Surety Financial

I just went through the most horrendous and embarrassing experience ever!
On 7÷14÷13, I was told «based on the financial information you provided, you can qualify to purchase $ 650k property with 20% down»
On 8÷19÷13, I was assured «based on the financial info… You qualify $ 750k property with 20% down»
On 8÷21÷13, A FEW HOURS BEFORE MY AGENT WAS TO SUBMIT AN OFFER: «sorry, you only qualify for $ 650k property with 25% down. You just need more income».
I doubt I need to write any further.

My escrow period was nothing short of hell on Earth.
I was a first-​time buyer, and had little to no knowledge of the loan process. I was very excited that my offer was accepted on the perfect little place for my family, it was a great starter place for us, and I had hoped to walk away from the process with enough understanding of the process to make our next purchase less frightening. I can honestly say that I learned more from my Google-​fu skills than from anyone at Surety Financial. I had a very difficult time understanding my loan officer (slight accent + fast speaker = I’m sorry, what was that?). It would be so frustrating at times that I would call my agent to try to get a better understanding. My loan officer would then call to SCOLD me, stating that all loan questions need to be addressed by HIM, and not my agent. He would ask for the same papers over and over again. He would never answer my questions sufficiently. I would ask why he needed a particular document or statement (just trying to understand the process!) and his answer would be something along the lines of, «I need to give it to the underwriter.» Well… DUH! Obviously you want to put it in my file for underwriting, but WHY??? What is the importance of a letter from an elderly family member, stating that the buyer currently lives rent-​free at her residence?
It gets worse. My officer had an assistant. I’m not sure how much education is required to become an assistant to a loan officer, but I’m 100% certain that the bar needs to be raised. Any time more docs were required, she waited until 8pm on a Friday to email me, so when I had questions, I had to wait all weekend before I could get answers. If I would send her an email with several questions, she would respond with the answer to only one, leaving me to follow up for answers to the remaining inquiries. And sometimes, her emails made NO SENSE AT ALL. I sent an email, asking if I had supplied her with sufficient documentation, and this is the response I received:
«It’s your call in delaying the process of your loan. I am trying to get the documents need but you keep asking question which is fine but it will take longer to submit it to underwriting and O’clock is clicking. Please provide what I ask for.»
…I don’t think I need to say anything more on that subject.
Finally, we had to go down to the county recording office the day our escrow was supposed to close, because she did not contact us until after the wire deadline to inform us that she needed a paper trail of the wired funds.
To sum things up, anyone hoping to learn something about real estate should stay the hell away from Surety Financial. They are probably fine if you are a seasoned buyer or someone who doesn’t have a whole lot of questions… we did receive funding and are living in our new home. According to our loan officer’s assistant,
«It seen a long way to go but we should be closing on time. ‘THAT IS ARE GOAL’»

I have referred Joseph Lee with confidence for years. He has always been honest and straight forward. If he says he can do the deal, he can. He always goes the extra mile and I’ll continue to refer him.

Simply the BEST! Joseph Lee @ Surety Financial has been our Loan Representative for over 8 years. Superior Service, Great Rates, HONEST, Responsive to emails, calls and texts. I too personally use Joseph Lee and he is Simply the BEST!

I have worked with Joseph Lee for approx 8 years now and I would confidently say he EXCEEDS my expectations in the following areas, Job Knowledge & Results Dependability, Communication Effectiveness, Team & Collaboration, and Personal Accountability to name a few. This guy is great, I would NEVER use another Loan Officer, He does everything he possibly can to give my/​our clients the best customer service experience possible. Thank you Joe for always going above and beyond to get the job done!!!

Surety Financial and Joseph Lee always come through for me and my clients. My transactions close on time and the clients never have any unpleasant surprises. When I want the job done right, I know where to go.