KBS Lending Inc

This review has to do with the first loan I started with KBS Lending. Kim was very helpful up front in explaining how things worked, what I could do, what I shouldn?t do etc. This was a cash out loan for my second rental property that I paid cash for, did about $15,000 rehab, and then financed 75% of the purchase plus rehab costs. I was able to lock this @ 3 7/8 for 30 years and we were able to hold that rate. I show that I submitted the signed disclosures to Kim on April 2, 2013. We started the paperwork about a week earlier. The lender Stearns says they received the loan application from KBS on April 11th. This loan was supposed to close by April 28th, 2013 and serve as the down payment funds for a purchase deal I had contracted to close on April 30, 2013. Neither closed on time even though Kim knew and agreed up front that we could meet those closing dates. There were some quality issues with this loan. Originally, before I added up my repairs, we discussed a loan @ 68,900. On April 1, I added up my repairs and we agreed I qualified for a loan of $70,000 and I made modifications to the loan disclosures I submitted on April 2nd to reflect that. The first time they presented the loan to me to close on May 10th, it was for $68,900. Since I had already found alternate funds to close the purchase loan by then, I asked Kim to redo this for the correct amount of $70,000. I also asked Kim to use the title company that handled the original cash transaction. I figured that would be more efficient and I had a fee arrangement with them that was very good for repeat business. When Kim took one of her three vacations while this loan was in process, I also sent an email and discussed with Liza @ KBS that I wanted to use Title Resources. Almost three weeks later Kim told me she had gone with a different title company and it was too late to change it. I thought that was the buyer?s choice. While her title company is more reasonable than some, their fees were a couple hundred more than the title company I asked Kim to use and they are almost half an hour further away from than the title company I asked her to use. This led to some protracted discussions about why I was being charged what I call ?junk? fees by the title company that Kim chose that wouldn?t have been charged by the title company I selected. We finally closed on May 24th, 26 days after the date we agreed we would close by. We did manage to hold the interest rate on this one. I paid KBS & Stearns about $2,300 for the privilege of having them securing this loan for me. That is more than double what I paid on my last loan for lender fees and the service was a whole lot better. Beware: One other thing I should point out is KBS will ask you to sign a contract that is very one-sided and requires you to agree to pay up to $2,800 plus an appraisal fee of $550 up front, even if the loan doesn?t close. The top rated lender I?m now using from Angie?s List does not require you to pay anything if the loan doesn?t close and doesn?t require you to sign such a one sided agreement to originate the loan. I guess when you constantly deliver top results and delight your customers; you don?t need them a lot of legalese to ensnare your customers.

I've tried three loans with KBS. Each has had significant problems. This review is for a purchase loan I did where we missed the closing date multiple times waiting on KBS & Stearns. Twice the closing date and time was set only to find out when it was time to close we didn't have the docs yet. My life was pretty much on hold that week as Kim kept saying she would have things done by the closing date and time but missed multiple times. I got to where I refused to get in my car until I actually had the docs which we had previously agreed she would have to me 48 hours in advance. There were several complaints by the listing agent that Kim refused to talk to him and was late in requesting title, etc. In response to a complaint letter I sent to KBS & Stearns Lending on July 9th, I now have a letter from Stearns Lending showing they received the loan app from KBS on April 16 when I submitted the signed app & disclosures to KBS on April 4th. This was on a deal that was supposed to close on April 30th. That complaint was sent to Kim @ KBS on July 9th but KBS has not responded. We eventually had to move Closing to May 8th at Kim's request and she missed that as well. Part of the problem was the delay in getting the appraisal which I asked her about for two or more weeks before we got it, since it was part of the delay on another loan. Part of the challenge may have been that Kim took three vacations during the 30+ days we worked on this loan. While I've glad she got some vacation time in, when she doesn't get things done that she commits to, and doesn?t tell me in advance that she?s taking off and who is covering, I get worried. In response to the e-mail I sent her today, I got an e-mail back that she is on vacation. We almost lost this deal after the lender wasn't ready to close on May 8th. The listing agent who was representing a corporation threatened to declare us in default or pull the deal. He thought KBS was the worst lender he had ever worked with and felt he couldn't ask the Seller for another extension based on lack of cooperation from KBS. We ended up closing on May 9th and the Seller finally signed the extension and closed on the afternoon of May 10th. If I hadn't already had two loans in flight with Kim with rate locks, I probably would have stopped then. Another cash-out loan was supposed to close and fund first and Kim had agreed to that. Since she seemed to be struggling to get anything done, I ended up suggesting she put this loan first and I would find another source of funds to close this which I was able to scramble and do since I really didn't want to be in breach of contract or lose this deal.