AMERICAN EQUITY MORTGAGE

I wanted to share with you a series of blundered encounters I have experienced with your team in the American Equity Mortgage - Atlanta branch. May 30, 2013 - Completed a mortgage application for a second home I own in NE Georgia (recreational property) through telephone calls and emails with Sherley Beaufils with American Equity Mortgage in Atlanta. May 31, 2013 - Contacted by Patrick Crowe, a local property appraisal subcontractor of Validata Appraisal Management to arrange a property inspection. I live five hours from the property being refinanced. I overnight ship a house key to Patrick so he can do his appraisal at his convenience. May 31, 2013 ? Validata Appraisal Management bills my VISA card for $425 for the appraisal fee. June 25, 2013 ? I send Sherley Beaufils an email query asking for any updates on the status of the mortgage application. No response. June 25, 2013 ? I call Patrick Crowe?s cell phone asking for status of my copy of the appraisal report and when he will be mailing my house key back (I had provided a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Patrick when I overnight-shipped the house key to him on May 31). July 11, 2013 ? After a week-long business trip to Brazil, I check my personal email and cell phone and have no updates from either Sherley Beaufils or Patrick Crowe. I call the American Equity Mortgage telephone number in Atlanta and am connected to Scott Morrell. Scott advises me that Sherley no longer works for American Equity Mortgage and transfers me to the branch assistant manager; Allison Deyo. I leave a voice mail message for Allison asking for any updates on the status of my application, since we are approaching the 30-day deadline to keep the interest rate locked-in. July 12, 2013 ? I call Allison Deyo again and instantly get her voice mail. I leave a second message for Allison asking for the courtesy of a return call, email or anything advising me what is happening with my mortgage application. I do not receive a call back from Allison. July 15, 2013 ? I call Allison Deyo a third time and go right to her voice mail. I leave a third message and now include in my message that I plan to also contact the Atlanta Better Business Bureau and register a formal complaint. Allison does not return my call. July 15, 2013 ? As I am boarding a plan for another business trip to Minneapolis, I receive a message on my cell voice mail from Ryan Ling. His brief message is that he needs to talk to me about the appraisal refund and status of my mortgage application. As soon as I am seated on the plane, and before I have to power down for take-off, I make the return call to Ryan and get his voice mail. I am totally confused now on what is happening, and I make another call to Patrick Crowe about the appraisal and my house key. I get his voice mail and leave a message. When I arrive in Minneapolis later in the day, I have another brief voice mail message from Ryan Ling, with no information about what is going on, but he leaves his cell phone number. I make a call to VISA to request a dispute on the $425 billed by Validata Appraisal Management. I call Validata Appraisal Management and explain that I am disputing the appraisal fee, and that I will also be billing them for the cost of a locksmith to change the house locks. I call Ryan Ling?s cell phone number and get his voice mail. I leave him a message to call me. July 17, 2013 ? At 6:25 a.m. CDT, I call Patrick Crowe?s cell phone and he actually answers the call. He tells me that American Equity Mortgage had cancelled the appraisal appointment sometime in June. He had forgotten about sending me back my house key, and if he could find it, he would mail it back to me. I call Ryan Ling?s cell phone and he answers while en route to your office in Atlanta. I get some lame story about the appraisal subcontractor had never completed the job and that your application system flagged the job order and that Ryan was requesting a refund. He offered to let me with someone else at your Atlanta branch to complete the mortgage application. Since we were outside the 30-day interest rate lock-in, he couldn?t guarantee the same rates, and that a property appraisal would still have to be done. I never did get an explanation from him why someone with American Equity Mortgage didn?t contact me after Sherley left your company to follow-up or to communicate any issues with the appraisal firm. Ryan wasn?t sure why his story was in conflict with the story given to me by Patrick Crowe. Would you want to continue a customer relationship with this kind of poor performance? I have started the process over again with Quicken Loans. I just checked my mail box (I am home until next week, when I have more business meetings in California) and still no house key, so I will be tracking down the mailing address of Validata Appraisal Management so I can send them a bill for a locksmith. Deanna, you can read an abbreviated version of this recount on Angie?s List. Sincerely, Timothy ?Shawn? O?Harra 705 Pine Island Point Scottsboro, AL 35769

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