Do NOT Trust USAA!!!
We have our second mortgage with USAA.
USAA has repeatedly lied to us regarding this mortgage.
The following is my own recollection of events, and it is my review and feedback on those events, just like a Yelp! review, ConsumerAffairs review, or any other feedback medium. Take from this what you want. If the feedback helps you, then I am grateful. If you disagree, then that is your right. NOTE: All USAA logos used here, and logos in images presented here, are the trademark of USAA and are presented here under Fair Use. This site is in no way affiliated with USAA, nor is presented to create confusion as to portraying a website owned and operated by USAA. All images and logos are publicly available, as they were found on the Internet. - this statement made per USAA legal representation.
Lie #1During the 2 hour qualification, USAA said the interest rate would be X on it, which was higher than the interest rate on the original amount. I asked why it was more, and they said they could give me a lower interest rate and all they had to do was an appraisal. I said: "Sure, you know we have construction going on and the house is down to studs in 70% of it?" "Yes, no problem. We will order the appraisal and send the paperwork." I told the workmen to do the extra work, as I was told I was approved for the money. Well, the ongoing construction was a problem. After the appraisal came back they refused to give the promised money because there was no CO (Certificate of Occupancy) on the home because we were doing the remodel, even though that was CLEARLY explained before they approved the additional money. So, they lied about giving us the money. Would not even give it at the previously mentioned higher rate that did not need an appraisal. No money at all, after I had the extra work done and owed the workmen. That promise of the additional funds was lie #1.
Lie #2
I could afford to pay the workmen, as we were still in the framing stage of the project and I had the rest of the funds that were for the finishing work; but to pay them it meant taking money from things like flooring and kitchen cabinets, appliances, bathroom fixtures, etc., and not finishing the project to get the CO. So, after pleading for help with managers at USAA, they offered a credit card, with a small limit (in relation to the funds needed to finish the project) of $10k, and they told me to put the rest on my personal credit cards and when the CO came in, they would refi the house and pay off all the credit cards. Ahh, light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks! So the CO (Certificate of Occupancy) came in 2-3 months later when we wrapped up the finishing details, and I went to refi with USAA, and guess what, the USAA loan to value ratio formula had changed, and we did not have enough equity in our house to qualify for a refi under the new guidelines, plus "even if we could help you, your credit scores dropped with the high balance on your credit cards." (Duh! You told us to use our credit cards to finish the house!) So they denied the refi. That promise of a refi after we got the CO was lie #2 and eventually forced us into bankruptcy a couple years later as we could not keep up with $900 month+ credit card payments on $30k worth of charges for JUST the construction portion, with all of our other bills. I sent a certified letter to then CEO General Josue Robles, asking for some help prior to filing bankruptcy, but got no reply other than they had received the letter and there was nothing they could do. Good ole USAA!
Lie #3
So then after not paying on the USAA second mortgage for years since it was discharged in the bankruptcy and had a $0 balance, and after finally recovering from the bankruptcy by improving our credit, we went to refinance with another lender and wanted to remove the lien USAA still has on the property. Of course they wanted their money and even though the bankruptcy showed a $0 balance, they would not remove the lien unless there was a full payment. So I tried to negotiate with them on a settlement. I was told they would accept 75% of the balance. So I went to talk to mortgage brokers to see if we could get the 75% they were demanding. While pursuing this avenue, they sent a demand letter from an attorney within 30 days of our last discussion, without warning, saying the foreclosure department now had the case. Wait, what? We were negotiating and I was checking on getting the funds. When I relayed this, they "halted" the foreclosure, but still added legal fees to the total balance. Thanks USAA!
Ultimately the 2 options with USAA were: settle for 75% of the full amount as a 1 time payment, or pay the back balance and resume payments with the full amount still owed. Upon me asking questions on what the 2 options would mean as far as our credit, amongst some other questions, I got no answers for several weeks, even with follow up emails and calls. The only reply I got was stating that "we are working on the answers to your questions." Finally, on the phone, Kevin Warden, Rick Garcia and Stephanie Monnett stated that if we settle for the 75% it WILL be reported to the credit agencies as a settlement and we had to check out what the ramifications were on that. We were also told that if we resume payments, nothing further will be reported.
We researched and learned what a "settlement" (i.e. "short sale") on a credit report means, and it is almost as bad as a bankruptcy, and would put us in a position of only qualifying for FHA mortgages with higher interest rates and PMI requirements - even after 20% equity - for another 5 years from the date of the settlement... IF we could even qualify. Meanwhile the deadline was approaching and we need to decide if we will settle for 75% with the credit hit or resume payments. Given the settlement is almost as bad as a bankruptcy, we did not want to hit our credit that hard and we withdrew from the refi with the new lender. I asked again, and again, and again, for the questions that STILL were not answered to be answered, other then the comment from Kevin Warden, Rick Garcia and Stephanie Monnett about reporting the settlement. Finally, 10 days before the deadline to settle or start up payments again, and 2 months after we were told a settlement would be reported to credit agencies, we get a letter from Rick Garcia with answers to my questions (kind of), including the credit reporting question. I had to ask for clarification because some of the answers were non-committal or ambivalent or just wrong, like the credit reporting answer was based upon historical reporting, not future reporting like I asked. So upon clarification, David Wiggins, Office of the President, answered and said on the credit reporting question that in either case USAA will not report anything different (than the previous discharge) to the credit agencies. Thank you?? Maybe? David Wiggins even told me on a follow up phone call he thought the time-frame to answer the questions originally was absurd or unreasonable or something to that effect. I reminded him he was CC'd on every email communication I made inquiring about the answers to those questions, and he did not jump in at any time. He had no reply of substance to that clarification.
So the original information given to us by Kevin Warden, Rick Garcia and Stephanie Monnett that they would report the settlement to credit agencies influenced our decision and we decided to not refinance, but rather decided to resume payments. Had we been told originally that they would not have reported the settlement, which would therefore not have impacted our credit, we probably would have settled instead of resumed payment and saved 25% on the balance. But by the time we were told they would not report it, it was too late to execute a refinance (1 week until the deadline.) This was lie #3 from USAA, either by Kevin Warden, Rick Garcia and Stephanie Monnett, or by David Wiggins. David Wiggins told me on the phone after this clarification on credit reporting he was "sorry you received incorrect information regarding the credit reporting." Once again, we were lied to, and they were "sorry." It was absurd that it took them 3+ months to answer some simple questions of what the ramifications of each situation would mean. Like, "if we resume payments, can we repay on usaa.com", "do our usaa member benefits get reinstated", really hard questions like that that took 3+ months to answer, right until 10 days to the deadline, and then the answers as it pertained to credit reporting flip flopped, which would have changed our decision.
Bottom line, in my opinion: USAA is a company NOT to be trusted!
I feel they have no honesty, honor, or dignity. They will say what they want, when they want, without any responsibility for promises made. They will break promises and/or lie repeatedly. They will drag their feet when crucial information is needed to make educated decisions. It is a sad state of affairs when they will easily lie, and ruin lives by those lies, without a second thought or an ounce of remorse. They put us into a situation to cause our bankruptcy and could care less about that.
If you want to get through to someone to "help" you with your issue, here is the contact information for David Wiggins, who works in the Office of the President: