Refinance - Dealing with Sharks

When banks do not want to decrease rate, they do some interesting things (coop experience).
1. The bank makes sure that during appraisal your apartment is severely underestimated; the appraisal boy makes pictures of the worst places in your apartment, forgets that you have the storage space, tells you that the market is very volatile now and there are a lot of foreclosures and makes a small mistake when he measures the size of the apartment (it can be called a measurement error). It is good if you have some stock options to exercise or a relative who will be glad to lend you some money. Otherwise, the refinance will be impossible or you will pay a percentage as high as 5 years ago. You will have to pay the mortgage insurance, which was cancelled before the refinance.
2. The bank convinces you to purchase 30 year loan when your lease expires in 20 years and asks the title company to do everything as slow as possible. The title company tells you that they cannot get papers from the coop management company. You will find yourself fighting with the coop management company trying to get the paperwork done. When eventually you get all papers such as the proprietary lease documentation (it is available at the bank, but you need to get it from the coop mortgage company), you do not hear from the company again for a wile. When you call them, the title company tells you that it tries to extend the lease because the mortgage term does not match the lease term. You talk to a bank representative and ask him to change the mortgage term. It is good if the rate does not go up. The title company starts the paperwork from the beginning.
3. Even though your spouse is a co-owner of the apartment, the bank convinces you that it is better if you apply for the mortgage alone because your spouse has lower credit score. It is good if you have a good lawyer and he explains you that your spouse has to sign the recognition agreement. Otherwise, at the closing table, you will find that all documentation has to be redone. If you spouse signs the recognition agreement, you can tell at the closing table that the bank made a mistake when it did not add the name of your spouse to the security papers but you did everything right. The bank will have to accept the paperwork or to send you supplemental documentation later. Bank will tell you that it will send you a cancellation papers so you can cancel. You should tell them in email “no way.” Emails are better than faxes.
4. You send faxes. After waiting for a while, the bank will mess up the pages of your faxes and tell you that you sent everything in wrong order and you have to resend everything. So, try to send pdf attachments in emails.
5. The title company does not add the addresses to the recognition agreement. It is good if you have a good lawyer and he explains you that. It will be bad to find it before the closing.
6. The bank tells you that you did not send some papers when you send the papers a few times a while ago. It is easy to prove the opposite if you send emails and request the delivery and the read confirmation.
7. The bank adds real estate taxes and home owner insurance to your mortgage payment even though your coop has a required insurance and your real estate taxes are taken into account in your monthly coop bills. It takes 2 weeks to remove the items.
8. The bank asks you to send them a hazard insurance even though your monthly mortgage statement shows that the coop has it. A few weeks later, the bank tells you that you mistakenly sent them a liability insurance. You spend a few days trying to get right papers from the coop management company and find that there is a small tiny item at the bottom of the liability insurance that says “flood insurance” and that means you have the hazard insurance.
9. You find that you have to provide the proprietary lease documentation and the title closing table even though you refinance with the same bank and the bank keeps the documentation. You call the bank, send faxes and emails asking about the documentation. The bank does not give you clear answers. You send them a request to provide the documentation if they need it. They do not provide anything.
10. At all stages, the bank processor is extremely slow. You know that when you purchased the apartment, it took a month to do much more complicated paperwork. You do not understand why it takes 3 months to do something much simpler.
11. The bank returns 1 out of 5 telephone calls and responds to 1 out of 10 emails. Eventually, you have to talk to another mortgage officer who may switch you to your loan officer because he does not want to talk to you.
12. When you call the bank, the automated system moves you in circles and eventually disconnects. You make 2-3 long calls before you can reach someone.
13. You find that your closing details do not make any sense. It does not take into account the last 2 payments. As the result, you have to provide a lot of cash at the closing. It is good if you have some reserves. Otherwise, you have to postpone or cancel the closing. Eventually, the loan officer nicely explains you that you will be reimbursed later if there is some extra money left.
14. It is the day before closing. No one calls you. You know that your mortgage agreement expires 2 days after closing. The expiration day is Saturday. You send a lot of emails and make a lot of calls. No one responds.
15. It is the day of closing. No one calls you. Eventually, at 3 pm the bank representative tells you that the paperwork was sent to the title company. You call the title company and find that they do not have the paperwork. You send a broadcast email to the bank (all processors, mortgage officers, closing agents and the vice president you worked with). The closing agent tells you that the papers are in the title company. It looks like it is not enough to send the paperwork. It is necessary to get a word from the bank that the papers can be processed. You call the title company again and the title company confirms that they received the paperwork and tells you about the cash you have to provide.
16. It is 3:30 pm. You have to find a branch of the bank which is still open. Fortunately, it is just 11 miles away. You do it! You get the check!
17. You call the title company and tells them that you have the check. They tell you they will call you in an hour. It is 6pm. No one call you in 1.5 hours. You call them again. They are surprised. Do you have the check?!? OK. The closing agent will be at you home at about 8pm.
18. The closing agent arrives at 9pm. She is exhausted after a very long day. You expect that something wrong will happen. A surprise… She also has 4 children and it looks like she wants to help you. She just a nice person who does not think she is on the top of the food chain just because she works for the financial industry. When she finds that you do not have the title and the proprietary lease documentation, as well as that the name of your wife is not on the security papers, she does everything possible to help you. She says that the bank made a mistake and she will try to convince everyone that the signature on the recognition agreement is sufficient. She says that the title and the proprietary lease documentation are not that important because we refinance with the same bank. The copies we provide are sufficient (it is good we had the copies!). She takes the check.
19. On Monday, the bank tells you that it will send you the cancellation papers. You send a broadcast email to the bank. You state that you are not going to sign any cancellation papers.
20. At the and of this journey, you find that you do not trust people you always trusted. You double check everything. You talk to people like if they are potential criminals. You are emotionally disturbed and cannot sleep well. Fortunately, it is the beginning of the summer. The nature and your family heal you. You decreased your mortgage bills and can afford vacations. It is a great time to get away!