Why is my refinance taking so long?

We started the refi process back in March and still have not got our refi. So it is going on 150 days! When we received escrow papers about two months ago, it said an escrow account was required. We specifically told our mortgage consultant we did not want an escrow account since we don't have one currently. I have tried to contact him but so far he has not called me. So I am wondering if an escrow account is required by Wells Fargo? My mortgage payment doesn't adjust until next year so do you suggest I go elsewhere? (Wells Fargo holds our loan)

Hi dblou,

As far as I know, if the mortgage company has asked for an escrow account, then you will have to go for it. Moreover, an escrow account will help you to pay obligations such as property taxes and insurance premiums. Thus, you would be able to pay them off from this account. As far as refinancing with other lenders are concerned, that would be your discretion.

Thanks

most lenders will require that an escrow account be set up for taxes and insurance. part of that depends on the loan to value ratio, and there are many circumstances in which you can ask to have that requirement waived; but it typically will cost you .25 point for that privilege.

the key may be the loan to value; what is your loan balance and what is your appraised value?

that you don't have to do anything immediately is in your favor, perhaps. you can shop around and find another lender if you're adamantly opposed to the escrow account.

here is my experience with banks, 3 years ago they would give you $500,000 loan with $50,000 income, now with $ 500,000 income they give you tough time for $50,000 loan.
i have excellent credentials: income, credit score and excellent ltv. applied with boa for refinance in first week of may, with 60 days lock in. they extended twice for 15 days, third time they charged me 1/8% for 15 days extension. my closing happened on last day, it took total 105 days. what did i do different, religiously called my loan officer every morning for last 20 days ( he was very helpful ), last one week argued each and every objection with reviewer and underwriter. literally, i spend 6 hours a day either on phone or email or faxing them documentation to each objection. i had documented all my correspondence with name, date and time. for all those refinacing, if you go with big name bank they will kill you with back up for each line item. it becomes tougher for condo or coop who do not meet fannie mae guidelines. ( like % sold, % deliquent, less than 10% of budget reserve etc etc ).
good luck to you all.
ram

I have been waiting for a refinance since December 24. I have impeccable credit and still have 50% equity in our home. Chase/WaMu appears to be refinancing based upon urgency/need. But 7 months is ridiculous. I have lost over $600 because of their delays

Hi Steve,

It's really surprising that your lender is taking so much time to refinance your loan. In my opinion, you should contact your lender and confirm as to when he could refinance the loan for you.

Mr. Ackerly,
Thank you for your response. We still haven't heard from our lender, Wells Fargo regarding the impound acct on the MHA refi. Our loan to value is about 95%. House is worth between $230000 - $245000 and we owe $221300. We normally pay for property taxes with our income tax refund and my husbands quarterly profit sharing from his job which we save throughout the year. We are not able to come up with the money monthly (which is about $475 a mo) so that is why we don't want an impound acct.
Our current loan is a 7 year arm 4.625% which adjusts next June. It is tied to the one year treasury with a 2.75 margin. Since the one year treasury is low right now, our payment will probably be lower when it adjusts. But in the following years it has the potential of being higher as the one year treasury goes up again. So we have about a year and a half before we need to to anything.
The way I see it, if the impound acct. is required, then the refi is not an option. So should we forget the refi and leave our current loan as it is, or should we maybe consider a loan modification which could lower our payment a little and would include property taxes?

Hi dblou!

Welcome to forums!

I don't think you've defaulted your loan payments. A lender would give you a loan modification only if you've defaulted on your loan payments or if you're on the verge of default. You can inform your lender about the fact as to why you do not want an escrow account and check out if he is ready to negotiate with you.

Sussane

i'd suspect that a t-bill based variable rate mortgage isn't going to get modified any time soon - as you noted, rates are low and your new rate will also undoubtedly be lower at adjustment time. modifications are done for those with difficulty, and you don't express any such difficulty, as sussane also pointed out.

and i guess i'd agree that refinancing now is out of the question due to the escrow situation. with your ltv as high as it is, no lender using common sense is going to allow you to avoid the escrow account. mortgage insurance companies (assuming there's mi available on your loan) won't even consider considering insuring a loan that lacks an escrow for taxes in this environment (or undoubtedly well into the future as well).

Thank you very much. I had not considered that we probably would not qualify for a loan modification with a t-bill based loan. Actually, we are having some difficulty but no financial hardship at this time. We are able to pay our bills but nothing left over after that. Still, we are grateful we still have our home.
We will see what we can negotiate with our lender, otherwise we will let our current loan stand.
One other question: Do you think it is safe to say the one year treasury will be low not only when it adjusts next year but also the following year (June 2011)? If it stays under 3.00 then it might still be affordable for us (right now it's at about .49).
Thank you

Dblou,

If you look at the history of the 1 yr T bill you will that it is at one of its lowest points in history....noone can predict what will happen 6 months down the road nevermind in 2011.... And if property values continue to decline you may no longer be a canidate for a refinance.

Unless you have plans of selling the property, I would seriously consider converting over to a fixed rate. Remember if you close at the beginning of the month you willl skip the next two mortgage payments...you can use that money to build a reserve account to cover your escrows....just my 2 cents

My husband and I are refinancing with BOA and we started this process in April, now it's August and still nothing. No one will tell us anything and one loan officer told me in June that I was in underwriting. What is the real story, is this going to just never happen or what is the average wait now for refinancing?

Hi Kimbo,

It should not take so much time for the lender to refinance the property. In my opinion you should contact the lender and ask them to speed up the process so that you are able to refinance it asap.

We are so frustrated-we started our refinance in March. Paid for the appraisal and now here we are almost 6 months later with nothing being done. We continue to get the run around from everyone at Wells Fargo. We are doing an FHA and have some equity so we are taking some money out to pay off credit cards. Does anyone know if you can switch to a different lender midway through, or are all lenders experiencing the same delays? Our appraisal will expire in 15 days and no one will give us ANY answers. Does anyone have any advice that maybe worked for them?

Welcome Kori,

You should first contact Wells Fargo and request them to take swift actions in this regard. If you've equity in the property, then you can definitely speak to the other lenders and check out if they can help you with a refinance. Alternatively, you can also contact the lenders of this community and seek a no obligation free mortgage quote.This will help you know the rates and terms prevailing in the market.