Personal Finance

Last month I did a refinance with Quicken Loans and found the entire process to be simple, fast and easy. Customer service in my case was outstanding, with excellent communication from the folks at Quicken Loans.

I was previously in a 5 year arm that had adjusted in February. It adjusted up to a little over 6% (from just under 5%) which increased our payment some, but it wasn’t terrible. At the time, I had hoped to refinance into a either a 30 year fixed or another 5 year arm, depending on which gave me the best rate. Unfortunately, at that time, rates were higher than what my arm had adjusted to, so we decided to wait it out and just keep an eye on rates until they fell below our current rate.

I had an online CD with Washington Mutual Bank that matured, and I called to cash it in. I went through a prolonged automated menu system before reaching a person. Then I was transferred to four different departments, then told I was to be transferred again and the call was cut off. The next time I called I was transferred two more times. Then I was asked 3 “public domain” security questions, only one of which applied to me, then told that I failed the security test. There’s a flaw in the system — I know the answers to my own life better than they do. Next they said that the only way to get my money was to write a letter and have it NOTARIZED. My impression is that they’re trying to make it as difficult as possible to withdraw your money. I’ve had a lot of CDs with many banks, and no other has ever required notarizing.