Washington Federal

This bank talked a good talk when we consulted about a special situation loan in this lending climate. Our special situation of being self employed for less than two years making more money than necessary for our purchase, having excellent credit, being able and willing to put down 20%, and needing to move in a competitive time frame on a house needing a few major repairs was discussed. As it turned out, a lot of lip service was given to us about this application being a "no-brainer" because they assured us they would be able to provide a unique loan that matched the unique need of the community and that the loan officer's familiarity with the local market would benefit this situation. They assured us the process would move very quickly and not jeopardize our negotiations with the seller. None of this proved to be true. From the beginning, the paperwork contained permanent errors that I caught-and was told no one ever really read the fine print(!). The initial paperwork was filled sent to me for signatures but contained guesswork and boxes checked off that were never discussed. Assumptions were made about the interest lock-in & a float-down rather than contacting us. The loan officer was out of the office on multiple vacations during what turned out to be many weeks of our dealing with them when it was promised to take 3-5 days originally). Her assistants were not at liberty to provide information while she was away which delayed our application. When we finally began to make progress with a little pressure(we explained our sales offer was nearing expiration), the obstacles to this "no-brainer" loan began to fly from every direction. Soon we were being told that the corporate offices in Seattle were concerned and managers higher up would have to be consulted. More paperwork would be needed(which was fine, but that paperwork also contained an error on their part which again slowed the process!). Any time we were told an answer would take a day-it would take 5. We finally withdrew our application and changed to our credit union. The CU quickly approved our loan-that change illustrated even more clearly the lack of professionalism and poor communication we experienced at Washington Federal. It was a totally unnecessary, futile experience! Even the refund of nearly $400 we paid up front for the application process that wouldn't go forward met with delay after delay-they said the check was in the mail, it was returned for some strange reason...would the craziness ever end?!