HSBC uses unrealistic picture to break customers down
AJ in Pennsylvania said: “As a former employee of HFC/Beneficial I can say yes… Yes to all of the stories that have been posted. Now, does that mean that the consumer is always right in every complaint that is posted??? No, but I can say that after living it for four years that the pattern of behavior ie; poor customer service, bait and switch tactics, and disconnects in every form of communication possible is true.
And to be honest HFC treats it’s customers just like it’s employees. The culture fostered is one of manipulation and lies. Now, people can say I am a bitter former employee etc,etc,etc. However, I left I was not fired. You can only see so many homes foreclosed on, so many customers treated as if they don’t matter, and so many bad loans forced down the throats of the consumer packed with fees and points that won’t be paid down for years. In the late 90’s early 00’s the company, as documented in this website paid a huge lawsuit pending from predatory lending paractices. Those same people that were regular loan officers then are now your executives… Draw your own conclusions.
The behavior of painting an unrealistic picture and “breaking the customer down” which was actually a saying used by a district manager to weaken a customer to the point that they would say yes during a sales presentation is legitimate. A selling tactic that is used by the company is a full service sell. They tell the customers that after they close the loan and they have any questions immediately or in the future come into the branch. The outcome is usually that the customer has to call customer service, a department that is a nightmare for the employee to deal with and even worse for the customer.
The fallout from the sub prime mortgage business has taken it’s toll on HFC / HSBC and deservingly so. No one truly knows what the outcome will be, but hopefully the customers will realize some type of retribution.”
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As a former employee who left, also, this article is right on. I had enough of seeing customers being deceived and treated like dirt. The turn over in my office was ridiculous. Each new manager was more ruthless than the previous and their eyes were on the bottom line…what there bonus would be and would not let anything stand in the way. Ethics were thrown out the window. Their wallets were their priority and they were encouraged by their district managers to foster this mindset.
If you cared and wanted to help the customer or pointed out something that was non-compliant, you were the one who was harrassed. One day after another non compliant loan was allowed to go through, I walked out and the last words I said to my manager were “I am out of this hellhole.”
I am currently am AMT at HFC and have been with the company for 1 year. While some(well most) of the stories here are true their is some false claims. I try and inform customers as much as possible about the loan and their options. I have a degree in finance and their have been numerous times where I have had to litterally sit down and word for word explain to a customer about how their ARM loan works. I always tell anyone who I work with that if they have any questions about anything financially to call me even if they don’t take my loan. for me I try and educated customers about personal finance as much as possible. When someone asks me if the rate is high i reply “yes it is somewhat high.if you have a good enough FICO to get a better deal somewhere else then by all means explore your options. any savy consumer should shop around.” now it is well known that we don’t deal with prime customers so that is not always an option. I always explain to people what a secured and unsecured loan is. I have NEVER lied or decieved anyone and have actually lost business by teaching my customers too much. Do i care? not really i live at home and get paid a good hourly wage so no it doesn’t at all bother me if someone gets a better deal elsewhere. thats a part of doing business. It disgusts me to see what some of my coworkers do however I take pride in what I do and I actually have made numerous friends from people who didn’t even take our loan. I always encourage people to make additional principal payments on their mortgage so to pay it off quicker. i explain and teach them how an amortizaion schedule works. it is sad to see how many people have np clue about simple finance.
HFC put me on a 10 percent hardship and it was like pulling teeth to get it, even with all documentation. HFC also received a cease and desist order from the SEC for rolling over $1 billion in bad loans every month, while piling on interest on the back end of the loans. While second mortgages go bad they have a subordinated position. HFC loans also have 30 year amortization on an 10 year repayment schedule. Some of you are dreaming if you think all offices are good. What happened in Bellingham and why does HSBC work so hard to keep the court records sealed?
Article from the LA Times….keep in mind ACORN is an activist group
Big commercial banks with sub-prime operations generally get higher marks. London-based HSBC Holdings has been reaching out to borrowers well before their loans adjust to determine whether they are under stress, said Bruce Dorpalen, director of housing counseling for ACORN, the Assn. of Community Organizations for Reform Now.
Dorpalen praised an HSBC program that resets interest rates by calculating how much money borrowers need to buy food, clothing and other basics and then seeing what income remains to pay the mortgage. On a few occasions, he said, HSBC has cut the interest to 0% — which Tom Detelich, who oversees HSBC North America’s consumer lending, said was possible because the company didn’t sell the loans it serviced.
Other housing advocates said HSBC’s workout program usually resulted in only short-term modifications. “It is not our experience that HSBC is better or more flexible than other lenders,” said Matthew Lee, executive director of Fair Finance Watch in New York.
Countrywide Financial — which generally has sold its loans while handling bill collection for a fee — has a reputation for being inflexible, advocacy groups said, “although there are signs that’s starting to change,” Dorpalen said. Working with loan servicers to reach troubled borrowers has become “much easier than it was just six months ago,” said Tracy Morgan, spokeswoman for the Homeownership Preservation Foundation, which has counseling agreements with 37 lenders.
Also, the SEC information along with the Bellingham branch was from 2002. You are lucky HSBC didnt go by 2002 policies, otherwise you would not have gotten a hardship.
Lets stick to a 12 month timeline.