It's funny how the more things change, the more they stay the same, isn't it? And, of course, it's infuriating! Four months ago I met a wonderful couple needing to sell their home as a short sale. I listened as they related the nightmare they'd been through with their lender, SunTrust Mortgage. Having learned that many homeowners color themselves as victims when they may not quite fit the description, I chose to adopt a "wait and see" attitude as I'd not yet had the pleasure of dealing with this company.
Ah, let the games begin. My first indication of how special an institution they are, came when they told me, afgter having sent the complete package repeatedly, that I was missing the "arms length affidavit." I explained that we were shorting an FHA loan, did not need to have an offer in order to initiate the process, and thus could not fill out the affidavits. Repeated phone calls, stating the same thing fell on the same deaf ears: in fact, when I sometimes wanted to pretend I was actually being listened to, I would first practice my speech on the living room wall.
When I finally involved an officer from HUD, I received an immediate call from the negotiator: she explained that everything was in order, and had been it seems for two months, however, she was waiting for the homeowner to fill in a box on the questionnaire for their monthly grocery expenditure. Seriously!? Okay, breathe... $800.00...immediately returned by fax....and...that was answered with a letter to the homeowner stating "We can't proceed without an offer!"
I have spoken to countless reps and each has been more arrogant than the last. I was actually told not to quote government guidelines because THEY do NOT have to follow government guidelines...."Just like that new Obama bill---it's up to us," I was cheerily told.
Absolutely not! If you want to write FHA loans you MUST follow HUD guidelines...it's not a choice. And in my opinion, it's the one aspect of life where the government actually seems to have a better handle on things than the private sector. But, that's another blog....
Thus, SunTrust Mortgage..
you are the proud recipients of my first ever GRIDLOCK award,
henceforth affectionately referred to as "The Griddies" ! I trust that I put more time into thinking up an appropriate name for the award than you have in providing anything resembling customer service.
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