CHASE MANHATTAN MORTGAGE

Because they held our mortgage at the time, we talked to them about refinancing after interest rates had dropped substantially. We had been told by a realtor friend that you should talk to your current mortgage company when considering refinancing because they will often offer you a better deal to stay with them rather than lose you as a customer. With Chase, it turned out not to be true. I was really surprised that they were not even willing to come close to the interest rates we were being offered elsewhere. And their fees were much higher. Apparently they were offering us these rates and terms based on a totally incorrect valuation of our house. When you deal with Chase about a mortgage, you are not talking to a local person. You get connected to their mortgage office in Columbus, Ohio. The guy there said that his computer in Columbus showed that our house in suburban Chicago was worth such-and-such and therefore the loan-to-value ratio was not good and he couldn't give us the best terms. I told him, "No, it's worth way more than that. You're in Columbus, Ohio, and apparently have no knowledge of our specific area." He chuckled smugly and said that "Everybody has the same reaction. People don't want to accept that property values have fallen so much in this economy." I told him I knew property values were lower but I was familiar with comparables in our neighborhood and his numbers were way off base. We ended up going with a local guy at another company who gave us a great rate, low fees, and the appraisal came in way way above where the Chase guy's computer in Columbus said our house was worth. We've saved thousands in interest since leaving Chase.

Chase just took over my mortgage. Everything stayed the same since they bought out my mortgage. I liked that a lot. There have been no hard and fast changes for us to adapt to, and so far they have been very good to us. We have no problems to report at this time and we have found them to be in line so far.

THEY HAVE EXCELLENT PHONE SERVICE. THEY ARE VERY POLITE, NEVER HAD THAT EXPERIENCE OTHER WISE.