I have worked as a professional in the financial services industry for the past 25 years, and I consider myself to be a sophisticated consumer.

My wife and I wanted to combine the balance of our first mortgage and existing home equity line into one single mortgage, and I received information about the “Orange Mortgage” from ING Direct.

We applied on-line, and received an immediate approval under the terms we requested, subject to verification of income, satisfactory appraisal, etc.

Everything was fine until the appraisal came in significantly lower than we expected.

The folks we talked and corresponded with at ING Direct were all very polite, but not able or willing to listen to or act on any of the extensive information we provided to help inform the appraised value.

Note that we purchased the property about 3 years ago, and have completely renovated it, including a 450 square foot addition which includes a master bedroom suite.

We believe the appraiser was using records from our purchase together with outdated city records on the size and condition of the house,

In retrospect, we think that because our house is located in a small city adjacent to the Bronx, and which has a significant minority population, this may be a major factor behind the refusal of the ING Direct people – located in Saint Cloud, Minnesota – to negotiate in good faith.

Saint Cloud, MN is a city very similar in population size to the City of Mount Vernon, NY, where we live. Most recent census data reveals a key difference between Saint Cloud and Mount Vernon: Saint Cloud is 92% white; Mount Vernon is 30% white.

To add insult to injury, ING Direct has charged my credit card $350.00 to “cover some of the costs associated with processing my file.” When I called to dispute the charges, and inquired about their process to cover some of the costs I’ve incurred in relation to the application, they were again very polite, not helpful, but very, very polite.

Redlining is redlining the way I see it. And I don’t approve of redlining, nor am I willing to compensate a lender for redlining. Enough is enough.