BofA Tries To Foreclose On Home Despite Not A Single Missed Payment
from the merry-christmas dept
Perhaps rather than worrying so much about Wikileaks, or buying up hundreds of domain names involving various combinations of their top executives along with "sucks" or "blows," Bank of America should get its actual banking house in order. Consumerist has the story of how Bank of America tried to foreclose on a couple's home despite the fact that they'd never missed a payment (and the foreclosure was targeted for Christmas Eve, no less). The CT Watchdog site has all the ridiculous details, which get more and more ridiculous as you read through them.The short(ish) version is this: the couple applied to refinance their home mortgage, as many people have done recently thanks to low mortgage rates. The plan was to use the refi to pay for some home improvements and to consolidate their debt by paying off whatever other debt they had. They asked the BofA rep they were working with for "the cheapest option," and the BofA rep simply put them into a program used for loan modifications -- specially developed for people who are behind on their mortgages, even though this couple was not. When they received the paperwork for this, they decided not to go with this program, because it had additional escrow costs and home insurance payments they didn't want -- so they instead decided they wanted a conventional mortgage.
What they didn't realize, was that as soon as the BofA rep put them into that particular "Making Home Affordable program," (even without the couple signing the documents) BofA immediately sent out a notification (without telling the couple) to the credit bureaus indicating that the couple wanted a loan modification due to financial difficulties. Almost immediately, all of their creditors freaked out: they dropped their credit limit on credit cards, had other creditors close their account, and had other debt automatically shifted to the highest possible interest rate category. Of course, this also killed any possibility of doing the refi, since their credit score no longer would allow a refi.
After many, many complaints to BofA, the bank apologized (in writing) and promised to remove the couple from being listed in the program and correct the credit report, but the couple was on their own in getting others to know about it. Except this foreclosure notice came months after BofA apologized and promised to fix things (which it hasn't fully done yet). The couple has been calling BofA to ask why and everyone they speak to notes that they've never missed a payment at all, but that the account is flagged as "under review." No one can explain why the foreclosure was set in motion.
Yes, this is a situation where BofA didn't just screw up, but after finally admitting its original error and promising to fix it, it has made an even bigger and more egregious error.
The TL:DR version: BofA screwed up and ruined a couple's (previously fine) credit rating, destroyed their plans for a mortgage refinance, and then after apologizing and promising to fix everything, decided to foreclose on the couple's house despite the fact that they'd never been late on a single payment.
Not surprisingly, the couple is now planning to sue BofA.
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Filed Under: banks, credit, foreclosing, loans
Companies: bank of america
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F to the A
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Re: F to the A
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Re: Re: F to the A
(felt that pain: auto correct was the only thing I've wanted KILLED DEAD on my new phone, tired of sending messages making me sound like a booger-eating moron)
As you were. :)
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Re: F to the A
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Re: Re: F to the A
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Re: Re: F to the A
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Cue the band
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Re: Cue the band
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Re: Cue the band
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Re: Re: Cue the band
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Re: Re: Re: Cue the band
Small banks ftw.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Cue the band
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Cue the band
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Cue the band
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Re: Re: Re: Cue the band
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Allstate sues BofA over toxic sale.
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Justified litigation
This is the kind of thing that requires regulation.
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7 to 8 figures costly.
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kinda reminds me of this
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Re: kinda reminds me of this
I'd be sorely tempted to do serious harm to someone trying to take my home that's bought and paid for free and clear.
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Re: Re: kinda reminds me of this
I'm not sure what I'd do if I owned my home, never had a mortgage, and a rep from some bank I have absolutely no relationship with showed up and started trying to to jack with my house. An instance of deadly force might occur, or at least the threat of it. Some of my firearms would definitely be brandished.
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WOW, just bad
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They are coming for your home next
I read an article that said the foreclosure rate was around 70k per month and as much as 10% of those foreclosures were in error.
That means 6-7k people a month are receiving foreclosures notices when they shouldn't. This number is astronomical and in my opinion cannot be accounted for by lack of oversight.
I have read several stories about people who have either paid off their mortgage already or don't even bank with a particular corporation receiving foreclosure notices.
I am eagerly awaiting Wikileaks disclosures about US banking. If this fraud has been coming from management then I will consider it much more than an isolated incident. Just like a auditor would reason based upon a sampling, I think it is happening throughout the system.
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Re: They are coming for your home next
Agreed. This happens every damned day, and no one cares.
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Re: Re: They are coming for your home next
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credit scores
Also, +1 to what Mike42 said. Why would you jack the interest rate up for someone you think has a higher risk of paying back their debt? I understand the 'logic': "Well, we need to charge more to make sure we get our money back in case a certain percentage of those users default", but I've got an idea. Why not NOT extend credit to those that are 'high risk'? It's what started the recession...
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Computers Don�t Argue
Or maybe another parallel would be Terry Gilliam�s Brazil, a tale of bureaucracy gone mad, and everybody so tangled up in paperwork that nobody can fix an obvious screwup without risking severe penalties for not going through proper channels...
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Hope these people get a few million. F BofA
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Re: Hope these people get a few million. F BofA
I'd settle for simply closing all the loopholes in the current system. Punishment isn't renowned for deterring criminals, harsher punishments may simply encourage more devious criminals.
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Re: Re: Hope these people get a few million. F BofA
So, I'll certainly take increasing the likelihood of begin caught as my deterrent...
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I don't remember BofA having so many mortgage related problems before they bought Countrywide. Talk about toxic, Countrywide was as toxic as it gets - started and run by crooks. Seems like BofA stepped into more shit than it can wipe off at this point.
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credit is bad...
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Re: credit is bad...
> having used credit in my life.It hasn't been easy by any means,
> but I own what I own, and owe nothing to anyone.
Apparently even owning your home outright with no mortgage or even any relationship at all with a bank is no guarantee that something like this won't happen to you.
http://consumerist.com/2010/01/not-having-a-mortgage-doesnt-stop-bank-of-america-from-forecl osing.html
This person owned their house outright, and had never even banked with BofA, but that didn't stop them from showing up, starting a foreclosure proceeding, kicking out their tenants, cleaning out the house and bolting the doors.
I don't work in the mortgage banking business, but I have to question how a bank can even start foreclosing on a property they don't own and for which there is no mortgage.
I mean, isn't this a legal process? Don't the courts require a bank to show some kind of proof that they hold the note on a property and that the note is in default? Can a bank really have its employees just walk down the street and foreclose on any property they want on a whim and have the process proceed to the point where the people living in the homes can be kicked out have their lives turned upside down before someone (a judge, a regulator, whoever) calls them on it?
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System
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Re: System
But you knew that.
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Why I NEVER talk to Bank of America Representatives
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Borrower's fault 100%
Number 1: If they wanted home improvements, they should pay for it themselves like a responsible person. They were in debt already according to the article.
Number 2: They were borrowing money to do home improvements and pay off debt. Sounds like a great Ponzi scheme of taking money from one person to pay off another.
Number 3: They took out their loan from Bank of America. I'm glad they did research beforehand of who to borrow from...not.
Number 4: Oh poor babies...their credit limits are being lowered. It sounds like they shouldn't be using credit cards to begin with. Can't they just pay for something within their financial means for once?
The only correct thing they did was turn down the first modification program that had additional escrow costs and home insurance payments. Wow, congrats one smart financial decision out of 100.
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Re: Borrower's fault 100%
2) See #1.
3) Do you research every single financial choice you make? I'd find it hard to believe.
4) Bitter much? Sounds like your own credit is probably in the crapper, so you have to wah wah about someone with good credit being ripped by someone else's weasel moves.
Blaming the consumer for the actions of the financial institution is what is really wrong here. It's the real reason so many people are in such deep trouble.
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Re: Re: Borrower's fault 100%
3. I do research when I spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, and make probably the biggest financial decision of my life. This is mainly the reason why so many people can't pay back their loans cause they never read the terms.
4. My credit is actually perfect and I have no debt.
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Re: Re: Re: Borrower's fault 100%
Having a loan from Bank of America entitles them to ruin your credit and foreclose on you, on a whim. Did I get that right?
Tim's "I got mine, screw you all" attitude is pretty much why America will be on par with African countries in the next 20 years.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Borrower's fault 100%
BOA's choice to foreclose was not done on a whim, but was a mistake that they are correcting.
Everything happens for a reason. This homeowner is likely deep in debt with credit cards, other creditors, and their mortgage, and now they're complaining that a mistake is affecting their credit limits..why so they can get deeper into debt?
These people are simply taking advantage of the spotlight of true homeowners who actually were taken advantage of, and don't live off of money that is not theirs.
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Clearly a Bank of America Stooge ! !
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Re: Re: Re: Borrower's fault 100%
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Borrower's fault 100%
The reality is BOA made a mistake, which is inevitable with large companies, but the homeowner chose intentionally to act irresponsibility in the first place.
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Banking Industry Operates Like ug Pushers
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Re: Borrower's fault 100%
Sending someone into foreclosure when they haven't even made a payment on their home late, let alone missed any, is WRONG and should be corrected IMMEDIATELY.
They shouldn't even have to set foot in a courthouse for hearings, and BofA shouldn't be tying up the legal system with the filings. More so, any costs incurred for that faulty legal move should fall SOLELY on the company, since they don't seem to have a clear, human review of records.
Plain and simple, a bank chain CAN be too big.
Debt consolidation loans are generally the first step toward getting oneself out of debt because the previous generation didn't teach us that it's okay to live without STUFF. We learn too late, but that doesn't make the move wrong. A single bill with a single rate, payments all going to a single creditor, is probably the most responsible move a couple can make to correct what they did wrong.
And seeing as how there are scads of massively clear options (not) for home loans and a screaming society that says you're a loser if you don't buy something out of your grasp, I'd say just about the entire populace ends up sharing a bit of the fault burden. You know, if we're really going to pick this thing apart.
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BofA Screwup
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Stay Away From Bank of America
I run several businesses and used MBNA charge cards to consolidate transactions for each business. have always paid each cad in full monthly.
MBNA was taken over by Bank of America. I started getting late charges and interest and after investigating the problem discovered that statements were arriving 8-10 days after the closing date (grace of 20 days). I think that BoA raised (or is it stole) a great deal of money this way so I stopped using their charge cards.
I also think that the banking crisis has led to a staggering transfer of assets from public to those who are wealthy. Nothing has changed in the banking industry, we still ave a bunch of unethical crooks running things and they seem to pretty much own both political parties.
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Foreclosing Banks Neglect Property � cost lives
It did not have to happen.
The December 29, 2010 fire in Oakland took the lives of a young mother and her two children leaving a seven year old. The NY bank property owner failed to install smoke alarms in the Oakland apartments which the bank owned since 2007. Many banks are foreclosing on properties where people live and are failing to take the responsibilities that property ownership requires.
Banks foreclosing on condominiums frequently stop paying real estate taxes and home owners association (HOA) fees causing the remaining homeowners to make-up the shortfall. The HOA usually puts a lien on the condo to recover the arrears HOA fees, which may be paid only after back taxes.
The bank then tells the HOA it has a buyer who won�t cover the arrears HOA fees. The bank makes the HOA a take it or leave it offer. If the HOA leaves the offer then the remaining owners will continue to cover the shortfall.
Banks frequently do not keep up foreclosed properties nor do they assure the properties are safe and secure so they don�t turn into crack houses or catch on fire, like the one in Oakland.
Legislation that reverses this situation with teeth that penalizes banks for violations would make the banks want to negotiate as an alternative to foreclosure. The legislation should state:
� Banks that foreclose must continue to pay HOA membership fees and real estate taxes - on time.
� Foreclosed property must be kept safe and maintained so as not to drive down near by property values.
� Foreclosed property must be safe and secure to assure that it is not vandalized or used for illegal purposes.
The benefits of legislation that supports these concepts include:
� Improving public safety and health of those occupying foreclosed property and those near by.
� Protecting home owners who had no role in the foreclosure from rising HOA fees and decreasing property value due to neglected near by properties.
� Making the decision to foreclose more painful for the banks;
o Reducing the number of foreclosures
o Increasing the number of re-negotiated mortgages
A property owner has a responsibility to make the property safe, clean and up to pertaining codes.
The owner can face criminal penalties when neglecting those responsibilities results in damages.
Frequently banks shirk those responsibilities.
In Oakland it resulted in fatalities.
Contact your elected officials while the memory of this tragedy is still fresh in the mind. Pass this on.
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BofA are simply crooks
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refinance rates
refinance rates
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Foreclosure
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