Honestly I didn't think that I'd be writing about mortgage woes before I even had one... Turns out that a certain Orange bank thinks I'm not necessarily a good credit risk. How are they basing this decision? Well because I'm new to my job they don't want to take the risk that I'm not excellent at it. So I had to get my Dad to guarantee it... at least until I've been with the company for 6 months.

So after we got that fixed up I anxiously awaited a call today telling me if they have been magnanimous enough to grant me the priviledge of paying them a great deal of money for many, many years. The call came and... the bastard at the other end told me that I have "significant debt"! Well let me tell you, that was a fucking shock to me.

The Money Monkey then asked me if I could pay any of it down. I asked him what the hell he was talking about. Turns out that my AMEX bill last month was $230 and my Visa was around $300. He didn't tell me that these numbers were from last month so I had a hell of a time figuring out what the hell he was talking about, as I pay my credit cards off every month. That and my line of credit balance of around $900 and the balance left to pay off my car (which is below $5,000) were enough for them to have to think seriously about my eligibility.

The fact that I have a $20,000 down payment and a flawless credit record seem to mean nothing. So as it stands now I'm going to see what happens on Monday before I go the alternate routes I was considering with either the bank or the credit union who have both been actively pursuing my business. I can tell you one thing the Orange bank should change it's advertising because they're not friendly or remotely helpful. I plan on doing my damnedest to let everyone I know about this experience. Likely won't make a big difference in the long run but it'll make me happy knowing that I may have cost them at least one customer.


PS - I'm closing my accounts with them on Tuesday regardless.