I have a contract sitting around somewhere for a home equity loan with Gem Savings from around 1990. It was one page, letter sized, in large type- and was all I needed to sign to get an equity loan on my house.
Now that document would run 8 pages of micro-type and include things like an arbitration clause, denying me the right to use the justice system to settle any grievances.
Later I signed one of those really long contracts to refinance my house with a bank. They changed the terms at the last minute, after jerking me around for weeks. Then, promptly sold the loan off to some mortgage servicing company, and then it’s been transferred time and time again- all without proper recording of title and lien transfer at the County Building.
If you or I sold a property and didn’t record the transaction, it wouldn’t be considered valid.
My small business, a sole proprietorship, recently teamed with another small business to do a large deal- $130,000, with a very small margin. When I went to deposit $90K, they wanted to hold my money for a week- despite being told well in advance this deal was coming. The banker even tried to warn me that this could be fraud. I had promised the vendor I’d pay by wire transfer- and was told by the bank it’d be $25 to wire money out. They didn’t tell me there was a $13 fee to have it wired into my account.
I’ve even had them putting holds on rent checks that are certified. Apparently, “Certified checks are easy to forge” which is why the hold according to my bank. WTF good is a certified check then? I do work for a credit union- which pays with certified checks- even those get a hold.
It’s getting harder and harder to run a small business, and banks behaving badly is just one more obstacle for small business to overcome. When I was a youngster in business school, you were advised to have counsel of a lawyer, accountant and a banker. Since the deregulation/consolidation of banking in this country, I’d say you’d be hard pressed to find any banker with actual lending authority anymore.
The last one I encountered was at Eaton National Bank- which once it got absorbed by LCNB ceased to be what it was. I’m experimenting with Wright Patt Credit Union now- which is one of the few credit unions that can do business lending. It’s becoming apparent that small business really is better off with a credit union instead of a bank, but I’m not sure if this applies to start-ups (I’ve been in business for 25 years).
One of the problems is that small business can’t buy the politicians’ ears the way big business can. When was the last time you heard of a tax break for small businesses? A program to help small businesses grow- that wasn’t driven by big business financial tricks (like quick write-offs of capital expenses)?
What could change if small businesses were given tax credits rewarding them for each full-time employee, length of employment, and growth in payroll that were redeemable for low-interest loans and access to working capital? What incentives could we offer to encourage the big banks to take small business seriously?
Small business powers most of our job growth, but, there are no small banks left to work with them. It’s time to solve this problem.
I feel your pain, David. I think you’re doing the right thing by going to WPCU. I opened a business account with them back in ’03 when they were first starting business accounts. It was good to go to a no fee checking account (technically a “share draft” account”) and ditch National City, now PNC. I did have some hiccups with WPCU as they were learning how to deal with businesses instead of individuals, but overall it’s been a pretty good relationship. I still have to argue with them from time to time about holding checks. They do finally have a note on my account not to hold large checks. It was fun to see the reaction on the branch manager’s face when they were debating about whether or not a $35k check I was trying to deposit could be fraud or not. I explained to her that I understood all about how fraudulent checks could be created and that I, in fact, had written the very software that generated the check she was holding in her hand. I explained that $35k wasn’t quite enough to let me retire in Aruba and so I wasn’t going to generate a fraudulent check for that amount. My advice (not that you asked for it) is to get to know the tellers and the manager at whatever branch you decide to frequent. It’s often up to the teller’s discretion about whether or not to hold a check, so if you try to get the same teller everytime (and know the manager’s name), it goes a long way – right or wrong. As with everything else in business, it’s all about relationships. Back in the spring some associates and I started a new venture. Since not all of us live in greater Dayton, we couldn’t use WPCU. We started looking around for banking alternatives (literally across the country as we are widely dispersed) and ended up finding a local bank (yes, a couple do still exist) that was able to accommodate us. This bank is the kind of bank that LCNB used to be… Read more »
I have a car loan through WPCU so I though they would be good with my home loan. It was the worst customer service experience I have ever had. The loan officer was terrible, sat on paperwork (13 weeks to close after my contract was signed, nearly killing the sale twice) and kept telling me how she was drowning it credit card debt from a failed horse breeding/stable venture. I think WPCU is trying to expand too quickly with limited and incompetent resources. Can’t say I’d even consider any future lending with them.
It is a good thing to work with a credit union as they have more credibility and ethical moral standards than most banks ever could.
One bank you might try is the Civista bank they seem to have the customer in mind and it might be worth a try to look into as they seem to be more ethical and honest; give them a call and go in person, other than this, I do not know any others that put you the customer first.