erudity.net prattlings on via nattering nabobs

USAA makes a saving throw

On Friday I got in touch with my real estate agent to ensure that everything was as smooth as it could be.  He let me know that Ekta, the awesome loan officer, had told him that it was going to be two to three weeks.  I was puzzled at this, as Ekta had told both me and Rachel, the title officer, the night before - about 14 hours before, actually - that closing would happen no later than November 30.  I asked Bob, the agent, what this meant for the sale - he didn't know, as he had just found out about this himself, but would get in touch with the seller and see what he wanted to do.  (More on this later.)  I got off the phone with Bob and contacted USAA so that I could let them know about Ekta's extreme unreliability and poor performance.  I left a message with her supervisor and drove home after my last class for the day was cancelled.

When I got home Ekta's supervisor Leelee called me back.  Having had some time to think over exactly what I was going to say, I remained calm and went over the litany of errors and oversights that had occurred in the handling of my loan - pretty much what was in my last post plus the added stuff from the top of this one.  I also added that I had never experienced dissatisfaction like this with USAA before, including my first home loan that I had processed through them.  This was really the heart of the matter, as USAA portrays themselves as being there for their members in the armed forces, but here I was, in a very stressful and demanding time, and they had been no better than Bank of America or any other large firm. To her credit, Leelee also stayed calm, and informed me that she had reviewed my file and that I was right - there were several issues in the way that my stuff had been handled; as a result, she was transferring my loan over to her most experienced officer, giving Ekta some remedial training, and would be contacting the VA daily in an effort to expedite the processing of the loan.  She also apologized for my experience and hoped that the solutions she'd put forth would help.  I agreed that they would, thanked her for her attention and time, and got off the phone with her.

About this time Bob called me back to let me know that the seller had agreed to let me move in before closing, so long as I would pay pro-rated rent in the amount of his mortgage, which seemed reasonable and far easier than rescheduling all the utility hookups, movers, and appliance deliveries I had scheduled, plus it cuts my commute in half.

So all told, USAA came through and the seller was awesome enough to let me move in on my original date.  HUZZAH.