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

We have a mortgage with embrace and for some reason our payment never makes it there ontime unless we spend another $12 on a phone payment. All other payments we send they said they never received, even they where send 12 day's before the due date. I'm so tired of this company
Petra Smith

c'mon now, you know thats not what happened. They cannot charge you a penny until you agree to it in writing or until you go thru a minimum or 3 electronic steps to give your permission. Then Im sure that an appraiser showed up a couple days later. There is your $375 fee. Mortgage companies cannot keep even one penny of your $375 by law, so your complaint holds zero merit. Im guessing that your home didnt appraise high enough to get the loan you wanted. That is noones fault but the economy.

I don't know anything about this company, but if they are going to do an appraisal, they should be able to give you an indication whether loan approval is likely or not. You know approximately how much equity you have in the house. With that knowledge, they can say how much they'll loan you, and the appraisal should just be a formality. It may be safer and cheaper to talk to a local banker in your town, for a HELOC (home equity line of credit).

I am currently working with Embrace Home Loans and the day before closing they claim the appraisal came back too low. However, the loan officer says he received the appraisal 10 days ago but ask the seller to increase the price but knowing the appraisal came back too low. Now my kids and I are about to be homeless because the home I'm has already been rented and I have never been in a situation like this before. There is no communication from them. All contact has been initiated by me. So my question is who is going to pay for me and my kids to have a place to live?

Just talked to a representative with Embrace Home Loans (I've been receiving and shredding their mailers for the last 2+ years, but decided to give them a call), and I'm extremely impressed with this particular representative's professionalism and ability to communicate exactly what Embrace can and cannot do for me in regards to refinancing my subprime loan. Also, I checked with BBB, and they have an "A+" rating. Overall, I would do business with them. Nevertheless, I too am skeptical about the $375 appraisal fee; yet, I do realize it's required to get the true value of my home (Zillow and exisiting comps just won't cut it). As long as they provide me the name of the third party appraisal, name of the person who will be doing the appraisal, and their contact information, I don't have a problem paying for this service. I think we all need to be realistic in terms of what these financial companies can do for us in crunch financial times that we're surviving in these days. We can't expect miracles; I would rather receive the truth: that I'll have to pay towards my negative equity or wait until equity is restored in my home before I can qualify for any new loan product!

I was charged the $375. up front for appraisal. It came back even lower than my assessment value, so Embrace lowered the loan amount but still charged all the same fees. Still waiting to hear from BBB.

I applied for a loan with Embrace, but didn't do all the paper work to process it. My credit score is low due to some unfortunate times I have had, but was working to get debts paid off and spring back from some tough times. At the beginning of the process we knew right off I would not qualify, but my rep called me back about 2 months later and told me "You are doing really good, you need to do this and this and this and we should be good to go". After doing the things she suggested, she lead me to believe I would get the loan, but there were a few things bothering me - 1st. She asked for money for the appraisal ($375.00) I went for it, took a day off of work to be at the appraisal, but the company that was to do it cancelled on me. 2nd I was told I had to put my Student Loan into the loan and wrap it all together since that is required for a FHA loan..well my student loan is only 2.85 interest, and after finding all these little things that didn't seem right I decided not to move forward. My home is already more than 80% paid off-my Student Loan is 20 years from being paid off. As I was talking with the representative, I became more and more suspicious. I was told I didn't qualify anyhow because my house is on commercial/Agricultural land (I live in the country)-should they not have known that upfront? In short, I then recieved a letter a dated the same day I told them I didn't want to go forward that my credit was too low. OK so I have email confirming that a reimbursement would be made to me in two weeks - two weeks has passed and I can't get anyone to tell me where it is. I will give them this week, then I will be filing a complaint - it's $375 for an appraisal they failed to do on the day THEY scheduled - they took money for a service they did not provide (I didn't cancel it they did) so there should be no reason for my not getting it especially since they told me they would return it. PLEASE DON'T USE THEM. I am going to go to BBB and file an official complaint this week if I don't hear from them. I knew my instincts were right. Please beware of them. They appear to prey on people that need a helping hand who coming off a bad time.

$375 appraisel is there trick as your appraisel will be low balled I promise you

At first you will be called back promptly, after the appraisel company comes out, and you are told that as a federal law they can't have any contact with appraisel company it has to go through a third party. Which means they can't answer any questions it is left up to appraiser. I have done some research, and the appraiser is from another area, When I inquired how many homes he had appraised in this area, I did not recieve a callback. The appraisel came in $30, 000 less than tax estimate for property. It was laughable, the same company that was so eager to help me out, that returned every call so promptly, know will not even return my calls are emails. I wrote a long email and sent it to REP, his boss, that I wanted to appeal this appraisel, and wanted to see how many appraisel's this guy has done in my area still over a month no response. I feel as though this is just a way to bring in a quick $375 and if they pay the appraiser $50 to $75 dollars for 20 minutes worth of work they still come out pretty good.

************* I will make it my mission to keep this company from preying on people in my area. I have learned a $375 dollar lesson I will make sure that everyone on facebook, myspace any any other social media hot spot will be ware of there business practices, and if they change there name> I will make sure there other baggage goes with them.

I agree with all the posted complaints. Embrace is just one big ripoff. They take your $375.00 and do not keep in contact with you. Once my appraisal came back the loan specialist did not contact me to say he had received it and the appraisal came back less then expected. Embrace must only approve loans for the rich and not the middle class people.

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

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.

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!

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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

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~

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!

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.

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.

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

Cheers

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 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!

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

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.