They are sent along to the consumer, who can accept one and close with the selected lender directly. Right now, LendingTree is trying to get people to shoot for more than one product at a time. The person must apply and qualify for both the mortgage and the credit card, then submit some paperwork to LendingTree. After that, the consumer gets either a credit on the card for the bonus amount or a rebate check. Quicken Loans, which is a division of the Quicken software-making company, Intuit Inc., has opted for rebates as well.
Customers get the money in the form of a check about two months after closing.
E-Loan Inc. , meanwhile, doesn't even make consumers wait for their money. It's giving out free appraisals at closing. This is a fairly common practice among lenders, who don't want borrowers to apply for free, pay to process those borrowers' applications and then watch those customers hop to other companies for their loans. But at closing, the borrower can put that money toward anything, including other closing costs or a rate buy-down. E-Loan eats the cost of the appraisal.