One of the worst banking experiences I've ever had. We originally banked with Howard Bank, where the service was excellent. But since First National Bank took over, the quality has dropped significantly. Every time I visit, there are three or four employees standing around without greeting customers or even smiling. Whenever I have a question, no one seems to know the answer. On one Saturday, I couldn't access my safe deposit box because the only person who could open it wasn't available. Calling the bank is equally frustrating--no greetings, no assistance. I'm planning to close all my accounts and switch to a better bank soon. read more

After a horrendous experience trying to get a PPP loan for our business with Bank of America (our bank for 16 plus years), we reached out to LeNora and Howard Bank. She was so understanding and responsive. She made the loan process seamless and we were approved for the loan within 5 days. Howard Bank has taken the lead to make sure the Loan Forgiveness process is easier for the customer. Howard Bank has all the products we thought were only possible with a big bank. But unlike Bank of American we can call at any time and speak to a friendly voice. We can put a name to a face as opposed to relying on someone different by phone every time to give us a nonspecific, generic, and negative response. We have a great working relationship with LeNora and Howard Bank Centennial Place. I was so pleased; I transferred my personal account as well. read more

Having commercially banked with a bank I will call "The Devil" following 2008 construction crash, Howard Bank is A mazing. The tellers are kind, honest, professional and fun. The Manager is the BEST. She knows my name. She understands my business. She actually calls me to be helpful, not to push a product. No, I don't drive through. I like to walk in and speak to real people that help me and my business. Thank you Howard Bank. read more

Howard Bank EC is my 'Friendly Neighborhood Bank'. Banks have rules. We all know that, but because my branch knows me, they were able to help me out of a real jam. The big banks would've laughed at my request, I am sure. Thank you Howard Bank, EC, and thank you Ginger, for the white glove service only a Neighbor could give. Dr. J. read more

Ever since the merge, this bank has gone downhill rapidly. The are extremely unfair with all of their services and they will never offer to resolve an issues when they are on the good side of the fence. It doesn't matter how many phone calls you make, how many reviews you fill out, or how many times you ask someone from the bank to call you about a dispute you are having, you will NEVER receive a call back. You will never be offered the opportunity to tell your side of the story. AVOID THIS BANK AT ALL COST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11 read more

Wendy Krouse at Howard Bank worked tireless for me and many other clients to ensure our businesses stayed operational during the economic turmoil caused by the pandemic. With patience and persistence, Wendy and Howard Bank navigated the evolving federal regulations, provided counseling and reassurance, and ultimately got us funding to help us avoid difficult personnel decisions.  For those who struggle to understand why you choose a community bank over a larger institution, please remember:  it is easy for banks to support you when times are good, but Wendy and Howard Bank provided support during bad times when the support was needed most.  Howard Bank truly cares about us. Your efforts are recognized and appreciated! read more

Bad!!! Inquired on a home equity loan and felt like I was being reprimanded and counseled because I had credit card debt, which Is why I was looking to consolidate. The girl Catherine was asking 20 questions that I don't feel were necessary. Things like, why do I have credit card debt in the first place, do I pay more than the min payment, am I able to put any money away in savings after I pay my bills each month, how did o get in this situation, etc. I told her to cancel my interview/ application and I will proceed with another lender, Spring EQ! read more

Stay as far away from this outfit as you possibly can. Started a loan with them. I have 790 credit score, I was trying to borrow 1/3 of the value of a property I own free and clear. Started the process, paid for the appraisal then they just kept asking for the same information over and over. They fired my loan officer, then changed the terms later. After 5 months, I finally gave up, kissed off my appraisal money and went elsewhere. Was approved and closed in 30 days. Their directors openly laughed and humiliated me. This outfit is a disaster. Avoid at all costs. read more

Howard Bank Review Lies and Deceit - Bad Banking - STAY AWAY I've been a home owner for 8 months - FHA First Time Buyer. Based on some internet research, I went to Howard Bank to perform a refi on my home. They assigned David Orban to my refi. David made a lot of statements over the course of several months that turned out to be false. All documented in email. I can send a timeline of emails / dialogue which chronicle the major events that occurred during my 2 month refi process. Several emails indicated would be receiving a FHA refund on MIP - which ended up being false. Last minute - MIP was rolled into my closing as a credit. Contrary to what was told to me in multiple emails. Next, I received several "congratulation" emails that my loan would close... Delay after delay it was not closed as promised. Took Howard Bank over two months to close my "streamline" refi. Howard Bank's repeated delays caused my US Bank payment to go into "late" status. Late fees and collection phone calls / letters ensued from US Bank. Was promised multi times that escrow would be sent 7 days after closing. It's now 20+ days since closing and I have no escrow monies. David should not make promises he can't deliver on or has no knowledge of. Again, I was told via email, that I needed to bring a cashier's check to closing for $1622.52 on 12/16. Later the same day, via email, David told me that I needed to bring a $2000 cashier's check - I never did get a good explanation for the last minute increase in fee/closing cost. Furthermore, again, last minute... on 12/16 I was told that I need to pay my home owners insurance for 1yr. $961. I informed David of my new home owner's insurance company a month prior (11/25) and sent him the policy. Apparently, they forgot to add it to my refi and didn't feel like re-writing all the numbers. To them it was easier to track me down and make me pay a years' worth of home owners insurance before they would complete my refi. Ultimately the lack of integrity within this bank falls upon Mary Ann Scully. The CEO should strive to instill a sense of accountability and responsibility in her employees. Her staff cannot be allowed to misrepresent facts on loans. Her employees must be held responsible for claims made against her bank. Customer should not have to suffer because of Howard Banks gross miss representation of facts. A deep forensic audit of the loan processes and customer communications should be performed to ensure Mary Ann's bank is following all the procedures mandated by the government agencies they represent and profit from. It is also shameful when Mary Ann's vice presidents admit to wrong doing yet provide no road map for corrective action and customer remediation. Bad Banking. read more

The Appraisal fee of $520 is rather high and they don't LOCK the quoted rate until AFTER the appraisal thus rendering the quoted rate useless and a distraction. read more

Howard Bank acquired my account when NBRS was forced to shut their doors. Since then I have felt like a second hand citizen. I still have a NBRS debit card, although Howard Bank has been in charge of my account since October 17, 2014. So, when I attempted to make an ATM deposit, their system did not recognize me as a banking customer. The ATM did not provide a deposit option. I ended up dropping off my deposit into the night deposit box. No big deal. Then, I attempted to make a different deposit inside the bank. The check was made out to my husband (who is also listed on the account). I attempted to deposit this check endorsed as FOR DEPOSIT ONLY. I was told that this was not acceptable. I had to have my husband's signature as an endorsement. So, I walked three buildings down to PNC, where I also have an account and they were happy to assist me with my deposit. The final straw just occurred when my husband's payroll deposit was kicked back to his employer because Howard Bank has a policy of closing accounts that have a $0 balance for more than three days. (This is a secondary account where we put our mortgage payment aside). I am okay with this if I had known. I have not received one shred of documentation from Howard Bank since their take over informing me of their policies. I was willing to give a small town bank the benefit of the doubt, but this is ridiculous. If they want to compete with the bigger banks, they need to improve communication and invite NBRS customers into their Howard Bank family. For me, now, that would be similar to a horrible Thanksgiving dinner with creepy Uncle Larry. No thanks. read more

I called and asked if they could match an existing offer I received from another bank. The service rep was 100% honest and told me He would probably give me the same loan and I'd have to start the whole loan process over again and pay for another appraisal etc. His honestly meant a lot and if I wasn't so far along in my other loan process I would have given them my business. read more

Next time I will stick with the local bank with the higher rate. Not work the 6 weeks hassle.

Very deceptive...sneaky. We were looking to do a cash out-Refi. We went to Lending Tree to find a good company to work with. There were great reviews on Howard Bank. They must have all been false! Initially they were saying we could get $20K Cash out. Then when we paid $520 for a faulty home appraisal, which scored lower than what it is worth. After this 'fake' appraisal, they said we could only get $7,500 cash out. Typical bait and switch operation. We feel the appraisal wasn't correct because it didn't include comps with the acreage we had, nor did it include updated and remodeled properties, that had an outbuilding. We had initially asked if we could choose an appraiser and they said 'no' because of Dodd-Frank regulations. We'd have to let them choose one. Whaaat? Ok??? Then it was 6 weeks of submitting tons of paperwork over and over again, that was never right. It seemed like they wanted to drag this out as long as they could. The last few weeks, they wouldn't call us back or email when we had questions. Initially they called us back all the time but after they got our $520, we were last on the list. They finally did call and said they couldn't do it because of our debt to income ratio. OK, well they had all our financials from the beginning and they waited that long to tell us? We didn't use our credit cards like they told us, so our debt did not change. They asked for tons of banking information proving our income was very much higher than last year's tax return. We also submitted a yearly income statement they wanted (because we are a small business) but they didn't take that income in account. Why ask for it then??? Why ask for all of our banking deposits and income info if they weren't going to include it? They wasted our time and money. They were deceptive every step of the way. Do NOT get involved with this bank (the branch on Columbia) read more

I used Lending Tree to get offers for a $50,000 cash-out finance of a rental property we own free and clear. After 3 weeks of sending documents back and forth to Howard Bank, I was told that I needed my 2017 taxes to finalize the loan. Federal guidelines they said. I told them that it would be 4-5 weeks until I could get our taxes back from the accountant. No problem they (Chris M) said. So my accountant worked her tail off to get my taxes back early and I sent them to Howard Bank the same day I received them. That's when Chris informed me that they had cancelled my loan (after a 4 week delay for the taxes) and that they also did not handle mortgages for less than $100k anymore. I told him 'no thanks'. So then he immediately follows up with the brilliant idea that I refinance my primary home. Even if I had the $100k equity in my home, I would NOT work with this lender again. I don't have all the time in the world for lies and run arounds! Stay away from this company! read more

Stay away from this bank, I would give them 0 stars if I could. Nothing but lies, told me closing cost would be about $3200 it was $6000. Told me it would close in approximately 3 weeks it was 6 days from being 2 months. I would give documents they requested which was a lot and they would misplace them or say they never received the items. The broker, Michael Krach would not respond to my emails until I emailed a second time asking him if he received it. Michael also told me the funds would be disbursed the day after closing and said he gave title company a copy of my voided check. Four days later I called the title company after not having the funds and they did not have the voided check to make the deposit and advised funds could not be deposited until this day because they just received the closing documents. The only reason I stayed with them was because I did not want to pay another appraisal fee to start over, which is where these companies get you. Please do your thorough research before choosing a bank, this experience has been a nightmare. read more