Embrace Home Loans review: They take your money and won't call you back 91

http://www.scam.com/showthread.php?t=118888
Look for chip leake... He trolls the complaint boards for the past several years

If you're a homeowner, you'll eventually get one of Embrace's mailers. They typically buy lists from the credit bureau's of consumers with credit scores within a given range, say for example, from a 650 to a 750, or 620 to a 720, and whose credit reports show they have a current mortgage. Just FYI, to anyone whose interested in knowing how they do it.
As far as paying for an appraisal, no matter what, on the phone, their loan officers will yes you up and down, and give you evry guarantee they can, until they're blue in the face, so that you'll sign your Good Faith Estimate, and give them your credit card number for the appraisal fee. Anyone whose had a mortgage or have been involved in the mortgage industry in one form or another, knows right well, that the value of your home won't be know for sure until they recieve that appraisal report. By that time, you either have the value needed or you won't, and if you don't, you'll never hear from them again, no matter how many voicemails you leave, or even if you do call the Better Business Bureau. That's because you probably already signed the disclosure that indicates the non-refundability of the appraisal fee, once that service is carried out, and no matter what the outcome of the appraisal is.
So, in the end, the point of this story is, it doesn't matter what they tell you on the phone or even face to face, it's about what they put in writing, and what you sign, so make sure you read every page of your disclosure package, line for line, word for word, before you give them your credit card number. Embrace Home Loans is not well known for their forth-rightness, and that might explain one of the reasons why they changed their name from Advanced Financial Services back in 2009

In response to RUKIDDINGME, it is difficult to imagine the conversation you claim to have had with our loan officer, but there are several points in your comments that need to be addressed. First of all, there are laws both state and federal, that require a lender like Embrace to maintain its accounts such that Escrow Funds are always available to pay the borrower’s taxes and insurance, but none that discuss the Investment of those funds on the borrower’s behalf. Not only is the term “High Interest Money Market” a contradiction in terms, no loan officer at Embrace would suggest that we as a Lender were going to “invest” your Escrow funds into some risky venture. Not only is it unreasonable, regulations prevent it. Further, your experience as a Mortgage Loan Originator should tell you that regulations governing how and in what vehicles anyone’s money may be invested have nothing to do with the Mortgage Lending Business. TILA (Truth In Lending Act) and HMDA (Home Mortgage Disclosure Act) do not speak to the terms of Escrow Accounts. And while RESPA does set out rules for Escrow Accounts, it does not consider the “investment” of Escrow Monies, which are largely governed by State rules. In Rhode Island, regulations require that the lender or servicer pay interest to the borrower on any amounts held in an Escrow account at a rate stipulated by the State. Other states might require the type of account in which such funds must be maintained. We can only imagine that there must have been some misunderstanding in the conversation between you and our representative. It is likely that if you had asked about the investment of Escrow Funds, he would not have had an answer as it is not something a loan officer would normally discuss, but could have received one in minutes from our Servicing Department. And even if he were going to try and wing it, he certainly would not have attempted to put you at ease by telling that we would invest your money in junk bonds.

I've seen alot of comments, questioning the actuall inception of the name Embrace Home Loans, and how long they boast they've been around. That's becasue they didn't exist, under that name, before the latter part of 2009. Prior to that, they we're know as Advanced Financial Services, so anyone looking to research this company further, will find a whole slew of complaints, with the same basis dated back to 1983, and that is the LO the customer was dealing with, either lied or misled them into believing that everything would be fine or was guaranteed, throughout the loan process. Except, they found out the hard way, and after dishing out $395.00 for an appraisal to be done on their home, that the appraiasal fee was non-refundable, no matter what the outcome of that appraisal was. Once they found out their home value, didn't come back at where it was needed to qualify, the loan officer wouldn't call them back. Then they would try and call the loan officers manager, and the manager wouldn't call them back. Boy, that's what I call top-notch customer service.

The real important thing to remember, is that it doesn't matter what your loan officer or originator tells you, it's about what is typed in black and white in your loan disclosures, and that is that once you appraisal fee is paid, and the service is carried out, hence the apraisal, that fee paid out of pocket is non-refundabale, no matter what the outcome is.
LO's at Embrace have a tendency to yes people up, down and sideways, and then when you find out your home didn't appraise for what was expected, they never call you back, and you're out $395.00.

We refinanced our home with Embrace for a much cheaper interest rate. One month lather they sold our loan to Bank of America and that became a nightmare. Stay away from embrace and Bank of America.

We refinanced our home with embrace at a very low fixed rate and 1 month after we did they sold our loan to Bank of America and that is nightmare. stay away from embrace and Bank of America.

Just finished a loan process with Embrace; I would never, under any circumstance recommend them. They don' t have a clue as to what they are doing. At first everything was OK; then at the 11th hour they had all these BS conditions. All of which could have been avoided if they functioned like a professional company. You would be better off borrowing money from a load shark in New York. I'm their customer and I'm sitting at the closing table and having to apologize to the Title Company, homeowners insurance company, Seller and real estate agents for the screw ups of my mortgage company. Communication during the process with Loan officer did not exist, several unanswered emails and phone calls.

The positive comments posted here are from Embrace Employees (who is your employer Mr. Chip Leakas?), intended to offset the more honest negative comments. I, like the many others who have questions concerning this Companies Tactics, are not SourGrapesslayer comments, (I doubt Sour Grape Slayer could slay anything without his attorney present). The grammar and spelling in these legitimate complaints means absolutely nothing. What is important is the fact that they all share similar complaints. Well, I'm not one to admit being taken advantage of, however, I would like to share my experience with those of you who, for one reason or the other, have found yourself in a difficult financial situation, yet your desire is to live up to the financial obligations you have promised to pay in a timely manner.
My experience started with a brochure that came in the mail from Embrace. I read the testimonies from supposedly Real Embrace Customers, "Me and my family were going under and Embrace rescued us" type testimonials, I put my guard down for a moment. Let me be honest with you, if you can obtain a loan from Embrace, you can most certainly obtain a loan from a local Financial Institution, that will deal and work with you face-to-face in an honest fashion.
My first call was to a Mr. Kloss, whom after I gave him my SSN ran a quick Credit Check on me. He indicated that I would qualify for a Home Refinance with Embrace! He remained in contact with me until I agreed to pay the $395 Appraisal Fee. I gave him my C/C information and an Appraiser came out and Appraised my home. The Appraiser would not render a business card though. The Appraisal came in much lower that one I had performed by a local appraisal company six months earlier but it was $20, 000 more than Embrace required. Never did hear back from Mr. Kloss accept, occasionally, once a month, he sent me an email instructing me to pay a bill on a certain date. After five months, Mr Kloss vanished.
What makes me feel more foolish, a new Embrace Loan Officer (Mr Nathan Nary) contacted me a month ago and informed me that he could make the loan work. I was Approved again! I fell for it. Once again I was asked to put up another $495, Like a fool I did and this time the Appraisal Came in even Higher. I was approved again! Well, that was three weeks ago. Now I am being asked to produce an explanation for being late a few times on a second mortgage. Another $495 in some one else's pocket. Take my honest advice. Do not deal with these Con Artist, for any reason.

I called Embrace tonight after receiving their flyer - spoke with customer service representative, Nate, who was initially very courteous - even immediately giving me his phone number and extension in case we were disconnected. He admitted he worked on a base plus commission basis - the more refinances he booked, the more he got paid - and I appreciated that admission. I asked him to explain the process to me - as he was doing this, I was launching Google to run a search on the company name. Once he mentioned the "first step" $395 appraisal fee, I told him I would take the time to research the company a bit and get back to him rather than proceeding now. As I was telling him this, I launched this site and saw the first comment, which was obviously very negative. He mentioned I would find nothing but rave reviews for his company, one of the largest lenders, etc etc. I finally read him the comment I was reading, which basically says the company took the appraisal fee and then would no longer return calls. In recognition that any company could get a negative review, I told him my intent was to contact the Better Business Bureau. He told me to go to their website immediately while he held so that I could learn that Embrace had an A+ rating. I actually wanted to talk to someone at BBB, and told him this but he was very insistent that I needed to check their website now. I again said I preferred to look into the situation a little more before proceeding with the process. At that point, his demeanor really changed - he told me if I called back, I should not ask for him because he did not like my attitude. When I started to respond, he then hung up on me. After that experience, and after reading through all the comments here, I am glad I went with my instincts and did not provide a credit card number or other personal information.

I called Embrace Home Loans in May 2011 after seeing they had a gold star through my state housing program. I was pre-approved and then started looking for a house. I put an offer on a house and then set up my appointment with the housing counselor through my state, which is required to qualify for their program. I had everything I needed except my credit report. I call my "loan officer" on several occasions to get my credit report from him. I never received all call back. The housing counselor even called and left him a message that I need the credit report to complete all necessary requirements for the state program and left her office phone number. She never heard from him either. I finally went to another mortgage company and had no problems after that. But it's now almost 4 months later and I never heard another word from him. It makes me very uncomfortable to know that this company took all my personal information for a pre approval and I never heard from them again. It's best to avoid this company at all costs. The only good thing I can say is that at least I didn't give them any money, if I had I'm sure I would have never seen that again.

I was wondering about the ads myself. Thankfully, it appears I saved myself $375. I wondered how in the world they could offer me a loan of $270, 000 when even Zillow says my house is only worth $77, 000. Heck, in the market boom when RE prices were sky high our value only got up to $180, 000.

Received a brochure from Embrace and in reading each page of accolades--yad-da-yad-da...no where did I find even mention of the fact that the loan would be pending an appraisal, let alone what the appraisal fee is going to be. When I see material sent like this, it sends up 'red flags' right away b/c nothing is for free. It is true though that FHA loans have very strict guidelines in appraising a home...we have been through a couple of them in our lifetime of mortgages. The only question would be is the offer received was for an FHA insured Bill Consolidation Loan...is this what others have been receiving?

Its a shame that this "company" is taking advantage of people's money. Its already hard enough to work with what little money you do have and to have this "company" try to scam you out of your oney by offering to help. When in reality all they are doingis helping themselves to your wallet. My advice to anyone who recieves an offer from them is to tear the letter up and use it to line the bottom of your bird cage or use it to start the fire for your next cook-out. So glad Capital One was able to stop payment on my card to them.

To anyone with information who want to share their story,
My name is Kaila and I work for NBC News in Washington, D.C. I am doing some preliminary background research on Embrace Home Loans, formally known as Advanced Financial Services. If anyone is interested in discussing their story further, please respond to this.

Thanks EMBRACE for opening my eyes. I will never deal with anyone over the phone or internet again. I wll gladly pay the bank more interest just so I have face-to-face contact with whom I am dealing with.

I am glad that people are searching for comments about EMBRACE before they send them a dime. I am still not caught up with my bills due to the $375 that I was ripped off. To some this might not seem to be a lot of money, but when you consider it is a months payment for utilities and that is all you have in your account at the time, it turns into a disaster. We were only trying to better ourselves and instead we came close to losing everything.

If it sounds too good to be true ... it is ... do your homework people and always research the company before doing ANY business with them. Their sales people are trained to have the knowledge on how to reel you in. Go local and NOT thru mail. When you are researching a company type in their name and complaints thereafter, you will be opened up to a whole new world.

I hope things go well for you with them. Please keep us posted.

I am currently working with Embrace to refinance. Paid $395 for the home appraisal which was completed as scheduled in a timely manor. Zillow shows our property value at $345, 000 and the appraisal came in at $326, 000. (No surprise here since the first time we 'zillowed' the value was estimated at $403, 00 - tough times to be sure.) Anyway, I work at a bank and am approved for a home equity loan for a lower amount than Emrace is willing to lend us. Though my rate at the bank would be 3.75 and Embrace is offering a slighty higher (fixed) rate, my husband and I are leaning toward Embrace since they are willing to lend more than we need. I asked a loan officer at the bank to review the Embrace packet and her main negativity toward the company is that they require 1.5 points to close the loan - she feels the $2, 000 - $3, 000 for this could be put to better use instead of paying it to Embrace. I would like to mention that the agent I am dealing with at Embrace has been professional and I have been able to reach her by phone, voice mail, or email, in fact, she has been more accessible than I've been.

I was disappointed with Embrace loan process after my closing dat had been changed three times within 24-48 hours prior to set closing date. Each time they wanted explainations about items on documents that should have been caught during the intial document request.

Each time I would provide the requested explaination or documents and would not hear about any problems until the 1-2 days prior to the schedule closing date. Keep in mind that we were told that all documents would be at closing attorney's office 48 hours prior to closing.

The requested explaination and document requests seemed reasonable however the timing was unreasonable. Keep in mind that we were working on the original premise that all documents had to be provided to the closing attorney's office 48 hours prior to closing so that they can review them.

Meanwhile after we provided said documents my wife and me were under the impression that everything was a go and the closing was still set to take place 48 hours later. We would not hear of any problems until the last minute from Embrace. Then we would get a call from Embrace the day before closing saying they need more documentation or explainations. This happened three times.

The last straw for me is that after the third time this incident took place the Embrace underwriter stated the closing attorney's need the documents 4 DAYS prior to closing instead of the previous 2 days that had been stated throught this whole process.

The loan officer and underwriter then began too tell me two different things. I lost the chance to purchace a good house because of this along with $500 earnest money, 375 appraisal, 275 home inspection. Then I did some research on the company and found many complaints against them stating the same experiences that I had! The BBB has them rated as A+. Read the complaints and how the BBB rates companies. The review comments tell the real story!

As soon as my mailbox got spammed by Embrace, I smelled a rat. Normally I would have trashed it with the rest of the junk mail immediately, but there was a part of me that wondered if possibly it was a legit offer. I found out that in Dec 2009 circumstances forced "Advanced Financial Services" to change their name to "Embrace Home Loans." We all know how con artists always change their names so that they can continue to sucker people into their schemes. Who would defend this company? Employees? Friends? If you see comments supporting Embrace, don't trust them. Also, if you've been harmed by this company, speak up. Companies that prey on the poor and unfortunate are particularly repugnant and should be stopped.

I recommend additional schooling for those who have complained. I can barely decipher what any of you wrote.

Cheers

Folks, EVERY mortgage company now either charges an application fee, or an appraisal fee, up front, at application. Non-refundable. wells fargo, Bank of America, Suntrust, PNC, Embrace, Gilpin, Trident, Joey's Mortgage Shack, IT DOESNT MATTER. I am very sure that this was made clear at application, and if you are complaining about it, it's just sour grapes. get over it.

Sorry that you feel that way, or that you were swayed to your position by the anonymous comments you read online. Embrace Home Loans has been in the mortgage business for nearly 30 years, and have helped hundreds of thousands of consumers in that time. We’re very good at what we do.

As for your appraisal fee, yes – your credit card was charged when you gave us authorization to do so. But you may have noticed one of the disclosures we sent to you indicated that the fee would be refundable if the service was not performed. If you cancelled the appraisal, then the service wasn’t performed, and all you have to do is ask us for the refund.

Of course, we’d like to convince you that we are a better entity that what some online comments would have you believe, but we will of course respect any decision you make.

I recommend you contact your loan officer to request the refund if that is your decision.

Hi,
We received a mailing from Embrace and called up to see what it was about. They said that they would have an appraiser access our house within days for a $375.00 fee. After giving them a credit card number, I Googled them and found out that many said they were a scam - that the appraisals always came out too low to justify a loan, and this after the customer was charged for the appraisal. I immediately called back and canceled our application and called my credit card company instructing them not to honor the charge. Of course, no appraiser came to our door AND YET WE WERE STILL CHARGED $375.00 after our credit card company failed to deny the change.
I am getting on the phone with the credit card number as soon as I finish this post and plan to contact the Better Business Bureau as well.
Beware! Have no dealings with this company!

I have done a refinance with Embrace...my loan agent, J wheeler was the nicest, most patient and knowledgeable person i could of asked for. I feel like all of you are describing a whole other company...as far as the 375 appraisal fee, i paid that, and the appraiser came out ( who by the way is in no way affiliated with embrace ) new federal laws prohibit that ( him and i actually discussed the new laws as he was appraising my home... and the reason the values are coming in so low, is because part of the value of your house is calculated by what the houses in your neighborhood are selling for, and new federal laws make it so that forclosure sales have to be included. so guess what? if your neighbor foreclosed on his house, and the bank auctioned it off, [( all they want is what was owned on it) and it sold for 24% of its value, that is counted as a sale in your neighborhood, which makes your house value go down... ...so embrace is not responsible for what your house is worth... but anyways..like i said i strongly recommend Embrace, they did us great, and we were able to lower our interest rate from 9.5 to 4.25 and also take out 30, 000... I have also sent family members to them, and they too are satisfied ... just keep this in mind as your are reading all these complaints...they have an A+ rating with the BBB, so its obvious that these people are disgruntled because for whatever reason ( throught no fault of embrace) could get refinanced, and have to vent somehow, if the accusations were anything but frivolous ...they would have a poor bbb rating... Embrace is a Great company... Do your own research with BBB, and see for yourself... Ask for John Wheeler, He did us Great~

Embrace... You suck balls... Lol!

1 – We do not know what anyone’s home is worth at any particular time. We need an appraisal (written report prepared by a licensed professional) to show that somebody has the equity (value of the home) to qualify for the loan they want, and that is the only way to accomplish that. The home is the collateral for the loan.

2 – We cannot even hint to an appraiser that the value needs to be at a certain level to qualify. Federal Law prevents any such communication with the appraiser.

3 – We have to qualify the appraisal based on the guidelines that are set by the Government Agency that insures the loans - Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA and similar agencies. If a situation on someone’s property doesn’t meet with the government agency guidelines, we have to follow their direction on creditworthiness.

4 – We don’t receive a single red cent from the appraisal fee anyone pays. That entire amount goes to the appraiser and the appraisal management people, and if the loan doesn’t go through, we lose too. We are not compensated for our time to take loan applications or order appraisals. No one at Embrace Home Loans is compensated in anyway for ordering appraisals. The appraisal company or appraisal management companies receive the fees collected and are compensated for their time and in preparing the appraisal report.

Again, I understand your frustration, but Embrace Home Loans is not out to hurt anyone. The reality is however, that we are not able to help everyone, either.

I am unsure how many of you people were so "gilted". I did a re-mortgage with Embrace and the loan officer even took the time to assist me with correcting a part of my credit record which was unjustly causing problems for my credit score. She was so patient. Grant it, my appraisal did come back the lowed ever and also a few thousand below tax amounts which was a little strange but the same company had done the appraisal twice and told me that happens because they go by the homes that have been sold in the area and a couple of these homes sold for way less than what they were worth. The whole appraisal is based on this fact, more-so than what your home actually amounts too. Once the $375 is rendered for the appraisal you do not get that back either way, wether you get the loan or not. The appraisal is a big factor and Embrace, or any mortgage company, cannot make a decision until the appraisal of the property is in. common sense! I was very satisfied with my Embrace experience. They sold my loan to BAC shortly after and I have had no problems with this bank.

Thank you all for the helpful information. I called this company 3 days ago and they also asked for the $375 and told me on 5/21/11 the price was increasing to $395. I did not pay the $375 or the $395 and just had a gut feeling about this company. Today I googled the company and found this complaint website and I am so glad that I did. Your comments saved me from spending money that I would have had to struggle to get and then not get the results the company promised in the end.

We have been getting these papers in the mail for 2 -3 years, I keep seeing something where they charge you $375.00 for appraisal, You don't see a thing about this in the book they send you, Now I am afraid to fool with them, I would rather go to my bank and get the money to do what I want to do.thank you all for sharing your stories, sure help me out.
joy!

Well one good thing, Wells Fargo are submitting a dispute on the charge as my loan login is now not available and so I do not have a copy of the appraisal which I paid for. Lets see Embrace Home Loans get out of that one. I either want the appraisal or my money back, and I think Wells Fargo have a bit more clout.

The funniest part about this whole thread of complaints is that through my experiance almost all houses are appraising low. I know 10 people that just bought houses and they all came back lower then the asking price. Its just the market. If you pay to have 10 of your own appraisers come and appraise your house I am sure you will see what I am talking about. It sucks that you had to pay a fee to find out your house didnt appraise high enough. But if you went to your own bank down the street from your house you might of had the same results. They would of also charged a fee. I am sure Embrace couldnt stay in business for as long as they have by just collecting $375 fees all day long. But if you want to apply for a mortgage and you are subprime or have a low credit score look into phh mortgage. They are great and easy to deal with.
p.s. If you look online all mortgage companies have complaints about them. As a matter of fact almost all companies period have complaints about them. Dont waste your time and energy on making sure everyone knows about your experiance. In the long run you will see it is just a waste of time. Instead focus on something positive in life and you will be much happier.

I am still waiting to hear from Embrace. We only communicate with BBB now!

I would like to know how many of us there is in Iowa and Embrace used an appraiser from Waterloo. (Star Perfomers) They are stars alright. A star in making your appraisal lower than your assessed value. Telling me I have to remove my tractor. Come on now. I live on an acreage. Just because it needs a paint job don't mean it doesn't run and that we don't use it. Who is he to say I can't have a tractor or a burn pile of brush.

Sour Grapes are hard to dispose of. youRnuts is correct in regards to the HVCC guidelines. I work for a title company and hear this type of complaining all the time. A mortgage loan officer (MLO) is the bottom man on the sales totem pole. They only get paid when loan close (unless they work for a bank.. then they get paid salary regradless). Why would they want to purposely deny a loan. This silliness and sour grapes complex comes from not doing your homework before applying for a loan.

My husband is an MLO and I am making it my goal to make ill informed people aware. Complaining without merit is like slander. do your homework before blaming someone for not qualifying for a loan.

My name is the SourGrapeSlayer. check out my blog on a wives guide to doing the homeowork your husband refuses to do. do not blame someone else for knowledge you chose not to explore before handing out your credit card information to a stranger.

http://www.mortgageloanplace.com/blog/2010/06/28/hvcc-rules-make-sure-you-know-your-ltv

check it out people. the law states that mortgage loan officers cannot tell the appraiser ANYTHING. They are not allowed to change the value of your home.

the government is to blame... not this little mortgage shop. Do your home work before you diss them. The only thing these people did worng was not call you back (which is BAD) but you wouldnt have gotten the loan anyways. deal with it!

Your welcome, I will be flooding my story to everyone./...I will not rest until everyone is aware of there business practices, I have already been contacted by several people on facebook that were getting ready to work with EMBRACE to refinance there homes. They should change there name to BRACE YOURSELF...The facts are the facts any one that his an appraisel...if you have any foreclosures within 5 miles of your home in the last year, which do to a bad economy would be everyone in America they will use that as the reason for the low ball appraisel, and hope you are to embarrased to tell your story...guess what, , , If my story will keep anyone else from throwing away there hard earned money ...then it is my responsibility as a human being to do so...good luck to you all...and remember there are good companies out there use local companies if possible.

Wow ! Thank you all ! I was just about to apply for the loan with them...NEVER!