I can't believe Wells Fargo

[Anonymous]

I have a PMA account, checking / savings / brokerage, and my mortgage at Wells Fargo.  When I was on their online banking there was a link saying I had an offer to refinance. I looked at their rate, which is 4.75%, and I have a 6.25% 30-year fixed so I filled out the form.  The man called me today, asked about my loan, looked at comps, and told me that my loan amount is basically 100% of my value so I couldn't get a loan with a lower interest rate unless it was below 80% LTV.

Are you kidding me???  They have the loan now but won't re-finance because of that?  I put $70k down on this house, which I told him... "Sorry ma'am."  Will a re-financed loan be riskier than the one now?  I have NEVER, EVER missed a payment or been late and this is the second mortgage I have had with them.  Do I need to miss a few payments to get a lower rate?

I am so PO'd.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, 100% refi's have been gone for awhile, and to get the lowest interest rate, 80% LTV is  and had been common.  That is just the unfortunate side of this credit crisis.  You can be mad or whatever, but just be happy that you are in a fixed loan and can afford your house.  There are alot of people with alot more problems than that. 

As far as missing payments to get help, if you want to take the FICO hit and the other credit downturns that go with it then be my go for it.  Personally, as someone who is in a 30 year fixed at 6.5 I would love to get a 4.75 rate but also am just glad to have a house and a fixed payment that I can afford.

Also, your other accounts don't necessarily mean much to the bank when they are looking at a list of requirements to lend money it is kind of black and white. 

I will admit freely that they should not be sending out email offers to their own customers and then telling them they don't qualify, but it is really no different than all of the credit card offers we get all of the time.  They are just trying to make some money.

either way good luck.

[DallasLoanGuy]

past relationship doesnt mean anything.

they are looking at the NEW loan and it's risk.

100% is risky

[Anonymous]

All I can say about past relationships not meaning anything is that it goes both ways.  My portion of a family trust will be taken out of Wells Fargo the moment I can.  They gave my father a hard time once insisting he had to have an ATM card to do business with them so he told them to give him his money now.  They didn't have that much money at the bank and wouldn't be able to.  Management talked him out of it.

I think I will take great satisfaction in telling them the reason I am taking the money out when I do.

[Anonymous]

Although it sucks that past relationships don't mean much, plenty of the people loosing their homes right now had great relationships with their banks right up until they stopped paying their mortgage.  It is unreasonable to expect the bank to do a 100% refi in a horrible economy and a declining real estate market.  If you have this much in assets, use some assets to make up the difference, do the 80% refi.  It really makes no difference what assets you or your family have in the bank to the loan officer, they are just going by the restrictions that the investors/Fannie/Freddie/ and the government are putting on them.  Being bitter about it helps nothing.  We get the disapointment, but it is the saem as the AMEX customers mad over the CLD's they are getting.  There is nothing you can really do. 

[Anonymous]

The only reason it makes me so mad is the loan modifications, the teaser rates for life, etc. for people who are in default.  I have been a good customer.  I didn't over extend myself.  I didn't try to get a bigger house for more money with an adjustable rate loan when I knew I couldn't afford the payments in the future.  I put 20% down, not 3%.

I read an article today that of the loan modifications done, 55% of them are at least 30 days deliquent again within 6 months, 37% are at least 30 days deliquent within 3 months.

Just like the CC companies are screwing their loyal customers to make up for their own mistakes. 

[Anonymous]

Hi Pamela,

I'm not a newbie, but this is my first time posting to the

Mortgage Loans section of the forum. 

First of all, I'm sorry that things didn't work out with the

Wells Fargo refi. 

I do agree, however, with the feedback you've been getting

from others who have already posted. 

Yes, you're a GREAT customer. Yes, you pay your bills

on time. Yes, you put down 20% when you bought the house

and have made your mortgage payments faithfully. And yes,

there are other homeowners out there getting help on their

loans even though they bought too much house to begin with.

But 100% refis in this market just aren't happening. Even for

great customers like you. No exceptions. 

If you've already "lost" 70k in down payment money, there's a

good chance the Pittsburgh market will continue to slide before

it starts to turn around. So even if you did pull some money from

the PMA account and got the lower rate, you could well "lose"

money again. I think you're better off just leaving it where it is,

especially if that account is interest-bearing and actually making

money for you. 

One last point: This is a touchy subject, so I will apologize in advance

if I offend you. Believe me, I'm not trying to:

Just because Wells Fargo turned you down for the refi doesn't mean

they are a bad bank. It just means that, in this case, you didn't get

what you asked for. There's a big difference between the two.

No one likes to be disappointed. And we all feel EXACTLY the way

you do when we get denied for credit cards, loans, etc. But it's not

a reflection on you personally...it's just where you are right now

financially as it relates to the housing market.

Just hang in there and bide your time, Pamela. Between you making

your payments on time and mortgage rates coming down, the market

will eventually stabilize and then turn around. When that happens, you

should be in a prime position to do something down the road. 

CanDo

"The right attitude is everything"

[fishbjc]

PP:  I can certainly understand your frustration!!!!  You would think that since they already have the loan, they would work with you for a cheaper rate.  Try NFCU, see what they have to say.

Congratulations on being fiscally responsible and paying your debts ontime, that's worth a lot....

[Anonymous]

But that is the problem.  They probably don't have the loan anymore.  They just have the servicing.  The loan was probably sold off to a bunch of investors and is now scattered in little pieces of ownership.  Wells Fargo can't just up and decide to rework the terms of the existing loan because it's not theirs to rework so they have no choice but to do a completely new loan with the same terms as every other person getting a new loan right now.  If they don't then then can't sell the new loan to more investors to get more money for the next person they want to give a loan.