“Here’s the bottom line: Ashford acted entirely in good faith and did nothing wrong, and for more than a year she’s been given the run-around by BofA and now faces the loss of her home. The bank is to blame for this mess, yet it’s either unwilling or unable to take responsibility for its actions.”
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“That’s not good enough.”
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Simple BofA refi turns into foreclosure nightmare
Homeowner says Bank of America refinanced her mortgage, then stopped taking her payments. Next, it threatened to seize her condo.
Barely a week goes by without someone contacting me to say that a bank is trying to steal their home. Often, this “theft” is the result of unpaid mortgages that have resulted in foreclosure.
But every so often, I hear from someone who seems to have become genuinely entangled in a banking system that is both rigid in its dealings with customers and deaf to legitimate pleas for help.
That’s the case with Lana Ashford, who faces the loss of her Marina del Rey condo to Bank of America because of what turned into the refi from hell.
It’s a story worth telling, if for no other reason than because bankers, lawmakers and regulators need to be reminded from time to time that the housing mess involves real people and that many folks find themselves in trouble through no fault of their own.
It’s a story worth telling because, quite simply, it could happen to any of us.
BofA, which this week agreed to pay $137 million to settle charges that it helped rig bids on municipal bond contracts, says it was justified in how it treated Ashford. But a bank spokesman said BofA would take a closer look at the case.
Ashford, 63, works as sales director for a Hermosa Beach hotel. She’d been paying about $3,100 a month in mortgage payments for her two-bedroom condo, which she bought 25 years ago.
She wanted to lower her monthly payments and spoke with a BofA rep about her options. Because her loan was with Countrywide Financial, which BofA acquired in 2008, Ashford said, she was told this shouldn’t be much of a problem.
BofA said it could offer her a lower-interest, 30-year loan that would cut her monthly payments to about $1,600.
“This sounded like a great deal,” Ashford told me. “That’s why I wanted to go with it. Now I wish I never had.”
There were some early signs of trouble. The bank wanted to see additional paperwork before committing to the refi. Then it sent Ashford a contract that she signed but that BofA subsequently said contained errors. A new contract was sent.
BofA had also said the closing cost of the refi would be relatively low, but then Ashford discovered in the paperwork that she was being charged $6,000. The bank lowered it to $1,900.
The refi contract was scheduled to be signed Aug. 26, 2009. But a notary hired by BofA failed to show up.
Ashford signed the contract the next day, Aug. 27, and this time the notary was on hand to make it official. Ashford paid the $1,900 in fees and submitted her first mortgage payment of $1,607. BofA cashed both checks.
That missed day, though, would turn out to be crucial.
Not long after the documents were signed, Ashford said, she started receiving messages from the bank asking her to get in touch. She said she tried — repeatedly — but couldn’t get through to a human being.
Finally, last October, she managed to connect with a service rep, who informed Ashford that her loan wasn’t in the system.
Continue reading here…
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Why am i not surprise? this is probably 1 case of thousands cases that are there but we don’t here about
Thank you B o A for violating property rights in this country every day, were is the Justice in this country when is about banks?
CEO Brian Moynihan lied his ass off on National Television saying he was taking houses the legal way.
This song is dedicated to him and his Gang of Banksters. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGFZ1Jj3ui8
Die Banker Die by J Glenn Lowe – A Tribute to Wall Street Banksters and Fraudgate
Not sure where to post this, so I’ll just document it here.
For at least THREE days running the CHASE phone number for loan modification and foreclosure issues, (800) 848-9380, prompts for the last 4 digits of your SS #, gives you a menu choice, plays the same recording twice back to back, and then promptly drops your call. These is no way to call them regarding your mortgage, loan modification, or foreclosure!
Should I be surprised? Does anyone believe for a moment that this office didn’t notice that calls weren’t coming in?
Is this what Stephanie Mudick and David Lowman meant when they said they that they treat customers with respect and honesty? Is this how they are doing everything they can to help America’s struggling homeowners?
I found a a phone number for Stephanie Mudick online, but of course that number is now out of service too!
bac does the same unless they have changed it recently
This is almost the same thing that happened to us. We received a letter from the lender stating that they could refi and give us lower payments and interest rate. We were not behind on our loan. Little did we know, the nightmare would begin when we made the phone call to them asking about the refi. We are still fighting for our home today and do not plan on them stealing it away from us because they lied to us! They actually closed out another loan for us but did not fund, they didnt have any plans on funding it for us. We were set up to default because of the equity we had built up in the loan. They can make more money if they foreclose than if we just made all the payments. This is just not right!!!
Deja Vue all over again!!
I would have to say this is the way the bank replaces the “Note”
Hi Doug, thank you, you wrote with brevity and clarity – inspiring some wonderings seeking more of your thoughts..
If I understand, agreed it works a ‘ transformation’ on the whole ‘process’ and creates new ‘content’.
Query: whether prior agreements remain material seems a realy core issue.
So responses to any of the following or your own versions will be appreciated, and please rewrite my questions if they need it.
1. do new arrangements totally overwrite and obliterate prior ones? and do consumers have a right to see the old and new terms in writing? (the phone rep – CSR – we-don’t-do-things-in-writing accountability issue).
2. Appreciating what you posted, would we then call it a (brand) new exclusive note so history & its documentation doesnt matter, or becomes an alleged non-issue? Maybe that’s the same question.
(Thinking … it could seem kinda like whitewashing the worn-away barn, or on a smaller scale like liquid white-out on paper but here on history) or … taking down statutes in parks – the hard way)..
But maybe whether its a ‘subsitute contract’ in full and sole effect – or prior contracts are still material – one guesses could be on a case by case basis (?). Would need documentation .. and ‘there’s the rub’.
Thanks for this forum and Yes it’s like this and good for Ashford to speak up.
It’s happening big-time, as a recent and very sad senior citizen widow I can attest that no or better-said little respect is paid to mourning – like we’re not people. As alluded to in the post above..
My late husband had sole borrower debts now being targeted to me, and he’d been attempting one of those mortgage modification processes and it was strung out just as you and others report and he died in the midst. I can attest that his sole creditors pounced rather than pausing.
I would ask (wish) that there be investigation of loan officers from the git-go. Will appreciate any feed back.