I've had Allstate for six years on a Bklyn co-op and claimed once for water damage to the floors from the apartment next door. (My premium did not go up.) They first denied the claim, because they said I didn't file within 48 hours, but my agent backed me up that I called within the time period even if I didn't file at the time. I received an amount that would replace the floors minus depreciation (from the date of the original floors in the 80s. They said my policy covered replacement of what I had, not for something better than I had.) I could also submit hotel expenses if I left while the work was being done, though I didn't end up doing that. At first they said checks more than $10K had to go through your mortgage lender, but after sending to two wrong addresses, they canceled that check, and sent a new one directly to me, which had to be endorsed by the bank. The neighbor's insurer (Chubb) had some sort of good neighbor clause that picked up my deductible as well as the co-op's renovation fee. The process wasn't a picnic, but the adjuster and agent were responsive to my many calls.

Posted by: TPX at September 15, 2009 7:48 AM in response to Good/Bad Insurance Cos?

Maybe scheduling is worse now, but like Panamac, I started the process in March (same rate/term, but with my original lender, Chase) and closed in May before the 90-day rate lock expired. Didn't use a mortgage broker, but called Chase directly. (Actually, a mortgage broker I did call said I wouldn't get a much better rate than what Chase was offering and advised going with my bank.) Maybe I lucked out with my mortgage counselor, but the process went relatively smoothly.

Posted by: TPX at September 1, 2009 4:32 PM in response to How Long to Refinance?

I cant even get a refi appraiser said my place is worth less then what I owe

Posted by: bitter_bubble_buyer at September 1, 2009 5:19 PM in response to How Long to Refinance?

We had a very long closing process. Began in February with a mortgage broker and Chase, and when the original deadline passed in May, they kept the lock-in at 4.8 and started the process again. Finally closed in mid-July, after much waiting. We were told by the broker and the settlement folks that they were simply swamped with the backlog.

Good luck and keep calling them. It will happen.

Posted by: buttermilk channel at September 1, 2009 5:37 PM in response to How Long to Refinance?

You guys must have conforming loans?

Posted by: bitter_bubble_buyer at September 1, 2009 5:44 PM in response to How Long to Refinance?

No, a refi of 225K on a 30 year fixed on an assessed value of 1.1M. Even with all paperwork done in February, it still took forever.

Posted by: buttermilk channel at September 1, 2009 7:07 PM in response to How Long to Refinance?

butter that is just nuts

Posted by: bitter_bubble_buyer at September 1, 2009 7:36 PM in response to How Long to Refinance?

Its pervasive. Our refi started in April, still hasn't closed. They are now asking about saftey repairs and are requesting documentation about exterior work that is not yet completed.

Its Citibank, the lock expired a month ago and they have agreed to cover the extension.

I swear they want to see us walk away because of a low rate/no points situation.

Posted by: Brooklyn11218 at September 1, 2009 7:48 PM in response to How Long to Refinance?

Wow.

Posted by: mopar at September 1, 2009 11:00 PM in response to How Long to Refinance?

hello all,

i have been reading all the comments about refinancing and wanted to add some input here.

firstly to all those who believe that a mortgage broker who works on the wholesale side is better than working with someone who works on the retail side directly for the bank, i hate to differ but their access is very limited and there are almost no more banks who do business with the brokers anymore.

secondly - i work for wells, and my name comes up here from time to time and im glad to say that its only come up for good reasons, therefore i want to explain some of this process to all at least on the wells retail side.

a refi will always take longer then purchases as purchases have timelines that must be adhered to, and at wells we ahve our closing gaurantee as well. a refi can take up to 90 days these day but not much longer, the refi boom has died down a bit and the banks are seeing less volume, today a refi should be not more then 60 days, even with the rates back down to the low 5's and the 5/1 arm rates in the mid 4's, coops are more complex dont get me wrong but if the person you work for knows the guidelines upfront then you should be set, condo's have their own set of guidelines but yet again if the person your working for knows what they are doing and knows what needs to be done and gets all the correct information upfront , then you will be golden.

i know there is much confusion and frustration out there, but you need to make sure the person you are working with is competent, im reading here how people are working with people from Minneapolis,im presuming its out of a call center, why would you want to work with someone from out there, when you should be working with a ny person who knows his stuff.

extensions should be paid by the lender if its the lenders delay, but a broker usually cannot cover that cost where as the bank sales guys like me can have the bank cover it without you ever knowing that there was any cost to begin with.

im always available for questions email me at benjamin.levin@wellsfargo.com

Posted by: Blev9701 at September 2, 2009 12:32 AM in response to How Long to Refinance?

hi ben levin. ironically, i tried to refi directly through Wells at the end of 2008. i called the bank and was told they'd call me back in a couple of days. a couple of days later, a sales manager in queens contacted me. this was one of the least intelligent, least competent people i have ever dealt with. she couldn't even get my name right, calling me "Lisa" on my good faith estimate. she also couldn't explain the closing costs/good faith estimate to me. she didn't seem to have any idea how the most basic numbers/concepts work in a refi (payoff amount, interest charges, timing for last payment under the existing mortgage, etc.), or any idea what was happening with rates in the market. i was also told i would have to pay points for a lock, which didn't happen when i used a mortgage broker. everything was so much more difficult and the process seemed so unnecessarily convoluted that i eventually just gave up (until March when i used a mortgage broker). i think it's funny you're on brownstoner doing damage control for Wells.

Posted by: panamac at September 2, 2009 1:06 PM in response to How Long to Refinance?

We recently refinanced two properties: our primary residence and an investment property. We originally tried to refinance the primary through Chase, the current lender, but they were PAINFULLY SLOW. We simultaneously worked with a broker on the investment, since that's a little tricky. That investment deal closed in 6 weeks!! Chase was still trying to gather paperwork.

Alas, we went with the same broker for the primary residence--he got us a better deal, closed in 4 weeks.

Of course, you may have guessed by now that the investment loan was SOLD BACK TO BofA, and the primary residence loan was SOLD BACK TO CHASE.

Love it... sometimes I think these big banks couldn't find their asses with both hands.

Bottom line, it pays to use a mortgage broker.

Good luck!

Posted by: curiositykilledthecat at September 2, 2009 2:26 PM in response to How Long to Refinance?