Indy Mac Bank reviews and complaints

I want to tell you all a little story. The story begins, as all American dreams do, with unfettered hope and belief, but has, over time, become a nightmare from the darkest recesses of our national psyche. This is not a fairy tale, and I beg you to see yourself in our heroine; for you could find yourself in her shoes very soon. And I promise you that that is not a place you want to be. But read on, and judge the veracity of my words for yourself.

I have been in the mortgage industry for almost a decade, and have seen my share of the ugly side of lending: the foreclosures, the forgotten families, and the greedy, heartless, faceless “holder of the note” gone wild. I have experienced all of this more times than I care to admit, and have been ashamed of my industry more times than I care to count, but the borrower I wish to tell you of was the reason I broke into this business in the first place. People like her, hard-working, honest Americans, are the ones a broker like myself looks for day and night, and strives to take care of in whatever capacity we are capable of.

Why you ask? What makes her so special? There are many answers to these questions, and the easy answer would be that she perfectly fit the mold we in the business look for. She had been employed for 22 years with the same corporation, and had managed to pay every liability on time for her entire adult life. No late payments, no missed payments, and nothing at all to indicate that she would ever change. Her credit score was 780, and she had owned a home for 10 years in Miami Beach (an expensive place to buy). This showed unequivocally that she understood liability, and knew how to get things done in the lending market. In short, she was a lender’s dream come true. A loan you approve and forget about because the payments are always in on time, and so, as a lender, you just count money for 30 years. What could be better from our point of view than that? Every lender in the world will tell you the answer to that question is nothing; absolutely nothing.

This lady decided to move to Chicago to be closer to her corporate office, so she sold her home in Miami and took her dreams and possessions north to Chicago. This took place in 2006 while the housing bubble was still growing larger, and no one outside of the industry had any expectation that it may burst at any time. She did her due diligence while looking for a home in the Chicago area, and eventually settled on a brand new property in an area ripe for gentrification. Basically, she bought in an older neighborhood that was undergoing massive urban renewal projects that were projected to raise property values in her area significantly; as long as there was no unforeseen disaster looming. That is the danger of things unforeseen. They eventually come to pass, and no one is prepared to combat them.

She started with an Interest-Only Loan as at that time it made more sense to use her principal money on personal investments rather than giving it to a lender to make decisions with. Even though interest rates were high at the time, IO rates slightly higher than fixed, she was able to get the property for almost $75K less than it initially appraised for, so she was already ahead of the game. She maintained her perfect history, 0x30 on her mortgage, and everything else for that matter, but that was before the wise and powerful bankers in America decided to play 3-Card Monty with America’s future.

As the signs of the encroaching financial apocalypse began to show themselves, she attempted, through her lender, to pursue refinancing, but was told her case called for the loan modification process. The press was making a fuss about how these modifications were the way for borrowers to get the help they needed to stay afloat in the carnage that followed the bubble bursting, and as an intelligent and savvy borrower with a perfect history she expected the process to go smoothly for her. In that assumption, she would have been right if not for the new credit card laws passed that allowed the companies to raise their interest rates and reduce the line of credit available on any given card. These changes have had an enormous, unintended consequence in the lending world since loans are in large part based on debt-to-income (DTI) ratios.

Imagine this borrower has a credit line of $10K on a card with only a $2K balance, but is then targeted by the credit card company for a reduced credit line of say $2500, so her 20% balance has now become 80% without her actually doing anything irresponsible. Yet, when lenders looked at her DTI they would see that she is nearly maxed out on her card, and in this industry that is a major red flag. She understood DTI, and how it could affect her ability to qualify for extra money (even though she did nothing untoward or rash in terms of spending), but why should that hamper her from getting a reduced rate? It is asinine to ask a person to re-qualify for something they already have, or to tell them they must qualify to save money, but this is what is happening in America today. She signed no agreement stating she could not refinance in the future with the help of her lender, so all she is left with are questions. Questions that for her and the millions like her, unfortunately, have no good answers. The American Dream, for this model American, is quickly becoming the American Nightmare.

There are so many questions our borrower wants to ask, but there are no phone lines to call or government offices to visit with any answer other than, “talk to the lender”. This is just endless runaround from the lender, and more and more frustration for her and her family. How is it possible to be locked into a loan, with bankruptcy laws so much tougher, and have absolutely no way to refinance? More transparency in the industry is great, but how can our borrowers appease the credit companies interest hikes while losing equity in their property due to the housing catastrophe and still meet the necessary financial obligations they agreed to prior to this meltdown? This is a recipe for mass bankruptcy and foreclosure; two things that hurt us all in the long run.

It was March of 2009 when our borrower started the conversation about refinancing with her current mortgage company, Indy Mac, from the 7.625% IO-Loan to a 4.5% fixed rate. They explained to her that she would need to print out a new financial packet, and send it, along with all other pertinent information, in to be reviewed before they could proceed; she did just that. After an entire month had passed, she called in to check the status of her application, and was told that the servicing company, Indy Mac, was changing hands, but she would still be taken care of by the new investor, One West.
Just like that, she and thousands of other customers were being sold to the highest bidder, and after some research she discovered that One West actually only paid up to far less than full value for these notes. It gets better. One West actually had the federal government guarantee them anything lost over a certain percentage. What does this mean you ask? All the numbers are there in black and white on the internet for anyone to see; but no one looks. You do not have to be a rocket scientist to see that it would be more profitable to foreclose quickly and collect the guaranteed funds than to refinance the borrower’s note at a current market rate.

The changing of the servicer of her note, as unsettling as it was, would have been fine if not for the dramatic change in guidelines and customer service she experienced. This often happens after a change of this magnitude in any business field, but these differences were downright ridiculous. She was informed that the financial packet she had sent was no longer valid, so she would have to assemble another one before any process could begin. So, once again she followed procedure in hopes of capturing that elusive lower interest rate.

She waited and waited for a call to inform her of the status of her newest application, and finally tried calling herself to enquire; but to no avail. Her calls were treated as a joke. They repetitiously asked for the same documents, and even claimed after three business days that they had never received her fax, and that it took all that time to verify whether or not they had received her documentation. They have done this over 50 times from March of 2009 to the present day! That is preposterous, shameful, and ought to be criminal! But it gets better; or worse for our heroine.

After calling repeatedly for three months she finally got them to look at her application. They told our borrower that the check stubs submitted were out of date according to Fannie Mae guidelines (must be less than 90 days old), but when she remedied that they told our borrower that her check stubs were fraudulent. Check stubs from one of the three largest airlines in the world which she has worked with for more than 20 years by the way. They focused on some minutiae that they knew to be nothing, but she was forced to get a complete employment record from her employer to along with a Letter of Explanation (LOX) from her Human Resources department. This process has stretched into years with no results. She was even told that the best way to get help is to be late on her mortgage payments! Imagine that. It has become so bad that when she follows up on any fax or correspondence they claim she has never talked to anyone about her issue, and when she asked about recording the conversation she was told it was against their policy. I am not making this up. Every word is true and to the point, and the point is that One West and Indy Mac, Fannie Mae and the federal government are fleecing, and failing we the people.

This is dangerous and uncontrolled corporate behavior, and it cannot be allowed to continue. One West has become the poster child for what is wrong with this industry; what is wrong with America in fact. In my humble opinion (and that of thousands of other Americans…not to mention all the honest lenders in the industry), they have pulled out all the stops when it comes to delaying and deceiving their customers in order to get a government handout and make a dishonest buck. This must not be allowed to stand.

Help her. She has asked again and again, and researched every option. She can’t refinance due to not having value. She can’t modify because it’s not profitable to the lender to do so, and she can’t walk away as her state won’t allow this. Why I ask myself? Is it considered walking away if you have no more options? Why is it easier to profit from bad deals than good ones? There is no hope for this borrower that she can see. The only hope I can think of is a Federal Reserve for primary borrowers in America. By that, I mean the feds open the vaults to primary homeowners at a specific rate, and work directly with the borrowers from a federal standpoint. Cut the banks out. Let them focus on commercial deals and second homes where the rates are higher and people know what they are getting into from day one. I do not think these customers’ closing paperwork said anything about having to stay in one rate for thirty years. Do you know anyone on record in today’s environment that can say they stayed in their home for thirty years at the same rate? I don’t think that is even possible. Please share…

Here are some sites that clearly have people in the same situation, read, educate, follow and post, let’s start the revolt against One West/ Indy Mac and Fannie Mae.

Go to Google, You-tube or any engine for that matter and type class action Indy Mac, Type Complaints Indy Mac/ One West; you will see firsthand what we are all up against.

I agree they won't help easily however after 12 months and several hundred pages of documents I was approved for solid modification. No trial period. The key is N.A.C.A.

Register with NACA and solicit their help. They get results.
www.naca.com

You are right. The same thing happened to me but I did get the modification only there records are still saying I am past due.

I had three accounts at Indy Mac Bank, two CD's and one money market account. I asked if they were all totally insured and was lied to and assured by an officer of the bank that they were. After the bank failed I was told by the FDIC that I was not fully insured. So far, I'm out $120, 000. I've been told by other depositors that they were also misled. Something should be done to get our money back. We put trust in the bank and were not told the truth. Could it be they were doing this purposely to entice people to get more deposits since they were in trouble?

I just lost my house to Indymac will not work with us... My loan amt 380, 000 and the real estate lady just told me that they put it on Market for 125, 000... Why wouldn't they work with us to modify the loan? I did their modification loan for 3 months like they asked me then all the sudden, they "lost" the paperworks or that we didnt submit paperwork (believe me, I did submit paperwork by fax and certtificate mails)... We have fought back and forth for 2 years til the real estate agent came to our door that we were beening "evict"... Nice, huh? I have an autism child who live in that house since birth and we just moved to a "rental" townhome and it was hard for my child to cope with the change for 2 weeks... They offered us Cash for keys only $2000 after we clean out the house and everything, I mean everything that not nailed down to the house MUST be out by certain date and time... Indymac person came while I was cleaning out the garage was "very rude" to us... they couldn't even wait til we leave the house to change the "locks" on the house... that was a big insult to us...

I am in a big mess right now due to Indy Mac not having the right information on there systems. I have been trying to modify my loan and all the time I would call customer service for update they would always give me the same update that my modification is under review and there is no sale dale. Well guess what I received a knock on my door from a real estate agent stating that I was getting evicted and I needed to leave my home!I was shocked and couldnt believe it being a single mom with 2 children where was I going to go! I called the bank to find out what was going on and they still told me the same story that I mention earlier before, they had to call the foreclosure department to find out that my property was sold 2 weeks ago. My intention was not to loose my house but to get a better monthly payment with the cut of pay I received. Be careful and it can happen to you that they are not in top of there stuff. My loan amt 460, 000 and they want to put it on the market for 250, 000, why wouldnt they want me to fullfill my loan?

We are going through the same problem.Our sale date is extending every month, nothing happenning.This has been going on since July, 2008.All Indymac Bank customers, when you call the bank, they tell you that everything is on hold, ask them for their Attorneys name and number.Call the Attorneys office, you will be surprised that its not on hold, there is a sale date on your home.In order to extend the date, you have to call Indymac every week to get the date moved and the Attorney's office every week to check that the date has been extended.Do not rely on Indymac bank alone to extend your sale date.

CEKr,
Do not leave! That house is yours! You must fight! For some reason, IndyMac is trying to rush people out of their homes. You must ask yourself why they'd rather own your house and get no income, letting it rot, rather than taking whatever you were able to give them. Something is going on, and I fear we won't know what it is until some time passes.
Want to be really angry? Look up and research our money system. Look for a video called "Money Masters" (3hrs) on youtube or google video. All of the money that the bank "loaned" you for your house was not depositor's money...it was printed out of thin air by the special priviledge of the Federal Reserve Bank. Read about the Federal Reserve Bank and how they exist for the sole purpose of making us slaves. They print money out of thin air, loan it to us, and tell us to pay it back triple...which is impossible as every bit of money they print is supposed to come back with interest...it is a scam. And to make it really special, IndyMac STOLE their depositor's money last year and got away with it!

I have gone through all of the steps with Indymac, including using the services of the HUD counseling agency referred to me by the Hope For Homeowners plan. Indymac scheduled my home to go to auction on April 13th, 2009 but I was able to get them to postpone the auction to work on a modification plan. I received a Forbearance Agreement from Indymac with instructions to pay 2 modified payments with bank certified checks and special instructions. I paid the payments and followed the instructions exactly. After 30 days of no contact, I called Indymac to check on my so called new loan and was told to be patient due to large numbers of modifications being processed. Each time I spoke with someone from Indymac, I documented their name, identification number with the time and date of the call. About a month later I received a denial letter stating that I did not qualify because I didn't provide income documentation. I reminded them that the income verification was in the package provided by the HUD Counseling service and I had also submitted a second copy of the package myself. That was how Indymac determined my modified payment on the Forbearance Agreement. The rep I spoke to had no response to that and proceeded to tell me that I will be receiving a new modification package soon based on Obama's new program. I then asked what the name of this new plan was and the rep told me she didn't know. About a month later I received the new package in the mail from Indymac for modification of my loan. As I diligently went to work gathering the updated information, within less than a week of receiving the package, a real estate agent knocked on my door. She informed me that Indymac had auctioned my home and I had 3 days to get out. Panicked, I made several phone calls to the county, Indymac and a local attorney and confirmed that indeed Indymac did auction my home. It did not sell but the deed was transferred from my name to Indymac. I have lost close to $300, 000 in this nightmare that was not borrowed from my current home, not counting years of care and labor put into making this my little dream ranch. I sit here with no where to go, no money and a farm full of animals that need homes. There must be a class action suit here in the midst of all of this!

I HATE THEM TOO! They are scheduling the sale of my home now. I have been begging them since Katrina (2005) when my interest went to 10.5%. Also got 6-7 calls per day until they started proceedings to take my home. They make me talk ugly and SCREAM! PREDITORS!

I have 2 mortgage loans and 1 home equity loan with Indymac. They are horrendous to deal with. When my husband died I was left with 3 Indymac loans on 2 different properties, 1 my residence and the other a rental. I had always paid them on time for years. But when my spouse died I got behind for 2 payments on each loan. Indymac had me file for a loan modification on all 3 loans. I did so and they denied 1 of the loans and never notified me that they had denied it. I sent in a check with each loan modification to Indymac. These checks were for amounts that the Indymac rep told me to send. When you call the 800 number to find out about your loan modification you get a recording to wait 30-60 day s to get an answer. I waited 35 days & found I was in foreclosure (the house was going to be advertised in 1 week). No other letters or phone calls gave me any insight into the loan modifications or foreclosure. Everyone just played dumb at Indymac. Then to make matters worse they never applied the money I sent with the loan modification to the house that they said "was in foreclosure." They said the amount I sent was $200 less than I should have sent so that made the loan go into foreclosure. I told them the name and date of the person who said I should send a specific amount with the papers but Indymac wouldn't listen. Now I'm accruing legal fees to hold off a foreclosure on 1 property. The other property is my principle residence and because Indymac refuses to take the 2 back payments and put it on the back of the 30 year loan they are threatening me with foreclosure on my principle residence. I am 67 years old, the widow of a disabled veteran and have health problems especially from the stress of Indymac's harassing phone calls (some times 6-7 per day). I may lose my rental property to foreclosure and possibly my principle residence and become homeless. EVERYONE PLEASE BEWARE OF INDYMAC MORTGAGE SERVICES NOW THEY ARE CALLED ONE WEST BANK. IN MY OPINION, INDYMAC AND ONE WEST BANK ARE THE MOST CROOKED MORTGAGE LENDERS TO DEAL WITH. THEY TRY TO TAKE YOUR HOME AND SAY YOU DO NOT QUALIFY FOR ANY OF PRESIDENT OBAMA'S RELIEF PROGRAM. DON'T DEAL WITH INDYMAC AND ONE WEST BANK!

As of April 11, 2009 Indymac is still not ready to participate in the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan. Continously keep getting the run-around from all departments. Try calling their lending department - you can't! You will find yourself left on hold for hours on end. I was actually told yesterday to call back in June when they will have more information and guidelines from the government - yeah right! Very frustrated with IndyMac. I would have to say the are the worst bank in America!

I had two mortgages with them I opened December of 2007. I paid off a big chunk of the big one in July and the small mortgage in full so I thought. I got letters telling me it was closed. In November I got letters to refinance. I called and they asked me for information which I faxed in within the hour and to have the house appraised which I had done 2 days later. I was told this was it. I waited several weeks heard nothing. I wrote and called back and got no response. I finally got someone to tell me they needed a new appraisal. They did not even have courtesy to tell me this. They finally got that. Then they said they needed my insurance. I had it faxed over three days and they still do not get back to me. Finally they said after weeks they have it. Then I thought it was done. They then told me they think the small mortgage is open. Are they kidding me? They sent me letters it was closed now they send me a letter its open. Two more weeks later they make me waste time to have conference call with credit firm and their customer service who said the mortgage was paid and closed. How incompetent they are they could not get this from their own customer service department. I see one of many reasons why they went out of business. Monkeys could do better work then their employees.

Yes I have had success fighting them. It was not easy. We also had a construction loan that the promise was to convert to a fixed rate and they forced us to accept an ARM. I finally got a HAMP loan out of them but it was huge...and took all the tenacity I could muster. I had my congressional reps cc on all email to IndyMac/One West. I see that some of the postings are older ones. I wish I had stumbled onto this site a long time ago.

This bank is full of liars and incompetant people. They will say anything. They seem to be aware one has little recourse. They are corrupt. Our credit is ruined and our house upside down (we live in an area that has NOT been effected by the housing crisis - economic melt down). They devalued our home in the middle of the project and wouldn't give us the money to finish...even though the appraisal said it was worth the money. This all happened in 2007 before they went bankrupt and the housing crisis happened. It's a long story... but I would love to figure out a way to put together a class action suite. My email address is: detleffish@alaska.com

Like so many of you, I have been struggling with an IndyMac Construction to permanent loan for over the past year. Since they were taken over by One West, it has become increasinly difficult to get satisfaction. Due to their delay in releasing funds and my husband being without work for a year, we were unable to complete to 100%. Their construction department told us it could convert at 95% and we were able to do that much and get a certificate of occupancy. Again they are saying that we went beyond the original end date and that they don't have to honor the original mortgage document. I've been paying interest only for over a year while they came up with something to offer me. I received it via UPS last Friday. They want to offer me a 3 year balloon loan. The modification papers will rescind the mortgage that was originally filed in June 2007, making me a lessee of the house I built. I don't want to sign the papers, which release the bank and the FDIC (which I assume is allowing these modifications to occur) from liability. I don't want to sign these papers, but my funds are depleted and my credit is now shot. Has anyone had success fighting these bullies?

I have a new home in Ca that my construction loan funds were frozen when the FDIC took over IMB. My house was near completion so I was able to use all my personal funds to get a final. My loan term has expired but I have continued paying interest payments per the loan agreement. So far nothing has been offered to me, but I'm fearful what they offer will be more than we agreed on so for now I just continue to make my monthly interest payments. Has anyone had a success story?.

I was contacted by IndyMac in 2006 while I was deployed to Afghanistan thru email to receive a construction loan. I went ahead with the loan being told at the beginning of the process that I would roll to a permanent fixed loan of 5 percent when the home was finished with a one-time closing. During the entire building process the funding for the home was delayed each and every time. Sometimes inspectors who I had arranged to meet with never showed up and inspections were sent in that I know never happened. When it was time to close to the fixed 15 to 30 year loan I was told that I had gone past the construction time line and that my loan was changed to a 7.2 LIBOR making the payment go from $2100 to well over $3600 a month. I refused to close unless I was offered the rate they stated. Today, IndyMac Bank under the auspicious of One West Bank are foreclosing on my home. I refuse to be lied to and pay for a contract I did not agree too. I read through the original loan paperwork and at the closing for the construction loan the loan officer said that rate I was looking at when I signed was the monthly construction loan rate not my final closing rate. I have contacted the law offices of Morgan and Morgan in Orlando who are looking at my case. Please give them a call and tell them that you want to join in as a member of my lawsuit. I have copies of every email that I have sent or received from IndyMac. I have been lied to, payments stalled, scream at by their representatives, charged $53, 000 in interest as well as late fees because I refuse to support a lie that they made. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Military Member. tali.hillsgrove@us.army.mil

We had the exact thing happen to us. When we were done with our construction, Indymac advised us that we can either take 11% fixed or do a monthly variable rate. They said that they changed their policies since they told me they would do a low fixed rate. They won't work with my modification papers and just served me with foreclosure papers. When is the class action suit coming? I am desperate. I have three kids under four. Where do I go from here?

I too can not get a loan mod. IMB is playing hard ball. My wife passed away and the sky fell in on me. They sent me a loan mod and then took it away. It appears they are wanting to take over property and sell it at a profit. They are not willing to work with people, even though they got our tax dollars to start up again.

I was also forced into an ARM. having been in banking for over 20 years and being at retirement age getting an ARM loan is like playing Russian Roulette with 4 bullets in the chamber. IMB loan office and I had many connversations about the perm loan after construction.
Has anyone been able to litigate this issus. My name is Bob. my email is icfbob@msn.com

I too am having problems with IMB. I had a home built by a contractor without a license. When the home was completed and IMB signed off the home was built extremely poor. I had no idea the contract was not licensed and IMB said it was my responsibility. When I went to IMB to find out why they signed off they told me it was to late to go against the builder because I had already converted the home to permanent financing. 6 months later the home was upside down in what I owed and I had lost my job. IMB would not work with me on modification unless I was 60 days past due. After two years of fighting with them I finally stopped payments for 60 days so they would modify. IMB turned me down for a modification telling me it was the investors choice to modify that IMB simply maintains the loan for the investor and they could not even tell me why I was turned down. I could not catch up on payments so now they are forclosing. I have a sell date of Oct. 09. IMB won't even consider a short sell because they don't have to. IT is to their investors advantage to let the bank take it back and sell afterward because the house has PMI that will pay them 20% of the loan balance back to them. I know of at least 4 other borrowers in Lake Havasu City, AZ, wher I live, that are in the same boat as I am. IMB says they don't have to cooperate with the Obama plan as none of their loans are Freddie mac or Fannie Mae thay are all private companys with prvt investors. I did sue the contractor but he has gone belly up and now I am losing my home and all I have put into it. IMB put me on a interest only loan for 10 years so nothing has gone toward principle in over 2 years. If anyone out there knows of an attorney that will take on IMB please let me know. IMB made loans without even looking to see who they were making loans with. Not once did they ever look out for their borrower, only themselves. I know my loan was fraudulent and the fees excessive but I did not know until I sued the builder. This too is IMB fault and they should be forced to reduce their loan. Anyone out there who can help would love to hear from you at daw8534@yahoo.com.

I am in the same situation with my construction loan. When my loan went to roll to a permanent I was charged well above the market rate. I have a permanent loan at 7% when rates were at 5.25 back in November 2008. I wrote the FDIC because the bank was in receivership by they did not reply until the bank was sold. I have been trying to a loan modification so they can adjust my rate to market. They just wrote me back with a lie saying that I was offered several rate options. I am really disappointed and would like to keep my home but they are making it where it isn't affordable. What are others doing about this.

We will file a class action law suit against Indymac. Anybody interested e-mail me your story at meyamsky@yahoo.com