Guaranteed Rate is one of the largest retail mortgage lenders in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the Company has approximately 210 offices across the U.S. and Washington, D.C., and is licensed in all 50 states. Since its founding in 2000, Guaranteed Rate has helped hundreds of thousands of homeowners with home purchase loans and refinances and funded nearly $19 billion in loans in 2017 alone. The Company has become the Home Purchase Experts® by introducing the world's first Digital Mortgage technology and offering low rate, low fee mortgages through an easy-to-understand process and unparalleled customer service. Guaranteed Rate won an American Business Award for its Digital Mortgage technology in 2016, ranked No. 1 in Scotsman Guide's Top Mortgage Lenders 2016, was chosen as Top Lender 2016 and 2017 by Chicago Agent magazine, made the Chicago Tribune's Top Workplaces list seven of the past eight years, and was named Best Overall Online Lender and Best Lender for FHA Refinance by NerdWallet in 2018.
A loan experience full of false information and miscommunication
This is a warning for anyone thinking of using Guaranteed Rate or Guaranteed Rate Affinity for their next home purchase. Our experience with Guaranteed Rate Affinity and Scott B. Rosenberg (Loan Officer) was horrendous. Dealing with our loan officer was like dealing with a used car salesman and he was quite unscrupulous. He was not a trustworthy lender. We were misguided and provided with misinformation multiple times throughout the loan process. First there is the interest rate. Our loan officer initially provided a great rate for our pre-approval. Then once we found a home, that rate went up but as expected since interest rates slightly increased. He made it very clear to us that if rates went back down we could always renegotiate the rate around closing. Then as the closing date started to come closer and interest rates dipped considerably, I requested that we renegotiate. Scott's team was VERY slow to respond and he was constantly "working" on it. He then got back to us at the 11th hour only to tell us that he was not changing the rate and at this point we were too close to the closing to do anything about it. He purposely dragged his feet until it was too late. I have an 800 credit score and I was receiving quotes from other lenders half a point less than what Scott was offering. This will end up costing me thousands throughout the life of my loan. Then there is the discrepancy with closing costs. Two days to closing we were provided with the Closing Disclosure. Although we weren't happy with our rate there was nothing we could do at this point. I just wanted this nightmare to end but it unfortunately continued. The night before the closing we were provided with the final closing costs to only find that we needed to pay several thousands more than what was initially disclosed on the CD. This included large discrepancies with the Title Fees, County Taxes (forgot to include), prepaid interests and initial escrow. All which were available to Scott and his team when he sent the CD two days prior. Scott did apologize and mentioned that he did a poor job reviewing the CD and didn't notice the discrepancies. If this was the only hiccup, maybe I could understand but it wasn't. I have to say I am extremely upset with the poor communication from Guaranteed Rate, Scott and his team throughout the process. I will never be using him or Guaranteed Rate again in the future and others should think twice before you do as well.
Andrew from Nesconset, NY
Reviewed in August 2021
Closed with Lender:
Yes
Loan Type:
Home Purchase
Review Type:
Lender Review
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(1 of 5)stars
It Was Great The First Time
I refinanced my house with Guaranteed Rate about six months ago. I'm a veteran and I would like to take advantage of the lower rates. If you have a V.A. Loan and you can get 3/4's of a point lower, you can re-finance with out any fees. I would like to try and do that. However, I have reached out to Julie Robinson VP of Premier Customer Appreciation Program over and over until I'm blue in the face. This review is about her only. For whatever reason she could care less if I re-finance with them or not. Or she doesn't check her texts or messages ever. Either way, I will be calling someone else tomorrow.
Travis from Littleton, CO
Reviewed in January 2021
Closed with Lender:
Yes
Loan Type:
Refinance
Review Type:
Lender Review
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(1 of 5)stars
did not honor rate lock floatdown, very unprofessional
One feature that made me choose Guaranteed Rate was the ability to lock a rate and then re-lock it once without a fee when interest rates go down. When I asked my loan contact, Thomas K, about if I was able to do that, his response was incredibly unprofessional: I had clarified to him that I wanted to make sure he took into account the points I bought, my credit history and down payment when calculating the potential lower rate. I included those details because I wanted to be sure we were on the same page, because he had made a fairly serious mistake previously when I asked about a relock, comparing my loan with a completely different type of loan. He assumed I had a 30 year FHA, when I actually had a 15 year conventional. (I did not tell him this was my reason for including those details. ) He responded with petty insinuations that I should be happy with the rate I got, and that Guaranteed Rate even took my business at all, and that his credentials make him above question. And that they got me the close date I wanted. In short, he did not address my inquiry at all, just pushed back with passive aggressive weirdness. Thomas K did not even begin the process of looking into whether I would qualify for a lower rate or not. (And if I didn't qualify I was fine with that, I just wanted to know either way.) He took my inquiry personally and all I got was a terse attitude. His teammate Jeremy S was just as bad-- it was like they took my benign inquiry (about a feature that GR offers its clients) as some kind of affront, and tried to make me feel like I was being some ungrateful cheapskate. All for doing something that ANYONE would do: take them up on their OFFER to lower their rate when applicable.
Thank you for sharing your experience with us. Guaranteed Rate strives to give our customers the best customer service as possible, but we did not fulfill our standards with you. We would appreciate if you can reach out to our Customer Success department so we can appropriately follow up with your loan officer and his team. Our contact information is available on the Guaranteed Rate website. Thank you once again for sharing.
julie from Minneapolis, MN
Reviewed in June 2020
Closed with Lender:
Yes
Loan Type:
Home Purchase
Review Type:
Lender Review
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(1 of 5)stars
Wished is would have been better.
Although COVID 19 did have some impact on our process, we were told that the underwriters were concerned about our loan to debt ratio. The final conclusion was to pay off a student loan (which was actually being paid for by a grant), and put less down on the house. The net effect was to decrease the ratio, but to actually increase the monthly burden to us (increasing the monthly payment by nearly $200 and adding PMI which would not have been there). The closing date was also pushed back by 3 weeks. If it would not have been so difficult, we would have dropped Guaranteed and gone with another lender - however, given the particulars of the time, we could not. We also ended up paying for points when other lenders would not have changed it. For all these reasons we regret going with Guaranteed Rate and cannot/will not recommend them to anyone.
Thank you for sending us your feedback; we sincerely appreciate it. We would like to hear more about your experience so that Guaranteed Rate can improve for the future. Please contact our Customer Success department when you’re able so we can get more information!
James from Minneapolis, MN
Reviewed in May 2020
Closed with Lender:
Yes
Loan Type:
Home Purchase
Review Type:
Lender Review
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(1 of 5)stars
Worst experience ever
Won’t recommend this company to anyone. Our lender failed to close on our home multiple times and called on the day of the anticipated closing day and told us he “forgot” to send us mandatory documents. I can’t stress enough on how Guraunteed Rates is not able to be sure their employees are on track, instead they provide with the worst customer service and experience. If you choose Guraunteed Rates, be prepared to get a call telling you you will be homeless for at least two weeks until you close on your home. It was a miserable path to take with Guraunteed Rates.
Lina from Gilbert, AZ
Reviewed in January 2020
Closed with Lender:
Yes
Loan Type:
Home Purchase
Review Type:
Lender Review
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(1 of 5)stars
Do not entrust Kristine with this stressful yet joyous task in your life
We were put in contact with Kristine Bestler at Guaranteed Rate. I would not only not recommend her and therefore Guaranteed Rate, but I would actively petition people not to use her. Kristine makes a great first impression and makes everything seem possible, but her attention to detail, knowledge, service and attitude is lacking at best. On many occasions she made mistakes with our mortgage and not once owned up or apologized. It wasn't beyond her to suggest she told my wife information that she in turn withheld from me. Kristine has one prime concern, herself. She has no concern for your experience of what you need, only what sis good for her working day. We nearly lost our house because she was waiting on information that she didn't understand herself and we had sent to her weeks earlier. If you have the misfortune of working with her, make sure it is for as simple a task as possible. But you’re best off staying well clear
Andrew from Valencia, CA
Reviewed in January 2020
Closed with Lender:
Yes
Loan Type:
Home Purchase
Review Type:
Lender Review
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(1 of 5)stars
Aweful experience
Bought my first house in 2017 using a Guaranteed Rate loan. It was one of the worst experiences of my life, and it dragged on for a long time. I have never seen such disorganization and lack of customer service at a company. To any prospective home buyer, I would say go with anyone else but these guys. Its just not worth it!
John from Plainville, CT
Reviewed in January 2020
Closed with Lender:
Yes
Loan Type:
Home Purchase
Review Type:
Lender Review
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(1 of 5)stars
Added extra Rate Lock Extension Fee for $1052 at closing
First of all this company deserves 0 star for what they did, if you still like to move forward with company please read this comments and clear with them before moving forward I'm working with this company for my home loan refinancing. We lock the rate and knowing timeline we move forward with this loan, accepting interest rate and they commited credit during closing. I gave all the document on time and i was very communicative throughout this process. I was also checking with team if they need anything else from me to speed up the process. My Closing date was 13th Nov, last document i sign on 1st Nov after there is no communication from company. I was following up with company where we are. Team said they are working on condo approval that is taking time. On 13th Nov, i got new document saying we are adding addition fees $1052, closing date was 13th Nov and they were not able to close by then are extending closing date with lock rate to 18th Nov and for that they are charging additional fee that is $1052. I asked there team, this was not my mistake if your process too time and you have to extending closing date. Still they didn't agree to do this and didn't do anything to remove. They didn't stand on there words. In my opinion what happened, they knew that rate is going up and by the time we lock this rate current rate is high then that. They know customer will not back out since current rate is higher and thats why they added this Extra $1052. They too advance of this and slow the process, because 13 days they took after i signed my last document. I put so much time in this and in the end this is want i got. I will accept this if there was any delay from my end. If they are not able to close this loan on time they should have communicated with me. So please i recommend clear this with company before move forward. There are other mortgage companies out there, this is not the only one. I'm sharing my experience, because this cheating is not accepted.
Hello! We are very concerned about the issues you had with your loan, and would like to investigate further so we can prevent future customers from having a similar experience. Please contact our Customer Success department via phone or email so we may get more information! Thank you.
Siddharth from Fremont, CA
Reviewed in November 2019
LendingTree Customer:
Yes
Closed with Lender:
Yes
Loan Type:
Refinance
Review Type:
Lender Review
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(1 of 5)stars
Poor communication and attention to detail
I do not recommend Guaranteed Rate. Found a lot of errors, such as the total loan payment amount that were incorrect. I asked for corrections and was told " it will be taken care of before closing". This was a typical response to any questions I had. Online documents were sent and processing requested without any explanation. I do not like GR's way of doing business. It was all about what I could do for them.
Hello Tim! We are sorry you had such a trying experience working with Guaranteed Rate. We would like to here more information so that we can refine and correct our processes for our future customers, as well as assist you however we can at this point in time. Please reach out to our Customer Success team when you’re able to do so. Thank you.
tim from Henrico, VA
Reviewed in October 2019
Closed with Lender:
Yes
Loan Type:
Home Purchase
Review Type:
Lender Review
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(1 of 5)stars
Terrible
Terrible experience. Good contact until you pay them. They will then ghost you. I paid them. . Then no contact for 2 months. Tried contacting several times. No return call or email. They want your money but will not provide the service they say they will
Thank you for sending us your feedback. We would like to get some more information about your experience so we can improve our customer service for the future. Please reach out to Guaranteed Rate’s Customer Success department via phone or email. Thank you.
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