From a Countrywide/Bank Of America Mortgage Holder:
Since I’m 55 and have lost most of my retirement fund, and am facing age discrimination in the job market, I don’t feel like I will be able to retire in the US, and Mexico is cheap but too dangerous/corrupt. I’m thinking of selling everything soon and moving to Italy or some nice place in Europe where the weather is nice, the costs of living is reasonable, and try to find like-minded people buy a vineyard, run a B&B, or remodel/flip homes. Tuscany sounds nice. Anyone have ideas or wants to join me???
[poll id="8"]
[poll id="9"]
[poll id="10"]
[poll id="11"]
The loan modification word is out. Just call your friendly mortgage servicer and they will lay out the red carpet to help you save your home in stress free and safe manner.
The media is just eating this bank propaganda up and why wouldn’t they?
They have eaten up every press release issued over the last two years by our government and banks as the written word. They never question the failed programs of the past as to an indication on how the new plans will help homeowners in the present. From the FHA Secure, Project Lifeline, Hope for Homeowners, Hope Now and now every loan modification company is a scam.
Yet, every day on my blog and in my forum at www.LoanSafe.org/forum, I hear the same old issues that homeowners are having trying to get loan modification from their mortgage servicer.
Yes, loan modifications are happening more now than ever. But there are still thousands of deserving homeowners who are not getting the help they deserve. It is because of the sheer volume of people trying to get help and the lack of mortgage servicer personnel to help them.
It is that simple. This is why you may not be getting help.
The only way to not fall through the foreclosure cracks is to kick, claw and scream every day until you get a loan modification AND IT HAS BEEN THAT WAY FOR THE LAST 2 YEARS!!!!!!! Nothing has changed much…….
Here are just a couple stories. What’s yours?
I need to talk to someone. I am really at the end of my rope! I have three daughters and a husband. I am growing sadder each day about the bailout and still nothing has changed for Americans.
Please someone hear me I’m serious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Where is the help that was promised to me and my family? Who has the bailout money helped? I am still waiting for help. When will my place to call home come to my family?
I have to tell my story! This is a story about my dream of home ownership snatched from my hands. I want all of America to know what I have personally experienced as well as my family!!!! I am mad as hell enough and this is enough!!!!
Please contact me ASAP!
Marilyn in California
Nancy says:
March 7, 2009 at 8:02 pm
A few weeks ago, I sent the following to Countrywide:
- At least 15 times, I’ve received voice mails from Countrywide that were obviously from an automated system instead of a real person. The message says to call Countrywide and gives a number to call but does not indicate the specific issues in question (if there is one), and doesn’t indicate which account number is involved.
The following is what happens when I call the Customer Service number in the voice mail:
- The first thing the automated system asks is for me to enter the zip code of the property. I have two mortgage accounts for properties in 2 states, but figure either zip code will do. NOT!!! Every time I’ve called, the system tells me the zip code is wrong, and asks for the account number, so I enter one of my account numbers. The system tells me the account number is wrong and repeatedly asks me for the information. I have yet to figure out how to get from there to a live operator! I hang up and try again but can’t get past the initial questions. I get frustrated and give up since I have no idea if there’s a problem. So now I completely ignore all voice mails from Countrywide since they don’t seem to be in regards to a specific issue and I can’t get to a live operator.
Since sending this letter, Countrywide now calls me several times a day, and the only message they leave is 3 or 4 words in Spanish – the part that says “For Spanish, press 2?. What a riot!!!
I’ve been unemployed for 6 months and have 2 regular loans and 2 HELOCs with Countrywide. Last month I only paid $100 instead of the 1200 minimum. I’m not sure which way to jump or what the outcome will be. I hope we can all end up sticking it to Countrywide!! I’ll sign up for a class action suit too!
I just contacted a loan mitigation counselor – recommended by a realtor friend – who told me the loans were probably illegal. I don’t know yet what that means for me regarding loan mod. If he turns out to be legit and I can get some help, I’ll post new comments about what recourse we may be available.
Since I’m 55 and have lost most of my retirement fund, and am facing age discrimination in the job market, I don’t feel like I will be able to retire in the US, and Mexico is cheap but too dangerous/corrupt. I’m thinking of selling everything soon and moving to Italy or some nice place in Europe where the weather is nice, the costs of living is reasonable, and try to find like-minded people to buy a vineyard, or run a B&B, or remodel/flip homes. Tuscany sounds nice. Anyone have ideas/want to join me???
{ 1 trackback }
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you very much for taking the time to post this. Everyone should know about these things. I enjoy learning new things so I subscribe to blogs like yours. Garnet
Lol, today I felt a similar frustration and knocked out a quick press release of my own (link above) venting. Hope all goes well for the above two and all the others facing hard times.
-Justin
I have been trying for three months.Same run around
I have been in my home for 18 years. I always maintained 100K equity and thought I was safe. Then we lost our pension and my wife lost her job and all the equity in our home, so we could not sell and downsize. Then I fell behind and the nightmare really began. A deluge of “polite but rude” collectors from EMC Mortgage who will only let you catch up by making 3 HIGHER payments in a row and then they will “look at your situation, possible just put the arrrears on the end of the loan, but no true modification. They said they do not do any other plan because of their investors. They called at least 3 or 4 times a day. They say this is because of the “computer” that cannot be programmed not to call. Sometimes they just ring and hang up. Sometimes an automated message. Sometimes a live caller. The callers use the same script no matter what and asked the same questions each time, which was when are you going to make a payment? I asked them to offer me something sustainable. My loan is for 250K and my house is now worth about 160K. I finally referred them to an attorney and the calls stopped when I threatened them with Fair Debt violations for continued calls. My last hope was BK cramdown, and now that is dead. They have filed the NOD. I am giving up the house and moving in with my daughter until I can save some money. I am through being a “loanowner”. It has been a horrible wake-up call. Obama will not step in and help. I think he wants everybody busted down and in submission. I now know that if I am waiting on the Government to help me, I will wait forever. I used to vote Republican but never again. They have fought us at every turn. They go on about their free market capitalism, but that is so untrue. What they are really into is the lavish lifestyle they enjoy as a result of gifts from mortgage bankers. What would it have hurt to have a BK cramdown for us? It would not have hurt interest rates, because the foreclosures make that situation even worse as it is. That was just an excuse they and the press put out there. It is clear that the banks rule and the people do not matter. I could have kept the house if Obama’s plan was offered, but it was not. The bank has no motivation to offer the plan. They take the billions in bailout money to stay afloat and then it is business as usual for them. Thank you Moe for at least caring, but I think the jig is up. The government banking complex is creating a vast new class of “have-nots”, destroying the middle class. The only people who will survive are those who have good paying government jobs. I think the whole thing stinks. I am a disenfranchised American, entering into my senior years with begging cup in hand, just as Social Security is drying up and benefits to illegal aliens is going through the roof. I don’t recognize my own country any more. Thank God I still have my faith to see me through.
Faith and hope will get us all far. Some of you will lose their homes and life savings. Those who are fighters, realize that you must continue fighting. Action and moving forward are the best tools to create new opportunities!
Once you give up, you are defeated in all you do.
Stay strong and keep the faith!
Thank you, Moe Perhaps I will continue to fight. But I have no idea how to go about that now that I am officially on the foreclosure train.
No problem David. You could get on the train with the thousands of other homeowner passengers on the http://www.LoanSafe.org/forum. At least you can enjoy the converstion with fellow foreclosure train riders
The govt. plan to modify the mortgages does not work. Countrywide/bank of America just did a modification on our mortgage interest only for 3 yrs, the payment went down by $300.00 but the problem is the mod is done at 31% of Gross income. So when applied to Net income in the home its over 50% of our net monthly income. Its 3000.00 less income in the home. The Govt. plan is allowing the banks to keep the loans above what fits a household net income, and does not take into account credit card debts, State and federal taxes withheld, social security withheld, family medical withheld, medicare withheld, life insurance premiums. They go by gross income because on paper it looks like there is large income coming in, but that is not really the case and the modification is destined to fail. Obama is not feeling the middle class struggle to make ends meet with what they bring into the home, he has written a plan that allows for the same game to be played where modifications will be based on untrue income avail and thus doomed to fail. Very disappointed. Shame on them. This is how the mess started to begin with because loans were given out based on gross yearly salary not real avail income. So with taxes going up and insurance costs rising less money becomes avail as net pay and the situation just gets worse every year. I guess They just dont care. Good luck.
Moe…you hit the nail on the head with this post! It is looking like the same old merry-go-round with all the news about our industry! Below is a little rant about some of the stuff we see going on in the loan mod world:
THE POLITICALLY CORRECT THING TO SAY
Now, we absolutely think it is a good idea to be proactive when you are a homeowner facing a financial hardship and you believe you cannot make your upcoming mortgage payments. It seems like the natural thing to do (and the politically correct thing to say) and call your lender right away when you are experiencing problems paying your mortgage. The problem is that many homeowners who are not educated in the real estate / mortgage / loss mitigation world do not know what division to call, what to say, and most importantly, what financial information to disclose during those phone calls. What happens is many homeowners fall into three categories when they try and do a home loan modification themselves…”the disconnect”, the “sorry you don’t qualify”, or the worst one of them all the “here’s your crappy modification agreement”.
The “disconnect” is where you call and get transferred over and over, wait on hold forever, and eventually get disconnected. Do this a few times and the frustration is overwhelming. People already have a fear of confrontation and hate waiting on hold forever so many times this is enough to get them to quit.
The “sorry you don’t qualify”is when an uneducated homeowner calls their lender out of desperation and doesn’t understand that the lender is going to ask them for their financial information…sometimes right then and there over the phone. The poor homeowner discloses financials on-the-fly and ends up de-qualifying themselves because they don’t know what loan-to-value / debt-to-income ratio’s the banks are looking for. Again..the frustration is overwhelming because no matter if they qualify or not the fact remains they can’t afford their current payment. The loss mitigation departments at most major lenders are extremely slow and it takes the average consumer a couple of months to get any answers and by this time it might be too late! Lastly, the call centers at these banks are sometimes overseas and we all know how frustrating it can be when you get someone that barely speaks English telling you (without any feeling of empathy) that there is nothing they can do for you!
The “here’s your crappy modification agreement” is so common and it makes us nauseous. Many homeowners don’t have the time to educate themselves on the in’s and out’s of loss mitigation before attempting to modify their own home loan. They don’t understand the processes, how to get to the decision makers, or the fact that you can counter-offer and get better terms. Most wear out after talking to a un-empathetic loss mitigation negotiator at the bank and end up accepting whatever terms they can just to be done with it. Remember, the banks want to mitigate their loss…that’s why its called loss mitigation! They definitely don’t have your best interest in mind otherwise they would make it super easy to complete this process. If you don’t have a real estate / mortgage background, or you don’t have the time going back and forth with your lender(s) for months and months, contract the work out to a trained expert in loan modification negotiating.
THIS ONE IS OUR FAVORITE
How about this one…“call a HUD certified counselor and get a FREE modification”. While this advice sounds good, we all can agree that nothing good is cheap and seldom anything cheap is good! Free help from a counselor is just that…FREE help (not them actually doing it for you). Anyone can gather the necessary paperwork and submit it to the lender…what a homeowner needs is an aggressive person (or team of people) to fight for the best loan terms possible and not just a paperwork submission helper. Every “financial expert” on the news is telling homeowners to avoid paying up-front fee’s to modification companies and go to a HUD certified counselor for free help. These same people are so far removed from any financial struggles that they don’t feel the severity of the situation. It’s easy to give advice when you are not the one struggling financially, or fighting with your spouse everyday over finances. HUD counselors do not have the time to spend 40-50-60 hours fighting to get you better mortgage terms. In most cases they help you gather the necessary documents and submit them to the lender. Then whatever modification (if any) the lender gives after months and months of waiting is what you will have to accept.
NOTE: HUD Counselors do help you submit the correct financials so in that instance they are a good resource if you do insist on doing this yourself just don’t expect them to do the actual negotiations and counter-offers for you!
THE LOAN MODIFICATION MERRY-GO-ROUND
There was a news story about a congresswoman who tried and negotiate her own loan modification only to get the run-a-round and give up frustrated. Visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMEmlhm34Tg to watch the video. Yes, it is possible to get your own modification, but statistics prove that almost 40% of homeowners who achieve their own loan modification re-default within 6 months because the lender(s) put them into a half ass modification that was in the banks best interest…not the homeowners. DON’T BE A STATISTIC. There are loan modification companies out there who actually do the work they are promising to do and all it takes is some research to find the right one.
OUR SUGGESTIONS TO FINDING THE RIGHT LOAN MOD COMPANY
-MAKE SURE THE PERSON YOU ARE DEALING WITH HAS A PHYSICAL BUSINESS ADDRESS AND BUSINESS PHONE NUMBER.
-GET COPIES OF RECENTLY NEGOTIATED LOAN MODIFICATION AGREEMENTS TO PROVE THEY CAN DO THE JOB
-MAKE SURE THE COMPANY YOU ARE USING HAS AN ONLINE TRACKING SYSTEM SO YOU CAN SEE THE PROGRESS OF YOUR LOAN MODIFICATION AT ALL TIMES
-MAKE SURE YOU MEET THE COMPANY AT THEIR OFFICE AND SEE THAT THEY ARE CONDUCTING BUSINESS (GET TO KNOW THE COMPANY)
-GET REFERRALS AND TESTIMONIALS TO VERIFY COMPANIES HISTORY
-GET COPIES OF ALL PAPERWORK THAT OUTLINES THE BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP
My “HUD certified counselor” told me to use my crockpot to cut my grocery bill and that I should file bankruptcy. That really helped… Had they been properly trained or informed, they would have told me 6 months ago what I have finally discovered on my own after months of effort: My loan was part of thousands included in a class action against AIG and has been mandated by the Office of Thrift Supervision to be refinanced and my fees refunded. Now, that sounds really great, but we’ll see if I can make that trip from here to what I am owed. It’s all a bunch of mouths flapping and execs spending our money. Good thing I got laid off, so that I had the time to spend chasing this mortgage mess… or I guess I wouldn’t be chasing it if I hadn’t gotten laid off… and around and around and around I go. God help us all. HUGE KUDOS to Congresswoman Waters for wading into the sewer with us and learning the TRUTH of the matter and feeling the pain. THAT is public service. Amen.
I been trying to save my house for 5 months, I need help. Chase tells me the final paperwork will arrive in 2 weeks and when it does not, I call in two weeks, the whole thing starts over again. I’m tired and scared. I do not want to quit, how do esclate a modification or short sale?
Actually is all BS, i have gone through blogs and have spoken to several homeowners each with their own story and each getting the runaround with the banks. I laughed the other day when Bank of America had several commercials advertising their committment to loan modifications and how their staff was not only professionals in the field, but addressing the importance to contact them if you were experiencing hardship and in default. Honestly something is lost in translation, but banks like bank of america, wells fargo, chase, citibank are not helping homeowners, statistics shows that $642,000 homes were foreclosed last month, obviously is a High Sign that Obama’s program is not working at all, or at least these funds have not reached the homeowners and all we get is this continous BS, that you do not qualify because you are not delinquent on your loan, you do not qualify because you are delinquent on your loan…every excuse is different.
Last night Geithner was asked questions by senators and governors as to why these programs are failing, and of course he needed to look into it had no response.
I propose that when this debate goes is carried out with the treasury, that we the struggling working class be able to sit in and tell the treasurer, CEO’s and the investors our stories and how we are being refused relief by them, let the homeowners ask the questions and uncover their lies.
I ask all of you…do not give up, fight to the very end..i know couples that after 6 or 7 months of frustrations with banks decided to pack and leave their homes. We need to voice our struggles, but one person or a few cannot do it alone,a co-worker recommend me to write to Obama and his wife, to Chris Dodd, and to the media, ABC, CBS, 20/20 and let them know what is really going on with these false hope programs and that we are not getting help. But we all need to write just as we are doing now, not one letter but constant writing and following up. Last week i wrote to the appraisals office informing them that they needed to lower my taxes which the raised when the values of homes were high, now my home is valued $100,000 less and i have not seen these property tax lowered. Well to my surprise, they informed me that in August my taxes should adjust to current home value and my property tax will be lowered. This is exactly what i want all of you to know..you need to take the steps and request these rights, if not, it will be overlooked and noone is going to look out for your interest, but yourself.
Like all of you, i’ve been with this on-going nightmare for months, and when i finally said i’m giving up, a real state lawyer advised me not to do so, that what i needed to do is be proactive in addressing as many times to washington, congress, to whoever will listen and to do it constantly that many give up and that’s why bills are not passed.
Please do not give up!!! i’m not going to.
I see no where – where anyone is getting any real help. They may help you in one place (home) but then you get gouged in another area anyway. I mean I just got a notice my credit card interest went from 14% to 30% – WHY because I used it once? It really almost doesn’t “pay” anymore to follow the rules. The banks don’t, they get help, the credit card companies can do whatever they darn well please for any reason , they get help. We try to do the right thing and we get gouged over and over again. All this hot air and things haven;t improved one bit that I can see. Only getting worse.