I just had a very negative experience with Quicken Loans, so I thought I'd email all of you with a warning so you could avoid a similar experience. I'm hoping you'll pass on this information to others as well.

The radio constantly plays commercials for Quicken Loans, including an advertisement for their "interest only" plan. Because our adjustable rate with our present lender just went up (increasing our monthly payment about $100.00) I thought I'd look into what Quicken Loans had to offer.

Warning! Do NOT work with a company over the phone! You need to be able to sit face-to-face with a loan officer to discuss the options and review the tons of paperwork you'll be signing!

Quicken did everything via phone and fax machine, and they put high pressure on me to get everything signed and returned ASAP or they wouldn't be able to lock my loan rate in. They also want a credit card to cover their expenses during the loan process, which they say will be reimbursed to you in full at the closing. Unless I misunderstood him, and I don't think I did, my loan officer, Robert, told me no charges would go on my card unless the loan was a sure thing, then when the loan didn't go through due to a low appraisal, I found out they charged $316.10 to my card for expenses such as the appraisal.

I've contacted Quicken's Customer Relations Department who says they can do nothing about refunding the rest of my deposit money because, although they randomly record phone conversations, she couldn't find anything discussed between Robert and I to support my claim that he told me no charges would go on the card unless it was a done deal. It doesn't matter that he wasn't returning my calls regarding this issue, or when he finally returned my emails he completely avoided my accusation that he told me nothing would be charged. In my rush to review and sign the 13 pages he faxed to me that he said he needed returned IMMEDIATELY to lock in my rate, I missed the paragraph about the deposit that clearly stated the deposit money will be used to cover Quicken's out-of-pocket expenses, a paragraph that Robert never mentioned to me, but probably would have been discussed had I met with a loan officer face-to-face rather than doing this over the phone with someone who didn't
cover any of the details of the paperwork.

So shame on me for not reading the paperwork thoroughly, and shame on Quicken Loans for using high pressure sales to get your credit card information and your signature on the dotted line. I will never consider doing business with them again, and I wanted to let everyone else know to avoid them when considering applying for a new loan or refinancing.

A last note: That interest only loan is a scam. The interest rate they offered was higher than what I'm paying now! In addition, when they advertise that you can make less than your minimum payment, you must realize that you are short-paying your payment that month and those monies will come due eventually. It's a dangerous and ridiculous idea for a loan. In addition, when I received the 13 pages of paperwork, the page that listed my "minimum monthly payment" had an amount filled in that looked much cheaper than my present monthly mortgage payment, when in fact those numbers were what I would pay if I chose to make less than my minimum monthly payment. In other words, that amount was NOT my monthly mortgage payment on the interest only loan, it was the minimum amount I could make if I chose not to make my full payment. I didn't realize this until my loan was toward the end of the process and I informed Robert, my Quicken loan officer, that my interest only payment would actually be higher than my present monthly payment, and that the paperwork I signed was extremely misleading regarding what my monthly payment would actually be. He stated he hadn't realized the paperwork was so misleading and he'd look into it. Somehow I think everyone at Quicken Loans knows EXACTLY how misleading that paperwork is.

Lesson learned - avoid Quicken Loans!!! Pass it on!!!