This is an updated review based on my recent experience. I have to hand it to them, they really worked to try to resolve my issues. I received direct e-mails from their staff trying to resolve my issues, questions, and address the frustrations I have been having. Additionally, my loan information is now available on their website, which I found to be easy to navigate. At this time my payments are up-to-date, automatic payments have been set up, and I no longer feel stressed about the transition. Yes, they did lose a star still because of the initial headaches, but I have to admit that this is the only company I have reviewed on Yelp! to actually reach out and try hard to address my issues, so I give them credit for that. If anything, it's worth giving Member First a second chance. read more

I'm getting very concerned every time I call about progress. I never speak to anyone, always a voicemail and never call back. I hope I have not gotten scammed into giving all my private information. Okay, to someone that is not legit. read more

Despite all the bad reviews, I applied online for a mortgage refinance through my credit union (Neighborhood CU). I already had a locked rate with another mortgage lender and wanted to see what Member First had to offer. I was contacted by an agent (Peter Kelly) and was promised a lower rate and loan (VA) that would have better closing costs. Within a week, I received all the forms to sign and the loan was changed to conventional, nearly triple the closing costs of what was quoted and a much higher interest rate than what I am currently paying! When I asked him about the discrepancies he flat out lied and stated in an e-mail, "Well I told you rates went up so I just sent it in (to the underwriters)." Peter Kelly never sent me that supposed e-mail. I was lucky enough to have not proceeded with this shady company. If a lender is willing to lie than the company has ZERO credibility and this man should have his licensed revoked. How they make money or stay in business is beyond me. I have no idea why credit unions use such horrible companies to handle mortgages. I would steer clear of this lender and read the other reviews because, yes!, they really are that bad. Credit union members deserve much better. read more

One may read all the negative reviews here for MFM and wonder: can a fully licensed mortgage company be truly this bad? The answer is: yes. Our credit union, who was our desired underwriter, referred us to this company. It was a profoundly poor referral--unless, that is, our credit union actually wanted us to lose sleep, peace, time, energy, and money through an outstandingly bad loan application experience. Our loan officer, Jeremy Britt, was usually absent from communication. When he was present, he provided either 1.) puzzling communication (he does not believe in using sentences, so it is very hard to make out what he may be saying) or 2.) direct misinformation. The only communication he and his team provided promptly was when they wanted us to make rush payments--for things that MFM had clearly forgotten to request in a timely manner, such as the appraisal and HOA documents. We came to understand that MFM could not have cared less if we fell out of escrow. Jeremy's commitment to delaying our closing (I don't know how else to describe it) was also outstanding. Even with us, our Realtors, the title company, the HOA, and even the Recorder's office helping out, we didn't get to close on time. Jeremy and his team comprehensively derailed our insurance application by insisting on a minimum coverage that we ultimately realized did not exist. It must be MFM standard practice to issue 'information' first and check its accuracy later. The loan officer is arguably THE most important connection/liaison in a non-cash home-purchase. Our loan officer was, sadly, borderline grossly incompetent. Further: the one time that anyone on our side tried to contact a supervisor at MFM to report increasingly concerning delays and instances of misinformation, we failed to do so. Our Realtor left a message for Jeremy's manager only to have Jeremy return the call, saying that his manager 'forwarded the message' to him. And he just carried on as was. We are not sure what makes MFM so incompetent, so unprofessional, and so indifferent to their clients' needs. Ours was a loan application. A mortgage company makes money off loans. They're not being asked to do loan applicants any service out of the goodness of their hearts. This is their job. And MFM cannot do that job well. read more

If I could give negative stars, I would. RUN the other direction!! This was the ABSOLUTE WORST experience I have ever had. Communication was terrible. The goal posts were changed at a whim. They drug the process out for three months. They kept setting a date to sign the loan and when that date came up they needed something else. I applied for a home loan to do repairs on my home and they demanded that I do the repairs BEFORE they would give me a loan to do the repairs. I was out of pocket over $2,000 in one month. read more

Absolutely terrible mortgage lender. The customer service is poor - unable to resolve issues, especially when it comes to the finer details such as escrow disbursement, and properly applied principle only mortgage payments (this was never resolved). This company is in it for itself and not for its customers. read more

Yet another review. Got a notice from my homeowners insurance that Loancare (member first's loan mgmt company) has not paid my insurance on time. They reached out to try to get the payment again, but I may be getting a bill if they do not respond soon. Fast-forward a few days, and Loancare tells me that I don't have homeowners insurance. So either I give proof that I have it, or they are going to buy some for me, and they are not shopping around on price. See my older feedback for all the things that have gone wrong with Loancare and Member First Mortgage. Scariest part is that all of the old stuff and now this is over just a 4 month period. read more

What can I say about members First Mortgage? They were the company our credit union used, so we started the process. From losing information, and blaming us for not sending it, to wanting some of the same information over and over, to dragging their feet, I cannot recommend Members First mortgage. It took almost 80 days to close, and we had credit scores of over 800. We would send requested information, not hear anything for 2 weeks, then they would want more information. Sent it, they said that should do it, and then 2 weeks later, want more info, or previously sent info. Our loan processor was slow to answer eMails, always got VM's, when we called. Our credit union had to get involved, to help push this along. Not a good experience. read more

Called to get information, and that was the last call we will be making. The gentleman we were transferred to seemed over the moon to help a first time home buyer inquiring on what we need to do. Except that he wasn't. Seemed like he we were interrupting a mid-day nap. Our credit union referred us to them and I feel like our Credit Union should be embarrassed to be associated. May want to do better and have better reviews for future customers. read more

I went through this mortgage company because of my credit union. I put in an application and didn't receive a call at all. So far it's been two weeks and I have emailed and called and left voicemails for the person in charge of my application. I don't even think my credit was ran as of yet because I do have credit monitoring. It has never taken me weeks to get an approval or denial ever. read more

this company is not somebody i would go to for a loan. my credit union set this up. i would never use this company.

I became a new homeowner in 2007 and had a terrible experience with this company. The person I worked with was bad at answering my questions; she would either ignore them or provide very poor explanations. When the seller and I negotiated to increase the price by $2000, the lender began threatening that they may not approve my mortgage, even though I was preapproved for the amount, had outstanding credit, and was putting more than 20% down. Every employee I dealt with was rude and consistently conveyed that I was a bother to them, rather than expressing gratitude for my business. They were slow to respond to calls and emails as well, which is obviously problematic when you're trying to close on a home. Further, they included incorrect information in documents, which I had to correct. So they do not provide good attention to detail. Overall terrible experience in terms of their "product" and customer service. I recommend looking elsewhere! read more

so far so good my loan was sold to this company a few months ago. my only concern is i pay extra on my loan but my statement says Im short.

Loan Officer , who handled my case was rude and don't not return my phone calls as promise. Most of all he stop responding to phone and email , with concerning matter to my Pre- approval. Do not recommend !! Use Quicken Loan!! read more

You want a crappy place to get a mortgage go here there employees are incompetent (elise) do not trust with your money they let us spend money on fees but failed to inform us we did not qualify for a loan in the first place. If you want to be robbed go here read more

They were patient and understanding the whole process through. Eric and his team answered all my questions thoroughly and with patience. And if they don't answer right away, they will call you or email you back. Any company can offer you a mortgage, but few can offer friendly staff who are professional and courteous, because they understand that for us home buyers (especially first time home buyers) the process is very overwhelming. You have so many questions and pressure, that having a helpful mortgage officer is a godsend. I would definitely recommend them to others as my overall experience was top notch !! read more

I was referred to Member First from a friend who used them, I myself was not a credit union member, I am so glad I was referred to them, as a first time homebuyer I didn't know what to expect, but the loan officer walked me through the process and kept me informed the entire time, my realtor was also pleasantly surprised how well it went. Because of the great service I received, I started an account with a local credit union, and I am able to make my mortgage payment right at the credit union! I cant thank the staff at member first enough for making this transaction easy for me. read more

Repeatedly increased closing costs just prior to closing after they have you stuck with them. Appraisal was horrible and named impossible or untrue conditions that required me to spend hours on a phone explaining simple standards and the mortgage company backed the lies and incompetence. Never use this company please save your sanity and money and time. read more

I applied to refinance a loan to add an additional garage and egress window to my home. Aside from asking to do a VA Loan and having to ask again. Then get a loan amount and sign papers. Thought all was good. Needed to pay for the appraisal. I thought it was already completed. No, it wasn't. The appraiser they use works in the best interest of the bank vs you. Find an appraiser that works for a realtor for value in my honest opinion. Per Member First Mortgage you can pay for additional appraisal after you pay them $450. Also if you have a finished basement this does not add to your gross living space because it is "below" grade just an FYI. The realtor appraiser listed my house $20-25k more than they did. Some other things that miffed me were. 1. Having to call someone about three times before I got a call back. 2. Signing the Paperwork when it wasn't the actual amount of the loan. 3. Appraiser they use. You can look them up they don't have great reviews and it shows their office is an apartment building/garage? Appraisal Associates, Inc. 4025 W Main St - Ste 101 Kalamazoo, MI 49006-3726 Despite all of this I am not mad at them. Just disappointed. I was looking forward to having my loan with them from all the positive reviews. I hope you have a different experience. read more

It is a rarity when one would care enough to form the opinion that you wish your mortgage would get sold. However, Members First has brought this opinion out in me. Incompetent, unwilling to listen to reason has been the most recent. This is not across the board. Several of the initial contact people have been friendly, apologetic and kind. It seems the problem arises in the 'higher levels' of the organization. Let me begin by saying shame on us for closing with them in the first place. The writing was on the wall, however, from the time of lock in rate to having a closing (right at 90 days) the rates went up and 90 days, yes 90 days had past with us jumping through hoops. One such hoop included them loosing all of our actual identity information--yes, copies of licenses, SS cards were our main concern. So, shame on us. Now, years into the loan, clean history of payments, we have had an occurrence. Our payment was rec'd late to their location in Michigan--this is important because snail mail and snowy state. Before we go farther, I know you are wondering why this payment is mailed in the first place; well, they had lost of confidence when our personal financial data was lost in the inception of the loan, therefore, we were reluctant to give them access to our bank account, therefore we have our bank mail the payment each month. So, our payment was rec'd a day late. However, when we reached out via phone, were told that all was fine, no late fees would be incurred. Only then, approx 2 weeks later, did we receive a letter with late fees. Again, we reached out explained we had already spoken to someone, but we were told that late fees had been placed on our loans (yes, two, we have a small vacation home). After some discussions back and forth, they said the fees would be waived. By this time, by the time they mailed us the late fee notification (again, snail mail from them to us), guess what had already transpired? The payment on both loans was already mailed from our bank to them, again, with the change in snail mail delivery due to weather, we could see it would be late again. We immediately called and notified them of this. They could see that again, it was 2 days late. Once we could see what was transpiring, we decided we would have to sign the papers to allow for direct withdrawal to prevent this from happening; obviously, snail mail from GA to Michigan was simply no longer reliable and reasonably so, there are better ways for paying; however reluctant we are to trust them. We realized waiving two sets of late fees within 10 days of each other is a big thing to ask. However, we have paid TWO loans with them without fail since the inception of the loans approximately 4 years ago. Our tract record is impeccable and we called them to let them know what was happening and because the payment was sent through the bank, there was little we could do to stop it or speed it up. By the time their snail mail letter to us arrived, our payment for the next month was already under process. Final result; will not waive late fees a second time. Now, since we did not have the good sense to just walk away and loose the lock in rate of that time, I should have at least demanded they pay for the Lifelock that we had to purchase after they literally lost the hard copies of our identity records. Final advise: go elsewhere. We loved being with Chase in the past. Very organized, very responsive to inquiries and follow through. read more

Some other people on other sights complain about a few things, and are somewhat accurate. I did a HARP 2.0 refi, and it did take a few months. It can be difficult to get a hold of someone, and response time is slow. They did ask for several of the same documents twice, but a simple email fixed that. The good news is they accepted me. About 12 other banks did not accept my refi application for different, miniscule reasons. Closing costs were low, as was the interest rate. In my case I searched far and wide to do the HARP refi, and Member First finally got it done for me. I suppose that's all you can ask for. read more

I started the process to buy a home for the first time, I filled out the application to get pre-approved. They called me right away to finalize the application (awesome! I thought) well I was wrong didn't hear back from anyone else, I literally called 8 times, emailed and never hear from them in over a month, also got a beautiful hard inquiry on my credit score.. 2 months later (today) I receive and email frome someone on your team "reaching out to me".. are you serious? I take a hit on my credit score, no call back no emails Nothing.. I cannot dispute it cause I signed it saying they can pull my credit (some people wouldn't mind losing 18pts, but others that have worked hard to get a good enough score, it sucks). Waste of time. Thought I let you know, that I found a house, and my mortgage company I'm working with is amazing, and I close in just a couple weeks read more

I have automatic payments that are deducted from my checking account. I contacted MFM after my payment was 2 weeks without posting. They apologized and will post 2 payments over 2 days. I can not say that their computer system is on the ball. MFM has not been a reliable mortgage company. I have had too many problems with them. From double billing my escrow to forgetting to pull automatic payments. I urge people looking for a mortgage to find one elsewhere. read more

BE CAREFUL: Very long and painful process on refinancing and would not recommend this mortgage company.. Was pre-approved and then denied 3 months (12 wks) later when we supposed to close. Had a awful appraisal done that was provided by the Credit Union & would not recommend this company either. Lake house was appraised substantially less then homes in area. Currently working with Caliber Homes with no pains and much easier process. read more

Not only did they do the same to us as R.W., I did refinance through Michigan Schools & Gov. CU only to find out that they were reporting the mortgage to the credit reporting agencies TWICE! In February I sent them a letter notifying them of their duplicate reporting - never heard a word UNTIL this month when I sent a letter to my main credit union complaining. Month and a half later we finally received the return of our escrowed only to be shorted (with no explanation whatsoever) approximately $60. Moral of the story, GO ELSEWHERE! read more

My experiences with Member First Mortgage could literally not have been any better. From day one I was treated with kindness and respect. I felt like I was a friend rather than a customer. We have completed both a refinance as well as a new home purchase with Member First with no regrets. Loan products were explained to me clearly and recommendations were made based on our particular needs even with special circumstances. Member First Mortgage, with their loan officer Jim Rogers, has truly made our dreams come true! We were able to get our dream home and could not be happier. I would recommend that anyone in need of a mortgage or needing to refinance please don't hesitate to contact them today. read more

Very easy to deal with. Able to do most of the paperwork online. Kevin, my contact, was wonderfully helpful. Everything went smoothly! I was very pleased. read more

Ok so I had to write a revision to my first comment because there was a member of the team that took the time to talk with me and understand the issues. Not only did he research my file but he made it right by refunding the money due me and also followed up after the issue was resolved.. JAMIE from Member First Mortgage knows what customer service is. I am not one of those people looking to put up a big stink but I can tell you the loan officer we had did not follow through on our paperwork or have very good communications. we lost out on a low interest rate and Jamie couldn't fix that but he did what he could and I am very very thankful for Jamie if didn't take the time to research our file we won't be coming back!!! Thank you Jamie and we will recommend you to others. read more

This was the easiest mortgage I ever applied for! From the day I applied, the service was always prompt, courteous and professional. From Rick at UMCU to Wendy at Member First-not an even slightly bad experience anywhere along the process. Thanks for helping me obtain my mortgage and my new life. These people cared about me as a person-so rare to find these days!! read more

A great experience from start to finish. Dan was great! He answered ALL of my questions, which were many. He was very informative and helpful. Plus, we got a great, competitive rate. I would recommend Member First to everyone. read more

This is a Mortgage Company that you should probably avoid. They do not follow through or often contact you back following a phone call or email. They almost caused us to lose the home that we wanted to purchase. I know that we will never use them again. I suggest you go elsewhere read more

My husband and I had a phenomenal experience with Tracey Brannock as our rep. She was thorough and responded promptly. She truly handheld us through the entire process of purchasing our first home. When we are in the market for a new home again we will definitely go directly to Member First. read more

Worst mortgage company I ever had the misfortune to deal with. I pay mortgage via payment coupon /mail. Most months I receive coupon with only 4-5 days left in month. Some months only 2-3 days left. Complaining hasn't helped. They rudely suggest that I have automatic bank pymts which I don't trust either. No apology for the lateness of pymt coupon or any promises to do better? And don't expect a self addressed envelope to mail back pymt! These people are as cheap as they come. read more

This company does not return phone calls ! They overcharged me on my monthly mortgage payment and then avoided me !! Yuck !!!!!!!!!!

I am very worried about their business. I have mortgage from them for years. Last year, 2015, I received a letter stated my mortgage amount would go up $100 a month. I checked the description very carefully because it was very odd to go up that much and found out they charged me winter tax twice. I called them and they said that was computer mistake and I would get a new statement in a couple of days. It didn't come. I had to call again to find out new mortgage amount because the due date was the next day! After the second call, I finally received the "amended" letter which did not make any sense. I called them again and was told the letter was not supposed to be sent to me, it was only for internal use.... 2016, form 1098 came, very small piece of paper which was not like the one I received in 2015. The amount on 1098 and the one I calculated were different. A couple of days later, I received a letter from member first mortgage, which stated they could not pay winter tax in 2015. So they would pay 3 taxes in 2016 (summer and 2 winter taxes).... I am very worried about the loan and maybe should consider refinance to other lender.... read more

I just purchased my first home with the help of Member First Mortgage. If you want to experience some of the best customer service in the industry start by asking to work specifically with James Rogers. He was my loan officer and he was absolutely amazing. He handled everything with speed and accuracy and made a stressful situation easy. I am very big on customer service and I expect the best, nothing else will suffice. I actually had started a loan with another company and dumped them because of average customer service. James Rogers will bend over backwards for you because that is just the kind of guy he is. I also have to give high regard to his boss Jamie Wiersma. When James didn't know the answer to something, Jamie was right there figuring it out and getting it taken care with his many years of expertise. All of the people at Member First Mortgage that were involved with my loan were all top notch and I will be recommending them to everyone I know. Thank you Member First Mortgage and specifically thank you James and Jamie! I couldn't have done it without you. read more