Christina
Livonia,#2Consumer Suggestion
Thu, May 24, 2007
I was told about this Rip Off report by one of my buyers currently looking for a home to purchase. I have closed many loans with Great American and of course many other mortgage companies. My clients seemed pretty happy with the closing costs, the time it took to close the loan and of course most importantly the terms of their loan. Not every buyer or borrower is cookie cutter perfect, just as not every home is perfect. Loans are on a case by case scenario, in my personal opinion. I do not steer anyone to any certain mortgage company, but like I said, I have dealt with Great American Mortgage many times. So this company must have a good rapport with their clients if I am doing business with them more than once. Rogers report may be true but one bad grape does not mean the bunch is sour.
Michael
Freeport,#3UPDATE EX-employee responds
Wed, May 16, 2007
Dan you are a complete liar about Chad. He transferred from California to the Sterling Heights office. He only worked at this office for maybe a year and half. He was fired for fraud. And I definately witnessed many of these things first hand. I did know one Dan when I worked there. Did you have a client in Port Huron where the notary had to do the closing at the county jail. But I am pretty sure you are a made up person because of course it is impossible to work with Chad for 4yrs when his time in Sterling Heights Michigan was easily less than 2 years.
Michael
Freeport,#4UPDATE EX-employee responds
Wed, May 16, 2007
Dan you are a complete liar about Chad. He transferred from California to the Sterling Heights office. He only worked at this office for maybe a year and half. He was fired for fraud. And I definately witnessed many of these things first hand. I did know one Dan when I worked there. Did you have a client in Port Huron where the notary had to do the closing at the county jail. But I am pretty sure you are a made up person because of course it is impossible to work with Chad for 4yrs when his time in Sterling Heights Michigan was easily less than 2 years.
Michael
Freeport,#5UPDATE EX-employee responds
Wed, May 16, 2007
Dan you are a complete liar about Chad. He transferred from California to the Sterling Heights office. He only worked at this office for maybe a year and half. He was fired for fraud. And I definately witnessed many of these things first hand. I did know one Dan when I worked there. Did you have a client in Port Huron where the notary had to do the closing at the county jail. But I am pretty sure you are a made up person because of course it is impossible to work with Chad for 4yrs when his time in Sterling Heights Michigan was easily less than 2 years.
Thomas
Anderson,#6Consumer Comment
Tue, May 15, 2007
Oh, well! Coincidence, I am sure. It's probably something in the water.... I do wonder WHY people proceed with a mortgage when ANYTHING seems "funny". I understand that perseverance can be a virtue, but poverty is not. My suggestions: 1. Seek a *well-recommended* local mortgage broker if you want to minimize your efforts. 2. Also talk to your local banks and credit union. You should hear almost the same stories that the broker tells you. 3. Ignore anyone who claims that they can perform an economic miracle for you. 4. Buy a Ti BA II Plus [Ti BA2 Plus] at Wal*Mart for $35 and learn to use it to calculate ANY mortgage, which is easy with the Ti BA [BA = Business Analyst].
Dan
Birmingham,#7UPDATE EX-employee responds
Tue, May 15, 2007
This is great how none of this information on this website is monitored. I worked for Chad for 4 year at Ameriquest and none of this is true. He fired several employees for doing fraud. He left the company to go open his owe company when upper management kept telling him to close more loans that were boarder line predatory lending. I worked for him the whole time he worked at ameriquest and do not remember a Michael. The mortgage industry is a ruff industry with a tone of uneducated sales people that do not understand the process. I have owned my own Mortgage Company for over 2 years and have had the same issues. The internet is a great tool when monitored and used correctly. Websites like this give people that are jealous the means of badmouthing companies that they were terminated from. I believe all of this information listed about Chad and Great American Mortgage is False. I know that they have been thru several audits for their Fha license and by the state and have no negative marks against them. I also checked Great American Mortgage out on the BBB and they have no negative marks there? HUMMM
Tim
Warm Mineral Springs,#8Consumer Comment
Thu, April 19, 2007
My only reason for writing is to ensure that Great American Mortgage Company located in Troy Michigan more than likely have there own correspondent lender license. I wish to convey that this company in in no way affiliated with Great American Mortgage Company located in Warm Mineral Springs Florida. We too are an independant correspondent lender with affiliations to nobody. I will not leave any other information as this is not an advertisement, merely a statement of fact.
Michael
Freeport,#9UPDATE EX-employee responds
Mon, March 26, 2007
Chad Buchanan was the branch manager at the Ameriquest in Sterling Heights Mi. He was fired with a handfull of dirty loan officers after an audit was done and tons of fraudulent activities were discovered. Chad would do anything, including deliberately lying and forging docs to get loans closed. I also see from earlier posts that the loan officer from alpha appraisals is still getting him inflated values. We ordered all our local appraisals from him because he would get the value needed. I am 100% positive that any negative things posted here are probably true because of his actions from the past at Ameriquest.
Heather
Buffalo,#10Consumer Comment
Mon, March 26, 2007
I read this site a lot but I have yet to see someone with spelling worse than Chad's. Sometimes it can be petty and stupid when people rip apart a rebuttal for a couple of spelling errors, but in this case... WHOA. I mean I don't think I could have done a worse job of spelling the words on this post if I TRIED. Chad has come up with ways to spell that aren't even phoenetic. I think the first mistake was dealing with someone so obviously uneducated in the first place. This makes the company look HORRIBLE. What I have taken away from this post: Have a loan officer write a coherent sentence for me before doing business with them.
Chad
Troy,#11UPDATE Employee
Mon, March 26, 2007
Over 15 phone calls and 3 letters have been sent to the customer Roger. We have not had any responce from him. Roger if you are real and have a issue that you feal that is valid please call us at Great AMerican Mortgage. This web site whould be shut down if you have any concerns or questions that need to be resolved please go to the BBB. They have peopel that make sure claims are resolved and not just a bashing blog for x employees to make stuff up.
Diane
Jackson,#12Consumer Comment
Thu, December 28, 2006
We refinanced our home with Great American Mortgage. The man we worked with was named Louie and he was a very nice person to deal with. He was very honest and accurate.He called us daily to inform us on the progress of our loan. He worked long and hard to get us the interest rate we wanted, the cash out we wanted, and everything went smooth. He also told us even after our loan closed that we could call him anytime if we have any questions. I would recommend Louie and Great American Mortgage to anyone because they were open and honest with us and did a fine job.
Jay
Farmington Hills,#13Consumer Comment
Sun, October 15, 2006
Roger, I am having problems with GAM as well. I posted the other complaint. My situation is different than yours. Our broker was a friend who still works for GAM, plus we have (2) voice messages one from the broker and one from his manager stating that the loan was incorrect, and are discussing a solution. Plus I have numerous emails to back this up to. In my case, there were (2) to blame; mortgage broker and underwriter. The broker admitted that he had the wrong loan product on the file. Within the file was back up supporting the loan that we originally thought we were receiving. The underwriter should have caught this, and she didn't, ironic that she is no longer with the company. The mortgage broker should have followed up because at closing we noticed the mistake, yet he told us to go ahead and sign, he would look into it and make sure everything was as we expected and discussed. Well, he didn't do the follow-up and here we are. I have a question: GAM is going to pay ( Well, they say that they are going to pay, it has yet to happen) the 1% pre-payment penalty, and they would waive all fees to get us into a competative loan. A new broker was assigned to make this right. He chose a "Quick and Easy" loan from Countrywide. He stated in writing to me ( Email ) that he had to convince the appraiser to increase the value of our property by at least $7K in order for us to qualify for the new loan. There are a few other "Mistakes" in the file as well. I discovered that none of the disclosures were signed by me. Stupid me, I didn't even think to ask if there was any paperwork for me to sign, I never signed one document until the day of closing. I am the primary on this loan, you would think that I would be required to sign something. I have requested copies of the signed disclosures, the compliance officer claims the file is not on the premises, to date, they have refused to forward the copies to me. The Good Fait Estimate was mailed to me after the loan had closed. It is totally different to the loan we received. We paid (COD) for the appraisal on 5/25/06. We discovered that the broker settelment disclosure ( You know the paper where it list what was paid to the lender?) Well, they collected an additional $500.00 for the appraisal. And because of the fraud, and inflated amount needed for this countrywide loan, I had to pay another $300.00 on Oct 5, 2006. So, I have paid $1,100.00 for an appraisal on my house.The Appraisals are dated May 23, June 24 and now Oct 5. Our new loan was supposed to close yesterday 10/13/06, I have emails from the lender stating this, I took the day off, but never heard from the lender. I requested a copy of the HUD-1 settlement 24hours before closing. I call, and call and call...... Guess what? The new mortgage broker was fired and no longer was working for the company. There is another broker assigned to our new loan. He calls me, states that he is just waiting to hear back from the bank, he even advised me that we could hear Friday, he left me this message on Thursday. Well, I get home Friday night, and there is another full loan packet dated Oct 10, 2006 sitting in my mailbox ( Bait and switch) They had switched the loan type, Countrywide was not mentioned at all. The new loan did have the same interest rate, but now came with a pre-penalty fee for the first 36months. This was never discussed. I sent a 19page fax on Saturday Oct 17, 2006 to the owner Chad Buchannon I was told by the mortgage broker who was fired that Chad knew the entire story, and would make it right. Was the company that inflated your property Alpha Appraisal? If so, then maybe we should talk, becuase I have it in writing the agreement that GAM and Alpha had.... I was to pay $300.00 more, and Alpha would up the value$7,000.00. When I protested, Great American Mortgage agreed that they would pay for $150.00 of the appraisal "To get this loan closed." The loan never happend, so that is where I stand today. I know what I have to do, and right now I really am willing to take the loss, pay the pre-payment penalty ( It's a tax write off ) and venture to a company who has integrity. GAM is doing nothing for us, they have proven that they can not stand up to anything ( Not one thing! ) they promised us. I do not know how they plan to settle this, but with all of the unlawful items that I can prove, I would hope they do the right thing, and allow us to move to another more reputable lender. Your situation is almost 100% like mine. Any other readers, if you have any ideas, I know the government agencies that I have to contact, but perhaps there is something that I have missed? My report is on this website, any suggestions would be appreciated. And Roger, I do not know if there is anyway of contacting each other, but if there is, I would like to talk to you. Thanks. Jay
Tom
Palm Bay,#14Consumer Comment
Thu, June 08, 2006
Dear readers I am a mortgage broker and i own my own mortgage company. I have been in the credit industry for 18 years. In several forms of collections and now as a mortgage specialist. When someone comes on and says they were bait and switched, it is true that perhaps its sour grapes now that the fun is over and they have to make their payment. It is also true quite often however, that some people were just plain bait and switched. They feel ashamed, embarrassed and angry. So they come on here and tell their tale. But when this other guy comes on and says they have been dealing with them for 2 years, like its a butler service that goes on and on, which totally flies in the face of the original complaint -the 'glowing reference' is quite often a friend or outright falsehood for 'damage control' on the complaint. Nothing like a good review to 'negate' the complaint. Now, the good review may be Chad making up a fake id and writing it himself. It may be a friend. It also may be TRUE. Perhaps this guy just so happens to willy nilly come to RIPOFF report as well and 'stumble' across the complaint and tell his experience. Regardless of how this good review got here, its highly convienent in any event. In the end, the guy could be a REAL customer with a good review. Is it not possible that the original author was TOTALLY RIPPED OFF at the same time? One guy he treated well -the other he RIPPED OFF? Lets face it. Ive been a mortgage broker for quite some time now -and i NEVER have had some kind of complaint from a customer , let alone on RIPOFF REPORT. make up your own minds what you think......
Paul
Troy,#15Consumer Comment
Wed, May 24, 2006
Hello my name is Paul, I have been dealing with great american mortgage for 2 years, And i love there services!!!!! Chad helped me and my wife get into our new home, Not only were we very happy with his services but he gave us a lower intersted rate then what we first discussed, GREAT AMERICAN MORTGAGE is the only company my family and i will use. Chad helped my parents from getting kicked to the street and closed there loan in 4 days!!!!!!! For the person that is writing those uncessary comments, why don't you try to solicate business elese were. I want to thank GREAT AMERICAN MORTGAGE for all your help and i will keep sending business your way. Thank You Chad Paul B.
Bill
Rochester,#16Consumer Comment
Mon, May 22, 2006
I am lost for words with your response Chad. You have a customer who stated they were not dealt with fairly, and were taken advantage of and the best you can do is place blame. I am sure they signed documents at closing that stated they were at 10% or more. What is also true is you work for a broker and need to disclose information to the borrowers prior to starting a loan for them that stated other terms, possibly 7.75% on a 30 year fixed rate loan. Those terms are not set in stone and can be changed by us brokers at any point during the process without the borrowers even being notified of the changes. They should be notified when anything changes, which is how I work. But then again I treat my customers with respect and dignity, you obviously do not. The other thing is that since they have been dealing with you for so long a period and have money to invest such as appraisal fee and possibly deposit fee, they signed just to be done with the loan at the table and accepted their losses. They also posted their concerns on here. Were you at the closing Chad??? I doubt it. This is so funny to me. I don't know how you people and people like you are in this business. That is what people on here do not understand. Ameriquest has a lot of people that walk from the table and also have a lot of people sign just to be done with it. They have a 60% walk ratio. You should try working there, if you are still in this business, I mean you can't even spell!!!! If anyone would like free mortgage advice, even if I do not practice in your state, I would be more than happy to assist so you are not treated in this way. I will leave my cell phone # so I can be contacted anytime. CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.
Chad
Troy,#17REBUTTAL Owner of company
Mon, May 22, 2006
i would like to get information so i can contact this individual my name is chad buchanan and i would not have miss lead a borrwer to the extreem that they are alleging. Please contact me so i can get this resolved.. I am not a appraiser so the value was determined by a professional that knows the borrowers area. The borrower would have signed and had all the figures would have been gone over with them at closing. Regardless if they feel that they did nto get a good deal or they were not take care of i would like to talk to them to see what the issues are. Thanks Chad Buchanan 248-498-2537
Chad
Troy,#18REBUTTAL Owner of company
Mon, May 22, 2006
i would like to get information so i can contact this individual my name is chad buchanan and i would not have miss lead a borrwer to the extreem that they are alleging. Please contact me so i can get this resolved.. I am not a appraiser so the value was determined by a professional that knows the borrowers area. The borrower would have signed and had all the figures would have been gone over with them at closing. Regardless if they feel that they did nto get a good deal or they were not take care of i would like to talk to them to see what the issues are. Thanks Chad Buchanan 248-498-2537
Chad
Troy,#19REBUTTAL Owner of company
Mon, May 22, 2006
i would like to get information so i can contact this individual my name is chad buchanan and i would not have miss lead a borrwer to the extreem that they are alleging. Please contact me so i can get this resolved.. I am not a appraiser so the value was determined by a professional that knows the borrowers area. The borrower would have signed and had all the figures would have been gone over with them at closing. Regardless if they feel that they did nto get a good deal or they were not take care of i would like to talk to them to see what the issues are. Thanks Chad Buchanan 248-498-2537
Chad
Troy,#20REBUTTAL Owner of company
Mon, May 22, 2006
i would like to get information so i can contact this individual my name is chad buchanan and i would not have miss lead a borrwer to the extreem that they are alleging. Please contact me so i can get this resolved.. I am not a appraiser so the value was determined by a professional that knows the borrowers area. The borrower would have signed and had all the figures would have been gone over with them at closing. Regardless if they feel that they did nto get a good deal or they were not take care of i would like to talk to them to see what the issues are. Thanks Chad Buchanan 248-498-2537