
Sunday 7th of January 2018 09:48:27 AM
While the customer service ideals seem to be a part of the culture of this HomeBridge branch, the lack of competency & overall poor follow-up is a major factor in why I would absolutely NEVER use this team again, or recommend them to others. How they were approved as one of Costco's preferred lenders baffles me, other than they probably low-balled the stated closing costs for the contract. Costco will also be getting a cc. on this review for their future reference. From the first dialogue with the original loan officer, (April 12, 2016) I was quite clear about the closing expectations/needs & was promised the world...with little delivery. Upon being pre-approved & initially given a 4.5 % commitment from HomeBridge, when pressed several times for a rate lock form, I was finally informed days later that there was a “minor formula mistake” & the rate would jump to 4.75%. I was also told that there would be needed an added fee for "expedited appraisal" services in order to meet the closing deadline that was established from day 1. At this time I was also informed that my request to NOT have escrow would need to include a waiver fee even though my credit clearly was reviewed & approved previous to this (the fee was eventually waived by HomeBridge after several conversations with HomeBridge upper management. When pressed for clarifications from the LO, he became defensive & a bit gamey. When asked for supervisor’s involvement & service recovery on this account, it took several calls/emails to Costco before anyone directly from HomeBridge contacted me. There was throughout the underwriting process poor collaboration with other involved parties i.e. back & forth with insurance company for paperwork, etc. This also eventually caused us to push back the closing date for 2 weeks. I was required to micro-manage much of the details to keep the timeline on track. Two senior branch management leaders were responsive & attempted as best they could to get my loan account back on track, however when all was said & done, I was not able to close until weeks after the date established in the initial contract. The closing did finally occur on September 29, 2016…171 days after initial outreach to them for pre-approval). There were also back n forth issues between the HomeBridge assigned “Closer” & the title company. While HomeBridge website boasts the best reviews & customer service standards, when all is said & done the competency in ultimately delivering the services they commit to is as important in earning customers business as service excellence standards. Not sure if it’s the volume of business they currently have or lack of proper training with their line staff. I’d highly recommend for HomeBridge to focus much more on the walk than on the talk. Buyer Beware!!!