HomeStreet Bank Seattle Branch

Just completed our mortgage with Danny Meier, and WOW! We have done quite a few mortgages over the last few years, and going in I cringed to think about having to deal with another broker. Danny changed all that! Everything went smoothly, on time, we were well informed at every step of the process, Danny and his team got back to us very quickly, and when asked what they could do better I couldn’t come up with anything. We are extremely happy with the entire process and I would personally recommend Danny to anyone considering a mortgage.

My family and I chose HSB as the mortgage lender for our first home purchase. The mortgage professional and team were supportive, professional, and ultimately successful in getting us a competitive rate and overall mortgage.
The online and mobile banking are the worst I have used in the financial services category!
If you expect general online account access and basic tools to manage your account (s) you will be as disappointed as we are. The operational systems are designed in such a way that you will have to make repeated visits to branches and calls to customer service. In the summer of 2015 they promised changes but there remain large gaps in the online offering before they are modern and competitive. Just a few basic examples of poor tech product and user experience:
1) Two separate logins required for the same site: one for loans and a second for personal accounts. This is a problem because the username and password rules for each login are different which prevents HomeStreet bank from syncing with
, not to mention difficult to remember and thus prone to lockout (See example #3).
2) No access to change/​update/​edit ACH online or mobile app, have to FAX requests, FAX?!
3) No access to change password online or via mobile app, have to call customer support which is only open 20^th century banking hours, M-​F 8am-​5pm PST
4) No loan account access via mobile app only checking and savings account
I don’t normally write reviews but I have wasted enough time with HSB just trying to manage my account that the 10 minutes I used to write the review seems totally worth it if it helps just one potential customer make a more informed decision.

My home mortgage was paid off weeks ago to Homestreet, but they still haven’t refunded my escrow account overage of $ 400.00! Every time I call/​send email, I get a different answer. I think they are just deliberately dragging their feet to hang onto MY money as long as they can.

I was referred to Eric Aasness at Homestreet (I think he is in the Southcenter Branch) to help with securing a home loan. I have to say that I am not new to obtaining large loans, or buying real estate and Eric was by far the best professional I have worked with in this regard. I would wholeheartedly refer him to anyone looking to finance or refinance a real estate loan. As a result of my most recent acquisition, I am switching many of my business bank accounts to Homestreet (Ballard Branch). They seem to be much more up to date than a lot of other smallish banks such as Banner and Umpqua. I have had accounts at Bank of America, Viking (the best, but now closed), American West (the worst), Umpqua and Banner. Bank of America is the most user friendly, but a lot of us small business owners shy away from the huge corporate banks. Looking at Homestreets capabilities, they seem like a good fit.

Always helpful with my commercial real estate account. I like the personal touch.

I’m giving HomeStreet’s website a 1-​star rating. I’ve never encountered such a poorly designed financial website with limited capability (unable to even perform mailing address changes) and unintuitive navigation (especially the navigation between the loan page and the login page.) We shouldn’t have to read sentences to find the word «continue» to login. Also, the online payment system is unreliable. This design is decades behind other banks and lenders. I really hope there is an internal effort to launch a site with enhanced capability and navigation.

I had a dental office I used end up taking nearly $ 300 off my debit card last year in 2014 without my authorization or permission for a balance on a dental bill I owed (I didn’t even know they had it on file).
Even though it took a week to get the money returned to my account, Homestreet’s Ballard location off Holman Road was very helpful in this process.
I do have to say that depending on what you need, their call center can be hit or miss – and typically includes long hold times. If you want to get something done, it’s probably easier to step foot inside your closest branch.
Even though I opened up my account at the Wedgewood branch, I’ve typically found the Fremont and Ballard locations to be the best customer service wise. I’d advise staying away from the one downtown as they haven’t been very helpful in the past.
While I can’t comment on the Simplicity Bank acquisition as I wasn’t one of those customers, I do think that the recent spate of angry Simplicity bank customers have skewed Homestreet’s star rating on Unilocal,and at worst Homestreet should deserve three stars, not two. I gave them four simply because over-​all they’ve been helpful the past four years.

Really worked a miracle for me. Bank of America waited until 3 weeks before closing to deicde they couldn’t actually fund me after all. Went through about 6 different banks, everyone turning me away because even though I had a good credit score, my credit history wasn’t long enough (I’ve only been out of college for a year). Home Street got my loan funded by slightly increasing my down payment (7% instead of 5%), none of the other banks would give that as an option. Amid all of the drama of scrambling for a new bank, two cash back up offers were put in on the condo. Home Street rushed all of my paperwork and I got to close on time. Superb customer service and very willing to talk me through all the steps with any questions I had since this is my first time buying a home. Ken Allen and his assistant Kevin are absolutely great people to work with.
Very very happy with HomeStreet. Really went above and beyond for me.

I was a Simplicity customer switched over to Homestreet. The weekend they merged computer systems, my ATM card was compromised, could not log in to my accounts. Had to go to the branch in Downey, waiting in line with the other customers have problems with the switch for 30 mins
I understand there will bugs to work out but most of them should be worked out before the switch. When you call customer service, they give you one answer, when that doesn’t work, you call again and get no we cant do that yet.
The teller at Downey are great they have been there since it was Kaiser Federal. I closed my accounts because I cant pay my car payment online, to get a new ATM card they have to mail it to you and then your pin # will be mailed a few days later??? With Simplicity, you could get a new ATM at the branch that same day and I was able to transfer money from my checking account to my car loan account any time.

I wish I could give this bank and it’s employees NEGATIVE stars. This is the WORST bank I have ever done business with. This bank bought Simplicity Bank, so unfortunately my account was moved here.
Ever since they’ve taken over my account, I have not had 1 good experience. From not being notified of the change, to not being able to find my account at the branch, to LONG hold times of 30 minutes or longer, being transferred 5 times ONLY to find out that the customer service reps have NO IDEA what you are talking about. I’ve been promised by several employees to get a call back and no one ever returns phone calls. 1 employee assured me she would send me an email on my issue never received it. THIS IS THE WORST BANK EVER!!!
I made a payment on a loan and the payment does not reflect in my account. When I called to find out what was happening, I had to talk to 5 different people who all sounded clueless on the phone. They don’t know what they are talking about, put me on hold for a total of 2 hours throughout the morning and STILL could not figure out where my payment went!!! How’s that for a bank??! If they are trying to make Simplicity customers happy they are failing miserably. As soon as my issue is resolved, I am taking my money, closing my account and NEVER doing business with this bank again.
I have informed all my co-​workers what terrible service and incompetence this bank has. I will also be telling all my friends and family. My advice to anyone interested in this bank or current customers of this bank is take your money and RUN!!! There are so many other banks out there that value your business and know what they’re doing. GO THERE instead!

* As a heritage HomeStreet Bank client, I am compelled to come to the bank’s defense in this apparent challenging merger with Simplicity. I can definitely understand the frustration as I have undergone similar bank mergers as a customer (Wamu to Chase), however, once the kinks are ironed out, I think many of you will find HomeStreet to be the staple of West Coast community banks. I can’t think of a locally based bank that’s more integrated and active within its community.
HomeStreet’s employees throughout Seattle have always been outstanding and have an impeccable reputation in the neighborhoods the bank has offices in. The Queen Anne, Madison Park and Fremont branch staff are always very accommodating and make doing business there a pleasure.
I hope the issues stemming from the merger are sorted out and Simplicity customers start enjoying banking at HomeStreet as much as I do.

HomeStreet Bank just brought out Simplicity Bank and It has been a NIGHTMARE their staff and management in Socal is very uninformed!!! I waited on hold on 3 seprate occations to speak with someone for greater than 30 min, and no one ever answered the phone. I waited in the Downey Branch for over 30 min. and the staff and manager acted like it was their first day in a Bank they were sadly clueless the line was getting longer and longer with very unhappy customer telling each other their stories of Dissatification whit HomeStreet Bank.
I will more than likely be moving my account to another Bank. If first improssions are everything then my impression is that «This HomeStreet Bank will not survive in SoCal if they dont get their Act together FAST». So if you are looking for a new Bank Please pleae Do Not choice this one…

The worst transition ever! Our bank simplicity merged with this bank and it has been nothing but problems. I talked to a few friends and they are also going to also be closing their accounts. The bank call center has no clue what they’re doing. Good thing I have another bank already so it won’t be hard for me to take my money and say goodbye.

Just like some of the others, I cannot give this bank even 1 star. I was also from Simplicity Bank, and my husband is a Kaiser employee. Yesterday, I noticed an unauthorized charge in our checking account. I sat on hold for probably an hour to get through to someone on the phone. Finally, I was able to and I explained the situation. She said that she could email me a form that I fill out, and send in. Then, they would look into it. I confirmed the email address with her, and she said it would be sent. Guess what? They never sent it!
So, then I tried to email them. Nope. No answer…
Today, I noticed my husband’s paycheck is not correct. He has the stub. $ 200 of it is supposed to go into our savings account. Well, they got the checking correct. Nothing in our savings account, though! So, we have $ 200 that is just missing.
Once again, I’m back on the phone waiting for someone to answer. I’m so very frustrated, and just want to find another bank at this point. I need our paycheck issue resolved, as well as this unauthorized charge. It is a BIG deal to us.

My previous bank has just merged with HomeStreet Bank and I could not access my account online for a week and when I called 5 times each time it was clicked off automatically after 5 min. I could not use my credit card via PayPal since it doesn’t recognize the credit card… It has been a sheer nightmare ever since the merger and this change has caused me a great deal of frustration and disappointment. I will close my account, It’s totally not professional in handling this transition.
This has been the absolute worst banking experience ever!!!

I would not even give it one star. Home street took over simplicity bank and they were not ready for the change. All transaction details are gone. Not pre notification. You can not get thru on the phone lines. The on line system is glitchy at best
I will be running to a new bank asasp.

Homestreet Bank recently took over Simplicity Bank which is where many Kaiser Hospital employees bank. The 13^th of April was the date that everything went into effect. Phone lines were booked up to the point where you couldn’t get thru if you needed help with some required information. Homestreet has been implementing this takeover for quite sometime and should have been ready with the influx of calls, but wrong. People could not get through and I’m sure that will happen for the next several days. Shame on you Homestreet you should have had your act together

I would not be in my new home today if it wasn’t for Barry V, Gretchen and the team at Homestreet! Barry showed me a path to finance a jumbo mortgage in a way that made sense for my specific situation when two other mortgage agents at other banks couldn’t figure it out. The result was that I got more home for the same monthly payment, and a 30 year fixed at a great rate! I highly recommend asking Barry for guidance, especially if you are in a situation like I was where you have great credit and are seeking a jumbo, but don’t necessarily want to put 20% down. Barry and Gretchen were both hugely helpful throughout the process, and moved mountains to make my loan come to life. Thank you both!

I wanted my mortgage to be with a local company, so I went with HomeStreet over other (cheaper) lenders. Two years in they’ve sold my loan to another company.
Now I’m locked in a long-​term financial relationship with a bank in Virginia with a history of abusive mortgage servicing practices!
I’ve never had a more disappointing interaction with a bank and most certainly will not do business with HomeStreet ever again.

Originally, we were going with Wells Fargo and now we wish we had stayed with them. We were referred to this loan officer, Patrick at WFB and he was switching his employment to Homestreet. We thought it would be great to go with a smaller bank — give them an opportunity over the large corporate banks for a change.
Unfortunately, the switch might have been a feather in HIS cap but a mess for us. While we were told that we should «sign the docs to get them through» and «changes could be worked out later» this was NOT the case. The entire process was extremely sloppy and since we both work challenging jobs, communication was poor, especially while Patrick was still at WFB and the loan was going through at Homestreet.
Add to this it was a second (vacation) home so although the rules should have been clear to begin with, they were murky. We were very specific about what we needed/​wanted right from the start but during and after the process, learned things that were a surprise to us but were told that we had been informed previously. OK, we are not that old & forgetful and as Judge Judy says, if it doesn’t make sense, then it isn’t true.
Add to that the title company used, which was absolutely incompetent.
Never trust anyone who assures you that if you sign something preliminary or sign anything for that matter, it can be adjusted, edited or changed. Not when you are dealing with a bank. It is simply not true. Also, although this officer seemed knowledgeable about this particular loan, he was not. Everything should have been discussed in person and terms should have been presented to us before any docs were sent to us to sign.
Loan officers are professionals. They are supposed to be there to help and guide you. But this experience is why banks get a bad name and are not trusted. This is why banks are so disliked. They truly are all about the money. Disgusting and shameful.