Flanagan State Bank Flanagan IL, Flanagan, IL

DO NOT use this bank for VA Mortgages!! I applied to this bank several years ago for a VA Cash Out Refinance Mortgage to consolidate debts on a house I purchased and rehabbed. The loan officer and staff sat on my application for 6 weeks and still could not even verify income and employment when all paperwork was submitted with the initial application. I found out later from a different mortgage professional that I would not have even qualified for that type of VA mortgage under VA guidelines. The Bank NEVER mentioned this while dragging out my application process unnecessarily. This caused me great financial harm. I tried to reason with the management in order to help my situation, but they were totally uncooperative. I filed a civil suit against them in court. I could not afford an attorney; however, I followed all rules, provided evidence and showed all respect to the legal system. The first attorney for the Bank lied to the court about relevant information, encouraged the loan officer from the Bank to lie on his affidavit and then had a private conversation with the judge to influence the court's decision at a critical juncture. I complained to the ARDC and the attorney quit the case, left the law firm and disappeared without any answer to the court or the ARDC. The second attorney lied to the court, withheld evidence that would show he was lying and had the loan officer give another perjured testimony! The biased judge that the first attorney coerced continued ruling in the Bank's favor for the entire four years of the lawsuit. At the end, I sent all information to the Bank president to explain how their attorneys handled this case. She never responded, meaning she was OK with her attorneys acting unethically and unprofessionally as long as the Bank wins the case. All this Bank cares about is its own outward show to get more business. They have shown total ineptitude when processing VA loans by not knowing or following all VA guidelines for proper procedure under the VA Home Loan Guarantee program. If they do make mistakes, you can be assured that those mistakes will be blamed on the applicant, not anybody from the Bank. There is little honesty, integrity or professionalism in this place.

Carla, thank you so much for being open and honest with me and my daughter Chelsea throughout her loan process. I really want to thank you for going above and beyond, with all her questions/ changes, no matter the time or day. Thank you for taking care of her! If I know of anyone in the process of trying to get a loan to purchase a home, I will definitely refer them to you!

We chose them for our mortgage in 2017 because the loan officer we dealt with sold themselves as a small, hometown mortgage lender. The loan officer was always available - even after hours - for questions/guidance throughout the process. This turned out to be the only positive aspect of our experience. They drug out approving our loan over things to do with the house that neither realtor or our family members had heard of approval being withheld over. We had to hire an expensive ($200/hour) structural engineer to look at a small crack in the basement wall. A garage window had to be repaired by the owners... It was frustrating, but we thought it was just because they’re a smaller lender and being extra careful. Finally, we closed on the house. Before we even made our first loan payment, they had already sold our loan to PennyMac - a mega mortgage lender. I found this out via a bill I received in the mail from PennyMac. I thought it may be fraudulent so contacted the bank at which point they told me they had sold my loan and that selling off loans is commonplace. I was surprised they would do this without notifying the customer. When I need help with my mortgage, I call PennyMac’s 1-800 number, go through a telephone tree, and get a different person at every single time. This is a lot different than the relationship/personal touch I expected to have with my mortgage lender when choosing to go with a small institution like Flanagan State Bank. If I could do it over again, I would have gone with a different bank. A close family member didn’t realize this was the bank we had used and used them for buying a house 2 years after we did. They had the same experience we did. Closing was delayed in ways the realtors involved hadn’t experienced before and their loan was sold off right away.

I have been a Flanagan State Bank customer for over 20 years. They have great customer service, and offer everything I’d want from the big banks with all the personal touch and experience of a small bank.

Straight forward home buying experience tbh. Carla was patient and answered any question i had, would recommend.

I recently bought a home and had Mona as my loan originator. She is by far the BEST I have ever worked with. Her communication skills are above standards and you can tell she works hard and cares about her customers.

Great Bank!! They helped me at every part of refinancing during the hardest part of my life. Going through a horrible divorce. And paralyzed completely from a recent accident. Ryan Augsberger came to the hospital and worked with me signing papers and was extremely helpful. Most definitely would recommend them. Great people.

DO NOT use this bank for VA Mortgages!! I applied to this bank several years ago for a VA Cash Out Refinance Mortgage to consolidate debts on a house I purchased and rehabbed. The loan officer and staff sat on my application for 6 weeks and still could not even verify income and employment when all paperwork was submitted with the initial application. I found out later from a different mortgage professional that I would not have even qualified for that type of VA mortgage under VA guidelines. The Bank NEVER mentioned this while dragging out my application process unnecessarily. This caused me great financial harm. I tried to reason with the management in order to help my situation, but they were totally uncooperative. I filed a civil suit against them in court. I could not afford an attorney; however, I followed all rules, provided evidence and showed all respect to the legal system. The first attorney for the Bank lied to the court about relevant information, encouraged the loan officer from the Bank to lie on his affidavit and then had a private conversation with the judge to influence the court's decision at a critical juncture. I complained to the ARDC and the attorney quit the case, left the law firm and disappeared without any answer to the court or the ARDC. The second attorney lied to the court, withheld evidence that would show he was lying and had the loan officer give another perjured testimony! The biased judge that the first attorney coerced continued ruling in the Bank's favor for the entire four years of the lawsuit. At the end, I sent all information to the Bank president to explain how their attorneys handled this case. She never responded, meaning she was OK with her attorneys acting unethically and unprofessionally as long as the Bank wins the case. All this Bank cares about is its own outward show to get more business. They have shown total ineptitude when processing VA loans by not knowing or following all VA guidelines for proper procedure under the VA Home Loan Guarantee program. If they do make mistakes, you can be assured that those mistakes will be blamed on the applicant, not anybody from the Bank. There is little honesty, integrity or professionalism in this place.