Real Life In CT

This is a very distressing report - it’s happening to way too many families

▼ Reshared Post From Brian Dillard ▼

I would appreciate any media coverage in regards to my complaint below. If you know of anyone that can provide media coverage for my issue, please let me know. Despite it being the “holidays” or “holy days” for some, for others, it is a time of grief; especially when your home is being threatened by your bank for NO LEGITIMATE REASON! If you reshare, please ask people to comment on this main post. My head is spinning with all of the responses.

Post was updated below:

I am currently having a problem with my bank Bank of America in regards to my mortgage. Despite NEVER missing a payment, and NEVER being late, I have been placed in their foreclosure department. So how did this all start?  

Two months ago I applied for a home loan modification, based on the HAMP program (Home Affordable Modification Program). This is a program that is supposed to help homeowners who are still paying their mortgage, but need to modify due to changes in income. Bank of America assigned an “account manager” to handle my account; with whom payment arrangements, modifications, and discussions about my mortgage would take place.

From the first time I spoke with her, she referred to my property as being “in foreclosure;” despite never missing a payment. When she has spoken with me, she has had to be repeatedly reminded that I requested a modification of my mortgage, and was NOT in foreclosure. She started each conversation off explaining that the foreclosure proceedings have taken place, and has discussed my “occupation of the property.” 

She also stated that she is the “account manager” in the foreclosure department. After my explanation that I had applied for a modification, and should not be in foreclosure, she placed me on hold (each time), and eventually comes back to the line and say’s that she has seen the notes about my modification and she is part of the “modification department.”

I provided all of the necessary paperwork for a modification almost 2 months ago, and have yet to see any attempt at modifying my mortgage. I spoke with her last week, and was told that the application was not yet submitted to the underwriter, because of the “foreclosure status.” Once again, I had to start over, explaining that I am not in foreclosure, but instead requested a modification of my mortgage.

The very first time that I spoke with her, she was unfamiliar with HAMP, and stated that the best way to modify my mortgage was to stop making payments. This does not seem like legitimate or sound advice, especially coming from the bank that I am making payments to. I believe an attempt at fraud is being made by Bank of America in order to foreclose on my home.

I believe that since I have equity in the property, and because my finances have been laid out according to the HAMP program, delays are taking place to force a foreclosure on my property, rather than a legitimate attempt at modifying my current mortgage.

I have complained and requested that my complaint be escalated, but nothing has been done, after dealing with the same account manager for over 7 weeks. I spoke with Bank of America today, this time, with a different representative, who asked if I had yet to “vacate the property.”

We have made every attempt that we could to modify our mortgage because we are going to keep our home. There is no reason the threat of foreclosure should be used on people that have kept their mortgage in good standing.

This makes NO SENSE, and is really putting a hamper on our attempts at enjoying the holidays. To make it clear, we have NEVER been late, NEVER missed a payment, and NEVER had a problem with the bank PRIOR TO APPLYING FOR A MODIFICATION.

If you are an anti-regulation person that wants to argue, please refrain from turning this into a heated discussion and consider posting elsewhere or keeping your opinions to yourself.

UPDATE 1: To answer some of the questions that I have been asked, I am updating the post. I have not received any official notice in writing from the bank; only verbal communication from their reps over the telephone. I currently bank with the above mentioned bank, and all online access to my mortgage account stopped once I applied for the modification. According to them, it is standard procedure. So, I can only make payments through a specific number, or by mail, but am unable to review my mortgage payment history, etc.

I did not want to wait to get notice in writing before posting about this; I should not apply for a modification and be treated as a non-paying customer. Nor should this have ever come up in the first place since I am current on my mortgage payments. That is what concerns me the most, and why it was so unexpected. I thought it would have been worked out by now, but it is continuing and is making no progress.

I have had a similar experience with a fraudulent bank a few years ago when a home that we were renting was foreclosed on. We attempted to buy the home in a short sale from the owner, but the bank would not sell to us and we lost several of our personal belongings when we were locked out of the property. I won’t share the name of that bank, let’s just say, we were “Chased” out of the home. That was scary then, and we didn’t own that home… This is scarier to us because we have spent a great deal of money for this home, and for the first time in years, we are no longer upside down on the mortgage because we make extra payments every year and the property value has increased.

This morning, before posting this, I filed complaints with ever possible channel I could find; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, FDIC, Federal Reserve, State Attorney General, FTC, and a few others. The purpose of me posting this was to share my story, get suggestions from the wonderful people in my circles, and use this to gain whatever media exposure I could now before it gets worse later. I am afraid that if I waited any longer, it would only get worse.

On a side note, I also requested that my PMI was removed from my payment since I meet the criteria, and was told that they will not take my current value, payments, or length of time under consideration. This would have saved me over $150 per month. PMI is a rip off, and unnecessary because I meet the qualifications to have it removed.

Thank you all for the suggestions and support. I have tried to thank everyone that reshared this, but it is difficult to get to everyone. I appreciate your support. Here is a video response simplifying everything that I wrote above, and thanking everybody for their support:

Watch my YouTube video here: http://youtu.be/6gnz6dTlqyM

UPDATE 2: Bank of America called me today, & I guess now despite my repeated requests that have been ignored, they have NOW decided to escalate my complaint. But guess what? It wasn’t because of all of the things that I filed last week, nor because of the many complaints that I have given to them the past 2 months, it was because of the social media complaints here on Google+.

That is wonderful, but I’m right back to where I started from. They now said that because they took so long and they haven’t done anything on my case for over 2 months I have to resubmit all the documents because they are expired now.

Go figure, especially since this is a common complaint that I see repeatedly from people in my situation. They also said that the application that I filled out on their website, is invalid at this point, because it’s outdated and I have to resubmit that as well. So basically, they’re having me start over from scratch after wasting so much of my time, and the only reason why they’re even helping me at this point, is because I’ve got exposure here on Google+.

Update 3 (December 5th): Bank of America still seems to be screwing around with me. I am getting no help from our federal representatives, nor any of the agency’s suggested. More information can be found below in the comments, or by clicking on the hashtag #saveourhome

Update 4 (December 17th): The response from BofA to my CFPB complaint was basically saying that I was in their foreclosure department. I have now been dealing with a rep: Michael Saad of Bank of America. Do a search, and you will find his name pop up, as he is yet another Bank of America representative known for this type of behavior. I keep resubmitting documents, and he does not return my calls, waits until 2 weeks goes by and I repeatedly call him, to tell me once again that he needs more paperwork. I have given all of the paperwork over and over again, and he says he will not submit for a modification. 

I really need help with this, my attempts are going nowhere, and I am getting increasingly desperate. Please + this post and reshare to help generate more attention. This is really ruining our family holiday at a time where we are already overwhelmed.

Update 5 (December 18th): I read ever response, and ever share that I am tagged on. I appreciate the support on Google+, and have read all of the suggestions. To answer a few questions, as well as get into more detail about the situation, I am adding the following:

I don’t wanna turn this into a “why Google+ is better than facebook post” but I really appreciate the response that I have received from all of you. Thank you! It is a little overwhelming. I’m currently trying to contact local media and following most of the suggestions.

To answer a few questions that I have been asked on several various posts, A modification is different from a refi. With the modification they basically look at reducing your mortgage payment by either extending your loan, lowering the interest rate, or removing PMI (or all of the above); they do this by looking at your current income and expenses. This is a federal program that the banks are supposed to follow.

Because of my current financial situation, and my reduced income (due to being unemployed), there will be no way for me to refinance this property. An apartment is out of the question, because A: I don’t want to just walk away from my home that I’ve spent 30-40k towards, and B: apartments in my area are going to cost two or three hundred more than what my mortgage costs already. For those outside of California, in my area, the average apartment costs about $1700-1800.

There’s only two things that I can do in my situation. Increase my income, or reduce my expenses. I have already done everything I could to reduce my expenses this year while looking for a job. We were both doing great when we bought this home, but I lost my job almost 2 years ago, and I’ve only worked about 3 months in the past two years. My wife’s hours were reduced, so she makes a lot less money as well. This is our home, that we paid for, that we take care of, and we are simply trying to modify the loan which is a standard practice and its supposed to be available to us through the HAMP program.

I have filed every possible federal complaint. I have contacted attorneys, I have contacted the media, I have read countless hours of legal papers and documents, I have have contacted my representatives in congress, who simply referred me to the CFPB, which is basically, from my perspective, a less functional federal version of the BBB. The bank responded to my complaint with vague legalese, basically stating that I am in the forclosure department (there exact statement is somewhere in these comments). So, I have done much more than simply complain on Google+. In fact, I posted a generic version of this story to my circles in October without indicating that it was me going through the problem. I did not want to “come out of the closet” with this issue, because I did not want the focus of my posts to be my personal problems. However, there is little I can do, and I had to use every possible avenue BEFORE I am one of the many foreclosure horror stories.

Update 6 (December 20th): This news video shows exactly what and why Bank of America is doing to my family. They pay and please bonuses to lie and delay modifications to try to push families into foreclosure.

Bank of America Employees We Were Told To LIE To Struggling Home Owners

Update 7 (January 24th, 2014): Bank of America is still screwing me. Despite telling me we were finally moving forward, I got a letter that I never sent the paperwork in October, and they are closing the case and that my mortgage is no longer in review for a modification. The letter also states that I must answer and respond to all notices of foreclosure.

General Note to everyone: Thanks for reading this. I appreciate every response. I deleted a bunch of my comments to make room for more updates, and comments from anyone that is interested. Please review this thread before making similar suggestions. I have taken action on almost every suggestion here, and noted it in the comments and updates. I did not simply ignore what was suggested, I acted on it, and this has been going on since October for me, so I did many things before posting this around Thanksgiving. My battle is far from over… It has only just begun.

Thank you for all of your support, but I am far from finished with this. Please help me keep this exposure going until it is resolved.

It is unfortunate to have my personal business going viral, but I don’t know what else to do. I can’t lose my home.

#saveourhome

http://click-to-read-mo.re/p/5AVk

I enjoy watching videos about the Tiny Houses 
Very creative on how they reuse the materials to make these into living spaces that actually have a lot of style

http://click-to-read-mo.re/p/5Aky

Zoning is supposed to be Local NOT State rule & Most Certainly NOT NGO #UNA21 Planners telling the towns & taking the taxpayers money Dictating the Zoning but when the taxpaying public does not attend the town meetings we get stuck paying the bills while being steam rolled by these groups building stack & pack housing

▼ Reshared Post From S RUEST ▼

“The State Delegated Your Local Zoning Authority”- Regionalism in Plymouth
—
Control of local zoning and land use is a delegated power which may be rescinded at any time under the authority of the State of CT according to Rick Dunne of the CT Valley Council of Governments.

http://click-to-read-mo.re/p/5zQx