Looking to refinance a mortgage? Expect lenders to put you on hold

Washington Post

WASHINGTON — Borrowers are rushing to refinance their mortgages at record low interest rates but face unexpected delays as swamped lenders struggle to cope with the surge at a time when layoffs have sharply cut staffing.

Bank of America, which started shedding 7,500 employees after its July merger with Countrywide, recently yanked 300 workers from its home-equity line department to help deal with refinancing requests, said Matt Vernon, the bank’s national sales executive.

Some borrowers have been told they would have to wait two weeks for a call back from their lenders, said Joy Siegel, a Bethesda, Md., real estate lawyer. “That’s incredible considering rates sometimes change on an hour-by-hour basis,” she said.

Given the jam, Wells Fargo no longer allows its loan officers to lock in rates for less than 90 days so there’s enough time to close the loans, said Bill Malkoun, branch manager at Prosperity Mortgage, a joint venture of Wells Fargo and Long & Foster.

Refinancing activity took off after Nov. 25, when the Federal Reserve announced it would buy mortgage-backed securities to help loosen consumer lending. Mortgage rates immediately plummeted well below 6 percent, breaking a psychological barrier. Refinance applications have soared each week since, though they tapered off around New Year’s.

Bank of America and other lenders said activity has rebounded to pre-holiday levels as rates have continued to drop. This week, a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.01 percent, down from 5.10 percent the previous week and 5.87 percent a year ago, according to a Freddie Mac survey released Thursday. That’s the lowest since the survey started in 1971. The Fed began buying mortgage-backed securities last week, which helped push rates down.

With all the refinancing buzz, Ron Gross of North Bethesda expected to snag a great rate when he called his lender, CitiMortgage. Instead, he got a recording informing him that due to heavy call volume, his call could not be answered.

Susan Cecala of Falls Church, Va., whose brother is an expert in mortgage finance, said she, too, could not break through the automated message systems or voice mails. She called two lenders and two mortgage brokers, who act as liaisons between lenders and borrowers. Finally, a friend referred her to a broker who helped her refinance into a money-saving deal.

Even more perplexing than the backlog, Cecala said, were the rates she saw on some lenders’ Web sites. They were far higher than she expected. “Why would they put such high rates on their Web sites if they’re trying to attract people?”

The short answer: Not all lenders are trying to lure customers, said Keith Gumbinger, a vice president at research firm HSH Associates. Guy Cecala, publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance, said some lenders also do not want to post the best rates because they don’t want to be bound by them.