Mutual respect when refinancing your mortgage 
A new but old problem has popped up again in the mortgage industry due to the volatility of rates.  When to lock in your rate..and honoring that lock once it has been done.  Loan Officers should be telling not selling in my opinion.  When speaking to a prospective client, they should listen to the customers objective(s) and propose options.
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If the client feels that one of the proposal meets or exceeds expectations, the next question is “Should I lock?” and “What happens if rates get better?”  There is no simple answer.  We get rates from many wholesalers.  These banks all have different policies on floating down rates.  A lender that has the best rate one day, may have a terrible policy or no float-down policy at all.  The loan officer must communicate this to the customer.  “ I can get you X rate today but the wholesaler offering this does not have a float down policy.” Should you the customer be punished because of bank float down policy…NO, but (there’s always a but)…  What we say to the customer is “we ask you stand by us if rates improve by .125%, (in other words honor your commitment to lock).  If rates get better by .25% however, we will float you down.”  As long as the lines of communication stay open, we will resolve the rate issue.  We never want to punish the customer for locking with us.
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The most frustrating turn of events is when a customer says they just locked with someone else who gave a better rate.  You have a right as a consumer to continually shop your mortgage.  Isnt it fair however, to call your broker first and say, “I am being offered X, can you tell me why? can you match it?”  More often than not, the mortgage was priced out incorrectly, the competing loan officer didn’t know the full story, or sometimes, the timing is such that they called before us on a day when rates were better.  It happens. 
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We implore you to call the loan officer you have been working with, before locking in with someone else.  It is a professional courtesy.  Your loan officer and others have spent time on your file, rushing to get you closed as quickly as possible.  Our relationships suffer with our wholesalers when we cancel locks.  Often times most of the work has been done already…isn’t it fair to give the person you chose to work with in the first place the benefit of the doubt? 
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We commit to excellent service, excellent rates, and counseling form experienced Loan Officers.  We only ask that you commit to honest and frank communication.  It is a very competitive market.  We will do what it takes to earn AND MAINTAIN your business and trust.\-

-David Wexler of Choice Finance Corporation

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 6:56 pm and is filed under 1) Questions for Loan Officer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.