AN OPEN LETTER TO KLEINBANK
April 18, 2005
Pat Zellman, Branch Manager
KleinBank
210 Paul Avenue North
Cologne, Minnesota 55322
Dear Pat:
When I stopped into your bank on Friday, April 8, 2005 to have an account statement Faxed to a new mortgage company, you made the comment that you “Didn’t think it was very nice” for me to ask visitors to my internet homepage to “Not do business with our bank.” Your remark screams for a response from me. (Incidentally, last Monday our mortgage company stated that when they called your bank to see why they hadn’t received the requested account statement by Fax, someone at your branch said that it had to be sent by your bank’s office in Chaska. Yet, when I made the same request at the Waconia office, the information was freely given me without hesitation.)
When we moved to Cologne, your bank was a ‘branch office’ of the First National Bank of Waconia; one of nine banks owned by Klein Financial, Inc. When I began doing business with your bank over sixteen and a half years ago, Connie was the Vice President of the Cologne Branch; you were the branch’s receptionist. What a wonderful (and professional) person Connie was!! In all of my years, I have never met (nor will I probably ever meet) such a great ‘personal banker’.
Upon Connie’s retirement, you were named manager of the Cologne Branch of the First National Bank of Waconia and currently remain in that position as of this date. My relationship with you, and your branch, has remained cordial after Connie’s well deserved retirement. Now, Klein Financial, Inc. has ‘combined’ all of it’s banks and assumed a new name; KleinBank. In addition to numerous other banks that it owns, KleinBank also owns the Norwood Young America branch; formerly known as the State Bank of Young America.
You are aware of my recent ‘dealings’ with the State Bank of Young America; now known as the Norwood Young America branch of KleinBank. The issue here is one of ethics, integrity and accountability. The ‘crux’ of my complaint against the State Bank of Young America is their mishandling of several payments that were electronically transferred to them by the First National Bank of Waconia. Irrefutable evidence obtained by me from the First National Bank of Waconia supports my claim that these electronic transfer of funds did, in fact, take place on the dates specified and for the amounts as I have maintained all along.
Further, you also personally verified that these electronic transfers of funds did, in fact, take place. Yet, these payments were not applied to our mortgage by the State Bank of Young America on the dates that they were electronically transferred.
You’ll recall my speaking with you on approximately January 11, 2005 informing you of my discovery. You unequivocally stated that the electronic transfers WERE MADE to the State Bank of Young America but were unable to explain to me ‘where the money went’. You told me, “I haven’t got a clue.”
I specifically recall a telephone conversation that we had wherein, upon my telling you that the State Bank of Young America stated that they hadn’t received the electronic transfers of funds, you told me, “Dick, they got the money.” And, as it later was turned out, you were exactly correct!!
When I contacted the State Bank of Young America inquiring as to why the electronic transfers of funds had not been applied to our mortgage, State Bank of Young America Vice President Rose Theis lied to me by stating stated that the payments were never received by the State Bank of Young America.
When I then presented Theis with absolute evidence that the electronic transfers of funds had, in fact, been made and verified by you, Theis “changed her story”, and again lied, now stating that the State Bank of Young America had ‘refused’ the payments.
In January 2005 and just two days apart, I obtained, from the State Bank of Young America, two computerized printouts of all activity on our mortgage. Both of them were different from each other. Now, I have obtained a third printout which is different from the first two. In his February 17, 2005 letter to the Financial Integrity Division of the Minnesota Department of Commerce, State Bank of Young America President Dave VanDien stated “...The payments made in December were applied to the loan.”
As you learn later in this letter, this was yet ANOTHER BLATANT LIE by the State Bank of Young America and I have their own documentation obtained from them to prove it!!
I would like, but don’t ever expect to receive, explanations from the State Bank of Young America for the following:
1. A logical, and acceptable, explanation and justification for Theis’ overt lying to me by stating that several payments electronically transferred to the State Bank of Young America were never received, even though the evidence available clearly indicates that the payments were electronically transferred, on the dates and for the amounts, specified.2. A logical, and acceptable, explanation and justification for Theis’ overtly lying to me a second time by then stating that, after being confronted with evidence showing that the electronic transfer of funds did, in fact, take place on the dates and in the amounts specified, the payments had been refused. Again, the physical evidence clearly shows that Theis has lied for a second time.3. A logical, and acceptable, explanation and justification for the State Bank of Young America maintaining first two, and now three, sets of records on a single mortgage.4. A logical, and acceptable, explanation and justification for what VanDien states, in his official response to an inquiry by the Minnesota Department of Commerce, facts that clearly are untrue. Specifically, VanDien clearly stated that “...The payments made in December were applied to the loan.” What VanDien doesn’t ‘own up to’ is that those payments were NOT applied on the dates that they were received and DOCUMENTS OBTAINED FROM HIS OWN BANK prove that his written statement to the Minnesota Department of Commerce is blatantly fabricated, misleading and wholly untrue !! Plus, when I discovered what had taken place, the Vice President of the State Bank of Young America, (now known as the Norwood Young America branch of KleinBank), Rose Theis OVERTLY LIED about what really had taken place. And she LIED A SECOND TIME to cover up what SHE LIED about the first time!!As of this writing, I have yet to receive ANY explanation for the unethical and unprofessional acts committed against us by the State Bank of Young America; now a branch of KleinBank. Additionally, it is indeed unfortunate that the Norwood Young America branch of KleinBank tried to place the blame for their deleterious actions on the Cologne branch of KleinBank. Even more reprehensible is the fact that they placed you ‘in the middle’ by being able to verify and support my allegations against the State Bank of Young America. In so doing, they exposed your honorable integrity and revealed the lack of their own integrity.
I’m sure looking forward to receiving written explanations for the actions of the Norwood Young America branch of KleinBank; formerly known as the State Bank of Young America.
With the exception of the First National Bank of Waconia selling me a used computer containing all of the bank customer’s financial and personal information including all of the bank’s customer’s social security numbers, our sixteen plus year personal and professional relationship has been very amicable. It’s too bad that the State Bank of Young America, now known as a branch of KleinBank, tried to disrupt that relationship.
It is my hope that someone at the Norwood Young America branch of KleinBank is held accountable for their devious acts, misdeeds and deception. Those devious acts, misdeeds and deception have now cost us well over $15,000.00!! Because the Minnesota Department of Commerce doesn’t have subpoena power and can’t compel testimony, I have requested that the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, that has that power and authority, to become involved.
And please, Pat, don’t take the content of this letter personally; you did nothing wrong. When questioned by me, you didn’t compromise your integrity, or that of your branch. You stated what you knew to be correct. You ‘handled’ the matter professionally.
The Norwood Young America branch of KleinBank can learn a good lesson from you by what you’ve done and how you reacted in a difficult situation.
Lastly, because the State Bank of Young America refused to acknowledge any of my written correspondence to them, I tried to contact Mr. Dan Klein, Chief Financial Officer of Klein Financial, Inc., by telephone. After being placed on hold, the receptionist came back on the line and asked, ’Who’s calling please?” I identified myself and was placed on hold once again. Then, when the receptionist came back on the line for a second time she told me, “Mr. Klein doesn’t wish to speak with you”.
As my homepage says, Klein Financial, Inc., and now KleinBank, is Redefining Customer Service In A REAL BAD WAY !! Bigger ISN’T better !!
MONEY + POWER = INDIFFERENCE
Any ??? Put yourself in our shoes for the answers. Absent being in the banking business, would YOU tolerate being done to you what the Norwood Young America branch of KleinBank did to us? I don’t think so.
But the KleinBank thinks it’s O.K.
Sincerely,
Richard E. Odoms
P.O. Box 97
Cologne, Minnesota 55322
E-mail address: deltadickshow@yahoo.com
Website: deltadickshow.com
DON'T GO THROUGH WITH WHAT WE HAD TO PUT UP WITH;
THERE'S AN EASIER WAY
April 19, 2005
Scott Kelly, Senior Loan Officer
MIDWEST RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE
5821 Tower Street Suite G
Rockford, Minnesota 55373
Dear Scott:
Just a quick note to express my heartfelt appreciation for the outstanding manner in which you arranged the refinance of our previous mortgage. Your company is one that other homeowners should know exists. From the very first letter we received offering to arrange a new, lower interest rate mortgage up to and including yesterday’s ‘closing’, the whole ‘refinance process’ was well-orchestrated and streamlined. I’m sure that you are very proud of your company and rightfully so.
In your initial letter, you stated that homeowner’s interest rates are usually higher than what they really can qualify for. In our case, you were exactly right. But how does one actually find that out? (From my past experience, lenders want to charge as high an interest rate as possible; it means more money for them!) Your company took the time to find the best interest rate and terms that best suited us. The new mortgage that we secured through your company had an interest rate that was ALMOST 2% LOWER than what we had been paying !!
Also in your letter, you talk about pre-payment penalties that have to be paid by the homeowner if they refinance through another mortgage company or bank. Again you are right; these pre-payment penalties can amount to thousands. With your company, there ARE NO PRE-PAYMENT PENALTIES!! And the actual ’closing costs’ that your company charged for this refinance were a fraction of what we have previously been charged.
A couple of other things about you and your company that impressed me was your personal ‘looking out’ for our ‘best interests’. That trait in itself makes your company stand ‘head and shoulders’ above any other mortgage company or bank that I’ve ever dealt with. Also, your being in constant contact with us during the entire refinance process so that we knew exactly what was taking place also was impressive.
You are a true professional when it comes to dealing with people and helping them refinance their existing mortgage. You are thoroughly familiar with the disastrous mortgage nightmare we recently encountered with the Norwood Young America branch of KleinBank; formerly known as the State Bank of Young America. Your service to us and your personal attention and involvement during this recent refinance project with your company was a good to us as KleinBank’s was bad. You may be assured that I will tell as many people that there IS a difference, a MAJOR difference, when it comes to home mortgages.
I encourage the thousands of Minnesota listeners to my ‘DELTA DICK’ Old Tyme Music Internet Show on www.247polkaheaven.com and visitors to my qwebsite (www.deltadickshow.com) to seriously consider refinancing their current mortgages with MIDWEST RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE CORPORATION. Yours is a company that is truly reliable and of great integrity. I am proud to designate your company as the OFFICIAL MORTGAGE COMPANY of the ‘DELTA DICK’ Old Tyme Music Internet Show. A certificate, suitable for framing, is also enclosed.
Here’s another interesting point: We refinanced our home in August 2002 with the State Bank of Young America (now known as the Norwood Young America branch of KleinBank.) At that time, nearly three years ago, interest rates were at, or very near, a forty year low; yet we were charged an interest rate of 8.5% by them.
Everyone knows interest rates have been slowly rising since that time. However, even though interest rates have steadily risen, your company recently gave us a LOWER INTEREST RATE than KleinBank gave us almost three years ago!! You don’t have to be a mathematical ‘genius’ to know which choice to make and be assured, I’ll tell everyone I know and see about what has recently taken place and recommend that they contact you to talk about refinancing their existing mortgages.
I’m was also impressed with your offer for a brief, informal initial conversation to tell me what your company could do for us regarding a refinance project. Chances are good that homeowners will find out it’s a good idea and they can save themselves thousands of dollars over the life of their mortgage. Your company’s unique ability to ‘pay off’ pre-payment penalties from other companies instead of ‘rolling’ them into a new mortgage also works to a customer’s advantage. And, as I stated previously, your company’s ‘closing costs’ were a fraction of what we have paid previously!!
All in all, our dealings with your company were superb and hassle free. You are a true professional in your field. I urge everyone in Minnesota to consider your company for any initial or mortgage refinancing needs. There was NO hassle, NO surprises and, most importantly, NO LIES !!
Thanks again for your personal attention and listen for MIDWEST RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE CORPORATION to be regularly featured on my Old Tyme Music Internet Show heard around the world, across the nation and up your alley on www.247polkaheaven.com. I’ve also updated the ‘DELTA DICK’ home page to tell visitors to my website about your fine company.
Sincerely,
Richard E. Odoms
P.O. Box 97
Cologne, Minnesota 55322
E-mail address: deltadickshow@yahoo.com
Website address: www.deltadickshow.com
P.S. I’ve taken the liberty to post this letter to you on my website so that others may discover
that the don’t have to be financially exploited and raped by their former mortgage company
and bank like we were.
