I was pre-approved for a house loan and have an excellent credit rating, and walked into the local Valley Bank in Auburn to apply for a mortgage after being turned down by a couple of the ""big banks"". After fully explaining my situation to their Mortgage Loan Consultant Soo-Hui Um, he assured me that they would take care of me, and that there'd be no problem getting me the loan. A few days later, after hearing nothing from Soo-Hui, I called him and he was unable to help me, and instead turned me over to his friend Chris Caillier, Sr. Loan Officer from Benchmark in Tacoma. Chris also assured me that he'd take care of me and get me the mortgage. Chris also did not return any of my calls (I always had to call him repeatedly until he finally bothered to answer), and three weeks later, everything looked good to go until the 11th hour, my mortgage was denied for the same reason ""the big bank"" had. Today both Soo-Hui and Chris refuse to even admit I worked with them and the seller to buy their home, and have ""no comment"" on the whole situation. Please save yourself a lot of time and stress and stay clear of either of these gentlemen, and Valley Bank and Benchmark in general.
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