Many could have fought back and saved their home, if they only knew the laws that protect them. Often borrowers will reach out to attorneys, for profits and even non-profits for help. Sometimes these people that are attempting to be of service to someone facing foreclosure, are actually being a disservice by missing a key component in the homeowner loss mitigation process.
That key component is predatory lending identification and possible legal resolutions.
Here is a comment from an actual non-profit legal aid attorney in Florida that really sums it up:
April- I am a legal aid lawyer defending foreclosures in Jax. This loan restructuring is still a total state of confusion and it takes all the energy and effort of my office to cut to the quick and get these loans worked out. However you have to have a lawyer to determine legal vs. bogus debt and to make sure that rescission and other borrower rights are not glossed over or missed.
The not for profit profile is the way to go. There are many organizations out there in every community that could access funding and hire a staff attorney and homeownership preservation/foreclosure prevention case managers. Don’t call them counselors. Leave the legal advice and counseling to lawyers. Staff attorneys are not expensive. It is shameful that the housing counseling industry is so polluted. We need to set nationwide industry standards that includes the lawyer layer.
Moe – I 110% wholeheartedly agree with you on this April. I would love to speak with you about this and can use your guidance. I have tried calling you a few times but it’s pretty tough to get through. lol
I work with attorneys as an IC/Mortgage Expert because as you know, many attorneys do not understand the mortgage aspects of the business. There is a huge need just to service the victims of predatory lending. But all focus is being placed on just funding for HUD counselors (which I feel is needed) when there should be large funding support for a firm such as yours and there needs to be one on every major county in America.
Is your firm doing anything on this front or is this your views and a cause your are looking to pursue individually?
WC Prouty - I agree with you almost 100%. Loss Mitigation literature makes reference to non profit “housing counselors”, but the potential client must be informed upon the initial contact that the “counselor’s” advice does not constitute and is not a substitute for legal advice.
I spoke with April, the non-profit attorney and she has to be one of the single most educated and well informed people I have ever met when it comes to fighting foreclosures. She is highly intelligent and knows EXACTLY what she is talking about. She walks the walk and talk the talk. I hope to have many more conversations with her.
I am not bashing non-profits here but there is a key layer missing in their loss mitigation efforts and that key layer is an on site staff attorney who is knowledgeable in mortgage law, predatory lending and debt analysis.
You can’t effectively combat foreclosures if you do not have this service for homeowners. I’m not going to sugar coat this for the non-profits sake. If they plan to EFFECTIVELY fight foreclosures then there needs to be a nation wide standard and attorneys on site or on call at the very least.
Homeowners need to understand the signs of predatory lending and if they think they are a victim, they need to seek assistance for either a legal aid or private attorney that is experienced in mortgage law.
Do not pay a retainer fee for any lawyer. If you have a case, that lawyer should take it on contingency and if they don’t, go to another attorney that will.
Here are the steps I recommend be implemented by all non-profits in addition to their current loss mitigation efforts:
1. ATTORNEY CONSULTATION:
An attorney will also spend up to one hour with each homeowner providing legal advice and discussing available options to make the mortgage affordable such as, but not limited to, getting you out of your current loan (“rescission”), getting new terms for your current loan (“modification”), selling your property to get out of your unfavorable loan (sale, short sale, deed in lieu), or in more severe instances, bankruptcy.
2. AN ASSESSMENT OF YOUR CURRENT LOAN:
● a thorough loan document audit;
● a review of all loan terms for all homeowners;
● a legal case assessment of the homeowners rights; and
● potential solutions to the homeowners mortgage problems.
3. A WRITTEN REPORT OUTLINING:
● whether the loan was done in accordance with state and federal laws;
● the amount the broker and other people made from the loan;
● the terms of the loan in language that borrowers can understand; and
● an assessment of whether the homeowner has legal claims against the lender, broker, or other parties who took part in the mortgage process.
You are so right Moe. There needs to be more and properly equipped legal aid non-profits combating foreclosures. Not mom and pop ran and out of date non-profits. This needs to be a huge organized effort. Right now it’s pieced together and it seems like the non-profits compete for medai attention and are not uniting as one.
I’m glad you share my views on this. Thanks for commenting.
I’m in trouble, and I’m asking for your help.
Wells Fargo Home Mortgag
I’m disabled, and just divorced. My home is my heart — it’s everything and the only thing. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage has been stringing me along for months with promises I keep believing and they never come true. Over and over. I’m reading everywhere they use the exact same tactic to everyone. I’m not special. Yesterday as we were coming to a resolution, Rick Kephart told me he was a man of his word. I’ve been lied to so much I told him, please don’t lie to me. He promised all actions would be stopped, no sheriff sales would be scheduled. Then eight hours later my home was back on the sheriff sale list. During our conversation he finally understood the escrow issue where they have really messed me up. However, my house is what I really need your help on.I’ve had it for 14 years and I’ve almost paid the mortgage off.
I am asking you with all my heart to please intervene? I need someone this mortgage company won’t lie to. It has to be someone they respect. It has to be you. Please.
I’m truly scared. I don’t know who to trust. I’m told one thing and something completely different happens. Please, please help me keep my home. I’ve put every single penny I’ve ever had into my home and I’ve got all my retirement in it. I only owe $65,000 on my mortgage and the home is worth almost $200,000.
I’m begging you throw me a life line!!! A quick step certain not to take too long and WILL SAVE MY LIFE!
The following people are the decision makers:
Cara Heiden
Richard Kovacevich
Mike Heid ALL TOP EXECS IN WF HOME MORTGAGE
Mary Coffin
John Stump
Rick Kephart
Executive Communications
Loan Servicing Supervisor
WELLS FARGE HOME MORTGAGE
MAC X2302-02J
800 S Jordan Creek Pkwy
West Des Moines, IA 50266
515-324-3130
Please step in and talk with this lender. Ask them to forgive the debt. It’s the right thing to do. Something Wells Fargo Home Mortgage needs to learn how to do.
Aren’t lender supposed to be helping us? This lender made an error when the escrowed and the problem has snowballed. But they think I should give up my home.
This property has not been sold.
DOS Case No TOES
11/14/2007 07CV04200 10:00am
Plaintiff Defendant
WELLS FARGO BANK NA, ET AL KELLY L HANSEN, ET AL
Attorney Atty Ph
KOZENY & MCCUBBIN L C 314-991-0255
Newspaper
LEGAL RECORD
First Publication Second Publication Third Publication
10/23/2007 10/30/2007 11/06/2007
I AM IN ABSOLUTE SHOCK!
With all my heart I believed everything you said this morning. You assured me several times that all foreclosure proceedings would stop and a sheriff sale would definitely not be scheduled because we were working on an agreement. You told me because I had so much equity in my house that Wells Fargo really wasn’t worried –their goal was to work with homeowners to help them keep their homes.
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I am in complete shock that this women, Kelly, would have the nerve to ask for a free house. I am a hard working american and if she deserves a free house, I do too!
The problem with America, if you ask me, is that people like her don’t take accountability for their actions. I find it hard to beleive that Wells Fargo, or any other company, would ever try to take someones home. That type of action is not in anyones best interest. Why would a mortgage company WANT to take a house? I mean, come on… They would not be taking payments and they would have to pay for the upkeep.
Sounds to me as if this women, and many others, are out to make the company look bad so they can try to pull a fast one.
Pay your payments, lady! If people like you spent more time figuring out how to make enough to cover your bills (like the rest of us have to) then you would not be in the mess that you are in!
JEFF, WHAT IF YOUR LENDER’S ERRORS
CAUSED YOU TO LOSE YOUR HOME?
FROM KELLY L. HANSEN
ctsmyhon@yahoo.com
Overland Park, KS
Jeff, I agree with you. Everything you said. People who want to keep their homes should buy homes they can afford and make the payments.
Would you consider and post your thoughts on a different side of the situation? After a considerable amount of research, and after reading postings all over the web, and noting the prominent theme in responses to the information I have posted on the web, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage commonly creates escrow errors in prior to perfect mortgage loans. When an anxious home owner contacts customer service for help, over and over they hear promises to correct the errors, but the errors remain. Doesn’t it seem a bit odd to you, that a company as large as Wells Fargo Home Mortgage does not offer any possible way to reach the same Customer Agent twice? So, when promised confirmation letters never arrive, but those ugly letters threatening foreclosure keep coming, a diligent homeowner can never get to the same agent who promised them all the corrections had been made. Instead they are told no record of their call is in their record, homeowner’s everywhere are losing their homes due to their Lender’s mistakes.
In my 14 years has a homeowner, I’ve made one late payment.
Please take a moment to consider the following. If you had a home with over $100,000 in equity you’d worked hard to build up, your mortgage loan was almost paid off, and suddenly a lender errors, errors they acknowledge and promises to correct. But they never do. And they push, never stop pushing, to take your home.
Their own employees confirm this in posts on many sites! Have you ever read consumer sites those I’ve listed below? If not, please take a look. And there are SO many more sites saying the same things about Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.
http://www.ripoffreport.com/searchresults.asp?q5=Wells%20Fargo%20Home%Mortgage&q1=ALL&q4=&q6=&q3=&q2=&q7=&searchtype=0&submit2=Search%21&Search=Search
http://www.planetfeedback.com/index.php?level2=account_public&user_id=659824
HERE IS AN ACCURATE DIPICTION OF MY EXPERIENCE WITH WFHM.
Try to imagine, but try, to be divorced, living on disability, and losing the only thing you have with any equity in you’ve tried to save for retirement?
November, 1993
My original loan, 14 years ago. Advance Mortgage, secured a 5.875%, fixed, 15-year, conventional, Fannie Mae mortgage, #106-1218029978.
Loan Modification
WFHM requests I do a loan modification, but can’t justify why I am required to do so. Why should I have to give up my current, excellent loan? WFHM is the one at fault here.
November, 2006
Wells Fargo Home Mortgage (WFHM) made the first of a series of errors on my home loan. WFHM erred by sending (2) property tax payments and (1) homeowners insurance payment, both of which had already been paid in full by the home owner.
February, 2007
WFHM attempted to increase my monthly payment from $655.00 to $1445.00 to cover their errors! They “created” an escrow account which suddenly had a negative balance in excess of $5,000.00+.
March, 2007
Daily, constant efforts to correct the error were an unbelievable, see-saw, waste of time.
April, 2007
Insurmountable distress and inability to function required a 10 week hospitalization at River Oaks Hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana.
April, 2007
During my hospitalization, WFHM vigorously pursued an illegal default judgment against me.
August, 2007
WFHM received a default judgment against me in the amount of $74,704.66. $10,000 in faulty charges had been added to the true mortgage balance. And, as of this date, December 10, 2007, the default judgment remains on my Public Record.
October, 2007
On October 3, 2007, while WFHM was correcting the errors that had put the home in foreclosure, the home was listed for Sheriff Sale.
FRAUD! Explain to me how WFHM’s mistakes could cause me to lose my home? Many Kansas Laws and consumer protective statutes have been violated. How many other home owners don’t notice errors made on their account because they don’t have time to look deep enough? These mistakes make money for WFHM. And, so do their solutions.
October, 2007
WFHM’s Sharon Cecil, Manager Executive Offices, stepped in. She began removing the incorrect charges, crediting the late, attorney, and sheriff sale fees to correct the balance of my mortgage loan. She promised all foreclosure actions would stop, and she removed my home from the November 14, 2007, Sheriff Sale list.
November, 2007
My credit score has dropped from 640 to 473.
November, 2007
Mr. Todd Boothroyd, Senior Counsel of the Real Estate Division, WFHM, in his November 8, 2007, letter to me, advised all mistakes WFHM had made on my account had been corrected, over $10,000 had been credited back to my account. All negative reports made to all the credit repositories had be reversed and positive remarks were submitted, and all foreclosure actions would stop. All erroneous charges had been credited back to my mortgage account. BUT, I needed to immediately apply for a loan modification (give up my original excellent loan? Why? I hadn’t made any mistakes.) ) but he would resume collection efforts on November 21, 2007, if I didn’t “re-qualify” for a “loan modification.”
AGAIN, I ask Mr. Boothroyd to provide me the legal premise which requires me to do so?
December, 2007 I am disabled. I now receive $914 per month in Social Security Disability. I will never be able to purchase a home again. The equity I’ve built in my home is my only security.
STILL TODAY, WFHM violates consumer protective statutes HUD, RESPA, NAMB, HOEPA, TILA, FOIA, FCRA, FACTA, HMDA, MBA, FDCPA, UDAP, ACORN, CCC, CRC, CRLL, CFED (I reserve the right to add to this list) and state and federal laws in the servicing of my mortgage.
WELLS FARGO HOME MORTGAGE
ATTN: JOY GRIFFITHS
PO BOX 10335
DES MOINES, IA 50306
TEL: 1-800-357-6667
1-866-234-8271
FAX: 515-213-5192
FAX: 515-213-4762
I ask you to please once again try to imagine, you are recently divorced, living on disability ($914 per month.) And by no fault of your own, you are very close to losing the only thing you have in the whole world. How would you feel?
I hear your story but I am a smart enough man to know a few things:
1) The mortgage company would not pay your taxes and insurance if they didn’t need to be paid. I used to work for Citi Mortgage and I know that if you don’t pay your taxes and insurance, the mortgage company has to. The reason is simple… If you don’t pay your taxes your county will place a lien on the property. If you don’t pay your insurance, and the house burns down, the investor is out their money.
I hate when people like you spin a situation to try to get you way. It is absolutely despicable. Get a job your crazy lady and pay your pills!
2) You had to miss more than one payment to be in this situation. A foreclosure is a legal action. An independent judge is involved… You know what that means? The mortgage company couldn’t do “harm” to you without our legal system supporting it. And trust me, if a judge doesn’t think there is a problem with your mortgage company, you would, again, not be in this situation.
You have absolutely no case. Get a job, pay your bills, and STOP (please stop) continuing to damage the American consumers like me who choose to cover their finances and be responsible.
This all boils down to one thing…. You don’t know how to pay your bills. Simply despicable if you ask me.
JEFF, aparently you’re not as smart of a man as you seem to THINK you are.
This fraud is happening to MILLIONS of AMERICANS ALL OVER THE UNITED STATES.
It’s called “MORTGAGE SERVICING FRAUD”
dig up the info on MORTGAGE SERVICING FRAUD, and YOU TOO SHALL SEE YOU ARE ALSO AT RISK OF LOSING YOUR HOME.
Foreclosure could be just right around the corner for you and you don’t even know it.
Now JEFF, don’t BE AN IDIOT!
Do your home work, and study up on the issue before you go Judging people.
Millions of FAMILIES are HOMELESS because of this fraud. AND NO ITS NOT BECAUSE OF THE “ARMS” LOANS PEOPLE SIGNED UP FOR.
Protect your family, or the home of a loved one, and study
MORTGAGE SERVICING FRAUD.
I will be facing foreclosure soon. I did all the right things; called lender,etc. Eventually talked to a lawyer because my loan docs have many TILA violations. The lawyer wanted $2,000.00 for mitigation. Don’t have it. Where do you find a contingency lawyer that will audit loan docs, mitigate and do recission.
I am a victim of predatory lending and have been more than one time. On a refi of $350,000 there were fees of $12,000 and TILA violations such as an unsigned recission page. Had a FICO in upper 700′s and got an interest rate of 8.25%. Still have no money for loan doc audit.
I agree with contingency lawyers comment. I talked to a lawyer that appears everywhere on predatory lending boards, he wants $2,000 for audit and supposedly you get this back if he proceeds to recission. My family just finished with a workers compensation case that lasted seven years (the reason we are facing foreclosure). but this was done on a contingency. Foreclosures willl create a new class of millionaires (lawyers and scam foreclosure specialists).
i am in a chapter 13 at this time i am behind on my morage they raised my payments what can i do i have been in my home for 27 years i have little or no equity my home means the world to me what can i do please please help me lydia
i need help to save my home what can i do we our behind on our morage they have raised our payments i am in a chapter 13 what a mess we have i would like to refince my home and lower my payments for five years can this happen if i have bad credit
Can anyone provide me with the contact phone number for me to directly speak with the Wells Fargo “Financial Credit Bureau Dispute Team”??
I was given a fax number (800-231-5089) as to where to send a request letter (explaining extreme difficulties and unforeseen medical expenses with our medically involved son and life threatening surgeries) for assistance in removing several “mortgage lates” from our credit report however, was told that there is no contact phone number – not even “in house” for the rep’s to call to verify my letter of request has been received?!
If anyone could direct me as to where or who to call I would greatly appreciate it. I just get the run around with all five of the phone numbers I have.