About three years ago my husband was injured in a bizarre accident that left him disabled. Our home had just been paid off completely & we should have been relaxing, but instead we had to remortgage the house so that credit cards could be paid off & we could create a cushion until disability kicked in. The worst thing was having a new mortgage payment at a rate of 12.99%.

In September of 2010, with interest rates dropping to drastic levels, I decided to try to get our interest rate lowered. First of all there is no such thing as a free estimate – Quicken Loans would not talk to me until "earnest money" was paid. For me that amounted to $500.00 that I honestly did not have unless I put it on a credit card. So much for trying to live CASH ONLY.

Then I found out that in Texas it is a law that a home must be appraised every time an owner wants to refinance. It does not matter that the home was appraised just a little over a year before - it must be appraised again. I don't know if that is true or not, but I wanted to comply with everything Quicken asked. The owners (or in this case, my husband & I) are at the mercy of the appraiser. When the appraiser came to our home, I was in the middle of trying to reorganize boxes of collectibles and books) that I had inherited. Also, my son was leaving all of his possessions as he prepared to relocate to Ireland where he will get his Master's degree. To say the least, it was not a good day for an appraisal, but I wanted to get the ball rolling.

The appraiser indicated on his report that "flooring had to be replaced", the stairs had to be carpeted, the master bedroom needed new carpet, and the most insane thing of all - a gas meter had to be installed. Although I explained to the appraiser that we lived in an all-electric home (electric water heater and oven for cooking, Amish portable heaters for winter warmth, etc.) Quicken Loans made it mandatory that not only did we have to re-carpet our home, but we had to also order a gas meter to be installed. This was because at one time we had had a gas furnace for heat. Even though we had not used the furnace for the last five years, the appraiser insisted to Quicken that before any refinancing was discussed, all improvements must be made., including ordering a gas meter at our expense.

My husband & I were struggling with the large mortgage as a result of the high interest; hence, the inquiry into lowering the interest rate. We had no money for the improvements that Quicken Loans insisted we make. All work had to be done by my disabled husband & myself and it had to be done at our own speed since we could not afford to hire anyone. In order to keep from running up our credit cards again, we paid cash for everything...and that caused certain bills to go unpaid. My husband and I complied with everything Quicken Loans required, including all the cosmetic improvements and a deposit on a gas meter that was completely unnecessary. Every day Quicken would call to question when the improvements would be finished because we could close “shortly” after that. When I would try to explain that we had no money and my husband was legally disabled, I was continually told that time was ticking and the interest rate was only locked in for a very short time. No one would listen to anything I said!

Long story short, improvements were made because we were told they had to be made, my credit rating fell because I only had enough money for the required carpet, deposit on the gas meter, etc., causing me to fall behind on bill payments. Then after the improvements were satisfactorily approved by the appraiser, the Client Care Specialist (Quicken Loans) assured me we would be “closing soon”, so I did not pay my mortgage and Quicken Loans denied us after all because my credit rating dropped. Now I have lost my home by being behind on the original over-inflated mortgage.