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We are getting our first house in 11 years. We have excellent credit; combined income over 200K; no debt. Our USAA loan processing has been the worst I have ever seen (admittedly, I haven't seen much else). I really did not expect their handling of our loan application and processing to be this incompetent and lacking in customer service; I thought the service we would get from then would be on par with their online banking. It is not. We're stuck with them as we have to close in a few days.

I now notice that many USAA employees (past and present) have posted online comments about how miserable it is presently to work for USAA; a recurring theme (both employees and customers) is that their service used to be 'great' but has gone way downhill.

Too bad for all the service members, DoD civilians and retirees who were counting on their continued service.

Caveat Emptor.

Location: Frankfurt, Hesse

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Guest

My wife and I refinanced our home in San Antonio Texas a few years ago. When we bought our home interest rates were falling ( 2000 ) to all time lows at the time.

So I took an ARM 3/1 and the rates just kept falling to 1%. Even when they started to inch back up the spread was big enough to keep the ARM. In 2009 we finally refinanced and took some cash out to pay off some high interest credit cards. The house is worth 200,000 and after the refi we owed 125,000.

USAA did the refi in a New York Minute! It was a 6.0%fixed note. Now I owe 110,000 and want to refi for a better rate. Our scores are in the high 750 to 780 range.

In March I applied with USAA, after all they were our lender! I was talking to someone in Colorado after overnighting all the documents they asked for I was told that everything looked great. Then they start asking for 2 years tax returns but they could not tell me why they needed them! My wife and I are both retired and I am a 100% disabled veteran.

They know everything including what I had for breakfast so they did not get my tax returns. In talking to other lenders they were just incompetent. We were never advised that they had denied the loan! The other lenders that I have talked to told me that " why would they want to lower the rate of someone who was paying off their loan early and was always on time with their payments!".

I do not recommend USAA as a lender. If they thought I was paying down my loan before just wait and see what I can do in the next five years!!!

Guest

:( I was told USAA was trying to offer a new level of service with a new program designed to deliver much higher customer service levels and close in fewer days, etc. I am glad that they recognize the need to make some significant changes, however they have missed the mark.

Multiple requests for documents that have been previously provided, Extremely slow response time, and generally poor communication have been rampant during this process. My wife and I are applying for a VA Loan through USAA. Both have 800+ credit scores. I had compared NASB with USAA and they seemed similar, until I got to the fine print and it was too late.

USAA said I would get back $1250 following the loan, however, I did not realize that they were charging me $1900 to bring my points down to where NASB was starting.

Plus additional fees that were covered at NASB. Not only have I been asked for everything shy of a blood sample, but my closing is still not confirmed, but it is supposed to be in two days, and today they are still asking me for things that I provided them almost a month ago.

Archibald Thc

I just had excellent service refinancing my home with USSA Home Mortgage company that is independent from USAA. I had some small hiccups but got them fixed quickly with the help of Michael, he stayed in close communication every step of the way.

So we were happy. In today's unstable economy... lots of people everywhere are having problems getting refinanced because the govt just made everything almost impossible. I read the complaints and decide to go ahead with them anyway.

We were not disappointed! Debbi in NC

Guest

We also tried to get a mortgage with USAA. We have been members for 33 years and have our car insurance, credit cards, life insurance with them.

We have no debt,including home, net worth is great, income is great and outstanding credit rating. You would think that our measly $200K loan would be a slam dunk. Ha! We have been given the run around, been asked very instrusive questions which boarder upon invasion of privacy, they want to know what, why, when, where and how much we are moving money around.

They are not doing their job, they are asking us to do it for them, claiming government regulations. two weeks later them claim they need answers to another 10 questions, which are harassing. They fall back on claiming its government new government regulation which was just past weeks ago. Sure.

Only if they want to bundle and sell the loans to the government. Keep your mortgage local. We will never use USAA again.

We are moving all our business to elsewhere.

Guest

You are all wrong. I did a VA loan with USAA and the experience was great.

The loan lowered my payments by a third and saved my life. The processor was prompt, they lost nothing and it was all done via email and regular mail. The bank has no influence on your appraisal.

It's the law. Get a life.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-566049

DHH, you are the lucky one. I tried getting VA loan on a well established condo, and USAA wouldn't/couldn't do it.

They wouldn't start the loan process without the VA condo approval number. The condo didn't have one yet. So, I go to the VA for the requirements, and one of the documents required is the "Lender Pre-Sale approval". USAA refused to do the document.

I was reading to the supervisor that it was a simple document and how the VA calculates "Pre-Sale Approval". Multiple Supervisors refused to do the document so I could submit a package to receive the VA approval code that USAA requires to start the loan application. I went to another bank, and they actually did the entire package for me.

USAA just couldn't be bothered with assisting in any of the VA requirements. I was very disappointed.

Guest

USAA mortgage-bad IDEA. They just declined my loan 7 days before closing.

I was pre approved, then approved and told I was in better shape than most of their applicants. Had all my inspections, appraisal, and repairs done! All of the sudden today, bam they cannot accept all of sellers closing costs and I have to show liquid assets of over $7000, and to top it off now they say I can't use funds for down that I withdrew from retirement. I wasted time, money, and may lose the home because of USAA.

Very mad right now!

Go local , don't use USAA. I'm meeting with a local lender tommorow, hopefully my seller will wait on me again.

Guest

Yes, YOLANDA is a THUG no doubt about it!! She is my supervisor and she is very illiterate and USAA hires people like this under affirmative action programs.

She cannot enunciate her words correctly let alone know ANYTHING about mortgage loans and this is why I, a USAA VA Mortgage Processor, are intentionally "losing" tax documents paystubs appraisals etc that come in to me from you members!!

We are overwhelmed with new files because USAA does not staff like they should.

THIS IS A BLACK AND MEXICAN RUN BUSINESS UNIT OF USAA- HENCE THE PROBLEMS!!

Amanda L Mlw

Hi Joseph! :-) I wanted specifically to tell you that the so called "surcharge" for being in a declining market is not from FNMA.

It is imposed by USAA in order to generate pre paid revenue from your loan.

USAA will attach a "loan level price adjustment" to your loan for a number of factors. Here lies the "rub"- normally, when a loan is sold to FNMA, the seller (that would be USAA) is supposed to absorb those loan costs (because of the compensation received by FNMA to the seller of that loan) anyway I know I am getting very technical here (I worked as a manager in the Secondary Marketing Dept here at USAA last year so I know how this works) but, in a nutshell, USAA is collecting fees that they have no right to collect.

Guest

*** Yolanda that processors make minimum wage. I was a closer and made decent money and processors get paid more.

I DO know how overworked the processors are as well as the closers. But I remember once I had a call from a title company asking about a specific loan. In the pods, the processor sat right next to me. I asked her about it.

The loan was supposed to be closing the next day. I was told I don't have time right now to look at tht one. Then, half an hour later, sent me file that was closing in two weeks. WTF?

No time for tomorrow, but two weeks you can do? The customer service from the mortgage dept is beyond laughable.It is the worst customer service I have ever seen. I loved closing and I am a closer at a different company now. I still get to do what I love and with a company that offers much better service.

Until USAA learns to listen to the workers who actually do the job, they will never get it right. Poor customer service is all they will ever get from USAA mortgage.

Guest

USAA tries to tell everyone that they are a Federal Savings Bank that caters to military, former military and those who support the military. Up until recently I fully believed that this was the case.

I have had USAA since I was about 16 years old, through my fathers service to our great country I was รขโ‚ฌล“fortunateรขโ‚ฌย enough to be able to get USAA membership. Then once I joined the military I continued to use USAA. I am now out of the military, and contracting for the U.S. military in Afghanistan.

I have been in Afghanistan now for 14months. I applied for a home loan through USAA and was approved immediately. I followed all of USAAรขโ‚ฌโ„ขs mortgage services representativeรขโ‚ฌโ„ขs instructions (Sandra Tessitore). I had 45 days from the day the offer was submitted and all of my paper work was filed out, for Sandra to fill me in on any issues that might arise.

Several times I emailed her with questions only to receive no reply for several days, or until I got sick of waiting for an email and called her directly. Seven days before I was supposed to close on my house Sandra notifies me that since I am a contractor, I need a letter from my company stating that they will keep me on contract for three years no matter what, and that my pay will stay the exact same ($145k a year). I asked her why it needed to remain 145K when the loan I am going for was only 220k borrowedรขโ‚ฌยฆher answer thatรขโ‚ฌโ„ขs what the underwriter wants. No company can guarantee employment for three years and these conniving criminals know it.

So due to USAA, and Sandra Tessitore, I am out $2,000 dollars earnest money, the fees they charged to go through this entire process (with the extra points I bought around $600), probably around 20 hours of my times on the phone with them, oh yeah and did I forget to mention a house. USAA is not about helping military and former military get fair deals, they are all about making the quick buck and then dumping you in the trash like last weeks leftovers. If USAA would have told me these ridiculous รขโ‚ฌล“regulationsรขโ‚ฌย up front I could have had the time to go to a lender that can give loans to those who serve our country overseas and not the thieves at USAA. Once I am back in the states, able to go into reputable bank and insurance company, I will be getting rid of my USAA Performance First Savings Account, Normal Savings Account, Checking Account, Life Insurance, Home Insurance, Car Insurance, and Credit Card.

USAA will not care about this because they have thousands of members who are unaware of their crooked practices. I just hope that this review will help fellow contracts know to go through another lender and not make the mistake I did by trusting USAA.

-Nathan

Guest

USAA only received one star because it is not possible to give them les. USAA tries to tell everyone that they are a Federal Savings Bank that caters to military, former military and those who support the military.

Up until recently I fully believed that this was the case. I have had USAA since I was about 16 years old, through my fathers service to our great country I was รขโ‚ฌล“fortunateรขโ‚ฌย enough to be able to get USAA membership. Then once I joined the military I continued to use USAA. I am now out of the military, and contracting for the U.S.

military in Afghanistan. I have been in Afghanistan now for 14months. I applied for a home loan through USAA and was approved immediately. I followed all of USAAรขโ‚ฌโ„ขs mortgage services representativeรขโ‚ฌโ„ขs instructions (Sandra Tessitore).

I had 45 days from the day the offer was submitted and all of my paper work was filed out, for Sandra to fill me in on any issues that might arise. Several times I emailed her with questions only to receive no reply for several days, or until I got sick of waiting for an email and called her directly. Seven days before I was supposed to close on my house Sandra notifies me that since I am a contractor, I need a letter from my company stating that they will keep me on contract for three years no matter what, and that my pay will stay the exact same ($145k a year). I asked her why it needed to remain 145K when the loan I am going for was only 220k borrowedรขโ‚ฌยฆher answer thatรขโ‚ฌโ„ขs what the underwriter wants.

No company can guarantee employment for three years and these conniving criminals know it. So due to USAA, and Sandra Tessitore, I am out $2,000 dollars earnest money, the fees they charged to go through this entire process (with the extra points I bought around $600), probably around 20 hours of my times on the phone with them, oh yeah and did I forget to mention a house. USAA is not about helping military and former military get fair deals, they are all about making the quick buck and then dumping you in the trash like last weeks leftovers. If USAA would have told me these ridiculous รขโ‚ฌล“regulationsรขโ‚ฌย up front I could have had the time to go to a lender that can give loans to those who serve our country overseas and not the thieves at USAA.

Once I am back in the states, able to go into reputable bank and insurance company, I will be getting rid of my USAA Performance First Savings Account, Normal Savings Account, Checking Account, Life Insurance, Home Insurance, Car Insurance, and Credit Card.

USAA will not care about this because they have thousands of members who are unaware of their crooked practices. I just hope that this review will help fellow contracts know to go through another lender and not make the mistake I did by trusting USAA.

-Nathan

Guest

Hey everyone- I had to add my input to "Matt's" comment on April 6th. I will agree that Processors are paid okay- with the emphasis being on the "ok".

However, the demands made upon us are insane!! Management needs to staff accordingly. I am NOT a vengeful emplooyee. It is just that its not humanly possible to handle 83 members concurrently (referred to as a loan "pipeline") at any given time.

I am NOT exagerating- our caseload really is that large. I mean I do not want to see members suffer, I don't! I have no qualm with our members- they pay our paychecks. But with our volume, I cannot return calls or emails I simply cannot!!

I hate to say it, but if you are assigned to me as your VA Processor, I will be deleting the E faxes as they come in. A few of my fellow processors are on board with this idea too. Maybe, just maybe, management will start to staff accordingly!!

In the mean time, your loan experience will be a nightmare. Complain to management- not to your poor Processor!!

Guest

I have been working with USAA for a mortgage since late February, I have to tell you it is an aweful experience. While I do get some communication which is better than some comments I have seen this is a crazy process.

First let me assure you (and I can prove it with records) that everytime I have been asked for any type of infoemation I have turned it around within hours..the processor never had to wait on any information. Today is April 6th and I am suppose to close on April 13th and I still do not have a final approval, a close estimate of closing costs or any certainty that anything is gooing to get accomplished next week. I have never seen anything like this, it appears to be very uncoordinated. The underwriter has had my documentation multiple times and requested various information banks statements, tax returns etc.

I have no issue with that and as I stated earlier I have turned those around within hours to make sure they are not waiting on me to get the information. The last request that was made was 5 days ago, I got the latest bank statements back to the processor within 2 hours. The underwqriter was to approve and then we would proceed to close. I heard nothing to change that and then this afternoon there is more documentation being requested because the underwriter finally reviewed my case today.

Now they are telling me there is no guarrantee that April 13th will be the closing date (I have already taken that day off work), they can't confirm an even close amount of what funds I need to bring to closing..it is ridiculous.

This is a poor way to run a business, I have already contacted another lender who is guaranteeing a closing no later than May 10th. I am leaning towards pulling the plug depending on what response I get this afternoon..

Mark P Mgg

Melissa Kline's post couldn't be farther from the truth. First, processors are paid quite well.

If this person was an employee she would know this. Secondly, they are employees, not contractors and they must have experience. Appraiser's would never let a processor influence value. Why would they risk their license to conduct business for a processor they don't know.

The comparable sales on the report are what they are and that dictates value, nothing else. If documents are uploaded via usaa.com they cannot be "lost" as they are automatically stored securely. Why would an employee want to have to deal with an escalated member over purposely losing documentation? Just doesn't make sense.

I don't think this person is an employee. She sounds more like a vengeful member who was either denied or had a bad experience. I also think she posted as another employee by a different name (the same "barely above minimum wage verbiage was used there too) USAA processors are not perfect but they do work very hard and have the member's best interest at heart. USAA closes thousands of loans and not all will go perfectly.

Donรขโ‚ฌโ„ขt let a handful of complaints paint this company with such a broad stroke.

If you search any bank in business on this site you will find complaints. If this person feels they have been wronged they need to contact USAA and give them an opportunity to make it right.

melissakline K

I am a current USAA mortgage processor for both the VA and conventional lines of business. I am the first to admit that all the negative comments about the USAA mortgage process and processors are, sadly, correct.

For starters, my co workers were recruited from largely from day labor agencies- that's right, your "loan representative" may have been laying brick or drywalling one day and next day that person is "processing" your mortgage!! Also, we (yeah I admit, I take part in this) make key documents "disappear" if we were having a bad day. For example, a purchase contract or an appraisal can disappear EVEN if you, the applicant keep sending in documents :-) Additionally, voicemails get deleted without getting heard, and emails too (from you, our member). This happens because we resent having the weight of the world on our shoulders while the team leads and Underwriters do almost nothing!! I have caused many closings not to happen- especially purchases when we have the authority to delete entire loan files!

Also, because we are the point-of-contact with the appraiser, title companies, etc., we routinely ask the appraisers to "low ball" the appraisal so the deal falls through. Now, before you start getting all mad at me, please consider the following: If a loan is denied for low appraisal, it is AWESOME because that file falls off our caseload. If the appraisal does come in where we need it to, then it creates a MASSIVE amount of work for us!! It SUXXXX!!

USAA mortgage does not provide us with training and we largely "make it up" as we go along. We do not try to create a bad member experience; however, due to the fact our caseloads aAre so heavy, we do anything possible to "kill" a deal. It sounds horrible, but afterall what would you do if you were one of us?? We don't earn barely above minimum wage and we are 100% "contracted" labor. In other words, we are "temps" and we have no benefits and are expendable!

Make up your own mind if you want to deal with USAA Mortgage- you now have all the facts!!

Melissa K

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of melissakline K

If I upload a document to you using a internet cloud storage and you "purposly loose key documents" I am seeing the *** out of you for lying and not purposely mishandling documents protected under privacy acts. Both illegal by the way.

I doubt this corporation is doing this on purpose if you are you all are going to get arrested sooner or later whether you agreed with the practice of not. This would violate regulations under the Better Business Laws.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-1024607

Sorry for the *** auto correct

Sueing not seeing

And

Purposely not not purposely

Guest

I agree with the above comments, I never imagined USAA would be so clueless with VA loans. Go with your local bank, avoid the drama early.

Do not go with USAA for your mortgage needs. Everything else (car ins, banking, renters ins.

etc.. is great).

Guest

DO NOT USE USAA MORTGAGE!!! Ditto the problems above. I'm on AKO if you want details...

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