I did not have a good experience with this company. I am surprised and suspicious of the recent 5…read morestar reviews. Though I will say that those reviews are referencing a person named Janet with whom I did not work.
I agree with the review of Mike G of 4/2/24. This company drags the process and leaves customers in the dark. As Mike G states, their business ethics are terrible.
The people who worked on my loan application did not follow through and did not respond to phone calls, or email and text messages in a timely manner. Even when I was sending them documents and information that they had requested. I was often left in the dark for weeks at a time.
I have refinanced my property in the past. Every other lender with whom I have worked, was in regular contact. Every other lender was on top of the process and kept me regularly informed. I had confidence in the other lenders with whom I have worked. It was like we were working together to get my loan funded and approved. My experience with virtual lending was the complete opposite. It was 180 degrees different.
One of the people assigned to my account, the lender's assistant, would regularly tell me to be patient and to bear with them. Yet this person set up her cell phone so that customers could not leave voice mail messages. If she did not want to take the call, I would get an outgoing message stating that she was not available and to call back later. Accordingly, I was at her mercy as to whether or not we would connect.
It should also be noted that they all seemed to have different phone numbers. In order to reach my lender, I had two phone numbers for him. Which he never answered. When my lender did not respond, I called the phone number listed on their website. A different person, who identified himself as a supervisor, always answered that phone. Then the lender's assistant had a different phone number. Notably, none of them were ever in the office at the same time. I am of the impression that they are all independent contractors who work remotely. That virtual lending is not a real business entity or company. There is no hierarchy and no accountability.
In fact, about six weeks ago, I asked the person who always answers the website phone number to have someone from upper management call me. He said he was the only person available at that time. I told him it was fine if management got back to me in a few hours. He agreed to have someone from "upper management" contact me. Here we are approximately 6 weeks later, and I never received a call from upper management. Probably because they do not exist.
During that same phone call, I mentioned that my lender was not returning my calls. The person who always answers the website line, and who identified himself as a supervisor, became argumentative. He told me that my lender had signed on many new clients. I explained to this person that it is not OK to abandon existing clients for new clients. That the lender still has an obligation to do competent work for his pre existing clients.
I said the same thing to the lender's assistant, mentioned above. When I did not hear from her for over a week, I messaged her and told her that in my profession we have an ethical obligation to respond to client inquiries and to keep them informed. And, that it is an ethical violation to take on more work then we can handle. I told her I wondered if there were similar ethical obligations in the mortgage lending industry. Shortly thereafter, she contacted me and told me that my loan was not approved.
My loan had been conditionally approved weeks before. The alleged reason for the ultimate non approval was because of litigation of a run of the mill slip and fall on the condominium complex where my condo is located. The complex is in litigation with the plaintiff in that slip and fall matter. That reason does not make sense. I supplied the lender's assistant with evidence that the condominium complex has $11,000,000.00 of insurance available to cover that law suit. The includes a $1,000,000.00 general fund for personal injuries. And, a $10,000,000.00 umbrella policy. I also supplied a letter from the insurance company's lawyer stating that they will cover the complex in that litigation, and that it should be settled within the policy limits.
I may never know the true reason why my loan was not approved. Whether it was because I complained about their lack of communication and follow through. Or because of the slip and fall law suit on the condominium complex where my property is located.
What I do know is that these lenders dragged their heals and gave me a false sense of hope that my loan would be approved. I lost time and money waiting on them. They knew that getting this loan funded was important to me. As Mike G says, they have terrible business ethics. This goes beyond bad customer service. It is customer abandonment. It is best to stay away from virtual lending.
