I recently spent nearly five months working on a home equity line of credit request with Charles Schwab Bank. I worked with James O'Neal. There never really was an application process; questions came one at a time spread out over countless weeks. There were a few return calls but mostly I had to call and ask what was going on and what the next step was. There always was one additional request before approval. In five months I never received an approval. My impression is that they simply didn't want my business and were too dishonest to say so. I finally gave up and got three acceptances from other banks in about a weeks time. All the others, Bank of the West, US Bank, and Doubletree had clear-cut application and approval procedures.

Don't waste your time with Charles Schwab Bank and their mortgage department. (I should add this department is separate from the securities department which continues to provide excellent service, in my experience).