Lake Michigan Credit Union - All Locations

Really one of the most challenging and antiquated companies to try and do business withMy wife and I have been trying to complete the renovation loan process since JulyIt's now December and we're still + days out, and on our 3rd appraisalThis is with both of us having 780+ credit scores, and providing all requested document in a timely manorStrongly suggest you explore other options before proceeding down the path of an LMCU loan
Good luck, and may your experience for this process be better than oursHappy holidays

I began to work with Lake Michigan Credit Union (LMCU) on a new construction loan package in July per recommendation from a work acquaintance
What started off smoothly abruptly turned to a rocky road of opaqueness, miscommunications, and delays - ultimately ending up with me withdrawing my loan application almost days from the date of submission - what I consider an unreasonably long time to complete and close on a new construction loan package
We submitted our formal loan application at the beginning of AugustAt approxdays - the first week of September - we hit the first major bump in the road when we received an appraisal from a 3rd party appraiser contracted through LMCU that came in $15,short of our contract price to buildAfter several requests to see the appraisal they finally delivered it to me - a full days after the appraisal had been completed! It was immediately obvious that the appraisal was based off of home specifications that were erroneousWhile the appraiser recommended a 2nd appraisal was what was needed to remedy the appraisal the LMCU instead ordered up an adjustment to the 1st appraisalAfter more delays regarding the adjustment - I found out through the appraiser that LMCU had not filed the proper request form for the adjustment, costing us a full week - the appraisal then had to be reviewed by the LMCU credit committee, who questioned the new adjusted valueHowever a branch manager (Troy, MI) was able to convince the committee the adjustment was good and that we should proceed
So almost weeks later they finally accepted the adjusted appraisal and my loan officer took my account out of suspension (allegedly due to inactivity) and began preparing the file for final underwriting
We were now at the end of Octand my file finally gets to the underwriters desk for final underwriting and approvalThe final underwriter immediately flagged the adjusted appraisal and said they could not give us the adjusted value based on the adjustment (it was a written description of the adjustment) and that they needed a grid of comparables in the form of a 2nd appraisal to adjust the value! Unbelievable!
Because this would have presented another significant delay towards reaching a closing date I had finally had enough and as of 10-28-withdrew my loan application from LMCU
I cannot recommend that anyone ever proceed with LMCU as their lender for any loanThe entire process from the 1st appraisal onward has been nothing but opaque and stressfulI often felt completely in the dark about where we were at in the processI also felt like the trio of loan officer, to loan processor, to underwriter - and any other parties involved (a branch manager, a credit committee, appraiser, who knows who else...) was a complete circus of individuals who barely communicated to each other - truly a case of the left hand not talking to the right if there ever was oneWhat should be one of the most exciting times of my life - building a home - became one of the most stressful and wrought with frustration experiences I have ever dealt withIf this is how lending institutions operate in then we have not come far enough along since A frightening proposition
Stay far, far away from this bank if you are looking for a mortgage for an existing home or to build a new oneThere are better lending institutions out there who will help you achieve your goals without all of the stress and hassle

Do yourself a favor and continue to look for another option LMCU rates may be okay but they are a fee heavy institution Mortgage rates were decent but found better rate elsewhere with lower closing fees and without paying points Over course of relationship with them received fees for inactivity in savings and overdraft fee for checking when money was available to cover in my savings Other financial institutions I use automatically transfer funds between accounts without fees in these circumstances I prefer to not spend time micromanaging my bank accounts and have transactions like this occur seamlessly - saving myself time and money

It's a terrible bank no one knew what they were doing for my mortgage and it was a struggle to get anything finalized even with a good credit score and a pre approval. No communication between the multiple people that I had to work with. I will more than likely be going to a real bank and paying a slightly higher rate so that I can work with real professionals.