Good: I opened a HELOC with no immediate need to use it, just in case I needed money for home repairs in the future. Third Federal had one of the better rates at the time and I felt it would be wise to open a HELOC to lock in a good rate while rates were low.. Bad: Excessive paper work and lack of electronic alternatives. I received mailed balance reports (of zero) on my HELOC that I never used. There was no way change my address without mailing a physical letter. After having the account open for several years I began receiving mailed requests to close my account, which I was not interested in, because the whole point of opening the account was to have it just in case. After I did not accept these "requests", Third Federal conveniently had my home..(cont.). Improvements: (cont...)"appraised" at a value well under its actual value in order to claim that the equity no longer supported the HELOC and deactivated my account, leaving me with an "appeals" process if I want to re-activate it. Even at the devalued appraisal, my mortgage has been paid down low enough that the equity would still in fact support the HELOC. Third Federal is obviously only interested in maintaining customer relationships with people they are making money off of..
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