Comments on: Here It Comes… Can Mortgage Lenders Hold Your Insurance Money Hostage if Your Home has been Seriously Damaged or Destroyed?

By: Melanie M Whitworth

Melanie M Whitworth — Sat, 09 Sep 2017 16:11:15 +0000

In reply to Joanne. Joanne: I see that your reply was three years ago so I don't know if you will get this note, but I am wondering which state you are in and which office state office you contacted for assistance. We lost a home to fire and cannot get Wells Fargo to release the funds to rebuild even though they agreed to to honor the contract we signed and disbursed partial funds. Thank you.

By: Bill

Bill — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 02:11:02 +0000

The banks “investment” is only your signature on the mortgage that gives them permission to make a book keeping entry equal to the mortgage amount. They don’t go to the vault and pull out depositors money. Then when they hold the insurance proceeds they get to reap the investment income from that.

By: Joanne

Joanne — Sun, 24 Aug 2014 04:03:55 +0000

In reply to Steve Asbury.

Steve, we had no problems with our insurance money, either. The way we saw it was that WE paid the premiums all of these years and Bank of America had no right to hold that money hostage, delaying the progress of repairing our home. The banks feel that THEY own the property. I’m with you…I had more equity in my home than I owed, but they still held that check!
Here’s the kicker…we just flooded AGAIN and I will have to deal with them a second time. Hoping my nerves can take it.
All I can suggest is fight, fight , fight. Our governor’s office put some pressure on the bank and a reporter from CNN contacted me. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
I wish you the best of luck.

By: Steve Asbury

Steve Asbury — Sun, 24 Aug 2014 01:05:44 +0000

We had a fire in January. We owe less the two years on our house. The bank is prolonging the rebuilding of our house. How much money can they hold on two and what rights do the bank have if we are having no problem with the insurance company?

By: Ernest Howe

Ernest Howe — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 00:16:36 +0000

we had a tornado and the insurance co. sent us the check for repairs they had to be signed by our lender citi mortgage they have kept the checks and said they have a committee that decides when to release the money after repairs. the repairs have been made but the contractor has not been paid. citi mortgage says they have not received notice that the work has been done are holding .citi mortgage has no office in Nebraska . every time I call the 800 number I get a different office. one in ohio, alabama. California ,and Arizona,who say different reasons for payment not being made. it has been very disturbing that they can keep the insurance money we owe a balance of about 19,000 dollars and have never been late with a payment. .they are holding more than 25,000 dollars . it looks like we will have to get a loan to pay the contractor so be careful not to get a loan with them.

By: Lynda Dee

Lynda Dee — Sun, 29 Dec 2013 00:13:44 +0000

In reply to James. Hello James. Hoping you can guide me towards finding my answer. Will try to be brief. Our home was in a major accidental fire. (Florida). we are finally at the point were we are ready to settle up with the insurance company. The check will be made out to both us and the bank. We worked very hard to pay down our mortgage. The payout from the insurance company will be over double the amount of the balance due owed on the mortgage. Heres the question..Instead of having them oversee the rebuild of the home and piece out the payments..We would rather pay off the mortgage (out of the settlement check) and just have them issue us a check for the overage. Is this possible?. Please advise and thank you so very very much.

By: caakewalk

caakewalk — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 13:00:14 +0000

We have the similar situation with this awful bank. Bank of America is asking ransom to cash an insurance proceeds check. Yes. you read it right. The bank which is now facing criminal charges from the Justice Department now says that it will only endorse the insurance check if we give them a large amount of money. This is something unheard of in a civilized business sector. Our local government department which monitors insurance related matters could not do much about it. More over, it seems the insurance company may be colluding with Bank of America so that the house will go into foreclosure by not re-issuing a useless check.

When does the Federal government comes to know that this notorious bank is highly unethical and must be either closed down and taken over by the government for proper banking practice?

By: Joanne Savino

Joanne Savino — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 20:22:30 +0000

In reply to Jennifer Crespo. We lost the first floor of our home to Hurricane Sandy. Bank of America is also holding our insurance money hostage indefinitely, they say. They have already sent out inspectors and have pictures for proof that we did rebuild the home. They say that is not good enough. They want receipts for EVERYTHING that was purchased or done. They didn't tell us this until yesterday...two months after the storm. I am ready to lose my mind. I have probably spent 10 hours on the phone and on hold with horrible customer service reps that each give you a different answer. We feel our only option is to hire an attorney. We are in contact with the Governor's office as well. The very first item on my agenda is to refinance and NEVER use Bank of America again. I plan on going to the media, and anyone else that may listen and spread my story. We will never get this area rebuilt because of these people. Heartless, horrible people. Shame on you Bank of America.

By: Go;dcoast Tony

Go;dcoast Tony — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 11:10:41 +0000

In reply to James.

JAMES.
If you are in Florida and I AM ASKING about the legal research this issue. I am pro-se, (representing your self), are u able to point you in the direction of some illustrative court cases, but understand I cannot give you legal advice about your individual case, insurance policy or situation, or how these cases might apply to your individual case. this happened from a tornado aug,2 2011 and i payed for insurance also inspector and follwed citizens gambit. Fix payed numerous dollars and lost my home.
THANK YOU
GOLD COAST

By: Jennifer Crespo

Jennifer Crespo — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 06:07:40 +0000

My name is Jose I Crespo. I live in New York. My home was devastated by hurricane Sandy. My mortgage company is Bank of America.
Bank of America is holding my money hostage. I can’t proceed without funds for demoliton. The contractors know that Bank of America is notorious for holding money, dispersing too little too late, holding up progress with inspections that take too long…so contractors don’t want to work on my home.
Being that I don’t have any money to work with, and my house is bordering a mold civilization…my idea was to avoid further losses and take up demolition and clean up on my own…acting as my own contractor. Bank of America CLEARLY told me that they would NOT pay me for any labor if I acted as my own contractor. Even though they are paid by the flood insurance policy for demolition, they will not pay me to do it. So if I do it myself, they pocket the $15000 that flood insuraance paid out. This is flat out theft. So much for trying to save my home from total destruction.