How to deal with a really stupid Credit Union?

Gary Fowler · Jul 4, 2015

If you have the money, pull it out and pay for your addition. Then repay yourself at the same rate as the loan would be including interest. You will be way ahead of the game that way. I have never understood why some folks would rather borrow and pay interest than use their own money. Unless you are opening a business and don't want the full liability of a failed operation, use your money rather than borrow.

By the way, when closing your account, tell them why in explicit detail.

hawkeye08 · Jul 4, 2015

We got a loan from our credit union for our shop. It took months and when we finally went to the title company to sign papers, it was wrong. They had paperwork for 10x the value, the fees to the title company were in excess of the actual loan. They wanted us to sign the papers and they would fix it later, we refused to sign until they corrected it. The credit union took so long because they thought it was a big loan.... too stupid to read the application I guess.

Best wishes, stay positive.

oosik · Jul 4, 2015

I was considering a large shop/storage building about ten years ago. The bank, I had at that time, wanted me to subdivide my property and put the house on one lot and the proposed shop on the remainder. I have a different bank now. I never received an explanation for why. The entire situation ground to a rapid halt. The zoning on my land requires minimum lot size of 20A/lot. The bank would not go for a deal with my house on a lot larger than 5A. All the while - the land appraisal dept/tax collector standing by like a vulture.

Hey, now - this is total incompatibility - the left hand not wanting to even know what the right hand is thinking/doing.

newbury · Jul 4, 2015

Gary Fowler said:
<snip> I have never understood why some folks would rather borrow and pay interest than use their own money. <snip>

When interest rates are low having cash on hand allows one to make quick purchases that were not planned for.

Back in 2009, during the crash, we had loans on two cars and a house, and $$$ in the credit union. We saw a house come on the market as a foreclosure and were able to gobble it up by paying with money we had in the bank. No loans, no borrowing from relatives, just a title search and slam the money down. Now worth about 3 times what we paid.

Got about $3K worth of equipment at an auction for $800, had the $$ in hand.

Son G had first baby coming, spent $35K remodeling a rental house so he could move out of his condo. Am getting paid back.

Son D's dog needed a $3K operation. Done. Will recoup later.

Need to keep a good amount of cash on hand for VALID opportunities and emergencies. Daughter needed to go on vacation to England, not done.

In this economy borrowing money for VERY VALID spending makes sense. If Arc Weld is writing the truth in other threads about this building he wants the shop to improve his business and make more money.

Arc weld said:
<snip> I'm tired of paying stupid ridiculous storage fee's($325 for a 10x15) and having nowhere to store my equipment or work on it. For a couple hundred bucks more a month it seems like a no brainer to me. I'll also have to check with the county and see about taxes and building permits and such.

It didn't read like he wanted it for a place to party and spend money.

woodlandfarms · Jul 4, 2015

We know your pain and have no solution other than perserverance. We have 40 acres in an area where oddly 40 acres sales is very rare. Just getting comps sends lenders into a spin. We have had people come up and say its worth exactly what is on the tax records, we had one come up and say there is no value, and maybe 3 more that trippled the value of the tax records.

Just keep pushing on, owning land in this financial age is a nightmare but you can see it to the other side by just being agressive. Remember you are not these peoples friends and in the end they are going to make a lot of money off of you.

ultrarunner · Jul 4, 2015

It's just about always been a huge problem for me... great credit score/report.

When I bought in Washington... I was set up with Wells Fargo... good rate and low fees at the time... all was good.

The week of closing I get a call from the seller saying sorry that it did not work out!!! What the heck?

Wells said they did not notice the home was on land just over 5 acres... they had the appraisal, purchase contract and a copy of the listing for 4 weeks!

What really got to me was NO ONE in MY CHAIN told me... not the Bank or the Realtor or the Title Company

I immediately got busy and confirmed... and was told with 4 days left... it was just one of those things.

By getting busy... I rallied all my resources and PAID CASH for the property... and felt great doing so!

Strangley... I have had only two good experiences and the last one was with my Credit Union... they offered promotional refi rates and I was asked why I had not taken advantage... told them lenders never come though and the senior loan officer heard this...

To cut to the chase... the credit union came through without a glitch... I paid down my loan by a third which is what I wanted to do and paid no costs for a 2.75% 15 year fixed loan...

Guess my point is not all lenders are the same.

Arc weld · Jul 5, 2015

Interest rates are low. The total cost of the shop is a little over $42,000 which I don't have. I don't think it's smart to throw all your money at one project and then be cash poor if some type of emergency or unexpected expense shows up. The Credit Union I deal with is in a smaller town just outside Edmonton and isn't affiliated with any other Credit Unions. It's not ATB but I was with them at one time when this Credit Union screwed me around in the past. I do have an account at a larger Credit Union because I have a small line of credit with them. It's at a zero balance but is still available. I have it because of another screw up with the other one. I talked to someone there and they will do loans on non residences so I may be talking to them in the near future if the current place/person I deal with can't pull their heads out of their azz. I think there comes a time when after you've screwed around numerous times with a customer, because of your incompetence, you look at their history and all the pertinent info. and if it all checks out, you bite the bullet and help them.

drajj5 · Jul 5, 2015

I have just gone through a similar situation, however it was the land/house next to mine. Signed the contract w/seller did the appraisal and was in line for financing. Found out that when you buy neighbors place it is classified as "Commercial Property", hence a huge sum of money for down payment 20% - and shorter financing max 10 years.

Gosh, I just wanted the land next door. Luckily, owner let me purchase after contract ended... Everything was in line but bank was dragging feet, they confessed that they were trying to do the 3rd party lender thing and it failed with their lender. Bank ended up financing in house - knowing that I was going to pull my err their assets if they didn't get it together.

I can understand your frustration as I just went through this earlier in the year. I almost walked away from the whole deal. Guess banks are afraid of who they lend to now; since things went south a few years ago.

EddieWalker · Jul 5, 2015

I can't speak for the poor service you are getting from the lady who is handling your loan application, or how it works in Canada, but here it's all politics. For some unknown reason that I don't understand, people blame the bank or the hospital or the police or whoever it is that they are dealing with when something isn't working out the way the want it to, or think it should, and not the government who is making the rules and creating all the problems. Do you know that the bank doesn't actually have the money it loans you? It goes to another source to get that money and for them to get it to you, they have to follow a set of laws set up by the government. Their profit margin on a loan is almost insignificant and a lot of them really don't want to loan money because when it's all said and done, they are barely breaking even.

Eddie