for you. Do not allow them to make you feel like THEIR DEAL IS THE BEST DEAL, because most of the time, IT IS A BIG LIE!!! BE CAREFUL WITH YOUR MONEY PEOPLE!

Jason, your comments have nothing to do with the complaint at hand. Sometimes direct lenders have the best deal. Sometimes brokers do. Whatever, I don't care. Point is Accredited was blamed for charging a customer high rates and the facts show that in no way was the wholesale lender, in this case Accredited, to blame for what happened in the initial complaint. If you don't have comments that are pertinent to the original complaint go find a blog somewhere to tell your little stories on.

This was a complaint on a loan and I knew it would eventually come down to mortgage brokers and loan officers competing for the best rates. d**n, you guys are a dime a dozen. I was bored once and walked into an open house. I had on a friends t-shirt that said his brokerage name on it(I really was not aware I had it on, it was the first thing my hands grabbed in the monring)...Anyway, some guy walks over and asks if the brokerage is my company, looking at my shirt, I look down and say, "no"...just a friends...he then goes on to say he could offer me a better deal than my friends business could. Before I can respond, someon else looking at the home chimes in and starts arguing that he can offer a better deal to me. I am laughing at the fact that these two brokers or loan officers or whatever are fighting for my business, and I wasn;t even on the market for it. As my friend tells me, loan officer is the only job you can get paid good money for such little education.

I am interested, Steven, to find out why this particular complaint is important to you. I work for the company whose name is being dragged through the mud on this complaint, so I have a vested interest. What's your take? By the way, the retail outlet regularly runs in to the same customers as brokers using our programs are working with, because people are shopping at multiple resources. I have never lost a loan to a broker using our loan programs, because maybe you can beat a rate, but by the time you add in your broker's fees our deal is better. I'm not knocking the value of broker shops; I am refinancing my house right now and using a broker, because my particular situation makes it difficult for me to qualify for conventional loans, while at the same time my fico scores are solid A-paper. My entire point is that in the situation of the complaint that was made initially, any and all of the fault falls on the broker who put the loan together OR the borrower for not shopping to find the best deal. NONE of the fault falls on the wholesale lender, Accredited. If someone thinks our rates our high they are more than welcome to take thier business elswhere. I find my rates to be competitive, market based, and fair given that most of the borrowers we are helping out have absolutely destroyed their credit one way or another, and if we weren't competitive, we wouldn't have shown aggressive growth over the last 5 years. If anyone believes Accredited is as fault on this complaint you give me a valid reason they are at fault. Or rest your case.

John, I am a mortgage broker in RI and I know that almost without exception my terms offered are better than any wholesale lender. B of A is directly across the street from my office and their rate is always .25 to .375 higher than mine. I do business with your company and have many former co-workers that work there. I know that the terms offered by your retail outfit are worse than I get from your wholesale division. I have been in this industry for 18 years and have worked for direct lenders and brokers. Just like every other industry there are good and bad people.

Accredited Home Lenders is a wholesale lender. Either Home Funds Direct, Accredited's retail division, or a broker using Accredited's programs put your loan together. Since the initial complaint did not mention Home Funds Direct, it is obvious you went through a broker and have no idea who you were even dealing with. In response to your complaint, whatever broker you went through made his money by charging you more on rate and points than what Accredited would charge you if you used their retail outlet and got the loan directly. Accredited is not responsible for how much brokers charge on top, and bottom line you were responsible for not making sure you were getting the best deal. In response to the writer who claims to have worked for Accredited's retail outlet, you are probably still using Accredited programs for subprime borrowers and charging your point spread and points on top of what we would offer the customer directly. True, with solid A paper borrowers we may not have the best deal for everyone in every situation, but we are still one of the largest wholesale subprime lenders in America and have 2, count them 2, total complaints on this website after 15 years in business. We must be doing something right.

I used to work for their retail division and honestly the rates are not competitive at all to what you probably would have gotten out there. Now the mistake first time home buyers make is they tend to believe this is going to be the best you will get or it sounds like in your case you may have been lead to believe you would recieve better and at the time of closing you were hit with a 80/20 combo loan and probably felt like you had no choice but to go ahead and sign the loan. Your not alone and this type of comments I hear all the time from clients trying to refinance their current loan to a lower rate, the best thing is to know what your credit report has on it and also what type of loan you are looking for. The higher the amount you borrow the higher the risk to the investor, which in turn leads to higher rates then if you were to put a down payment on the purchase. Another big factor is how you report your income, do you have enough to prove you can afford the property or do you need a specialty program that will make the income work so you can buy the property? I can go into more detail if you are really interest and can show you how you could save more money in the future. I left the company in 2004 and went to work for a broker who is approved with 175 lenders nationwide that will give me the chance to REALLY offer my client with the best loan programs and rates avaliable out there.

Regardless of your credit situation, you should shop your mortgage with more than one lender to be sure you are getting a competitive rate and overall deal. Accredited Home Lenders is one of the largest loan originators, if you have this rate likely it's because of your credit risk and other market factors not because of any dishonesty, but to be sure, always shop your mortgage. I don't think you were ripped off, you are just a victim of your own circumstances and what the market is willing to give you based on your risk. If you signed the loan, you would have had a 3 day cancellation period to cancel, everything was in front of you and you had a chance to say no, and chance to back out, but you probably knew that although these rates suck, your situation not the loan officer forced you to sign.

Regardless of your credit situation, you should shop your mortgage with more than one lender to be sure you are getting a competitive rate and overall deal. Accredited Home Lenders is one of the largest loan originators, if you have this rate likely it's because of your credit risk and other market factors not because of any dishonesty, but to be sure, always shop your mortgage. I don't think you were ripped off, you are just a victim of your own circumstances and what the market is willing to give you based on your risk. If you signed the loan, you would have had a 3 day cancellation period to cancel, everything was in front of you and you had a chance to say no, and chance to back out, but you probably knew that although these rates suck, your situation not the loan officer forced you to sign.

Just so this is clear in my mind; You purchased for $183000 and borrowed $183000. In other words, no money down? And after 3 years you finally realized that more than 90% of your payment is going to interest? Have someone do an amortization table for your loans. You'll see that 22 years from now 90% of your payment goes to principal and 10% to interest. Besides, in January you can refinance at a better rate and make no prepayment penalty. Assuming you are current on your original mortgage.

Just so this is clear in my mind; You purchased for $183000 and borrowed $183000. In other words, no money down? And after 3 years you finally realized that more than 90% of your payment is going to interest? Have someone do an amortization table for your loans. You'll see that 22 years from now 90% of your payment goes to principal and 10% to interest. Besides, in January you can refinance at a better rate and make no prepayment penalty. Assuming you are current on your original mortgage.

Just so this is clear in my mind; You purchased for $183000 and borrowed $183000. In other words, no money down? And after 3 years you finally realized that more than 90% of your payment is going to interest? Have someone do an amortization table for your loans. You'll see that 22 years from now 90% of your payment goes to principal and 10% to interest. Besides, in January you can refinance at a better rate and make no prepayment penalty. Assuming you are current on your original mortgage.

Just so this is clear in my mind; You purchased for $183000 and borrowed $183000. In other words, no money down? And after 3 years you finally realized that more than 90% of your payment is going to interest? Have someone do an amortization table for your loans. You'll see that 22 years from now 90% of your payment goes to principal and 10% to interest. Besides, in January you can refinance at a better rate and make no prepayment penalty. Assuming you are current on your original mortgage.

I am always sorry to hear if someone is paying a high interest rate on their mortgage loan. Unfortunatley, many folks apply for loans when they have not established their credit history well or when they are hoping to improve their credit situation by purchasing a home or refinancing to consolidate debt. It is very difficult to provide low rates if the borrower does not bring good credit and often a large down payment to a purchase loan. Many banks can not even offer 100% financing on a purchase as Accredited did in this instance. The good news is: by purchasing a home even with a high rate initially a person can refinance to a much lower rate once they have gained more equity and their credit improves. Homes in California appreciate about 20% annually and that is quite an investment! I am always glad to hear that folks with less-than-perfect credit can purchase a home with little money down and take advantage of such an excellent investment.

I am always sorry to hear if someone is paying a high interest rate on their mortgage loan. Unfortunatley, many folks apply for loans when they have not established their credit history well or when they are hoping to improve their credit situation by purchasing a home or refinancing to consolidate debt. It is very difficult to provide low rates if the borrower does not bring good credit and often a large down payment to a purchase loan. Many banks can not even offer 100% financing on a purchase as Accredited did in this instance. The good news is: by purchasing a home even with a high rate initially a person can refinance to a much lower rate once they have gained more equity and their credit improves. Homes in California appreciate about 20% annually and that is quite an investment! I am always glad to hear that folks with less-than-perfect credit can purchase a home with little money down and take advantage of such an excellent investment.

I am always sorry to hear if someone is paying a high interest rate on their mortgage loan. Unfortunatley, many folks apply for loans when they have not established their credit history well or when they are hoping to improve their credit situation by purchasing a home or refinancing to consolidate debt. It is very difficult to provide low rates if the borrower does not bring good credit and often a large down payment to a purchase loan. Many banks can not even offer 100% financing on a purchase as Accredited did in this instance. The good news is: by purchasing a home even with a high rate initially a person can refinance to a much lower rate once they have gained more equity and their credit improves. Homes in California appreciate about 20% annually and that is quite an investment! I am always glad to hear that folks with less-than-perfect credit can purchase a home with little money down and take advantage of such an excellent investment.

I am always sorry to hear if someone is paying a high interest rate on their mortgage loan. Unfortunatley, many folks apply for loans when they have not established their credit history well or when they are hoping to improve their credit situation by purchasing a home or refinancing to consolidate debt. It is very difficult to provide low rates if the borrower does not bring good credit and often a large down payment to a purchase loan. Many banks can not even offer 100% financing on a purchase as Accredited did in this instance. The good news is: by purchasing a home even with a high rate initially a person can refinance to a much lower rate once they have gained more equity and their credit improves. Homes in California appreciate about 20% annually and that is quite an investment! I am always glad to hear that folks with less-than-perfect credit can purchase a home with little money down and take advantage of such an excellent investment.

Interest rates are a product of market conditions, the borrower's credit rating and the loan-to-value ratio on the home. Here's the solution: if you don't like the rate, don't sign the loan. You only have to pay what you promise to pay. No signature, no promise.