La Trobe Financial Services

I would caution anyone who is thinking about taking a loan with La Trobe financial. They specialize on low doc loans or assisting clients who cannot get their loans with leading lenders. My experience with them is as follows: Got the loan with them… Read more

in June 2023. First red flag was they were only able to send me the contract on a day of the settlement, leaving me with little choice but to sign it without reading the documents properly as otherwise the sale wouldn't go trough. In my opinion they deliberately send the contracts late, so the clients don't have the time to read what they sign for. To begin with there were fees OF OVER $5,000 AUD just for the approval of the loan of 170,000 Aud. During the two years and few months with them, they managed TO INCREASE MY INTEREST RATES twice even when RBA rates stayed the same. Their explanation was sending a generic letter stating rising costs - not explaining what costs in particular - like the high initial interest rate of 7.29% wouldn't cover it?

Later on my financial situation improved significantly so I was confident that requesting moving from low doc to full doc-so lowering my high interest rate to significantly lower wouldn't be a problem. -I had two years of tax returns with significantly higher wages compared to when I asked for the loan -I was nearly $30,000 Aud ahead of my repayments Surely my significantly improved financial situation was enough reason to grant me full doc loan with lower interest rates?? Not with LA TROBE!!! Their lame explanation was focusing on their policies rather than looking at my financial situation. One of the worst things they stated is they cannot take under consideration I'm well ahead on my repayments? Wow, simply incredible!!! So what exactly do they take under consideration??? Refinancing with the other institution and exit fees are another thing La Trobe specialize. While normal refinancing fees with other institutions cost few hundred dollars, La Trobe's goes into thousands. When I finally repaid my loan with them in October this year by selling the house their final bill - exit fees were close to $2,500 AUD.

My recommendation: read the contract, focus on small print, check all the fees they have, check how much will it cost you to refinance with other institutions...

My opinion: Australian government should be looking at these type of institutions and regulate them in a way they are unable to exploit vulnerable customers

Spoke to Rustam Ahmadi late this afternoon and he was very helpful indeed in being able to create a new investment account for my daughter and then transferring my investment account to her. This is in contrast when I phoned earlier today and then later this afternoon and spoke to the same female who was most unhelpful and was a stuck up piece,… Read more ·  1

not wanting to assist at all.

Rustam was amazing, emailed all the forms for me which the female at lunch time promised but never did. Don't think she will receive a staff award this month!

THIS WAS AN INVESTMENT NOT A LOAN

I have been dealing with Evangelos since I opened my accounts! I find him to be most helpful and ready to help. He recently provided me with tickets to the Jimmy Barnes concert, we had a great night and the show was well worth the effort. We would like to thank Evan for thinking of us. I look forward to continuing with you guys and in particular working with Evan. Regards, Peter Alodred Show reply

I have been investing with La Trobe a few years and my account manager Evangelos has given service over his requirements. La Trobe as a company has been a great solid investment and with employees like Evan is a big reason to keep my custom with them. Show reply

**EVERY** Transaction you do with them, a staff member will call you and verbally needs to speak to you. Even if you have a speech disability and told them not to call you! Every deposit, every withdrawal. Over The Top paranoia with security. And they never pay you on the Withdrawl date as they promise. Never invest with them! Show details

I had a loan with La Trobe. I found out that La Trobe would increase the variabale rate several times even when Reserve Bank didn't increase the rate. Therefore I decided to refinanced to another lenders. I was so surprised to know that I had paid nearly $14,000 when refinancing a SMSF to another lender! They have a policy to charge 3 months… Read more

repayment if refinacing within 5 years. My loan has been with them for 4 years. Only the early repayment fee I paid is about $11,371. La Trobe did send me a letter with all the figures, but written word wouldn't make people alert. If someone from La Trobe called me regarding the big payout figure, I wouldn't refinance. I feel like being robbed. Terrible experience. Should never do any loans with La Trobe.

Avoid this company.....Terrible service for SMSF investment loans - currently charging us 11.8% on our loan and even our broker could not bring this excess rate into line with other lenders sub 6%. Show details

Evangelos Blatsis has been a pleasure to deal with at La Trobe Financial Services. Making life easier by simply following through to make sure my accounts run smoothly. If you are thinking of placing your funds in a safe and reliable company, I would highly recommend this company for performance and continued service with the necessary documentation on a regular basis. Show reply

Could not be happier with this term investment account and my Account Manager, Evangelos Blatsis, not only have the rates and returns been excellent but the customer service is outstanding. He has always gone above and beyond to ensure the best outcome for my benefit whilst always being professional, supportive and transparent. Highly recommend La Trobe Financial Services and Evangelos Blatsis. Show details ·  1

Laura Lie, was so patient with with me when i wanted to change my investments she sorted every thing out for me excellent customer service . Thank you Laura Gaile Dwyer Show reply

I have been with La Trobe for over 10 years, i have a housing loan with them. I always found them very helpful and approachable, especially when i was having some personal issues. The big banks that i had used in the past, were never really approachable , and they certainly were not flexible like La Trobe. I am very happy with their service and would recommend them. They have been a good partnership for me. Show details ·  1

I had the absolute pleasure of working with (A) from Latrobe Financial Services, and I can honestly say it was an exceptional experience. From the very first interaction, they were polite, respectful, and genuinely approachable, which immediately put me at ease. Their service was outstanding, thorough, attentive, and always professional, yet they… Read more ·  1

also made the whole process feel simple and stress-free. It’s rare to come across someone who is not only highly skilled but also genuinely cares about the people they’re helping. (A) made what could have been a complicated process feel effortless and they are truly a credit to the company. Keep up the amazing work, Latrobe is lucky to have you

STAY AWAY!!! AVOID THEM LIKE THE PLAGUE!!! Worst experience of my life with a SMSF loan, I was with them for 3 1/2 years and am so happy to see the back of them. Recently I asked for an interest rate reduction as my interest rate as it was over 3% higher than anywhere else, they told me their fee for doing this is $750 and they would reduce 1/4… Read more

of a percent, every month on top of their nearly 10% interest charge, they charged me an extra $15 account fee. About 6 months ago I put a lump sum of $15,000 onto my loan, they charged me $150 when I did this and when I refinanced and left them a few days ago I was ahead by just over $14,000, they had eaten into my advance payment of nearly $1,000 in 6 months, their fees are beyond excessive, and their exit fees are nothing short of extortion!!! I don't know how they are allowed to get away with this. I will be asking a lot of questions about this organisation!!! Lucky for me I was able to get away from them!!!

La Trobe remained one of the few institutions who provided the service we required for our SMSF - and they were transparent, prompt and helpful throughout. Customer service is obviously high on their agenda - all dealings over the years were dealt with courteously and efficiently. Thankyou again for a positive banking experience which achieved our desired outcome - D. Gilroy. Show details ·  1

Answered phone within seconds. I wanted to add another term deposit to my other super fund term deposit and was talk through by the consultant and this took a total of less than 2 minutes. How amazing. Wish more companies were like yours. They can take a leaf out of your book. Old fashioned service. Thankyou for making my life easy. A1 Show reply

Paying down a loan early is difficult and very expensive. They do not pass on cash interest rate cuts. They do increase their interest rates on existing loans whenever they feel like. I could not have guessed the years of pain I would endure when I first took out a reasonable loan with them. They have taken advantage of their borrowing clients… Read more

during rate rises. Once started, you are trapped. Staying with them is very expensive and moving to a better lender is also very expensive. Don't be fooled by what seems a reasonable starting contract. This lender is to be avoided at all costs.

Shout out to Gavin Robinson! We are deeply grateful that you jumped in to assist this urgent application to meet the finance condition. You have been always efficient and willing to assist for all our files. Once again, thank you. Show details ·  1

Our BDM, Paris, has been incredibly helpful and approachable throughout the process. While applying for a loan can often be stressful, Paris's support made it much smoother and more manageable. We look forward to working together again. Show details ·  1

Great for investing your money. Great interest rate, pay on time every time and pay you out when requested. Particularly like their 12 month investment strategy. I think the negative reviews are from people who have a bad credit rating, could not get a loan approval or charged a high interest rate as they are a risk. So been investing with them for 5 years and are very, very happy! Show reply

Worst lender i have ever seen in my entire career, we have been doing property development for over 15 years not and never have i come across a lender inflexible, to give you a brief example - they charged us Loan fee 3 times ($24K in total) talking about triple dipping (every progress payment stage they wanted a valuation done $2300 x 6 times -… Read more

go figure) and lots more other "extra charges" extremely inflexible. DO NOT USE THESE SCAMMERS IF YOU DONT HAVE TO !!

Very poor service , they can’t even set up the password to have online excess . First time I have gone to small lender but regreting it big time . Their service is pathetic and taking months to just set up a simple password to get online excess that I have given up . Don’t waste your time to go through with these guys as you will find plenty of good lender in the market . Show details

Is it normal to have a house loan over 40 years for 64,000 at 8.06% Pa and its going to cost me over 250000 dollars and have only paid off 8 thousand in 17 years and pay fortnightly and an extra 90 dollars a fortnight on top

Great service and reliable payments – As an investor they always pay the agreed interest on time and l have a personal consultant there who is very helpful, great service and assistance. Show details ·  1