My experience with Absolute Mortgage Banking of Palo Alto

There were two things that prompted me writing about my experience with Absolute Mortgage Banking of Palo Alto.

First, it was a question that I posted on Zillow. There was overwhelming consensus that what Absolute Mortgage did was wrong. Some even wrote that I owe it to the public to report this. So here it is.

Second, it was an email that Eric Trailer sent me. He's one of the partners at the firm and this email is the most ridiculous and unprofessional letter I've ever received - I've posted it below so keep reading!

So some background information:

• My fiance and I met with Eric Trailer for a 30-minute informal session to talk about what we can afford.
• Two weeks later, we found a condo we liked. Our broker, who works with Eric, prompted us to work with Absolute on a pre-approval letter.
• The following day Absolute Mortgage Bank completed the pre-approval letter. The letter was completed in less than two hours after I finished the online application.
  
• However, after some more research, we changed our decision and did not submit the bid for the place at all.
• In a little over a month, we managed to find a home we liked. We had to use the property's preferred lender and could not work with Absolute Mortgage.
  

That's it. $625. We never signed any documents disclosing that Absolute would charge us for a pre-approval letter. Absolute Mortgage Bank never performed an appraisal on any property on my behalf. So, yes, $625 is a bit excessive to run a couple of credit reports.

I filed a complaint with the California Department of Real Estate. Regardless of the result of their investigation, I think it's important to get the word out. First-time homebuyers, be careful with who you work with.

Alright - so here's the email. I don't even know him - only spent 1/2 hour talking to him. Do you want to work with a mortgage banker like Eric Trailer?

From: Eric Trailer
To: Sidney Chang
Cc: Bill Prainito; Maily Luong
Sent: Sun, January 24, 2010 7:46:38 PM
Subject: RE: Invoice and Support for $625 Processing Fee

Your reply, attitude and lack of respect certainly does not surprise me,
Sidney. We invest the time and energy to:
1. disclose IN WRITING on FOUR occasions about the processing fee
2. DISCUSS THE PROCESSING FEE AT OUR MEETING ON OCTOBER 29, 2009
3. guide you and [my fiance] about the home-buying and loan process
4. provide guidance on areas that are best to buy in
5. provide support with pre-approval letters when you need them
6. FURTHER INVEST OVER SIX HOURS to assist you and over $1,200 in
costs

And your response is to argue about a processing fee that you are now
conveniently having amnesia over while threatening to file a complaint
with the DRE? You are one "special" kinda guy.

No problem, Sidney. Do what you feel is right. And should your
decision be to stiff us on the fee and file a complaint, I will look
forward to:
1. submitting your case to collections and collecting our fee the
next time you want credit
2. exposing you as a frivolous complainer once the DRE clears your
complaint

*******************************************************************
Eric T. Trailer, Partner
Absolute Mortgage Banking
555 College Avenue
Palo Alto, CA 94306
(p) 650.543.8001
(f) 866.568.6849
DRE License: 01361721
Follow me on Twitter @erictrailer

-----Original Message-----
From: Sidney Chang
Sent: Sunday, January 24, 2010 5:42 PM
To: Eric Trailer
Cc: Bill Prainito; Maily Luong
Subject: Re: Invoice and Support for $625 Processing Fee

Hey Eric

Can you detail what the $625 processing fee is? There was not an
appraisal. I did not send you any paperwork (e.g., my bank statements,
W-2s and 1040s) to process a loan. The only thing I can think of is a
credit report.

There are also a few reasons why I don't think this is fair:
*Neither [my fiance] and I recollect you talking about a $625 fee for the
pre-approval during our half-hour meeting
*We did not sign any disclosure documents to acknowledge we would pay
this

Had we known about it, we would definitely not have proceeded with
Absolute as most banks offer a pre-approval letter without such fees.
In my opinion, without fair disclosure and adding in one-line at the
bottom of the prequalify letter in small font, is unethical.

I plan on filing a complaint with the DRE on Monday.

Sidney