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ING customers with mortgages that guaranteed a $750 fee for refinancing and which they did not receive when they sought to refinance their loans with ING are welcome to contact an attorney at Lieff Cabraser.
Case Center
ING Direct
- Issue: Consumer fraud
ING Direct Refinancing Offer Fraud Investigation
The national law firm of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, is investigating complaints by mortgage loan borrowers that ING Direct breached its promise to allow them to refinance their loans for a flat fee of $750 per refinancing after the first year of their loans.
Allegations of Deceptive Business Practices by ING Direct
ING Direct is a bank with no retail branches that operates via the Web and toll-free phone lines. From mid-2007 through November 2009, ING Direct offered adjustable-rate mortgages, or ARMs, with an unique sales pitch. As noted in a New York Times article in 2008:
"For many borrowers, ARMs are too risky, even though the interest on such loans is usually fixed for 5 or 7 years at a rate lower than that offered on 30-year fixed mortgages. An ARM rate can rise significantly after the introductory period, and homeowners sometimes feel as though they have no choice but to refinance. But even if rates on new loans are attractive at that point, closing costs can be very steep. For customers of one lender, at least, that is no longer the case. ING Direct... recently introduced a new ARM that allows users to refinance the loan for a flat fee of $750 per refinancing as often as the borrower wants after the first year."
At the time, Arkadi Kuhlmann, ING Direct's chief executive, commented these features were meant to encourage homeowners to seek ARMs from his bank.
Through website advertisements, press releases, and offers from its sales representatives, ING promoted the $750 refinancing fee as a benefit of choosing ING for mortgages over competitors. As a result, many homeowners paid significant closing costs associated with ING ARMs in order to receive the benefit of a low-cost, guaranteed fee should they refinance their loans.
Homeowners have alleged that ING has refused to honor its $750 refinancing guarantee. It has been alleged that certain homeowners have been told that they "no longer qualify" for the $750 refinancing. Instead, they must pay $2,500 to refinance with ING, even when they meet the terms and conditions of the original offer from ING.
Contact Lieff Cabraser
ING customers with mortgages that guaranteed a $750 fee for refinancing and which they did not receive when they sought to refinance their loans with ING are welcome to contact an attorney at Lieff Cabraser.
Trademark Notice
Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, is not affiliated in any way with ING Direct.