HEARTLAND BANK

I was very satisfied with my entire experience with Heartland Bank. The paperwork and information needed for the mortgage MUCH less than with Wells Fargo. When I called Mr. Dazey I always received a prompt response. Their fees were quite competitive with other mortgage companies I checked with. Heartland Bank was impressively responsive when some complications with my own negotiations with the seller pushed the finalization of the sale price and a firm agreement much nearer to the closing date than was ideal. Heartland was able to complete the appraisal, mortgage finalization, and close exactly as promised even though my purchase process gave them less time to work. Having gotten two mortgages through Wells Fargo, I can guarantee you that Heartland Bank is phenomenally easier to deal with. Final analysis: professional, timely, and low hassle.

Jane Miller was my loan officer. The process could not have been any better. Jane was very professional and punctual all through the process. The closing was easy and efficient.

Applied for a mortgage loan for a house we were purchasing on August 2, 2010 and were assured that there would be no problem closing on the purchase on August 31, 2010 - as our contract with the seller stipulated. Throughout the process, Heartland asked us for piles of documentation - often the same thing two or three times, as it didn't seem they could keep track of what they had already been sent. All documentation was sent to them within 24 hours of request, even if it meant taking a day off work to gather documents from different companies or leaving work in the middle of the day the day before we expected close to retrieve something at the last minute that they should have requested weeks earlier. We were scheduled to close at 9:00 am on Tuesday 8/31. At 5:15 pm (after business hours) on Monday 8/30, we received a phone call from our loan officer stating that we would be unable to close as scheduled because the mortgage insurance cost was different than what we had seen on the GFE, so we would have to wait another (government-mandated) three days to close. I have no problem with the government-mandated three-day wait (although we were well aware what we were getting into, many people aren't), I have a problem with the fact that she A)waited until the last minute to obtain mortgage insurance for the loan, even though it was clear from day one that it would be a requirement that the lender obtain it for our file B)did not take any form of responsibility for delaying our (and our seller's, and her seller's) closing dates on their new homes. She even went so far as to state that she didn't "really feel like this is anybody's fault". After jumping through hoop after hoop to get Heartland everything they needed on a timely basis to get into our new home on time (and live up to our end of our real estate contract), we were given less than 16 hours notice that we wouldn't be able to close on time. This was solely due to fault of the lender, but they refused to acknowledge any responsibility for it. We eventually closed on Thursday 9/2, but incurred additional expenses due to the lender's screw-up as the new closing date necessitated a power of attorney form being drafted and filed with our loan because my husband had been long-scheduled to be out of town on 9/2, as well as our seller incurring additional storage and lodging expenses and my paying for two days of insurance and utilities on a house that was empty and didn't legally own (although the loan commitment that we received the week prior, and before I turned on utilities at the new house stated that we would close on 8/31). We will never do any kind of business with Heartland Bank again.