Nick Fields
Detroit, MI
NMLS 28024
Triple Crown Banker
Steven Freer
This is a review of my Rocket Mortgage experience in general, and not of Nick Fields specifically. As background, I took out a mortgage with Rocket a few years back as a bridge loan and it went perfectly smoothly, so that is why I came back to them when I needed some transitional capital again. The only difference now is that I am retired. My initial contact with Nick was straightforward. I gave the preliminaries, and he was very positive about the prospects for a smooth and easy approval. The L/V on the property is about 0.25; my credit score is >800; I have an abundance of assets with Schwab, more than enough to cover the loan; I documented extensive liquid assets in other accounts with which to secure the loan; and I have very little debt. I provided everything he required for his review, statements of assets, mortgage, taxes, etc., and it seemed to be on track. This was encouraging since I had a relatively short time window in which to close this loan. Then it went to the underwriters, and that's where the trouble starts. I understand the need for underwriters to do their due diligence. But Instead of an organized checklist of all additional required documents, I endured a relentless litany of requests, every few days, for other additional documentation: old year-end balance statements for accounts that had been closed; numerous additional monthly statements of accounts previously rolled over into IRAs (presumably to document the provenance of these funds?); a strange demand for confirmation of the HUD certification of a decommissioned mobile home on the property (and NOT the house against which the mortgage is sought); a strange claim that the property was "too large for the Schwab mortgage rules" despite the fact that the very same property collateralized an almost identical loan just 2 years ago; and the final indignity being an expectation that I run down a mortgagee error on the property insurance disclosure page, despite having paid for a title search that confirmed there are no liens on the property. All this was in a "drip-drip-drip" fashion that threatened the timing of the transaction and risked costing us the house we were purchasing. In the end, the loan came through, and I'm grateful for that, but the entire experience was so frustrating that, despite my 35+ year relationship with Schwab, I am considering moving all my assets to a different brokerage firm, one that seems to have a higher standard of commitment to customer service. I don't really blame Nick for all this, I'm sure he did what he could, but Rocket - and by its association, Schwab - has lost my confidence after all this. This should have been one of the easiest loans they've underwritten, - a repeat customer, on the same property they financed just 2 years ago, for a longstanding client with several millions in liquid assets, so It's been pretty discouraging.Read MoreRead Less
