Complaints

On June 18, 2021, Better Business Bureau recognized a pattern of complaint from consumers regarding billing/collections, service, and customer service issues. Consumers allege they are charged additional fees upon cancellation, and Home Loans Assist makes cancelling service very difficult by giving them, “the run around,” and using pushy customer retention strategies.

 Additionally, consumers assert being promised results, sometimes within a specific timeframe, yet not seeing improvements on their credit report. Further, consumers allege Home Loans Assist is unresponsive to phone calls and emails and does not actively provide consumers with updates regarding the progress of accounts.

 As of October 18, 2021, Home Loans Assist is working with BBB to eliminate the underlying pattern of complaints.  The business has provided the following response:

1. Our billing model follows both state and federal mandates which require billing in arrears.  This means that all services are provided to the client before we charge for them.  As a result, many clients will have a final payment due at cancellation because the services were previously provided.  This billing structure is clearly explained during the intake process, in an email that follows intake, and in client contracts which are fully executed by the client before services are delivered and billed.
2. I was not able to find any complaints around promised results or specific timelines but our scripts and contracts are clear we cannot guarantee or promise any specific results.  We outline the details of the program and the services we will provide on a monthly basis but cannot and do not guarantee any specific outcome from a creditor or credit bureau.  Our contract however states that if a consumer is unable to see a minimum of 50% of their errors changed within 6 months we will work on the file at no cost for up to ninety days. The only timelines we give are when the responses to the inquiries from the bureaus are expected to be received.
3. Admittedly, our contact center has been negatively impacted by the pandemic.  We have struggled in a few areas to hire the right agents and have found it difficult to bring in new employees willing to work in closer proximity.  That said we are actively working on correcting this and feel our efforts have paid off over the last several weeks but it will take some time for the newer employees to fully understand our processes.  In no way has our lack of staff been a retention tactic though.  Historically we have found it works inversely and that by not answering the cancelation requests in a timely manner we lose more clients.  Lastly, our client success department is quite clear from the intake what the client’s goals were when they entered the program and if they haven’t reached their goals we do reiterate that and attempt to show the value of staying on the program until the goals have been met or until the goals change.  The client is ultimately responsible for making this decision after speaking with our agent.
4. Unfortunately I admit longer hold times and longer periods of time between calls.  As stated above we have been challenged to find appropriate agents for our call center and an unintended consequence is longer hold times and less overall agent communication.  That said we have been working diligently to remedy the staffing situation and the clients are always able to access their online portal for the most up to date changes to their credit profiles.

It has always been our top priority to provide excellent customer service and an incredible client journey.  That said we are working through unprecedented times and as a result we do not always meet the expectations we set for ourselves or those of our clients.  In response to this we have accelerated hired, boosted training, and increased the number of agents helping to handle customer complaints, both internally and with the BBB.