OneWest Bank

Many many fees, low interest rates, difficult to reach live customer service. Have been with since 2016 (now 2021) but no record of my history of banking with them.

I am doing banking with One West Bank almost 8 years and and my experience turned terrible and horrendous since I started going to their branch located in Vermont and 4th street, mid Los Angeles. It's seemed to be turn into very unprofessional, racist, and bigotry promoting bank.

First, they gave $200 from my account to someone else which they even not aware of until I went to bank and ask for manager. Someone named Brenda introduced me as manager and start treating me so poorly that it seemed my mistake that I came with a complain. After, fixing that she even not bothered to tell me sorry or anything. I didn't make a big fuss about it and still continued to business with them due it's close proximity from where I live.

Second time, when I bought my cousin to open an account. Again, Brenda, who told me I need to make an appointment with her in order to open an account. It was Feb 05, 2020 around 2.46 p.m. I called bank and made an appointment for Saturday at 9 a.m. with Brenda. On Saturday, l showed up with my cousin in bank. When I saw her I greeted "Good morning" and she completely ignore me and sat down to her chair without even bother us to request to sit. My cousin and myself both look each other and decided to sit by ourselves. We sat there for almost 40 mins when she was doing her work hoping some point she'll be kind enough to help us out. After that, I told her that I made an appointment at 9 a.m. and it's almost 9.40 a.m., what's happening? She simply told that she didn't see any appointment. I told I did and she simply react as if I am lying. I got very disappointed. I mentioned that to her and also remind her about how poorly she handled the last transaction related mistake. She simply throw the ID card given to her by my cousin and denied to open an account for my cousin even though he is a us citizen. She asked me why am I not going somewhere else if I am not happy with their service. She even handed me a account closing form and insisted to close my account as well.

Her attitude was so bad that anyone can tell that she has prejudice against people of color. She treated us like shit due to our ethnicity, and poor socio economic background. Brenda is a racist demagogue who deserve a place somewhere else.

LOSERS. Wendell. Shanice. Salvatore. Jennifer. I chose this bank for an escrow closing last spring. I opened my account with a $200,000 deposit and they were suspicious of me from the beginning. Yes folks, women are successful and have their money these days. It is 2019. After 7 months of almost laughable exchanges they closed my account without any explanation. I will go to a real bank from now on.

Beware! Beware! Do not get involved with this horrible institution. they are happy to take your money- but just try getting it back. I had a CD with them that they gave me 7 calendar days to change (included a weekend and holiday). I contacted them on the 2nd day to not roll it over. They refused to not roll it over. So I am trying to transfer it to a different bank. This is day 6 and still trying to get it released. They are really terrible to deal with. I live out of state, which makes it even worse.

Checking bankrate I saw that One West had the best rates so I started the preapproval process. It was lengthy, which is fine to make sure everything is covered prior to escrow, but even after I submitted all letters of explanation and docs the review process still took weeks due to their back log. Once the appraisal came back they released they were unable to loan on the property because even though it's main use was residential, the zoning was ag-40(10 acre lot). When I asked them to sign an appraisal release to avoid ordering another, they wouldn't. So even though I presented them with the address prior to beginning the preapproval process, they couldn't check zoning to save the wasted time and money. Also, they don't state on their website that they don't lend on ag zoned properties.

I don’t usually bother with writing reviews, but my recent participation in dealings with OneWest bank has been such a horror show that I feel obligated to do so.

So a guy is a 25 year customer of his friendly local neighborhood bank and tries to get a cash out refinance with an eye towards some remodeling. The bank calls up a loan officer from Pasadena and everything starts out ok. After personally handing most requisite paperwork to the loan officer, it is then required to re-upload these documents to their web system (by far not the best I’ve seen, by the way) and at this point the loan has been passed on to a processor and the loan officer goes incommunicado for a week — having failed to pass on the correct phone number for the appraiser to get in touch with the customer.

After much delay, the appraisal was finally done. (In the meantime of course there was an error on the 4506-T form.) Then — presumably instigated by the underwriter — they start prying into everything from divorce agreement to bank deposit statements to rental lease, repeatedly requesting letters and explanations for purpose of loan and intent to occupy; all the while the loan officer appears to be under the impression everything would be fine. The underwriter turns down the loan on closing day, having worked extremely hard to come to the conclusion that the property under consideration must have been unoccupied for 2 years (false) and that the applicant must have intention of continuing to reside in his current apartment and rent out the house.

In addition to everything else, the entire mess was designed to stretch out over 6 weeks (that’s not counting a couple more weeks of “escalation” to try to overturn the underwriter) when the national average for getting a mortgage is 3. Maybe all of this can be considered very funny, but it cannot bode well for an organization to have employees so dedicated to antagonizing the customer. I thought that even with all the mishaps, at the end of the day a bank advertising mortgages at least wants business — I was wrong. On the subject of funny, the bank loses a mortgage deal and a customer, the customer loses much time and money, but somebody did make a small profit from all of this: the appraiser.

Do not ever, EveR, EVER do business with this bank. Especially when it comes to the procurement of a mortgage.

I first moved into this neighborhood over 25 years ago and have done business with this bank (back to the days of First Federal) the whole time. I moved out of my house in 2010 leaving behind the wife and children whom I supported. I have been waiting for the day I can move back into the Beloved House. Especially, the last 4 years, I have been living in this Godforsaken Apartment in the godforsaken neighborhood of NeverMind.

Anyway, I can now move back to the home neighborhood. I reestablish friendly, personal (non—electronic) relations with my friendly, personal neighborhood bank. (Now OneWest or, not even, CIT. I will refer to it as OneWest since that’s what the sign says.) It was suggested that since there was considerable damage done to Beloved House in the interim and since I had over two months lease left on the Godforsaken Apartment that I do some serious remodeling. So why not do a remortgage with OneWest with a substantial cash out. Good idea.

Talked with a contractor, everything ready to go. Meanwhile, back at the bank: Dawdle, dawdle, dawdle. E.g., they acquired from their own records a phone number which was not in use and had the appraiser calling and calling this number for over a week. Papers, documents and forms got sent, resent and re—resent. Dawdle, dawdle, dawdle. Then, just when I was about to contact some shake—’n—bake loan organization for an alternative mortgage plan, OneWest comes through. I have been pre-approved and will certainly get this loan. Construction starts. The bank? Dawdle, dawdle, dawdle. And some prying into intimate details of my unremarkable, boring finances (to which they had full access since, after all, I did all my banking at OneWest) not to mention various aspects of my personal life. Finally after 6—7 weeks, it is time to sign. BTW, Shake—’n—bake loans take about 3 weeks, other banks 3—5.

On the day I was supposed to sign, I get an e—mail from the loan officer that the loan has been rejected. Why? Because the underwriter, in all of her wisdom has concluded that I did NOT want to move back into Beloved House after all. Indeed, it was concluded that what I DID want to do was to fix up the house for a rental and, … , continue to reside in the Godforsaken Apartment.

Then a careful calculation of (my rent)+(my new mortgage payment)+(my known expenses) allows them to conclude that I would be coming up short about $800/month to qualify for this loan. (I.e., having this loan AND continuing to pay rent would cost me $800/month more than my current expenses.) Hey, if I had intended to rent the house, which I had not, what about the 4—10 thousand per month that I would have been making in rental income. If I had wanted to rent the Beloved House. Which I did not.

But, no fear, the good folks at OneWest are going to escalate — overturn the judgement of the underwriter. Dawdle, dawdle, dawdle. Several weeks later, this has gone to highest regional office of OneWest — who agree that I should get this loan — but, unfortunately, a committee of regional underwriters has upheld the decision of the original underwriter. No loan.

This has put me in an impossible position with the contractor (and has put the contractor in an impossible position with himself). Now any sort of loan is very difficult to acquire. And not cheap either. Details will be omitted. Bottom line: I have been agonizing and scrapping with the full spectrum of loan granting institutions and have acquired a very expensive loan. Remodeling will recommence. Aside from months of my time, all this has cost me tens of thousands of dollars. Several tens. And, for the time being: Still stuck in the Godforsaken Apartment.

Need a mortgage? Try the Shake—’n—bake organizations or, maybe, try a respectable bank that actually wants to transact business. Anything but OneWest Bank.

In order to determine or negotiate an IRA CD they require you to come into the bank. Unfair to those living in areas other than the home bank. Very difficult to work with.
Rediculus that I have to have minima 200 words to write a review. Another stupid requirement.