Welcome to the new way of putting muzzles on homeowners that can shed some light on Countrywide’s widely known practice of customer abuse. Fix their loan in record time, give them a deal they could have never have thought of in their wildest dreams and make them sign a confidentiality agreement.
Such as the case of Mr. Dan Bailey from Wilmington, North Carolina. You can read his full story here, told in Dan’s words. He tiltled his forum thread “This is what mozillo thinks.”
I broke the Angelo Mozilo “disgusting” email story on Monday and was shortly followed buy the LA Times and then hundreds of news outlets across the world. What Dan thought was just an accidental email from some dude at Countrywide that really pissed him off, actually turned out to be the best thing that has happened to him and his family.
Monday night and Tuesday morning the press was all over the story. Requests for interviews were many, but they all wanted a piece of Dan and his plight against Countrywide. They wanted to get the man behind the most famous hardship letter in history to tell his story in his words. In fact, I did too.
But there was one problem. Dan wasn’t returning my calls or anyone’s calls for that matter. It was as if he dropped of the face of foreclosure earth.
Then late in the day yesterday, I get a call and it was Dan.
Cool guy, about my age (36) and he started off the conversation by saying how thankful he was for me and my website. How he felt is was divine intervention and that all this happened for a reason. He spoke for a few minutes about his struggles for 7 months and how he finally mustered up the courage to research what he can do to save his home and came across my website. He told me how he has never in his life written a hardship letter, let alone negotiated with a creditor. But, my forum gave him the tools and education he needed to start fighting.
We spoke for 20 minutes as television crews sat outside his home.
Up until yesterday, Dan didn’t even know who Angelo Mozilo was. He thought he was just some dude that worked at Countrywide and he was upset becuase at the time, he was just trying to do the right thing, when — oops — Mr. Mozilo sends him an email that wasn’t meant for his eyes.
How often do we all get to see an inter-office communication from the head CEO of the largest subprime lender ever that really shows what he is thinking and what other staff members MUST converse about on a regular basis?
Here is the email comment from Angelo Mozilo, that started the media frenzy:
Angelo_Mozilo@countrywide.com wrote:
This is unbelievable. Most of these letters now have the same wording. Obviously they are being counseled by some other person or by the internet. Disgusting.
Dan Bailey
05/19/2008 06:37 AM
To Angelo_Mozilo@countrywide.com
cc
Subject Re: bailey acct# XXXXXXXXXInteresting to find that you think my letter is disgusting. I will send this on….
danXXXXXXXXX@yahoo.com
CC: Steve_Bailey@Countrywide.Com
Subject: Re: bailey acct# 073822537
From: Angelo_Mozilo@countrywide.com Add Mobile Alert
Date: Mon, 19 May 2008 06:41:34 -0700This has already been sent on to our senior manager who will determine the facts behind your request and he will take the appropriate actions.
Not only was this sent to senior management, it was also sent to the guy with the super duper freeze gun. The mysterious Super Hero who comes out at night and in the name of PR and saving Countrywide face, fixes the abused borrower’s mortgage and makes them sign a “confidentiality agreement” in their blood. A quick pinky swear and the job is done and the damage “covered up” yet AGAIN! Or is it?
Here is his next post in the forum:
I received a phone message to call “Carra” from the office of the president ext#5745. I had checked out for awhile ysterday and heard the message this morning. Tried calling but I guess they are on California time? Her message just said they received my e-mail and to call.
Guess I will try again after my noon meeting.
Does this really give us all an inside look at what the guys in glass houses (Mozilo) think of Joe Homeowner on the street? Disgusting they say! “Let him suffer his fate” as they sip champagne and cash in their massive stock portfolios earned on the backs of hard working Americans who are now suffering in every area of our economy.
I think it does. You can’t cover up what has been done and said. Yes, they can silence Mr. Bailey, but they can’t silence Moe and the media that is shining a big spot light on their fat-cat asses.
Then we have these adversarial and out spoken, full time homeowner critics that I like to call “homeowner haters”.
They go out of there way on a daily basis on the blog-o-sphere and information super highway to spread their homeowner hate.
The spew words like, “People who don’t bother to read or understand what they are signing do not deserve sympathy or assistance” and “Get a life, there is nothing wrong with what he wrote. You are coaching people to tell lies and admit they have no common sense. You support people that cheat the system and don’t pay their mortgages. YOU ARE DISTGUSTING.”
This is just a taste of the daily comments and emails I receive and unfortunately, Mr. Dan Bailey experienced on my blog.
Here is Dan’s response to all of the haters:
This is Dan. Everything I wrote in the letter to CW is true. I do have equity in my home(40-60,000 + the sweat equity of re-modeling it myself), I never took a 100%loan out on it, I have been paying my mortgage for 16 years.
He concludes his brief internet blogging career with:
No, I don’t have granite counter-tops. No, I did not refinance to get a new boat/car/vacation, etc… No, I did not refinance 100% of my equity. I needed the small amount I got out for an emergency-which is none of your business. For all of you assuming I have a huge beautiful home, re-read the letter, or read it for the first time before jumping to conclusions.
I equate it like this: I wasn’t feeling well, so I went to the doctor-the expert…the doctor said, “take this medicine, it has been helping everyone with the same symptoms. They’ve been taking it for 3 or 4 years now, and it can only make you feel better and cure you, then, when you feel better/are cured…we’ll take you off the medicine. There’s a possibility of side effects, but dont worry- so far everyone is taking it and it can only get better.”
One year after taking the medicine , it is found to cause cancer.
Yes, I took the medicine of my own free will. I listened to the advise of the expert. It was my choice. I was warned there may be some slight side effects….now it’s killing me.
I’m not suing the doctor..I’m just asking for a cure from the medicine he gave me.
I’m not reading these blogs/forums anymore…you people only make me feel worse.
Hey Dan! If you are reading this, don’t take all this personal. These haters are just miserable people who like to make other people feel miserable so they have some company out there. Stay sober, take care of your family and enjoy your home man. You are a great guy, who deserves whatever great deal the Countrywide Freeze Super Hero gave you.
Another home saved. Another life brought back to normal. And when all is said and done, that is all that really matters.