Lenox Financial - No Closing Cost Loans and Mortgages - The Biggest No Brainer in the History of Earth

What Our Customers Say About Us

Letter to Jon Shibley, CEO of Lenox Financial, June 25, 2008

Dear Mr. Shibley:

Thank you.

Two days ago, we closed on our house in Athens, Georgia and used your company as the mortgage broker. I wanted to share in this brief note how your company literally transformed my view about mortgage finance and how one of your employees, Bill Rozar, has earned our trust and undoubtedly the future business for myself and hopefully my colleagues.

The first time we bought our home, we did not know what we’re doing. We simply contacted the company where we had most of our assets. They quoted us a 30 year fixed rate mortgage and we did not really think about the closing costs. Closing went fine, though I naturally felt a little bit of sticker shock when I realized that the closing cost can pile up. We walked away feeling like we had a good, but, not great-deal and frankly suffered a bit due to the upfront a outlay we had to pay on closing cost.

Last fall, I heard a story on NPR about your company and an interview with you. Something about the interview caused me to pay special attention to the interview, and you’re no-nonsense way of discussing to the industry resonated with me (as a lawyer and law professor, I take a similar approach to my own profession which unfortunately is infested with some real low-lifes).

Fast-forward three months later... We had decided to move to Athens in connection with an appointment that I had received from the University of Georgia. This time, I decided to take a more proactive approach to our mortgage – both because I felt better informed about the process and because I felt like, in a soft market, there were deals out there, but I had to make the financing work.

I did three things: I contacted our current lender, I used Lending Tree, and I tracked down your company. Initially, are all lenders had a strong advantage-proven performance record. You hear horror stories about homebuyers whose closings fall through because the lender’s funds do not arrive at closing. I knew this would not happen with our current lender, an established financial institution. What made it especially difficult was that most mortgage deals take place without the borrower and the lender (or the broker) ever meeting in person. So, in order to break through that established relationship with our current lender - someone had to earn my trust.

Bill Rozar did that. Compared to the other mortgage brokers who wanted to promise the moon, he was blunt and direct about what could and could not be done. He endured numerous questions from me about aspects of the deal, the nature of the no closing cost option and the requirements of closing. He was a hard but fair negotiator - doing what he needed to get my business, but not promising the moon (as some of the mortgage brokers on lending tree seem prepared to do).

And one day the bond formed. I told my current lender that I was prepared to take my business to Lenox Financial if they were unwilling to offer the competitive package and level of service that Bill was offering. They tried to call my bluff and lost. From that moment on, the closing went as smoothly – if not more smoothly - than our last one. Bill told me exactly what the tender writer needed and did not send me on any wild run for meaningless documents. We had an extended discussion about the economics of the no closing cost versus the closing cost option. Once I decided to go with the no closing cost option, he lived up to his word on handling the cost, and might add that the only out of pocket expenses included the owner's title insurance, the prepaid interest and the property insurance.

What’s the bottom line? From our perspective, we have a great house and felt like we secured a great deal on the financing. From your company’s perspective, you (and specifically Bill) have a loyal customer and one who plans to refer business to your company on a regular basis. As an academic, I regularly see a steady stream of new colleagues at the university and look forward to referring them to Bill.

What amazes me most about this entire process is that it all occurred without any one meeting each other. When you think about the stakes of a home purchase and the possible pitfalls, their success would seem to depend on a relationship of trust. And that relationship was built not on personal meetings or slick salesmanship - but, rather on the patient, informed communication between Bill and myself.

My grandfather built his own business. Starting from nothing, he built an extremely successful insurance business in the Ohio river valley. He always taught me the importance of communication between himself and his clients, and particularly about how his salesmen were serving those clients. From that, I learned the importance, as a customer, of communicating with upper management - not simply when things go wrong, but also when they go right. This was one of those occasions where they went right, very right. And as the founder of the company, I thought you’d want to know.

Sincerely,

Peter B.

Associate Professor of Law

Email to Lenox Financial, August 26, 2008

I would recommend Blake Hauger to anyone I know who is buying a home or refinancing there home. This is our second time completely refinancing with him and every time he has been speedy and professional keeping me updated every step of the way. And he was able to figure a way for us to save even more money than originally planned.

Thank you Blake, you are wonderful!

Sincerely,

Jen & JJ K.

Email to Lenox Financial, August 6, 2008

Subject: Thank You Letter

To John Heath,

Hello, John I just wanted to thank you for all the hard work on my behalf. When I started the process of getting Good Faith estimates from other financial institutions I was really starting to loose my mind. Other people would fax or mail me paperwork, but it was all a blur. I could not get questions answered or phone calls returned. They would email me to fax the rest of my info to go forward (I did not do) with the loan. Their Good Faith estimates looked good on the surface, but the numbers did not add up. You took a great deal of time to explain all the paperwork. I really needed to get out of my Adjustable to a Fixed Mortgage ASAP. Thank you for walking through ever word, number, and question with me. When you called and told me the amount to bring to closing was a lot less than the Good Faith estimate read. I actually did the happy dance. Once it came time for the closing it went so well. For the first time I did not hate signing my name a thousand times. Thank you for helping me get a good mortgage and keep my sanity.

Deborah C.

Email to Lenox Financial, August 2, 2008

I watched you on the CNN special entitled, Mortgage Meltdown Saturday morning. I have heard your commercials on XM radio and visit your website frequently. I use some of your quotes while helping my customers. You are clear, concise and very straight forward about the state of the mortgage industry.

I myself have been in the financial industry for close to 15 years. I was a financial specialist Wachovia for 12 years. Currently, I am the manager of a local credit union and a licensed mortgage broker. I feel compelled to share with you how impressed I am with the way you remain optimistic about the state of the mortgage industry. I personally place 90%t of the blame for our crisis on the mortgage industry.

My own experience leads me to believe that greed and unreasonable performance expectations have led many banks and credit unions to make bad loans to good people. Now, as they say, the chickens are coming home to roost. Now, these same loans have made good people un-bankable. We can’t help them. This causes me a great amount of grief.

Nevertheless, while many of the nation’s financial institutions attempt to place the blame on the consumer, I refuse to do so. I personally place 90%t of the blame for our crisis on the mortgage industry. I know that as a banker, I have a fiduciary responsibility to my customer to put them in the right loan or no loan at all.

It’s clear to me that your company prides itself on doing the “right” thing. This is why you guys are experiencing growth while others are struggling (Credit unions are feeling the strain too.)

While things are tough right now, you continue to remind people that there is help for them if they allow experts to help them. Your call to action is clear.

Thanks for being a beacon of hope for the people and the industry. I wish more big banks had guys like you as CEO.

Respectfully,

Tommy B.

Email to Lenox Financial, July 28, 2008

Subject: Thanks to Nelson and Lenox Financial

I have been meaning to thank you for your great service with my mortgate purchase, as well as with all the help you provided to me and my family with the purchase of our condo!

Also thank you for the gift certificate, I've already put it to good use. I used it to purchase a vacuum cleaner we needed! Here is a pic of my family. I realized we never sent you one, and we always have your pic included on your emails!

Anyways, thank you so much for everything.

Katia N.

Email to Lenox Financial, July 25, 2008

Subject: Thank You

I just wanted to thank you very much and I appreciate everything you did. You made it a pleasurable experience as you were always available, prompt and professional. I will definitely give you a high recommendation and refer anybody I know your way should they be looking for a loan.

Mark D.

Email to Lenox Financial, July 23, 2008

Subject: My Experience with Lenox and Jon Bacon

Dear Mr. Shibley,

Allow me to commend to your attention, Jon Bacon. I have just concluded a new home purchase with financing via Lenox Financial.

Jon did an excellent job for my wife and I, in fact he was the sole bright spot in an otherwise difficult circumstance. He never failed to communicate effectively, followed up on each and every detail or question and did so in a timely fashion. Perhaps the best I can say of Jon is that as we approached the end of the process I had absolute confidence in anything and everything Jon represented.

As you know credibility is a key aspect in any business dealing, Jon had my absolute confidence as we proceeded through the process.

I believe your organization is fortunate to have Jon representing you, he did so exceptionally well.

Best Regards,

Dennis L.

Email to Lenox Financial, July 14, 2008

Subject: Hello

I just want to THANK YOU for taking time to see if it was beneficial for me to Refinance. You were the first person to take the time to see exactly what type of loans I had on my house... I definitely would recommend your services to my friends or co-workers.

Thanks!

Valerie

Email to Lenox Financial, July 11, 2008

Subject: Thanks

Looks like the loan has closed and all is well. I want to thank you for all your hard work in making this loan happen. You did a great job at all levels to make us feel fine as we went threw a very volatile loan market. I will be recommending you and your company, to my friends as an excellent place to get a loan.

Thanks again,

Allen B.

Email to Lenox Financial, July 10, 2008

My wife and I recently completed our second refinance with Lenox Financial working with Ben Cox as our advisor. Initially, when I was looking for a refinance, I was intrigued with the radio ads I was hearing with John Shibley. I felt there had to be a “catch” and if it was too good to be true, then it probably was. I started the process and presented the paperwork to a friend of ours who was a mortgage broker. She reviewed the deal and told us to go with Lennox as she could not equal this deal. So when rates went down another percent, we did it again. Yeah, no closing costs. I don’t know if Lenox is a best kept secret or not, but I’m referring my friends and family.

Sincerely,

Clifford L., M.D.

Email to Lenox Financial, June 27, 2008

Subject: Re: Closings

To address the three things below, I believe that in all cases (2 different properties with loans, with 3 refinances a piece), the following comments apply to all of the closings. In each and every case, the initial good faith estimate was accurate. I didn’t feel there was any kind of bait and switch. I think the best example of service with you is with the loan we had where you were having challenges with the lender approving the loan. Even though it happened very late in the process, you took the loan to another lender, and did all the legwork necessary, and delivered the same terms (even though the market had moved higher and that cost you.) Other lenders or mortgage brokers wouldn’t have gone out of their way to do this – they simply wouldn’t have delivered and left me holding the bag (which would have cost me many, many thousands of dollars.) You have been proactive in contacting me when rates do drop, and answering all the questions through the process.

I also think back to our first conversation when I was initially very skeptical that it was truly “no cost.” Others (ESPECIALLY real estate agents) had said that “no cost” doesn’t really mean “no cost.” But in your case, as near as I can tell, it does. You were willing to take the time to explain the business model, and once I understood how you made money and what your motivation was, I realized that it was a win-win situation. That conversation, and then the execution on the first couple of loans, is what really sold me.

I’ve compared rates with other lenders periodically, and believe your rates are competitive. There are some lenders that may be below you in terms of rates, costs, etc., but many are above. However, you keep the legwork on my side of things to a minimum, which I appreciate.

The only real problems that I have ever had were with the closing companies – forms not quite correct, unexpected ID requirements – but not with you at all.

I would recommend me to friends and family members, but unfortunately, none of them are buying houses, and they all have loans that are below today’s markets. :)

Kevin S.

Email to Lenox Financial, June 26, 2008

Subject: Closing

The closing went fine last night. We met with Tiffany and she said she has done a number of your closings. Some the 2nd time around. As I stated, I am interested in hearing back from you when rates drop......we'll do it again!

Appreciate you discussing with me the funds, as it settled some last-minute nervousness.

Thanks again.

Rick & Amy

Email to Lenox Financial, June 20, 2008

Subject: Re: We're fixed

You can quote me as a very satisfied customer! You have been a pleasure to work with as well. Not that I have that many loans under my belt, but this was the easiest thus far! Thanks for accommodating my crazy work schedule.

Jane R.

Senior Consultant, Global Health Systems

Email to Lenox Financial, June 16, 2008

Subject: Re: closing

This was the easiest refi I have ever done. You guys are great!

David M.

Email to Lenox Financial, June 4, 2008

Subject: Note of Appreciation

I've heard the ads for a long time and decided to call. The rep I spoke to was very honest and helpful. He reiterated what info was in the ads, and we determined that our current situation was good and that he couldn't improve our loan. I was extremely grateful for his honest insight and the time he took to speak with me. If my situation changes in the future I would not hesitate to call again.

Thank you so much!

Kathleen C.

Email to Lenox Financial, May 30, 2008

Subject: Compliment

Thanks for being so thorough! You are great!

Email to Lenox Financial, May 26, 2008

Subject: Lenox National

I really did not think I would hear from you. Sorry I am so used to people saying that and not follow up. I look forward to future transactions with you and Lenox.

Thanks

Steve B.

Email to Lenox Financial, May 23, 2008

Subject: More observations

Thanks again for all your help. You do a great job; much better than most if not all.

Terry S.

Email to Lenox Financial, May 19, 2008

Subject: Thanks

Thanks for the $20 check. I appreciate all the work you did for my loan. I guess you could have cut the ties and taken your losses when it got out of control. Thanks for persevering.

I guess the next step is to wait 4 months and hope that the 30 year fixed rates for a $700K loan amount go below 6.125%.

Take care.

Bill

Email to Jon, Sunday, May 16, 2008

Mr. Shibley:

I heard recently on a news report that you put up $20,000 as a reward for the safe return of Alan Armstong’s wife’s wedding rings. In an era where employers are desperate to increase their bottom line I find it extremely noble of you to invest in your employee’s well-being.

My best to you and my sympathies to Mr. Armstrong.

Best Regards,

Alex P.

National Accounts Manager

Email to Lenox Financial, May 12, 2008

Subject: COMPLIMENT from Jamie & Mollie

Thank you so much for your assistance in re-financing our home. We had a great experience from start to finish - everything went very smooth. Thanks again and we look forward to working with you in the future.

Mollie

Email to Jon, Sunday, May 4, 2008

Subject: You are the best mortgage company that I have ever seen in 25 years in the R.E. Business!

Mr. Shibley:

I have listened to your commercials for several years and I have referred several friends to your company, without any involvement in the deals. I consider your straight forward/honest approach to the mortgage business to so refreshing that I intend to continue to do so.

I caught you on CNN’s ‘Mortgage Meltdown’ show this past weekend. You were outstanding and straight forward there, as well.

Thank you so much for doing what you do!

G. D. Stanford, CCIM

Principal Consultant

Email to Lenox Financial, May 1, 2008

Thanks again for all of the information and your A+ customer service.

Sincerely,

Michael

Email to Lenox Financial, April 16, 2008

Subject: Compliment from Rob D.

"Many Thanks" again Scott for working so quickly... I told my kids about you the last few nights and how you are working so hard to save our home and Nick, my 11 year old said, "I hope he helps you daddy"...

Sincerely,

Rob D.

Email to Lenox Financial, March 20, 2008

Subject: Compliment After Closing

I closed yesterday afternoon. Everything was smooth. Thanks for all your help. Hopefully, we'll be talking again in 120 days!

Lynne H.

Email to Lenox Financial, March 20, 2008

Subject: Wayne Leistra

Gentlemen, just wanted to contact you to let you know that I just completed a home refi with Lenox through Wayne Leistra. I want you both to know that Wayne was absolutely fantastic. And I mean fantastic from start to finish!!! I have been in sales most of my life and I can't tell you the inadequacies that I encounter on a daily basis. So when I do business with someone at Wayne's caliber, it is very noticeable that there are great people out there. I just don't see that type of passion, commitment, and extreme knowledge that Wayne possesses. I wish that my everyday business dealings were like that with everyone but since their not, I just wanted to let you both know that it's great to be part of Wayne's World. Keep up the success. Also keep those commercials on the radio. Some weird way they are very motivational. I love listening to them. I wish you all continued success in the future and can't wait to work with Wayne again!!

Sincerely,

Rob C.

Email to Lenox Financial, February 15, 2008

Subject: Thanks for your help with the refi

As always your assistance has been great with the refinance. We were pleased with the signing in our home. It made the process very smooth and less stressful. Thank you for explaining the tax release form. It is amazing to me to see the amount of problems that 9-11 has caused.

Thanks for everything. I hope that you have a great week. We look forward to the next time, should the rates drop enough to make a real difference.

Gordon A.

Email to Jon, February 12, 2008

Hello Jon,

I heard you talking about a special SCUBA program for disabled vets on a local station here in the Pacific N.W..

As a disabled VN Vet and former diver, I wanted to pass on a hearty THANKS for taking the time and resources to let others know how they can help disabled vets.

I really enjoy your ads--wish we had more straight-talking, good-hearted folks like you. Hope this message gets to you.

Regards,

Dennis & Ling Xxxxxx

Camano Island, WA

P.S. We're selling our little home here and plan to move to the Central East Coast of Florida. If we need to borrow a little extra for our new home--Lennox Financial will be on the top of the list.

Email to Lenox Financial, January 22, 2008

Subject: Thank you!!

I’m sitting here still processing what you just told me. Locked in at 5.875 with a no cost close. I’m stunned and extremely grateful that you decided to pass that along to me because you really didn’t have to. You’ve got my word that I’ll tell everyone I know about the deal (of course the rate can’t be guaranteed) and give them your contact info.

I also just got off the phone with my new Home Owner’s Insurance provider and that is going to drop from $4700 a year to $2095. I’m going from a $1000 to $2500 deductible, but it is still unbelievable.

Thanks to you, I’ve never saved so much money in one day in my life.

You made my day... thank you!

Tom S.

Email to Lenox Financial, January 4, 2008

Subject: RE: closing

Everything at closing went smooth. I knew my instincts were good! I want to personally thank you for all your efforts and hard work. I am especially happy about the interest rate you got for me. I will be in touch soon.

Again thank you very, very much. I look forward to doing business with you and your company in the near future.

Terrence D.

Email to Lenox Financial, October 24, 2007

Subject: Compliment

I just wanted to thanks a lot for all your help with our loan. Everything seems to have gone very smoothly. This was certainly the easiest process we've even gone through as far as financing and I look forward to doing business with you again in the future.

With thanks,

Suzanne A.