Third Federal Savings & Loan

My Experience with Third Federal
Recently I refinanced my home through Third Federal. The experience which I had with them was most satisfying in all respects. First of all the two contacts with whom I dealt with in its Fort Lauderdale office were out and out professionals, patient and always willing to help. Second, there was a problem with my refinancing because of a lien which was put on my property in 2007 and was never removed. Even I was not aware of it. Not only they painstakingly waited till its removal, but they did the paper work and everything on my behalf. Third, the paper work and communication was superb, it took me only 30 minutes at their Fort Lauderdale office to finish the closing and last but not the least at no time there was any bait and switch. Whatever they promised they adhered to throughout. I will personally contact them first for any other mortgage related problem whether refinancing, buying a new property, home loan, equity credit line or whatever. Just an out and out beautiful experience.
AJP, Miami

Late last February 2015 my wife and I thought it would be the right time to refinance our 2^nd mortgage currently @ 5.47% to Third Federal’s 3.25 APR. Since our home had appreciated in value over the last 5 years, there was no doubt the equity was there, in fact it was right about 60 – 40 LTV and 80 – 20 was the minimum for our line. The online process was intuitive with mostly email exchanges for uploading documents, very few phone conversations however… the length of time between each phase of the process seemed to drag on for too long — 5 weeks to be exact just to be told we were declined. The last two documents we received from Third Federal was the rejection letter and copy of the «drive by» appraisal. It came in at only 384,000, my bank has it at 560,000 and zillow (a bit high) 627,000.
With perfect credit, FICO scores in the 830 – 840 range, credit cards paid in full each month, no car payments, sufficient income, 30,000 in my checking-​savings, a 6 digit balance in our 401k etc., etc… their reason was insufficient income for the amount of equity requested. So what did we wind up doing? It just so happened we received an offer the next day from Bank of America on our rental home. It was to ask us if we wanted them to reinstate our equity line — which was locked back in 2010 when values were down or upside down and banks were getting hit hard. After contacting them with a «yes» they called us back within 48 hours with the loan reinstated and @ 3.49 APR.

I have had a mortgage with Third Federal for almost two years now. In addition to having a fantastic rate and no PMI at 15% LTV rather than the typical 20%, I had a really positive experience with them during the approval process. I had originally applied for a 15-​year fixed loan, but due to the fact that I was buying a temporary «starter home», I later decided to change it to a ⁵⁄₁ ARM (since I’d likely be selling not too long after the rate adjusts). I was stupid and didn’t make this decision this until a week or so before closing, and they were able to get my modification request through underwriting the very next day, so closing didn’t have to be delayed and the sellers stayed happy.

This bank makes it extremely difficult to pay off your balances. They don’t accept payments online. They make it difficult to pay by phone (you have to talk to 5 – 6 people to do it). They make it difficult to close your account. The people on the phone are friendly, they just aren’t able to help you easily.

Really, really bad. Applied for a small home equity loan, and spent the next three months submitting and re-​submitting the paperwork. They never contacted me to give me a status. I always had to initiate the inquiries. When the notary arrived with the papers to be signed, the numbers were incorrect. The rep we were working with was no help and just gave me a number to call that no one answered. She called 3 weeks later and had no notes or recollection of our previous conversations. I would never work with this institution again! I’m terrified that they have all my personal information.

I would not do business with Third Federal. They do business unethically and are anti-​customer. 0 stars if there was an option.
I was approved for a loan and started drawing on it and relying on it. All payments were made on time in auto-​enrollment. But Third Federal ended up pulling away my loan right from underneath me without any forewarning!
During the loan process a representative lied to me about the terms of the loan and three months later the loan is gone!
Take a look at the reviews of this place. All negative. I wish I would have looked before calling. Oh well.
Stay away.

This «Sunny» bank has the most rules, regulation and policies that are anti-​consumer than all other banks I’ve encountered combined. I always laugh when people want to leave 0 stars but this time I want to leave 0 stars.
«Hi, thanks for calling Third Federal, how can I brighten up your sunny day?» — kiss my ass, that’s how.
Hey, TF, how about sending me a letter saying I paid off my loan? You’ve had a month. How about changing my mailing address without bringing a notary into play? My loan is paid off and my account is closed — assholes — I moved, thus the new address.
World’s crappiest bank — I feel sorry for anybody who has to say that «Sunny Day» bullshit when they answer the phone.
I never missed or made a late payment and these assholes saw fit to freeze my equity line of credit rendering it useless. When I asked them why, they said it was due to «external factors.» WTF does that mean? I paid you on time — period — end.
I’m so happy to be done with this shitty bank in BF Ohio. Low interest rates don’t mean shit if you can’t get to your equity.

Called in to inquire about an a mailer sent to my home about a HELOC. The lady I spoke with was incompetent and steered around answering my question. My level of knowledge is very high in this area and she tried talking to me as though I can be easily steered away from asking technical questions and to think she knows what she’s talking about. Nice try, but it didn’t work. She also kept huffing and puffing which was very rude. I asked to speak to a supervisor and apparently they don’t have one.

Never apply for a loan with this Savings and Loan. They look for ways to deny your loan. They used 3 homes outside my area to appraise my house at a lower value. They completely ignored homes that sold a month ago in my neighborhood, blocks from my house… one of the homes was the exact same house as mine. All these homes would have valued my home correctly. They are dishonest and incompetent. Be very careful if you use this Savings and Loan… they are looking for ways to deny you.

I was excited but skeptical when I received an offer of $ 295 with no points or closing costs to refinance my mortgage with Third Federal S & L. I reasoned that I might as well begin the process because I wouldn’t have to commit until after inspecting my Good Faith Estimate (GFE) and the definitive HUD-​1 (the former lays out the projected terms of the loan, and the latter spells out the final, binding terms). Even knowing that I could back away from the loan at any point, I wondered about the $ 295 closing cost (due at closing, not before) since I’ve paid around 4−6K in the past for refinancing. I was also wondering whether the 2.89% (2.92% APR) could be true or was just a ruse to entice customers. I was even concerned that I might not be able to speak to my loan officer or bank representative during the application process. A review I read online suggested this might be the case. I’m writing this review because I almost backed out of going through with this loan after reading a number of negative reviews.
Here’s what I experienced at Third Federal Savings & Loan:
— I filed all my loan paperwork and submitted all my documents through a secure website. That was a straightforward and uncomplicated process. Once my loan application was received by the loan officer assigned to me, all my email correspondence went through a secure email system that allowed me to send documents with complete ease and peace of mind.
— Third Federal paid for all required documentation from the credit check through the appraisal and title work. I received a free copy of the appraisal, credit check and my credit score.
— Every time I called I was able to speak to someone who was either highly familiar with my file or who could answer a quick question for me. My loan officer, Ms. Angela Jacobs (Internet Loans), was wonderful to work with: she answered all my questions and called me back promptly whenever I left a message for her. I firmly believe that if your credit is solid and your financial situation looks good to them, the process will go smoothly. I am a «squeaky wheel» kind of customer. Not extremely compulsive, I do stay on top of all details; no one at the Third Federal office ever made me feel like I was bothering them with my calls. The extra effort paid off. One mistake occurred (on their part), but it was a small human error that was rectified quickly and did not stall the process.
— When my loan was approved and I received the HUD-​1 statement, it was just as I had been shown in the Good Faith Estimate (GFE) with the exception that Third Federal was going to establish an escrow account for my taxes and fund it directly through my bank account along with the principal and interest (they don’t get into the business of escrowing for hazard insurance.) I learned from the Title company that Third Federal establishes an escrow account for taxes when a borrower’s appraisal falls below a certain threshold relative to the size of the loan. Fair enough. This was the only mild surprise in the entire process. And this happened because my house did not appraise as high as I thought it would when I applied for the loan.
— The Title company that handled the final phase of closing was excellent (Optima Lending), and once again, every detail was explained to me right up to the signing of the papers. They sent a gentleman to my house to do the closing, and he reviewed every detail for me and answered all my questions. That part of the process took just one hour.
****
Four years ago, I refinanced with the Very Big Bank that’s been in the news. At that time, I thought 4% was a great rate even with pretty hefty closing costs. What bothered me immensely about that other institution is that they didn’t treat me well at all. I felt hassled and beleaguered right up until the loan was approved. Quite the opposite occurred on this, my final refinancing for this house.
My closing costs for this loan really and truly amounted to $ 295*. I have refinanced my home three times since 2001, and I now have the best terms I’ve ever had: 2.89% (APR 2.92%) for 10 years. I should add that the entire process took less than 10 weeks despite the fact that I do not live in Ohio where Third Federal is headquartered. In recent years they have expanded their mortgage loan program to other states, including mine.
I hope that if you’re reading this review it will balance some of the negative comments that others have made. I feel very fortunate to have taken the plunge with Third Federal despite my initial skepticism at the «Too good to be true» terms that they offer. *One final note: today, I received a $ 100 Home Depot card as a gift for refinancing with them. That means my refinancing fee was effectively $ 195! I took the time to write this review because I am pleased to pass on what I hope is helpful information to other people who might be on the fence about Third

Never get a mortgage from this Bank! They do not sell loans to Fannie Mae or Freddy Mac (aka the Government) This means you are not allowed to participate in HARP-​Home Affordable Refinance Program. So if the housing market crashes again or values of your home fall, you will not be able to refinance! IF another Lender is close in rate, do yourself a favor and go with them.
For a so called local bank, these guys are even more crooked than the Big Banks!
You’ve been warned and DONT EVER GET A MORTGAGE FROM THIRD FEDERAL! YOU WILL REGRET IT!!!

I’ve been loyal to Third Federal Savings since I got my first job at 15 shelving library books and needed to start a savings account.
I’m a loyal customer because they have high interest rates and minimal fees. When I say minimal, I mean almost none. When I first started my account as a teenager I didn’t have to worry about minimum balance and I still don’t.
The service is friendly and the locations are convenient There is a branch in most cities in Northeast Ohio. I’ve worked with them on little stuff like starting an account to big stuff like refinancing our house and they were patient and incredibly helpful.
The newer building don’t have drive throughs but they do have at least 6 teller windows open every day. I’m a little old fashioned when it comes to my money. I still go into the bank to get money and cash checks. It works for me.
I recommend Third Federal to anyone looking for good service from a responsible bank without a bunch of silly fees.