I just wanted to share our recent refinance experience with Quicken Loans / Rocket Mortgage, so that people could avoid the hassle we have endured. Keep in mind that we are considered well-qualified buyers, with FICOs in 780s, $170k household income and around 15% DTI.
I was sitting around the other night looking at refi rates, when I came upon Rocket Mortgage. The application process was super easy (I completed it on my iPhone while sitting on the couch) and we received an instant conditional approval at 4.17% for a 30 yr fixed on a 192,000 loan amount, with an 80% LTV. We are only interested in lowering our monthly payment, not taking any equity back out or consolidating any debt.
I chatted with our "power banker" Stuart, who clarified a few things and got me access to myQL.com. The myQL.com website is actually an awesome tool, that makes the process of moving forward super easy. We received a "to-do" list and completed everything within 24 hours of being requested.
We received our letter of approval about 48 hours after being approved and providing the requested documentation.
From the first day, we specified to our "power banker" that we wanted to use our own title company, and he confirmed by email and through the myQL.com message center. Things were moving along fine, until a couple of days later when we received an email to review an updated loan estimate and to acknowledge a redisclosure document. I logged in and found that our monthly escrow had been increased by almost $200, citing an anticipated increase in property taxes for 2018. (side note: the county assessor has issued a "first pass" assessment of our property for next year that would result in a $2000 yearly increase. This is common practice here, they shoot for the stars every 3 years and we appeal... getting the majority of the amount removed. We have an attorney appealing the taxes, so there is no set amount yet).
Shortly after looking through the document, I received a message from a company called Title Source letting me know that they had received the title service order for our property from Quicken Loans. I was pretty surprised, seeing as how we had confirmation from Quicken regarding our wishes to use our own title company.
I emailed our power banker and our client specialist asking for an explanation from either one, and advised them that I wouldn't be signing anything until I received some sort of explanation regarding the taxes and title work. After 4 days, we had received no response from either of them and they continued to add items to our to-do list on myQL.com.
I went back to the mortgage banker that did our initial purchase and gave him an opportunity to quote the loan. We ended up being approved for a 30yr fixed, at 4.0%. I ended up going with their title service because it was $400 cheaper than the one we intended to use, and they advised that it would help the process move more smoothly. We got the title back about 3 days later, and lo and behold... nothing about increased property taxes. They said their title work found that 2017 taxes were not calculated or payable at this time.
All the while, I have yet to receive any communication from my power banker or client specialist.
I finally sent an email to Quicken Loans corporate customer service, and received a response pretty quickly. They are of course very apologetic about the situation, and have promised to get to the bottom of it. I read lots negative reviews about them online, but figured they were over-exaggerated, maybe from under-qualified buyers, but this experience has shown that their communication absolutely sucks, and they do not value their reputation in any way, shape or form.
Bottom line: Avoid Quicken Loans / Rocket Mortgage at all costs, whether you are refinancing or purchasing!
