Predatory Lending Uncovered By Consumer Groups

Mortgage banking behemoths Wells Fargo and Countrywide Home Loans are dealing with ongoing and more recent charges of predatory lending. Predatory lending is a moniker usually reserved for the most egregious examples of unscrupulous lending behavior. The consumer groups ACORN and NACA are recently shining the light on what mortgage brokers like myself have known for a very long time…

The big retail mortgage banks are the most expensive and deceptive companies in the market…period!

With the subprime meltdown exposing the banking side of the mortgage industry, this common “insider” industry knowledge of banking misdeeds hopefully will become common consumer knowledge. Prior to this both Wells Fargo and Countrywide, as the top two mortgage originating banks, profited from the perception they are decent corporate citizens.

Nothing could be further from the truth!

ACORN at their website acorn.org outlines the abusive practices at Wells Fargo including:

Financing Excessive Fees into Loans
Charging Higher Interest Rates Than A Borrower’s Credit Warrants
Prepayment Penalties
Making Loans Without Regard to the Borrower’s Ability to Pay
Yield Spread Premiums
Unnecessary Single Premium Credit Insurance
Loan Flipping or What I Call Serial Refinancing
Home Loans Also Secured by Cars
Hidden Variable Interest Rates
Loans for over 100% Loan-to-Value Ratio
Live Checks In the Mail To Entice Desperate Homeowners
Call Provision or Balloon Payments
Disguising Actual Monthly Payment Amounts by Hiding Costs of Taxes and Insurance
Crediting Payments Late & Damaging Credit Scores
Reporting Drastically Larger Loan Sizes and Balances to the Credit Bureaus
Open-End Home Loans or What I Call a “Credit Card on Your House”
Adding Fees for Home and Auto Security Plans

All the mortgage banks - including your bank on the corner - take their lead from these 2 Industry Giants!

Here’s a 2 minute news report aired on just a few days ago charging “bait and switch” tactics of Countrywide Home Loans

This really shouldn’t come as a surprise to banking customers but with all the bad news in the industry and every politician in world laying the lending crisis at the door step of mortgage brokers…I thought I’d set the record straight.

Your best bet for a the best deal in the industry has been and always will be locating an ethical, expert mortgage broker. Granted it’s a little more work than walking into the corner branch bank, but seeing how your mortgage is the largest single investment you’ll ever make, I’d say the effort will be rewarded.

For a systematic way to locate a local, ethical, expert mortgage provider bypassing these predatory lenders read more about The Mortgage Advantage™.

Good Luck

Author: Rob K. Blake
Published August 27, 2007