Complaint Review: IFreedom Direct Corporation - Salt Lake City, Utah

Having known lots of veteran friends who have bought homes recently, they have told me time and again that you will never need a down payment for a VA loan... so why is this guy at ifreedom telling me that I won't qualify unless I cough up a good chunk of money up front? (I've already submitted all my information and paperwork)  Is he trying to pull a switcharoo hoping that I am stupid enough to fall for it?  Or is it an honest mistake?  I KNOW he knows that I know that he knows (haha) that I am applying for a VA loan, and not an FHA loan or something.  Heck, even another VA loan specialist told me that with my credit, she has no idea why I even need to cough up a rather large down payment, or any --at all. 

I won't name this guy because I don't want him to get fired if its just an honest mistake (that, and I'm currently working with him), but I'll definitely toss him into the fire if I find that he really is up to something shady.  Time is of the essence, so if he doesn't produce results I'm going to have to move on.  I don't really want to work with people who makes a lot of mistakes or people who scheme to take all of my money away.  It will cost me dearly in the end.

We used iFreedom Direct to buy our home in Arizona. I found them through Lending Tree.com.  My realtor was very upset with us for not using his mortgage broker. He said he was not getting a kickback, but that he was genuinely concerned about us getting scammed or signing a bad deal. He warned us repeatedly about online mortgages, etc.  We almost went with a local mortgage company, but at that point Branden, our contact at iFreedom Direct had put so much time into our loan that we decided to stick with him.

I told our contact (Branden) that I was scared to use him - was he a scam? would he provide proof of everything? how long had he done this? etc. etc. I must have driven him crazy.  He gave my his phone & ext # and his personal mobile number. He was available anytime - nights, early mornings, weekends. Whenever I left him a vm he called me back within hours. Most of the time it was right away.  We didn't have great credit so I thought the process would be a hassle. NOT TRUE. This was one of the easiest, most professional, top notch service I have ever received. I would recommend iFreedom to any US veteran ready to buy a home. 

In the end, Branden saved us money AND closed us two weeks early!!!!! There was nothing that wasn't professional about this company or Branden. iFreedom knows VA loans inside and out.  They thought of everything and Branden was right on top of it all. He never missed a detail, never dragged his feet, never fed me a line of BS about anything.  iFreedom does not hold mortgages, meaning they get your loan for you, they handle all the VA funding details and then after everything is completed and signed they sell your mortgage about a month or two after closing.  They didn't sell our note to a mom and pop or fly by night home finance company. They passed us on to Chase.

Just a note: This was the 2nd home we have bought AND I have my real estate license as I was a commercial property manager for several years. I say this to let you know that I'm very familiar with the home buying process and also am aware of real estate transactions. This company and Branden were a class act all the way. I would highly - HIGHLY - recommend them to anyone. 

In 2004 we were scammed into a real estate deal which devastated us financially. The lender was a big part of the problem. Four years later we were completely out of money and hopeless. We claimed BK in 2004 and unloaded our property. So, needless to say we were extremely leery and SCARED to buy another home. In 2008 I called ifreedom direct, as were going VA, and they were unbelievable. Our contact was Branden and to say he totally rocked is an understatement. Our real estate agent actually advised us against using someone out of state, but Branden was completely on top of everything and after checking out local mortgage brokers we stuck with him. He was more on the ball than anyone else in the buying process. He went the extra mile EVERY single time. He called me after hours if he needed to. Was available to us on the weekends. We felt blessed to be working with him and ifreedom. I'm sorry if someone had a bad experience. But ours was superb. Truly outstanding. After losing $35,000 (that's an honest, true figure) we were so devastated that we didn't trust any real estate transactions. Branden and ifreedom changed our outlook and not to get too mushy, we felt healed from anger through his TLC. We can't recommend ifreedom enough.

I just closed my loan with IFreedomDirect in April 2008. I found Branden, my loan officer, to be professional and very quick to respond to my inquiries. A fear about Identity Theft, when YOU contacted the company, and initiated the process is a little odd. Someone not calling you back is rude, not criminal. My experience was my first Home Loan done completely over the Internet and by phone, and it was very good.

I am a Vice President and Branch Manager for iFreedom Direct and I have investigated the posting by Abercrombienz, Niles Il. We did not, and do not, have an employee named Russ Schroader, by that name and spelling, or anyone with a first name of Russ in our company. We are not even open or staffed on Sundays, so I believe there is not a way in the world this event happened as described, at least with our company. iFreedom Direct has been in business since 1985 and was rated in 2003 as the 5th largest government lender by Mortgage Banking Magazine. We specialize in providing Purchase loans to Veterans as well as FHA purchase and refinancing. We do business all over the country and we take pride in providing top notch customer service. We close hundreds of government loans every month; purchases, refinances, and streamline rate reduction loans. We have thousands of satisfied customers and we are a leader in internet purchase lending. If the Abercrombienz would care to call me, I would be happy to address their concerns directly. Tom Varley Vice President & Branch Manager 801-493-2700

I work for iFreedom Direct. When we ask you for your information it is to pre-qualify you and assess your credit-worthiness based on credit histroy, employment history, income, and debt obligations. If somebody promised you a call back and failed to do so, they should be reprimanded. HOWEVER, not receiving a call back usually means you did not qualify for the loan you applied for; usually due to insufficient income or bad credit. A mortgage is a collossal amount of money, and in order to borrow such a large sum of money of course we are going to run your credit and ask you for personal information. It is a bit premature on your part to assume we are in business to steal identity. We have been around for 23 years and are the nation's 5th largest VA lender. It would not serve our reputation particularly well if we ripped off identities. If your identity was worth stealing you would have gotten a call back and we wuold have tried to give you a mortgage, not steal your identity. If you are concerned about your credit you should safeguard your information by subscribing to a watchdog credit website. Good luck to you.