Life without PMI is Awesome
Feb.26, 2007 in
-cat
Getting rid of our mortgage’s PMI was no easy task. The lender denied us at first, claiming we needed 25% equity in order to qualify for removal. Well, that simply isn’t the case . . . at least in Minnesota. Apparently, it IS the case in some other states and our lender didn’t bother to notice we live in Minnesota, or took the opportunity to drag things out at additional month or two before removing it by auto-sending a decline letter.
I haven’t been impressed with the process. This squabble over a few hundred dollars may cost the lender thousands and thousands of dollars the next time we finance.
February 26th, 2007 at 9:32 pm
Congrats!
And welcome to the faceless world of mortgage banking, these people don’t really care about you, you are a commodity to them, just another raisin in the field. That is why they hire brokers, to buffer their lack of humanity behind a human, who is there to try to smooth over the various ‘golden rules’ (they have the gold, they make the rules) they employ to deal with the masses of raisins that are caught in their bags.
But…it is the price we must pay to borrow their money, in a system that perpetuates itself with their tangle of rules and laws that even most people in the industry do not fully understand.
Still…Congrats! You have moved successfully to the 2nd (or 3rd?) tier of real estate buyers, those that can successfully escape PMI…the real trick will be if you can repeat it.
February 26th, 2007 at 9:36 pm
It’s a shame they act this way. It just makes them more or a commodity to me when I’m searching for my next mortgage. Why be loyal to companies that treat you like crap?
February 26th, 2007 at 9:55 pm
Oh, you are completely right, and they even know it, but they are like insurance companies–when you are coming in as a new customer, you are greeted with open arms and assured of their fair and fast claim handling, and good pricing and servicing.
Then, renewal time, the rates go up–why? You didn’t change, well, because they can…simple as that, they assume you will not shop the insurance over a 5-10% increase, so they play that little psychological game with you. Of course, it will increase more if competition is missing and they can get away with more.
Then, eventually, the claim–and you are at the mercy of some stranger…not your agent or broker or anyone you have ever seen before gets your file and makes the decision on your claim, and the home office is watching these adjusters to make sure the claims are settled for the minimum possible payouts…up to and including complete denial of what seems like obvious coverage (a la the Katrina claims and much of the health care industry now).
But they know they are supposed to be polite and caring, they even receive in-depth training in how to be appropriately kind and concerned…all the while they are putting the screws to you.
It is their job, to be the kind face for the faceless company that is more concerned with maximizing their stock price and executive compensation packages.