My sister and her husband applied for a home loan of Rs 15, 00, 000. Both of them are Class A officers in govt., with excellent credit rating. The property is overvalued by the registrar at Rs 40 lakh, but the decided price is Rs 20 L, so there will be disputes with the govt on stamp duty. The ICICI agent and manager were told about this clearly, and still the loan was sanctioned. My sister spent 30, 000 on stamp papers and processing fees.
On the day of registration, at the registrar’s office, the ICICI fellow brought the cheque, but refused to give it, on the plea that my sister is trying to cheat on stamp duty and he has to protect the interests of his bank. This was too much, as the whole issue has been explained clearly to them in advance. The fellow replies, ’’I am a lawyer, I dont know what you told the Manager’’ an excellent organization where the right hand does not know about the left hand! The seller was an aged lady who had come 500 miles for this registration. FInally we returned without buying the property, and lost 30, 000 in the process.
We felt very belittled- after all there are many other banks. I was one of the vociferous advocates of liberalization and privatization, but I am not sure now- the PSU bank may make you run for six months, but it would never drop you at the last moment, insulting in front of the whole world.
We were saved by another private sector finance - TVS Home Finance. Please read my review about it also.
Gopalan_evr@yahoo.com