I had questions during application process. Terrible communication and not clear about company goals. Doesn't seem to help consumers.

What a scam! Rather than allow me to replace my roof, they paid down the principal on my original loan.

ZERO!!!! Do not, I repeat DO NOT use any form of business that generates an equity agreement. These places are a scam, they prey on the vulnerable and lie lie lie and take more equity then they should once your home is sold. Please do not fall for their lies. Save yourself because I am currently screwed. I was also reading some of the reviews this IS NOT a loan it is an equity agreement and once you sign if you ever have to refinance later down the road you WILL NOT be able to. They have your remaining equity locked up until you pay them back or sell your home. I can't refinance or use anymore equity in my home because of them. They have a lock on my remaining equity and it's capped out at $125k and my mortgage alone is $124k and my home is worth between $230-240K. When I called Unison they pretty much said we can't raise that and there is nothing we can do. They are HORRIBLE PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT READ ALL THE LOVELY REVIEWS IM SURE THEY ARE PAID TO SAY THOSE POSITIVE THINGS OR THEY HAVEN'T GOTTEN TO THE HORROR YET LIKE ME. read more

The Unison Agreement (UA) has it's place in the world of home finance. You should be fully informed before agreeing to taking on a UA so doing your research is mission critical. We took on a UA in 2007 when values crashed. By 2016 our home value was back at the level seen in 2007. Since we didn't have to make payments, we thought paying the UA off wouldn't be a wise use of capital. In hindsight, we should have since our home value doubled by 2024. The UA took a significant bite out of our sale proceeds and could have been avoided with an early payoff. Live, and learn. What you should know: 1) There are other options that may require payments, but do not take equity growth as part of the payoff. Consider an Interest Only loan, or a Balloon Payment loan - both often will be private financing options - and take care of a temporary financial issue you may be facing. 2) Unison will tell you "Oh, we have refinance options available" and yes, they do. Just be sure you're OK with a really, really terrible ARM or a fixed loan with a rate 4-5 percent above what you're paying today. 3) Know that the exit process will be an uphill slog. Their staff is easily confused, unwilling to think outside the box, and not really in a hurry to help you. We nearly missed our sale escrow closing date because the appraisal wasn't ordered in a timely manner. I had to re-send documents a few times because they don't have a process that confirms receipt of the documentation. My contact at Unison left for a vacation 4 days before our closing date, did not let us know they would be gone, and handed the deal off to someone who knew zero about our deal. Luckily that person really tried to "right the ship" and get us back on track, but odds of getting someone like that who is willing to help are narrow to say the least. I've seen reviews where the appraisal product they order and receive is "not what they wanted" and they try and order another appraisal. Do not let that happen since it's a very, very gray legal area, and one that favors the lender (Unison) over the borrower (you) in almost every case. So to summarize - The UA is there for a reason and that reason might fit your needs. Know what all your options are before taking the deal. Be ready for a difficult exit plan, and be sure you are comfortable with your first loan terms as you have to stick with them throughout the term of the UA - even though they will tell you otherwise...... read more

I sold my equity 7 years ago and my house equity went up from 225000 to 320000 in seven years now I am trying to sell my house I will see how transition goes, getting loan was easy and smooth I hope selling home is as easy as well read more

Unison is a San Francisco based company that is pioneering a smarter, better way to own your home. If you believe that marketing I have a igloo in Phoenix to sale to you. Interest rate is 0%, but 3 points, appraisal and title / closing costs billed. The most outrageous is Unison shares in property appreciation or loss in value at time of sale. Typically houses go up hundreds of thousands after many years. It is clearly a smarter way for Unison to take some of your equity without foreclosure. Caveat emptor! read more

Unison - Terms and conditions how Unison makes their money at 0% interest. - Business Financing Near Me - San Francisco, California

Predatory loans on old people. Surprised there's not a class action lawsuit....ridiculous terms and take advantage of people on their last days.... read more

Predatory loan service. Targets the elderly and other vulnerable people! Please stay far away from this company and unless you plan to sell asap and don't mind giving away 70% equity of your home. read more

Stop! Read all the bbb complaints Yes we made a deal with unison 3 years ago. We were told refinance options are available! Not True No lenders on planet earth will refinance- change terms etc. people are sitting on 500-600k equity like myself. And the only option is to sell. There misleading ads and verbal b.s about not making monthly payments is bad. Home equity/ lines are better, you can't even rent your home out. Hire a attorney before you sign read more

I have just refinanced to pay them off because I no longer want to deal with them. Brandan Carlson and Aaron Sagin were the two individuals involved with my refi process and they are a joke. Aaron can't do math (by his own admission), and Brandan can't seem to keep his story straight. Long story [relatively] short: they have this program called a "Remodel Adjustment" where they will deduct an approved amount from the equity share based on the renovations you complete on your home. I believe this process to be fraudulent because of several incidents that have occurred over the past 3 months. We initiated a refi with the remodel adjustment checked off. They order the appraisal and it comes back with no remodel adjustment. We inquire and they admit that they missed the remodel adjustment request but would need to start a new application and perform a new appraisal. Why? Because they have to give the appraiser "special scope instructions" when performing the appraisal. Well guess what? The 2nd appraisal was magically $65k higher than the first. They said that they had to take the average of both appraisals and both remodel adjustment numbers to give us our new "Estimated Agreed Value" (the payoff amount). However, I challenged that they shouldn't be "averaging" the remodel adjustment number since the first appraisal didn't even take that into consideration (they wanted to average $0 from the first remodel adjustment and $30k for the 2nd). They relented and went back to the first appraiser to factor in a remodel adjustment amount of $15k. But wait... didn't you guys say you couldn't go back to the first appraiser and retroactively apply a remodel adjustment? Wasn't that the whole reason you guys made us do a second appraisal? Lie #1: we needed a second appraisal because they couldn't retroactively apply a remodel adjustment (they did). Lie #2: Brandan says they needed a 2nd appraisal because the first one was too low. Nope! We needed a 2nd one because they said they needed to do an appraisal with the "special scope instructions". Brandan said that they accepted the first appraisal despite it being "low". Lie #3: Both my lender and I have made multiple attempts to call and talk to someone at Unison and they never return the calls. Brandan claims that they have done a communication audit and have not found anything amiss. Classic case of "we have investigated ourselves and have found nothing wrong" This company basically lied and dragged out our refi process to get an extra $25k worth of loan payoff from me. I am planning to write reviews and file complaints anywhere this company has a profile because I don't want anyone else to have to suffer monetary loss due to unethical business practices. I have attached emails to show I'm not just a bot. read more

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If you are considering using Unison to get money from you home, you need to read this. I used to sell their product for them, so I am very knowledgeable about them. I also took money out of my home 3 years ago using the Unison HomeOwner Agreement, because I believed in the product. However, I just sold that home, and my situation has been a nightmare. I can comment about 2 things, and both are very big. First off, if you plan on getting a fair Remodeling Adjustment for work you do on your home after you enter an agreement with them, think again. At the beginning of the agreement, Unison and I valued my house right after I had it built new with no landscaping and no finished basement. I then spent $125,000 on those 2 things, and Unison only gave me a remodeling adjustment (after just 3 years of those things being completed) of $20,000. From my conversations with Unison and the appraiser, I can gather that Unison doesn't communicate to the appraiser properly. My appraiser didn't even know he was being asked to evaluate my property if these items had not been finished by me. He thought he was performing a normal appraisal. The appraiser gave me no value for all of the landscape and hardscape I put in ($60,000 worth). So after pleading with Unison to give me some credit for this work, as common sense says my home is worth more with landscaping than with none, they simply said "we don't do gentlemen agreements...value can only be based on what the appraiser says." My house is the same size as 2 others in my neighborhood that sold recently. My outside work blows theirs away and they had no finished basement. Because of this, my home sold for $55,000 higher than theirs. How can this higher sale price not be because of the landscaping and basement? My home would've sold for less than those 2 homes if my landscape and basement were not done. A remodeling agreement is supposed to let you keep the value you put into your home after the agreement, but this is not the case here. I get a $20,000 credit when I should get more than $55,000. Unison gets 70% of this $55,000, meaning at least $38,500 that was supposed to be mine is now theirs. Secondly, their customer service is terrible. I knew this when I worked for them. They were terrible to their sales people, slow to respond, and aggravating customers because we sales people could not communicate in a timely manner on questions customers had that we needed answers from Unison's back office. Unison also kept changing their sales people's incentive pay to keep it lower than promised, screwing us over again and again. That was why I quit. So, it was frustrating working there to say the least. So back to my HomeOwner Agreement issues...Unison responded pretty quickly to my email letting them know that I was selling my home. However after that, they then went silent for more than a week while I tried texting and calling. I only got results when I reached out to someone I knew from my time working there and ultimately got a message to the boss about what was happening. At that point, they started springing into action. Another customer service problem...1.5 years ago I sent them all the information on my property updates (basement and landscape): invoices and pictures of both jobs being done. They acted like they never got it from me and wanted me to refill the paperwork out and resend the pics. It was only after I had reached their boss that they suddenly found everything and I wouldn't have to resubmit it. So good luck to you if you get into an agreement with them, especially one where you are expecting them to be fair to you in regards with a remodeling adjustment. read more

If you are thinking about unison, think again. in six years we are selling our house after getting the loan. our house went up 35%. Unison is taking 70 % of our increase. over 200,000. THINK AGAIN AND THEN THINK AGAIN read more

Yelp Unison Review Beware of Unison. They are predatory and dishonest in their marketing and promotions. If you work with them there is a VERY HIGH probability that you will not be able to refinance your home or get any sort of loan (and if you can somehow find a lender that is willing to work with you, their rates are much, much higher). As well, if you have insurance claims from storm damages, etc... Unison must approve and co-sign payments. Imagine that, they take control whether you want it or not. We have had a horrible experience with Unison, and it just keeps getting worse. We may forcibly lose our house because we "partnered" with Unison, and they are licking their chops because they get a handsome payout. Horrible organization and I hope they are shut down (and when I asked what governmental agency regulates their business so I could file a complaint, they claim they are not regulated or overseen by anyone). Which is a big red flag in itself. This is a stark warning to help protect others, Unison presents themselves as a great alternative to a traditional lender, but there are a plethora of downsides they hide. And once they're on title, you're screwed. If you have likewise been negatively impacted by Unison let me know. I am taking action against them to stop the damage they're doing to myself and countless others. read more

I'm very disappointed with their process after going back and forth with them giving them all my paperwork they are asking things that can't be given I truly believe they are just out to make money., now I still have to pay appraisal fee and home inspection if they knew they could not approve me why charge me, be careful it's not a good choice to start with this company they will just run when they can't help leave you with a bigger debt when you started before., I will be making a report BBB of their tactics and practices read more

Has anyone recently been approved with unison? I was told after my appraisal that they are no longer approving applications?

This firm does nothing more than waste your time. FOUR MONTHS dealing with Julie Ha from Unison. Received approval. Performed appraisal. Then Julie disappeared...radio silence. Shortly thereafter, I receive a letter from Eileen Dichoso stating that I did not supply them with the correct paperwork, therefore, my application was expired/declined and the program has been discontinued. They don't care about you or your time. Unison is a company of liars. If you want to work with an honest, upstanding firm, DO NOT PICK UNISON. Of all HEI companies out there, this is the absolute WORST ONE!! read more

This company lent my 80 year old father money in exchange for 68% of the sale of his home. He was in cognitive decline and had no idea what he was signing. My father has passed away and now my sister and I were just informed of this bullshit contract because they put a lien on the house. The contract is 77 pages long and has so much legal verbage it is difficult to understand. Unison didn't like the sale price of the house so they hired their own biased appraiser just to squeeze more money out of us. They said we have to fix things because that would increase the value of the house. We didn't enter into this contract and now we have no inheritance because the people are the SCUM OF THE EARTH! read more

Would not recommend Very slow to communicate, and they denied my application despite perfect credit because they said the appraisal was too high. The appraisal was actually undervaluing the property as is common with appraisers being conservative. I offered to provide comps but they failed to respond to multiple emails. Bottom line is that Unison is going to turn down your application unless the appraisal is a joke -- i.e. unless it's an absolutely terrible deal for the homeowner. This company should be investigated read more

If I could give a - negative score I would.. it's real simple.. if you want to keep yourself out of quicksand then stay away from Unison .. for a small investment on their part, you'll soon loose all your equity... they make it almost impossible to refinance or buy them out.. as they increasingly pillage all your equity. read more

I was trying to use Unison for my mom, which I made clear from the start. A person named Sara Crooks responded to me, but she would often take up to 2 weeks to get back to me, so I asked Unison if someone else could help me. They never responded to that, so I continued dealing with Sara. I busted my ass getting paperwork together and uploading it to them. Their upload system never worked, btw. After all this trouble, and weeks later, she says she has to talk with my mom only, and was very accusatory. I was already somewhat done with her because her attitude is all wrong, so I just gave up on it. A week later I get an email from her stating they were denying me because of some random reasons that weren't anything she previously mentioned. I honestly think I dodged a bullet here. This lady Sara made me feel like she was doing me a favor. Wrong attitude, Sara, we are enriching YOU, not the other way around. There's other companies that do the same thing Unison does. I'm already working with one, and they are actually responsive and kind. They get 2 stars because they did actually respond, and I imagine they have nicer employees. read more

Highway robbery. Worst financial mistake of my life. $30,996 borrowed and 1.5 years later going to owe them between $45,000 and $62,000 on the sale of our house. DON'T DO THIS... YOU WILL REGRET IT!!! read more

Excellent & Unique loan service program, for specific needs of people who are buying OR need an equity loan. We did an equity loan which was approved, and in 2 weeks we received the check for the amount. It helps for those that have a lot of equity on their homes but want to avoid the monthly payments for next 20-30 years. Because if your home increased in value and you decide to sell it, you just pay your balance in full plus the percentage you agreed upon and be on your way in case you are unable pay at the end of term. Genius idea, I hope it stretches far. This program is excellent for next generation of young buyers. I was able to eliminate my debt, my credit score shot up to 780 from 650. Because their loan DOES NOT appear on your credit history, during the next 10 years I plan to have a solid financial plan to flourish my business and pay them back in one shot. I know I can do well in my business because of my good credit history, if you focus on how this program benefits someone in the long term, you can do wonders. Hope Unison can serve a purpose to you as it did for me. =) read more

In 2019, we entered into a Unison Homeowner Agreement with Unison after receiving a mailer that said they would give me funds to build an addition on the home and they would be intitled to 40% of the increase in value on my home if we ever sold it. It was a stressful time for our family financially, so we called the number and spoke to a representative. This sounded like a reasonable deal. They seemed like they were on the up and up and we saw they had a good rating on the BBB website. When it came time to sign the paperwork, we got a 79-page document with all kinds of complicated legal ease and fine print. As it turned out, they were going to take 70% of the home's increase in value, not 40% like their flyer said. They also wrote very complicated language almost impossible for anyone who is not a lawyer to understand that they claim says they are not only intitled to 70% of the increase in value, but they are also intitled to get the entire original amount of the money they gave me to add the addition to the home! They use all kinds of different definitions for terms in the contract that do not match the terms they use in their advertising. We sold the home 4 years later and that is when we found out we had been misled. I am in the process of talking to different attorneys to see what our options are, but this devastated our family financially. In calculating the Annual Percentage Rate (APR) we ended up paying over the time we had the loan, they effectively charged us a 37% APR! I am disgusted with this predatory practice of praying on people in need with deceptive advertising and then slipping insane terms into their contract by burring importing information in the language. read more

Unison is a unique, professional and one of a kind company and they saved us! we had been in a protracted legal battle regarding our inherited property and it took virtually all of our savings and 50 percent of my husband's 401k. So by the time we won the property we had no funds to renovate it as it was now after 11 years left in a deplorable situation! I like for home loans and equity loans and everything in between and everything looked bleak. I thankfully found Unison online which was a true blessing! They explained their unique program for homeowners and we thought it was too good to be true! But we happily found that everything they said was true! We now have a renovated beautiful home that my gramma who we inherited it from, would be proud of! We can never thank Unison enough!! read more

Misleading, the bottom line they should just say "in order to sell; you need good credit". They do not invest in the property unless you have good credit. I was going to pay off debt and build my business buy Unison said no. read more

I am very unhappy with the process of obtaining a Home Equity Sharing investment with Unison. Brandon was friendly and helpful through the process; however it is critical to understand that the company ultimately makes its money (return on investment) on the difference between the home equity when the contract is signed and the equity identified when the home is sold. As a result the original determination of the value of the home is a key ingredient. Note that several reviews called attention to the fact the home appraisal provided by the appraisal company used by Unison(Appraisal Management Company) was considerably below market value. In our case the appraisal for our home came in at $545,000. When I challenged this appraisal I was told that the appraisal company used was an independent appraisal company with no connection to Unison. Brandon advised me to seek a separate appraisal at my own cost and see if it came in higher. When I asked how the new appraisal would be figured into Unison's original appraisal, I was told that a legitimate certified appraisal would be accepted. I contracted to have a certified licensed appraiser (at my cost) to appraise our home and the appraisal came in at $680,000. The house would easily sell for $750,000 on the current market. The new appraisal was sent to Unison and was rejected because ".... Your home was appraised for $50,000 (8%) above that preliminary estimate, exceeding our threshold put in place by the investors ... Our only option at this point would be to use the original appraisal that was given to us, which I understand is low". There had been no mention whatsoever of any "$50,000 threshold, prior to the rejection of my separately contracted appraisal. Brandon noted that the "Automated Valuation Models from Redfin/Zillow/HouseCanary and many other websites " were used to come up with their preliminary appraised value. I took the time to review the current evaluations on our home as listed on Redfin, Zillow, Realtor.com, Truilia and Home disclosure. The value of our house on those sites was appraised at between $613,000 and $661,000. Clearly Unison is not being honest in regard to the value it is placing on the homes of potential customers. It is obvious that "lowballing" home appraisals is a significant benefit to improving Unison's return when the home is eventually sold. The appraisal company contracted by Unison clearly understands that it is beneficial to their relationship with Unison to undervalue home appraisals. Brandon was disingenuous and unethical when he advised me to seek another home appraisal. At that time nothing was mentioned about a $50,000 limit. It was stated that a certified appraisal would be accepted. In any event be aware that it appears that the appraisal value of the home being considered is intentionally kept below the actual appraisal value of the home in order to mislead and take advantage of the customer. Ed M read more

Initially I thought this was a great program. However, after being with Unison for a 1 year I found it extremely difficult to refi with any reputable mortgage company. Mortgage companies refuse to work with Unison and won't except them or subordinate based on their guidelines. So if down the line if your interested in refinancing for a lower rate think twice before signing on with Unison. Unison is aware that most reputable mortgage lenders won't work with them. And offer other companies that might possibly work with them, but they have a higher rate which is absolutely useless. I wish I would've used other options besides Unison and now I'm stuck for 3 yrs Think twice before using Unison read more

I worked with Lauren and she patiently explained the process of having Unison pay out some of my equity out of my primary residence. As a self employed person who opted to travel for a few years rather than keep the nose to the grind-stone, my tax returns were not looking up to snuff for a refinance. I thought Unison's offering was 100% fair. The company would not pressure me to sell (30 year max) and it would take a small percentage of the equity increase from the date of the loan, not overall equity. Also, if the market were to go down Unison would take a hit just as I would. As a real estate professional it is great to know that a rabbit like this can be pulled out of a hat if standard loan process is not the ideal scenario. read more

This scammer keeps sending me relentless junk mails with unwanted solicitation. There is no way to opt-out no matter how many times I contacted them. I don't trust them. Hence, I don't recommend anyone doing business with them. read more

Got a letter from them in the mail the other day. Seemed a little to good to be true. I called to ask a few questions to clarify some concerns that I had. I felt liked they were hiding or downplaying the cost I would have to incur. I felt like I was getting the run around. read more

Unison waisted my time through going back and fourth through only email and after faxing scanning and sending all paperwork needed just for them to tell me my income was not approved took several emails just to get in contact with the representative when I tried to call there no answer and went straight to voicemail company waisted my time and at the end told me I could not qualify due to not enough income showing mind you this was after over a month of me sending paperwork and waisted my time they gave me no solution and didn'thelp my situation at all read more

Unison is looking for people who are having financial problems (insufficient cash flow) and who are mentally challenged. They say it is not a loan, but it is a loan, a second lien secured by your house. If you don't pay them back, they can and will take your house away from you. You are not only responsible for the first lien on your home, but Unison's second lien, and then you have to give Unison a percentage of your home's appreciation. Any real estate broker, your banker or your attorney would tell you not to take out a co op loan from Unison or do business with them. read more

Any company that does not know how many days there are in a given month is questionable to me. I received a letter from them (my first) and was advised I had until 11/31/21 to respond. RED FLAG!!! read more

These folks send out those fake checks to try to trick people into opening their mail. This is really wasteful and annoying, and I don't know who in their right mind would ever do business with a company that uses such blatantly misleading advertising. read more

This is a fly by night company. I strongly advise staying away. You probably know about them after receiving one of their junk mail flyers. That says it all. Any company that has to resort to junk mail flyers marked important is not to be trusted. read more

Unison somehow got a hold of my information and sent me junk mail, this is invasion to my privacy, why would I want to do business with people who stole and buys my information and send me junk mail? Think again next time before you sending out your miserable offer, have already reported unison to FTC read more

Unison offers a unique financial alternative to a refi or a home equity loan. Some of the other postings complain about the documents required... We found the opposite documentation was very basic and processed quickly. We were funded in about three weeks.... Have retained all of the equity in our house, received a substantial amount of money and have no payments. The complaint I have is that their voicemail system is awful and gets in the way of efficient communications. Their program is not for everyone and has very spicific requirements to qualify for the program, but certainly worth checking out! read more

Took awhile but if you want to pull out some cash from your home equity this is the way to go. You don't make payments and you don't pay back until you sell your home. Ask for Alyssa Stephens she will work with you and explain the entire process. read more

This is probably the second best financial move that I have made since purchasing my home in the 1st place

Great company to work with. Very informative and quick to respond.