Optimum First Mortgage
Optimum First Mortgage Overview
The aggregated data is based on reviews and questionnaires provided by PissedConsumer.com users.
Optimum First Mortgage has 2.4 star rating based on 3 customer reviews. Consumers are mostly dissatisfied.
- Rating Distribution
Pros: Good talking.
Cons: Failed to provide you the solution and good con agent.Recent recommendations regarding this business are as follows: "beware about Optimum First Mortgage".
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Failed to do Refi : Appraisal fees charged
Very shady deals by Optimum First Inc.
I submitted my tons of documents for Refi on 2 properties to Tiffany , She has provided me rate lock with Loan Estimate.
My credit card was charged for $600 + $600 Total $1200 for appraisal fees.
At the end the optimum fist mortgage failed to do re fi.
- Good talking
- Failed to provide you the solution and good con agent
Preferred solution: Full refund
User's recommendation: beware about Optimum First Mortgage
Penetanguishene, Ontario
Great knowledgeable underwriters Thank You Leanne Conroy and all processing group great work will be using you again soon James Owen Homeguard funding
Great working with you and your underwriters
North Coast, California
Unresponsive Loan Officer
I requested an online loan rate quote and, almost immediately, got a call back from Optimum Loan agent Brandon Castaneda. He was very proud of Optimum's having the best rates and described its no-cost refinancing option if rates decrease after six months.
For my loan, the rate would have to decrease by 0.5% to qualify. I told him I had a loan processing with another provider and would get back to him. Four days later, I wrote him, asking for the loan offer in writing that he had given me. No response.
The next day, I received an e-mail from him, saying that, if I had any questions, to let him know. I responded that I had asked him for a written loan offer. It's been a two days with no response, apparently, not having seen the e-mail I had sent him. If this is typical of Optimum's customer service, I have to agree with the negative reviews.
Too bad this one non-responsive loan officer shook my faith in the Optimum's ability to get the loan done. Even though my pending rate lock is at a higher rate than Optimum's, it looks a whole lot better in light Optimum's poor customer service: ignoring me even before I had applied with them. In contrast, the loan officer with my pending application at another company has expressed a solid confidence in his ability to get the loan done.
How much worse would Optimum be after winning my business because then it would have even less incentive to provide good customer service. The loan agent was saying I should lock in with a no-cost loan now at a slightly higher rate, wait six months and that I could then refi cost-free at a lower rate, "almost guaranteed 1/4th to 1/2 percent less" because he thought rates would fall this winter and I could then refinance without taking cash out.
I researched its cost-free refinance offer.
The last condition of several conditions says that Optimum can change its terms at any time. That makes the whole no-cost refi offer unreliable if Optimum can decide to end it at any time.
Preferred solution: Let the company propose a solution
I am sorry about your experience with Brandon Castaneda. This is very unlike anything we tolerate at my company.
We fund hundreds of loans monthly and have over 3000 positive reviews online. We pride ourselves on having the lowest rates, giving the best deal and getting loans funded that other companies can not. We have built a reputation in the industry as be the most competitive lender with the best customer service. Again I apologize for Brandon's lack of communication.
Please allow me to pay for your appraisal and align you with one of our top loan officers that have been with the company for over 10 years. Please email me back at robert@***.com.
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Optimum First is a Good Company
I was too hasty in my criticism of Brandon. He responded to my e-mail, saying that he had been out sick the day that I e-mailed him.
I cannot judge him for being ill and I have been unfair by being too impatient. Brandon is a sharp guy, willing to help his clients as much as possible. Also, the company is being overrun with a swarm of people eager to refinance now while the rates are at historical lows. In Brandon's absence, I contacted another agent named Kenneth To who was very helpful.
He explained the terms of the various loan offers very with a high degree of clarity, precision and accuracy.
I plan to work with him as my loan officer at Optimum. I think this is a good company.
TERRIBLE REPS AND RESPECT IS ZERO FOR HOMEOWNERS
I am disgusted with how this company handles there business. I would never ever recommend this company to anyone.
All of the agents are rude, condescending and act as if they are paying your mortgage. They need to be shut down 100%! In this day and age, respect goes along way. Here their ethics are very questionable and the way they treat people is absolutely not acceptable!
Never ever sign a contract with this company.
If I had the means, I would send them to the lawyers to be responsible for their actions and lack of respect.
AGAIN, NEVER EVER SIGN WITH THIS COMPANY! They need to be stopped and they make a ridiculous amount of interest on each mortgage and still act like they pay your bills.
This is a fake review from a competitor. Optimum First is 5 stars on Yelp which is hard to accomolish for any big lender plus they have over 2000 good online reviews. This is a bogus review.
Cash out refinance
Optimum first mortgage was such an easy process for me to refinance my home. you also get a lifetime Guaranteed rate lock.
I don't think I could have gotten a better deal. Thanks too Alfredo Rivas Thank you so much
Bath, Maine
Failed mortgage re-fi
I heard of Optimum First from a guy at work who had a unprofessional, but complete mortgage refinancing experience with this company. After contacting the company in early august I began the re-fi process.
The list of documents required were extremely confusing and after many emails i submitted the last of the documents august 17th.
On August 25th my credit card was charged $435 and $75 dollar charges.
Many weeks passed without proactive contact from Optimum First. When I probed to see how things were progressing I got vague excuses. On October 28th I decided to end my troubled experience and find a company that could keep their promise of a 45 day lock in period.
After asking to discontinue the loan modification I received a flurry of emails from a "supervisor" who threatened me with a $995 fee if I pulled out. I reviewed the documents I had signed and found the $995 fee did not apply to me. When I pointed this out to the "supervisor", I was told it was not "fair" for me to pull out of the loan process.
I recommend that this company be avoided at all costs. I am out over $500 and three months of my time.
Very shady deals by Optimum First Inc. Given all details about loan# to the owner Robert D.
but no action is been taken. I submitted my tons of documents for Refi on 2 properties to Tiffany , She has provided me rate lock with Loan Estimate.
My credit card was charged for $600 + $600 Total $1200 for appraisal fees. At the end the loan was denied.
Replying to
Salinas, California
Wasted time $ on refi with Optimum First Mortgage
Unfortunately, I would not recommend Optimum First Mortgage, Fountain Valley, CA for a mortgage. We began the refinance process with them end of June 2010. All requested documents, records and even appraisal were received in their office by the 9th of July. Long story short we heard little to no contact from them through August 19 other than I would call for an update and be told excuses such as the lender was overloaded and there was a question with the appraisal. Over these 6 weeks no one ever requested a verification of employment from either of our employers – this was suspicious as usually this process begins immediately. So August 19th , frustrated at this point I made a call to their office the day before the 45 day rate lock expired and was told the lender said the appraisal came in too high. They did not offer to extend the rate and help work it out. My loan rep Cody offered to see if another lender would be available. Two weeks passed and I never heard back from Cody. Now having lost 2 months' time, our low interest rate and $365 on a wasted appraisal, I emailed them and ask for a refund of my appraisal fee. My last response from them was this…..
Carmen,
I will have my manager get in contact with you today. Thank you.
Optimum First Mortgage
Unfortunately, something is very suspicious about this whole process.
That all said, we decided to start the process with a local company – we sat down with them on Tuesday August 31. In 3 ½ weeks we have now already signed loan documents and will close early next week. By the way the appraisal came in $25K higher than the first one. Bottom line – find a local mortgage company or bank referred by a local real estate professional or friend. And don't take a chance on Optimum First Mortgage.
Any mortgage company that does any type of business at all is going to have some bad reviews. This company has a ton of good reviews online and only a few bad ones.
El Cajon, California
Optimum First Mortgage botched refi
Optimum First Mortgage of Fountain Valley was the first to call me after I filled out an on-line refi query. In fact, they called me within two minutes after I hit the enter key. The very first words out of the broker's (Robert) mouth were about how bad the competition (Quicken Loans) was. I should have been more concerned about how low Optimum First's level of competency was.
Bad-mouthing their competition should have been a clue to me that they were not very professional. To make a very long story as short as possible, Robert either misquoted, lied, or did NOT know that a 5/1 ARM could increase by 5% after the first five years. In fact, did not know that it could increase 5% in the sixth year. I asked Robert several times the max increase per year and he repeatedly said 2% per year until it increases a max of 5% above the starting rate.
I looked it up in the disclosure statement, which said it could increase 5% in the sixth year, regardless of what the Libor or rates in general do. How could he not know that? I asked him again, this time in an email; again he said 2%. This time it was in writing.
They also failed to disclose, up front, several requirements of the lender (Provident--another story) they were working with. Like, oh by the way, you need to write us a letter telling us what you are going to do with the cash out. No problem. After I wrote the letter they came back and said I neet to get estimates for the upgrades/repairs I had planned to use the money for.
Robert and Optimum First also mis-quoted the appraisal fee, by about 50%, low, of course. They promised to pay this back to me but I'm still waiting for the check.
Another think, I paid for the appraisal out of pocket but the lender still added it to the loan costs to determine the payment. I'll have to talk to HUD about that. Seems illegal that I'm paying a higher payment because of something I paid out of pocket.
Now, dontcha think that a broker who has been working with a specific lender would know the lender's requirements and pass them on to the client early in the process in order to expedite the loan?
Robert and his supervisor tried to convince me to get the estimates, get the loan, and then just use the money for whatever I wanted to do with it.
Talk about ethics...
I decided that Robert was incompetent, Optimum First was incompetent, and cancelled the loan. It wasn't that good of a deal and they weren't lowering my payments very much anyway.
Beware of Optimum First and especially incompetent loan brokers.
Sometimes you need to know how to complain and to who.
Plus, it should be up front who you need to talk to, sign it and get a copy.
The higher ups should make this very clear before the other paper work begins. You will need to number the pages so that the customer will see page one is missing.
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This person is trying to blackmail my company for a refund from 2016 we never agreed to because they didn’t qualify. I have proof that they stated they’re blackmailing us for money because they “need it”