My husband and I had every intention of keeping our horrible experience to ourselves; but after 4 reminders within a week to provide a review, we decided to share our experience with any potential customers of CLS Financial. Our partnership began in April 2019 when touring a nearby home that we had interest in purchasing. After deciding the home wasn't for us, we discussed our desire to build an addition to our current home. It was brought to our attention that a Home Renovation Loan would be a great fit and we began the process by providing all of our documentation. We were then advised that the next step would be for us to partner with a contractor and reach back out once we had settled on one. After interviewing several contractors and reviewing our wish list, we partnered with an amazing contractor in early July and reached out to confirm what the maximum we would qualify for using a Home Renovation Loan. This was about the time that the true colors of this organization came to light. After reaching out to our specialist to ask this question to ensure our contractor was working with the right budget, it took 4 days for a response.; however, instead of answering the question, we were asked to provide updated documentation again. We complied and asked again without response. We finally received a response but instead of an answer, our specialist asked for information regarding the contractor. We complied with this information and again asked what the maximum amount we would qualify for was. After several more days without a response, we were advised by a friend of the owner to reach out to the owner directly. We reached out to the owner and expressed our urgency and concern regarding the delays. The owner was understanding and within a few days got back to us to advise that since we had a home equity line of credit that was used within the past year that we wouldn't qualify for this type of loan (at the time of starting the process, we hadn't even had the loan for a year so this should have been caught in April avoiding any delays). We were eventually provided loan options after being told that our income to debt ratio was extremely high. We were advised of steps to fix this over the next year or two. After asking how this was calculated several times the owner had to step in again. This is when we discovered that the company was using old documentation and including items that had since been paid off. We were then advised that they would have to run our credit again (this is one of the reasons we had stuck with them to avoid having our credit run and avoid having to start over). After a lot of back and forth, with us emphasizing the urgency to get this started ASAP due to personal circumstances, we agreed on a refinance and signed the pre-disclosure documents. During this time we were asked to provide an estimated value for our home, which we used the average of many tools but were wary since we felt that an estimator should have been included in this process. Several weeks later we were advised that we were approved with conditions, one of the conditions being an appraisal. The home appraisal came in much higher than we had calculated which was great. When following up with CLS after the appraisal came through it took several days for them to send revised disclosure documents. Then after following up again were advised we needed to provide additional insurance documents before noon that day and that we would need to reach out to the insurance company urgently. We were able to get everything together within hours of each request but felt that the delays on CLS were unnecessary. At signing with the notary two additional major issues were revealed and had it not been for the urgency in starting the project, we would have delayed signing. One of the issues was that we were advised that a large sum of money previously discussed with the owner and revealed as an "origination fee" was actually us purchasing a point for a lower interest rate. After final approval and signing, we followed up to confirm when the funds would be distributed and instead of being helped, we were just given a phone number and told to call someone else to get this information.
The process was extremely frustrating as we felt that we were continually chasing down an answer even after getting the owner involved. We were even told at some point that because it wasn't a new home loan that we were not a priority. While I understand that may be the case, my customer service background cringes at the thought of verbalizing that to your customer. We urge any potential customers to shop around and not feel tied down and stuck to a company that may make you feel like you have no way out. We regret not following our gut instinct after teaming with our contractor and finding a more reputable and customer based organization to partner with. read more