Opening a can of worms

I am aware that this post is very much like walking on the proverbial egg shells. Or, it’s like walking on quick sand. Um, I can’t think of any other nifty adages. The point is that I know that this post may ruffle some feathers. But I’m writing this in hopes that maybe someone can give me answers, or at least post their thoughts.

 Lenders – does anyone else have issues with these professional business people and/or those involved in this industry?

Now, before I have every Lender who reads this hitting “Post a Comment” and then typing out every explitive that comes to mind, let me give a short caveat – THERE ARE SOME GREAT LENDERS. I worked with a guy named Chris with Bank of America one time. He was in Dallas. I couldn’t call that guy quick enough before he was calling or e-mailing me with an update. It was incredible.

W.R. Starkey has a great Lender named Adrian Trevino. His assistant, Sean (I hope I spelled that right), is quick to call back with updates as well. Another good one at W.R. Starkey is Corey Ehler’s. I’ve always found him to be proactive and responsive. Let’s see…there is Kevin Kinchen and Sergio Fausto too.

So what is my issue with Lenders? In a nutshell, they cause closings to be delayed – this causes clients to be angry – this causes the agents to be angry – this causes me, as the transaction coordinator, to have massive headaches, thereby having to gobble down huge amounts of aspirin. My question is, who holds the Lender accountable?

An agent is held accountable by the MCA (Market Center Administrative) department, the client (who will or will not give them referrals), the Title Company, and the staff that they pay. The Title Company is held accountable by a manager, the real estate agents, and someone like me. I am held accountable by the MCA department, the agent, the client, and the Title Company. Thus, all of us work together to make sure that the closing happens on time. When I call a Closer, I get a response. When I call the agent on the other side of the transaction, they respond. When I call the client, they call me back. When I call the Lender…

 And so after I leave 2 or 3 messages, and e-mail them once or twice, I get a little frustrated. I don’t think that this is unreasonable. After all, these folks are holding everyone hostage, in a sense.

Many times when I do get ahold of the Lender I end talking to a rather defensive or arrogant person on the other end of the line. I am often asked, “Why are you calling me to check on the status? This isn’t typical protocol.” This is true, in part. Most agents don’t have an assistant who checks the status of the loan – hence the lack of accountability I spoke of previously. Be that as it may, a Lender should never be offended that an agent is checking the status of a loan in processing, right? Where is it written in the Lender’s Handbook of Typical Protocol that a representative of the client cannot get a status on the loan?

If I am blessed enough to get a status on the loan, it is usually something like this, “That loan is in processing. We’ve done our part, now it’s up to the processor.” At this point I ask for the processors number. When I call the processor (assuming I get ahold of them) to get a status update the answer I usually get is, “This loan is in underwriting.” At this point I ask, “So you don’t have any updates for me? Are we going to hit the closing date?” The reply usually sounds something like this, “I don’t know that information sir. We’ve done our part. Now it’s up to the underwriter.” Now, I usually try to get the underwriters number. I usually do not get it. But when I do, and I ask for a status update, here is what I normally hear, “There are still 2 or 3 conditions that have to be met by the Buyer. We’ve sent this to the Lender to have the conditions met.” Wait, didn’t I just hang up with the Lender who told me that the loan was in processing, but then the processor told me that the loan was in underwriting?

 There are days when I look like this. I’m not even kidding. You see, these words aren’t coming from someone who rarely deals with Lenders. These words are coming from someone who deals with a multitude of Lenders on a day-to-day basis. Just to give you an example, we had 6 closings scheduled today, we have 5 for tomorrow, we have 3 on Thursday, and 3 on Friday. Within these 17 closings there are 14 different Lenders. Three of the closings scheduled for today are having to be put off 2-3 days because of Lender issues. We haven’t received phone calls back from 2 of the Lender’s of closings scheduled for tomorrow. Do you see the point that I’m trying to make?

 I anticipate a response from a Lender that looks like this, “Understand that much of the time the issue isn’t the Lender – it’s the client. We ask for conditions to be met, the client takes a long time, and the process is held up.” I know this is true. We all know that the client can sometimes drag their feet. But does that really account for the consistency in held up closings and pointing of fingers? Does it explain the lack of response given from Lenders to agents and clients? Does that reason account for the general disposition taken by a Lender when a representative of the client calls for a status update? No! I don’t know any other way to say it. Those are facts.

So I’m hoping for some responses. I’m sure I will get some. 🙂 I want to know who holds a Lender accountable to hitting the closing date? I want to know why there seems to be a general disposition of superiority from Lenders? Are all the agents, title reps, and assistants wrong who agree that Lenders seem to be the general “hang up” in a closing?

Signed,

 The punching bag!