Recently, I called the bank’s loss mitigation hotline and found out that the bank had closed our application for a modification because it did not receive some new documents that it decided it needed. (Utility statements, which the bank is not entitled to as utility payments are not included in FHA-HAMP calculations).
I asked to speak to a manager immediately and the rep put me into someone’s voicemail. Surprisingly, that person called me back later the same night. He gave me his last name and everything!
Then he asked for additional documents, the workout package, the hardship affidavit, the pay stubs.
...
In short, everything that had been provided to the bank at least ten times before. When I explained that we had already done this exercise at least ten times, he said he would make sure it got to a loss mitigation processor if I could give him everything all at once. I agreed to do this but demanded the name of the manager in the loss mitigation department to whom he would be sending this packet. Surprisingly, he gave me a name.
Maybe now. Maybe now we’re on a path to success but I’ve looked at the experiences everyone else has had and I no longer hold out much hope that simply applying for the modification and meeting all the qualifications will be enough because that is how the banks and their servicers roll.
They play dirty pool. They take taxpayer money. They sign contracts with the government to participate in the homeowner rescue programs. And then they string homeowners along until they can foreclose costing those homeowners their credit and all the equity they’d put into those homes. And then the foreclosed homes sit on the market for months. And then maybe a string of foreclosures drives down the value of the entire neighborhood. And then the remaining homeowners in that neighborhood find themselves in houses worth less than what they paid. And so it goes.
Despite all of this, I will keep fighting because I still believe this is a fight we can win.
Government links:
http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/nsc/ml0923qa.pdf
http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD/topics/avoiding_foreclosure
http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD/topics/avoiding_foreclosure/workingwithlenders
http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/nsc/rep/hampfact.pdf
http://www.occ.gov/ftp/release/2010-69a.pdf
http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/nsc/faqlm.cfm
Stories:
http://www.shamethebanks.org/
News:
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/avoiding-foreclosure-americans-fight-back-record-bank-repossessions/story?id=11388623
http://www.csmonitor.com/Money/new-economy/2010/0811/Unemployed-homeowners-to-get-extra-foreclosure-aid
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-12/foreclosure-crisis-spreads-across-u-s-as-defaults-jump-in-idaho-illinois.html
http://www.housingwatch.com/2010/08/03/hamp-program-success-rate-much-lower-than-first-reported/
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0622589320100807
http://loanworkout.org/2008/07/foreclosure-related-suicide-and-murders-on-the-rise/
http://www.scpr.org/news/2010/07/22/homeowners-stranded-loan-modification-limbo/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-zombeck/serving-your-country-bank_b_671833.html
Class Action Lawsuits:
http://loanworkout.org/2010/01/indiana-couple-seeks-class-action-against-gmac-for-failed-loan-modifications/
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/global-filipino/08/06/10/struggling-us-homeowners-sue-lenders
http://www.legal-aid.org/en/mediaandpublicinformation/inthenews/civilpracticefileslawsuittohelphomeowners.aspx
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