Neighborhood Finance Corporation 6th Ave, Des Moines

Neighborhood Finance Corporation Reviews

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  w u2
  1

  What a nightmare. If you love being manipulated and controlled by a government agency - by all means - get a loan from the NFC. Especially if it's a substantial one. Maybe the small $10,000 loans go smoother, but if you are purchasing/refinancing your home and remodeling with a sizable NFC loan be prepared for them to make an already stressful situation ten times worse. They will smile and say how easy and wonderful this will be, "no problem" and "don't worry" and then the work starts and that all changes. They don't care about the timeliness of your loan. They don't care if the vendors and contractors need to be paid. They don't care if they add sizable costs to your project. They control everything and put homeowner, contractor and subs all in a bind. And they lie to your face about it. NFC will fail to communicate to you, they will tell you one thing, the contractor another, and then when either call them out, they will try to pit you against each other all the while smiling and shrugging their shoulders and say, "this is the process". They will NEVER take responsibility for the unnecessary misery they cause everyone. You should also be aware that most, if not all of the reputable contractors in town WILL NOT WORK WITH THEM EVER AGAIN BECAUSE THEY ARE SO DIFFICULT TO WORK WITH. If you still insist on getting an NFC loan, you better be ready to hunt for a decent contractor. It's best to be up front that you are getting an NFC loan so you don't waste their time or yours getting bids, because they will turn down your job as soon as they know. It's best to have a few back ups just in case. Not only at the beginning of the project, but for the middle too because contractors will walk off the job. Not because they want to screw you as a client, but because they are getting screwed by the NFC, and the NFC will screw them over (and ultimately you) while they look you in the eye and smile. It's not worth it.

  Response from the owner

  Thanks for taking the time to write a review and share your experience. We are sorry to hear that you did not feel we had your best interest in mind as we worked to navigate the rules and regulations of renovation lending. The combined process of applying for a loan and managing home renovations may be longer than our clients expect and can be frustrating at times. Our team is committed to streamlining the process for the 200+ households we serve each year. We are all dealing with additional challenges and frustrations during this time of high demand for quality contractors and rising costs for the supplies needed for home improvement projects. Your comments have been shared with our Executive Director, Stephanie Murphy. We want to make sure your voice is heard and hope you will not hesitate to reach out to Stephanie at 515-273-1372 to discuss your experience so we can focus on improving it for our clients.

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  Becky Shattuck
  4

  We would use NFC again. They have a great program to help home buyers, and it also helps the community. We were able to buy an older home that needed some work, and the loan went to getting necessary updates. That said, the process is long and stressful. Hopefully, everyone you work with is patient. I can't remember the exact timeline we had, but basically we needed to get an inspection done to tell us what we work we needed to do on the house, and then we needed to get estimates from contractors for that work and submit the one we want to NFC. They have to approve it. All of that needs to be done before closing. Then, after closing, you can get the work done. We had ours done in pieces. First was the furnace, I believe, and then we submitted the bill to NFC. The inspector came back out to make sure it was done, and then NFC issued a check to the contractor. It all takes time, and you have to personally be following up on a lot of stuff. For us, the time and effort was worth the forgivable loan.

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  Mohamed Hassan
  1

  Don't bother. You're better off with a loan from a Credit Union unless you're into mountains of paperwork and dishonest loan agents. Took me months to get approved just to find out the agent I was working with didn't disclose that I needed an appraisal. I complained and they picked up the fee for the appraisal and got the loan approved. But by then it was winter and couldn't do any of the work I needed. They give you 6 months to complete the work but since it was too cold, I paid the loan for five months and then started the work. Unfortunately, my contractor ended up being an incompetent crook and when I shared all the issues I was having with the contractor with NFC, I got no help. I'm still waiting for a response and in the meantime, I have sinkholes around my house and water going straight down to new foundation walls. And the agent I was to get help from seems to be on the side of the crooked contractor. I fired the contractor and I wanted to hire another to fix the problems left by the old contractor but I need NFC's approval and like some have already mentioned, communication is nonexistent with these people. Save yourself the headache and get a conventional loan from a Credit Union or take the chance with a local loan-shark. You'll have better results

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  Jessica Lombardi
  1

  This company is unbelievably bad. The forgivable loans are not worth the 90 day closing timeline, the lack of communication and their unprofessional practices. 1) The house failed the city inspection. Almost $2,000 of electrical work needed to be done before the seller could sell the house. The NFC inspector told the seller not to worry about it because we (the buyers) would pay for it with the $10,000 home improvement loan we were getting. It is illegal to share financial information with another person without giving explicit consent. When I asked for the inspectors name, NFC refused to give it to me. 2) Make sure you have at least 90 days to close. Their website says they need 45 days to close. The loan specialist told me that they actually need 60 days. It ended up being 75 days only after I contacted the Director of NFC 3 different times. Almost all other banks only need 30 to 45 days. 3) They WILL NOT give you an estimated closing date. They gave me a closing date 3 days before we actually closed (72 days into the loan process). They said that they will not give a date because they didn't want to be legally bound to that date. A different bank was able to give me a closing date 1 week into the loan process. 4) When I confronted the Director of NFC and told them that the seller was going to put the house back on the market in a week and a half because NFC wasn't getting my loan closed in a timely manner, she told us to stop attacking her and that we could call her back later when we wanted to talk. They never accepted fault or responsibility. 5) A comment was made by the director and the loan specialist that other people were in my same situation. I wasn't the only one having issues with this company, so my case was not isolated. I would never recommend this company to anyone, ever. They are very unprofessional as seen above. Not worth the time.

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  Candace Pearson
  1

  I spent over 5 weeks trying to get approved for NFC financing. I realize that the pandemic was partly to blame for the extended time, but they were VERY slow with their responses. If you're someone who prefers/needs a lender who's available to walk you through the process, NFC probably won't be a good fit for you.

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  Kenneth Klein
  1

  This is a wealth transfer scheme. Under the guise of a non-profit, institutional investors are profiting from making short term home financing or home improvement loans. Tax dollars are used to incentive loan recipients with forgivable portions of the loan. Only high credit worthy participants are eligible. Then, in the case of a home improvement loan, you'll still need a contractor or sub-contractors to front the expense of the project. Technically you're supposed to be able to self finance the project, but the up front cost, paperwork and risk of making a mistake is too high. Good luck with that. We had zero sub-contractors willing to wait for payment until the work is completed. So basically, a very few number of credit worthy people are benefiting from tax payer dollars to help enrich institutional investors.

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  Lori Kauzlarich
  5

  Great experience working with the staff at Des Moines NFC. I highly recommend this agency.During these trying times of the pandemic and when lending institutions are swamped with loan applications and refinancing applications I was amazed my rehab loan only took a few weeks to be approved! THANK YOU NFC TEAM!!

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  Chip Peterson
  5

  Great source of financial assistance programs to purchase or refinance your home, or for making upgrades to your home! Ask about their $10,000 forgiveable loans and their Porch light loans! Nichole is the BEST loan officer I've ever had the pleasure of working with!

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  Reno Faoro
  5

  I got 2 home improvement loans and paid them off way ahead of time. If you don't have a good credit rating and a sure flow of cash coming in...then you are out of luck.

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  Kristine King
  5

  The process isn't super fast but after I was approved things closed fairly quickly and I qualified for the forgivable part of the loan as long as you stay in your residence for 5yrs. I couldn't have done it without them!