Even at our home, we're getting more and more amazing offers from lenders. Recently one of my clients asked,
"We keep getting info in the mail from some odd place that says that we have a mortgage through Mortgage Masters and that they can reduce our house payment to $900.00 per month. We shred them every time we get them but now I am curious if it is true? It does not have the Mortgage Master logo on it, it just says that they know we have a mortgage balance of $266,000."
It's amazing how much personal information that you would assume is private, is actually public. Any lender or real estate agent can obtain a fine tuned list from a title insurance company or various other marketing companies for a fee. It's my opinion that if a Loan Originator has to use "cold marketing" (letters, post cards and phone calls to people they don't know) to drum up business, it's because they lack referral and/or repeat business from their past clients. No one wants to work with them or their company again nor refer someone to them...therefore, they must buy leads and mail to strangers (you and me).
Many of these offers are suspect...if it seems too good to be true, it is. Bait and switch tactics of offering low rates like 1% or skipping several months of your mortgage payment are hung out in order to have you call "Slick" at the mortgage company. Often times, the ads will appear as if they are coming from the mortgage company you obtained your financing from (check the very small print at the bottom of the letter). The gimmick marketing may even appear to be from a government agency or as if it's a "special limited time offer". Chances are, it's a hoax.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, we are personally getting deluged with "amazing offers". I think it's because we have an adjustable rate mortgage. And, the mortgage marketers know this...many of the pieces we receive state that and have emotional rich phrases such as "stabilize your monthly mortgage payment...it's urgent to refinance now." Our ARM is fixed for seven years. We have five years left on it. It's not urgent for us to give up equity for closing cost to have a 30 year fixed mortgage at this time.
Another beauty, which I am going to send in to DFI to see if any actions will take place...came in a gold envelope from the "Department of Public Records" appearing as though it's a check for $660,000. When you open this piece (of crap...sorry, this bugs me) it claims that the "sponsored lender" is Mortgage Master Service Corporation. I can assure you, this is not true. It also offers us a 1% interest rate and that this loan will fund in 10 days. This piece is from a Consumer Loan Lender. They have different guidelines they abide by than Mortgage Bankers or Mortgage Brokers.
The bottom line is that there are a plethora of mortgage marketers out there who are trying to take advantage of home owners fears of rates adjusting or debts...you name it. Don't fall for it. If you need help with your mortgage or have any questions, contact a qualified Mortgage Professional.
Hopefully you had a good experience with the person who helped you with your original financing...if not...contact someone you respect and trust for a referral to one. What ever you do, don't fall for misleading junk you receive in the mail.
UPDATE: If you have misleading advertisements sent to your Washington State home, mail it to:
Enforcement Unit, Division of Consumer Services, DFI, PO Box 41200, Olympia, WA 98504
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