Bank of America To Modify 630,000 Loans in 2009 To Avoid Foreclosures
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Bank of America is planning on proactively modifying 630,000 loans in the coming year.
Did you hear that?
A bank is going to be proactive in protecting it’s assets and providing relief at the same time. We all know the tremendous cost of foreclosure to banks. And who will do more to take care of a home than someone who has an ownership stake in it?
By being committed to keeping families in the homes instead of foreclosing Bank of America is cleaning up many of the ills that they have inherited with the Countrywide purchase.
This is welcome news and hopefully will be emulated across the banking industry.
To help homeowners avoid foreclosure, Bank of America and Countrywide modified approximately 230,000 home loans during 2008. This year the company embarked on a loan modification program projected to modify over US$100 billion in loans to help keep up to 630,000 borrowers in their homes. The centerpiece of the program is a proactive loan modification process to provide relief to eligible borrowers who are seriously delinquent or are likely to become seriously delinquent as a result of loan features, such as rate resets or payment recasts. In some instances, innovative new approaches will be employed to include automatic streamlined loan modifications across certain classes of borrowers. The program utilizes an affordability equation to qualify borrowers for loan modifications at a targeted first year mortgage debt to income ratio of 34 percent. via Press Release.
I like your analogy in this article. The real estate economy really is like a patient who you cannot ...
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Great to hear that the big boys
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most think.
Thanks for the value! 
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I live in the Philippines and I am glad we are not on the lists... 
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I see the question I have, but no response. I do not have a for sale sign up ...
I'll add mine to the list too. This is happening in Kansas City, Missouri as well now.
We already knew ...
Comment by CharlieNoSpam on 16 January 2009:
Ever since I heard Dr. Susan Wachter of Wharton talk about the problems our economy will face in 2010 when HEL loans need to be refinanced. I have been contemplating our current economic problems with foreclosures and falling home prices. The news reported recently of CitiBank’s acceptance of a proposal to allow bankruptcy judges the ability to modify payments; the problem is that this is just one lender, and it requires a case by case review by bankruptcy judges. Bank of America is doing better by proactively modifing loans, but what of all the others?
A proposal called the Mortgage Equity Protection Plan is for a program that is more streamlined (using the internet), not needing all the paperwork or expense of a conventional bankruptcy, not needing to have each case reviewed by a bankruptcy judge; it takes advantage of current low fixed rates and gives all the loan servicers (& lenders) the incentive to address current and future defaults. (I assume you are familiar with the problem that Loan Servicers face in renegotiating mortgages, on behalf of their investors of Mortgage backed securities).
Most importantly, the plan would almost instantaneously end the massive numbers of homes entering the foreclosure market for the next 5 years. From a populist point of view, it would sell well, as it would be directed to helping homeowners, instead of giving it to banks (hoping they will start lending again). Meanwhile the investors who are being paid from this program, can invest again in FNMA (government backed) mortgage securities. Investors have an incentive to put their money back into this market, because the plan would solve the problem of decreasing prices, and FNMA offers better returns than Treasury notes. Another reason that this will appeal to politicians and pundits, is that these investors will not be using the money to pay executive bonuses or buy other banks,
The Mortgage Equity Protection Program meets another goal of fiscal responsibility (i.e. getting the Treasury repaid).
This plan comes from my years of experience in the Real Estate industry and my work at Mortgage Reporting Service, a consumer service that published mortgage rates for all the lenders in the Philadelphia area in the 1980’s.
I am concerned that if we don’t stop the drop in home prices now, they are going to crater to absurd levels!
This information can be found at http://charlienospam.blogspot.com/
I would be interested in your feedback.
CharlieNoSpam-Economy [at] yahoo.com
Pingback by Realty Thoughts » Post Topic » Bank of America to Modify $100 Billion in loans in 2009 on 16 January 2009:
[...] high cost banks must shell out due to foreclosure they are now changing their tune. According to The Real Estate Bloggers Bank of America plans to proactively modify 630,000 loans totaling $100 billion. Now homeowners who [...]
Comment by Jennifer K Giraldi on 16 January 2009:
It’s about time! With the large expense of foreclosing, this looks like a win-win for both the banks and the mortgage holder. Hopefully this will get us on the right track for a full recovery.
Comment by Free Grant Kit on 16 January 2009:
I agree with that,home prices will sink as oil if nobody stop it.
Comment by Robert Unusual Loans on 17 January 2009:
So they say. Now we shall seee what kind of criteria they use. Also it is past that point, good luck with the 34% DTI ration. Right now many are not worried about their home but rather keeping a job just ask California state workers
Pingback by One Positive Sign from Troubled Bank of America on 18 January 2009:
[...] Real Estate Bloggers had a post on their site that says that Bank of America and its subsidiary Countrywide will work to modify 630,000 loans. Why? It cost lenders up to $70,000 to foreclose on a home, and as more foreclosed properties come on the market it will take longer to sell their properties. [...]
Comment by A BOA Client on 22 January 2009:
I really hope there is some truth to this. I am a BOA client and I have been trying to get them to us stay in our home. They would rather take a 1,000,000 loss than help us stay in our home because they of certain guidelines they must follow.
Comment by Sarah on 24 January 2009:
What type of guidelines are you speaking of? I have applied for a BOA loan modification for my HELOC and since there is a waiting period of approximately 4 weeks I would like to know the facts so I can plan for my future.
Comment by Mary on 27 January 2009:
It is absolutely imperative that Bank of America or any lender, base the loan modification on current financials of the borrower. There was a time period recently when the banks would send loan mod papers to a borrower who was late, but they were using the information from the original application, not current financial info. This is one of the reasons for the low success rate for modifications.
It seems that banks have finally woken up to the fact that they must be pro -active and involved in order to successfully modify and keep a customer happy and in their home. Someimes in order to do that they are re-underwriting and dismissing a second or heloc completely.
Comment by John on 5 February 2009:
I am sure a lot of people who are here are poking around because they are in trouble or they see it off in the future. If you are in foreclosure, you MUST defend this even by yourself if you can’t afford an attorney. I am in south Florida so it may be a little more extreme here than where you are.
Don’t think the banks are taking the brunt of this. Lookup GRENWICH v. Countrywide and MBIA Insurance v. Countrywide. Most of the loans were sold (in not all according to Countrywide annual statements) and now, they are passing the loss along to the investors. These investors have a right to be upset. They were sold “high quality” loans. I have looked at several loan applications and settlement documents that were made during the boom and I don’t even see where/how these got approved.
The better defense against this (if you’re back is against the wall) is press them for the originals of the note (which the holder in due course needs). Send your lender a Qualified Written Request (there are several examples on the net). Under RESPA, they HAVE to respond. Find out what they don’t want you to know. See the study by Prof Katie Porter, Assoc Prof Of Law, Univ of Iowa. 40% of the notes are missing and in most jurisdictions, it is REQUIRED to enforce a note. But if you don’t object, you loose.
Everyone has been affected by this. Even if you have a secure job and can pay your bills, try to sell your house in the next 5 years for a small profit and it’s not going to happen. If you refied and took cash out during this time, you are now held hostage to your home or at least huge financial pain in the future. In my areas, prices are down over 50% which equates to 2000-2001 price levels. Agreed, we didn’t need this big of a run up but this mess will take at least 5 years (maybe more) for some sort of stability to come back. Homes, jobs etc will not bounce back anytime soon.
The securitization of mortgages made it easier for more buyers to come into the market. Simple economics of supply and demand…house prices go up. The problem, the banks needed more loans to sell to investors (forget about buyer qualification). Do you want to know why lenders don’t want to disclose exactly what they did and why they don’t want disclosure of where they spend TARP money? It’s a real simple answer. Most of these loans should not have been approved by any standard in place at the time. The lenders knew it at the time they sold the notes on these loans as “AAA.” So even if 60% of the notes are even around for a lender to use to foreclose with, of these 60%, a large percentage of them (if you force the issue) would have been fraudulent notes (remember, they were rated high grade investments). Under Federal and state UCC laws (as I understand), a negotiable instrument (i.e. a note) that is transferred, and the transferee knowingly obtains it through fraud (remember, when you GIVE the note to the lender at closing, they are the transferee) the instrument becomes “non-negotiable”! So, when the lender sold it to the investor, your note just got paid. And yes, the lender knew the note was not as represented when they sold it to the investor. The investor would certainly have a cause of action against the lender (i.e., the cases above).
The lenders do not want anyone knowing this. The problems you hear everyday about trying to figure out what this stuff is worth so we (the tax payers) can buy this paper and get the economy rolling again. I’ve got news, if people understood what happened with securitization, they would know, the paper is only worth salvage prices at the recycle bin. If this wasn’t the case, the banks could put a value on it for the FED that all could agree on. I think they want to keep quite because lying to Uncle Sam would put these geniuses in jail.
Countrywide was the biggest lender and Bank of America will probably go same way as other have this past year for buying the country’s #1 lender. Someone else agrees, just look at BOA stock prices of the past months relative to the other banks.
If you think the banks really want to work things out, think again. They will but only if forced to do so. They want payment for the loan, TARP money, the Credit Default Swap (another form of insurance) Money, and your house. From the banks prospective, they are better to foreclose. The “securitization” process never enters the process. They get your house, sell it for cheap, and then either charge it off (passed through to the investors) and issue you a 1099 OR hold on the deficiency. The crime here is the investors who bought the loan get shorted also. The bank receives the TARP, CDS money, money from the sale of your property. Mind you, they sold the loan to the investor at face value in the first place! Do the math, the bank lends you $200,000 and received fees, They sell the investor the loan for face value (or better). The loan goes bad, they get (say) $100,000 at foreclosure that they pass along to the investor (a $100,000 loss to the investor, $0 lost by the bank). They get the CDS money (say 25% or $40,000 or the loan), the then get to either charge off the $100,000 loss on their taxes OR retain a deficiency judgment against you…say they get $10,000 (10 cents on the dollar but I think they will do better than that). The bank just made $50,000…sprinkle a little TARP money in the mix and who knows! You have a foreclosure, the investor looses out and what almost makes this laughable is the note, if borrowers took the bank to task, was probably NOT enforceable in the first place! And MOST homeowners are simply walking away!
I had the opportunity last week to look through one of these securitization agreements. I notice that it said (in essence) that if the bank negotiates with the borrower (ie, short sale, deed in lieu, renegotiated terms), the MUST buy the note back from the trust at face value. Obviously, there must be some other language buried in these multi 100 page agreements that banks like Countrywide are using to pass the loss on to investors…thus the above mentioned cases which were filed in late ‘08 after Countrywide “settled” with 15 states.
The next “wave” of problems I think are to come will be in a few years when foreclosed homeowners get a letter something like this…”You know that house we lent you $300,000 for and could only sell it for $125,000? Well, we would like to work out some sort of payment arrangement.” So, if your bank issues a 1099, be thankful. It’s probably over (because they can’t issue a 1099 and enforce a deficiency judgment). Thank goodness congress passed legislation that allows homeowners (of their primary residence) to pretty much wipe out the loss. Former owners of investment/second homes may face challenges that will need to be addressed with their accountants.
Yes, I have heard of several customers receiving “offers”. They all run about the same, 40 years, rates in the 3% range, and arrearages either cut down and/or added to the principal. It nets about $100 reduced payment. To quote one of them, “Why would I sign up for a $200,000 loan on a property that’s worth $120,000 for 40 years?, I’ll never get out from under this place!”
Informed comments are welcome here or at the address below.
Regards,
John Woodward
john at johnwoodward dot com
Disclaimer – This is my opinion. Do your own research. There is much more to this than can be written on a message board. This is not advice and you should consult with the proper experts in your area about your situation.
Comment by Eirik on 18 February 2009:
I have recently contactd BOA in reguards to finding out more info about a loan modification. They person I spoke with has no idea what im referring too. Does anyone have anymore info on who or what department I should contact?
Comment by Rita Franklin on 25 February 2009:
I would like to know how Countrywide can present themselves as the seller of a home and excute a contract. Then hold up the closing as they need to get a POA from the investor. The new buyers had no idea an investor was invovled. Can someone explain this apparently legal process to me?
Thank you
Comment by Karen on 25 February 2009:
Sorry…but who is getting the loan mod..it says eligible borrowers? So does that mean that the bum who is a almost out of business mortgage broker down the street who bought a 1.2 million dollar home on a option arm gets help? Does that include the equity line he took out for 200k?..so what will his payments be after the loan mod…1500 a month? Great so after all that I have done being a doctor… This uneducated idiot gets a pass? Sad!
Comment by Frustrated on 2 June 2009:
Try getting a loan with BOA. 10 days after we were supposed to close they say we need to do repairs to the house. We don’t even own it yet and they want us to pay for repairs. The seller will not pay as we got the house as is. They say the repairs need to be done before closing. WE have never had so much of a run around as with BOA. If we were not emotionaly attached to the house and have almost $10,000 into it we would try to walk away. But then the seller could sue us for breach of contract. Now 15 days past closing and they havn’t lined anyone up to do the repairs and it is costing us $100.00 a day in fees to be over our closing. I wish we could find out who this underwriter is and talk directly to her. But they do not allow it. We have good jobs and assets. Why can’t they see this and just give us the loan so we can get into our dream home. We will never do business with BOA ever again. If they decide to give us the loan we will pay it off as soon as possible to avoid them getting any interest money. We have several properties that are paid for and we will sell a couple just to get out from under them.
Any way. I need to get this out. Thanks for reading. Say alittle prayer.
Comment by jdvon Logan on 23 June 2009:
I just recvd an approval from bank of America on a Loan Modification for one of my Properties. I had refinanced it with a Mortgage Company called Quality Homes. The Loan was sold to Country Wide less then a year later. Currently, the Title Company that secured the Loan to Quality homes is being sued in a Class action suite for millions of dollars for false charges made on the the closing statements. NOW! You might be wondering, what is my Point?
Thanks to you guys and your comments I have learnt a lot about the RIP-OFF TACTICS, That banks, servicers, mortgage predators and fraudulent brokers, and of Course the Government, Use to keep home owners and innocent idiots like me in the dark. ANYWAY, back to the BOA modification approval they sent me: First, IT IS BASICALLY A DEMAND TO ME TO PAY ALL THAT I OWE INCLUDING THE LATE FEES AND PAST PAYMENTS (Total = 212,000.00) The Properties in this area are selling for around 165,000.00 average) I originally refinanced it for 189,000.00,I was one of the many idiots at the time that didnt really want the Loan or even qualified for it, but I did it anyway. IT IS A INTEREST ONLY LOAN AT 7.75% AND ITS A SUBPRIME LOAN, BASED ON A JUMP IN INTEREST IN 2012 WHEN THE RATE WILL JUMP TO 11.5%. THEY CALL THIS A LOAN MODIFICATION HA HA HA…
ANYWAY, BOA’S LOAN MOD APPROVAL LETTER ARRIVED A COUPLE DAYS AGO AND OF COURSE I WILL DECLINE THEIR OFFER AND APPLY FOR ANOTHER PROGRAM.
BUT THIS TIME I WILL USE THE KNOWLEDGE I HAVE GATHERED FROM YOUR MANY COMMMENTS AND ALSO FROM MUCH RESEARCH I HAVE DONE ON THE SUBJECT.
ANYWAY WILL KEEP YOU POSTED HOW I DO! MEANWHILE ANY AND ALL COMMENTS WILL BE APPRECIATED.
JD
Comment by suzanne on 1 July 2009:
DO NOT GO WITH BOA FOR A LOAN OR RE-FI….I applied for a re-fi in March and I am still waiting for a loan processor. I bought my home in Feb of 08 and wanted to refi at 4.5….they told me today that it won’t close until Aug. When I applied BOA said 30-60 days…..it will be 6 months before I get my loan and more than $3,000 later I could have saved if they had told me it would take this long.
Comment by Jack Thomas on 15 July 2009:
Talk is cheap, actions are what speak louder than words. Bank of America has stonewalled and stymied all attempts for us to get them to honor a loan modification that we were approved for and now we are in the position where we need to file a lawsuit against Bank of America to get them to honor a contract they sent to us!!
If you were initially approved by Countrywide Home Loans for loan modification in the last 12 months, only to have them reject your modification please contact Jack Thomas (lead plaintiff) at 513-899-3478 for a potential class-action lawsuit against Bank of America
Comment by Judy on 8 August 2009:
I have already talked to Jack Thomas. My story is a near duplicate of his. Loan mod package/CONTRACT that is one of the California Attorney General stream-lined modifications, the letter with the modification CONTRACT states you need only submit verification of income, that the modification CONTRACT must be NOTARIZED, and that the package must be returned by 30 days from the date they typed up the letter/package.
You follow their instructions to the LETTER, you get verbal confirmation that the package is processed and that they verified it is complete. You keep calling them and they keep giving assurances. Then you find out they just did not finish the processing. No valid reason is presented. The modification CONTRACT package spelled out that if you agreed and followed the instructions, THEY WOULD MODIFY THE LOAN. There was no ‘out’ ANYWHERE in the offered CONTRACT that allowed CW/BofA to ‘rethink’ the offer. There is NO truth in lending letter sent telling you of your options – they don’t do that since there is no REASON that they can use to justify what they have failed to do!!!!!
Worker-bees have said they could get this ‘fixed’ but then the call is abruptly disconnected just when the worker tries to check with a supervisor and if you can ever get a message from the worker, you find that he was told by a supervisor “don’t get involved”. What is that stench? Bloated rotting pork or decaying tarp? (TARP should be the name for a subspecies of a fish called carp. What the banks are doing with TARP is definitely FISHY.)
They are trying to bluff their way thru this and make like the CONTRACT does not EXIST.
If you have one of these contracts, they CAN be enforced. BofA/CW just does not want you to know it.
Also, if you contact any of the ‘boiler-room loan-mod for cash’ peddlers, they will try to convince you that the better method is to start fresh with them. Well, sometimes the lender has put a roadblock in place by selling the note to a private investor during this skirmish. If that has happened, that boiler-room attempt to do a mod WILL NOT succeed.
You are better off to force the mod contract that you already have to be honored.
Jack is correct, the only way to get these honored is to file suit. My attorney’s letters are being ignored.
I’m definitely filing a complaint with my ‘Uncle’ Jerry Brown, the AG in my state of California who negotiated the settlement under which my mod CONTRACT was generated.
BofA/CW, you want the AG suing you AGAIN too? And I just bet other AGs would follow suit just like last time.
I happen to indirectly know of another of these CONTRACTS that is not being honored. Given my small network of friends, this is a problem that may have been perpetrated on a far larger group that is first realized.
Pingback by CW has outdone themselves this time... - Page 3 - Loan Modification Forum - LoanSafe.org on 8 August 2009:
[...] with info on an Ohio guy who has the same problem too. His post and mine are also at this link: “Bank of America To Modify 630,000 Loans in 2009 To Avoid Foreclosures : The Real Estate Bloggers” (my comment follows his comment). We both have attorneys working this. It may become a class [...]
Comment by Dan Haskins on 23 August 2009:
Hello,
My wife and I are Bank of America customers. We applied “by ourselves on the telephone”, and within 60 days received a loan modification on our home. We had a fixed rate at 5.375%, and B of A reduced our rate to 3.25% for 5 years, then back to 5.375% for the remaining 25 years.
Our original loan also had a fixed for 10 year clause, then it went adjustable. B of A changed our loan to a std. fixed rate mortgage for the entire life of the loan. For the next five years beginning this October, we will save $560 per month, which adds up to $33,600.
B of A has worked very well with us. Our loan analyst Monica, has been great. You do not need an attorney to get your loan modified. You can do it yourself, just be nice, and be patient, as they are very busy and overloaded with requests.
Thank You Bank of America for working with us to keep our home.
Dan & Carol Haskins
Calimesa, California
Comment by Gwen on 2 September 2009:
What a crock. We’ve been trying to get a modification since january when it was still Countrywide. We are now living on 35% of the income we had when we bought the house, after both of us losing our jobs. Only hubby is working now. We have been completely stonewalled. Calls are not returned. Faxes are not responded to. Snail mail is ignored. We’ve been through all of the steps, sending them all of the documentation required under the Obama plan. We’ve contacted our elected officials. BofA has even called us telling us first that they were going to reduce our payments for a 3-month period of time, and if we made those payments a modification would be granted. But we were never told what those new payments were to be, and nothing ever came in writing. We were told to check the website to see the current state of our modification request, but that had not been updated for 4 months. All it said was we had applied. Then we got a call telling us to just “resume making payments”, which we cannot do since only one of us is working and our income is so much lower. Now we get a 5-day notice that we are unreachable and therefore our request is denied. We have documented call logs that show we only missed one call from BofA, and have returned that call over 15 times. All that happens is a voice mail, which goes unreturned. And yet WE are unreachable??
Is there a class action suit somewhere???
Comment by Robert on 30 September 2009:
bofA is sooo sllooowww..
Comment by B of A Homeowner on 6 October 2009:
We sent our information to the President of B of A in the Charlotte, NC office… barbara.j.desoer@bankofamerica.com We got a response within 48 hours and our mortgage amount can be reduced by $1200 per month including piti for 5 years because our income exceeds 31% of the PITI!! Send out emails to the following email addresses… some are working and some are not. good luck.
‘nancy.m.condos@bankofamerica.com’; ‘michelle.shepherd@bankofamerica.com’; ‘bradford.r.dinsmore@bankofamerica.com’; ’steele.alphin@bankofamerica.com’; ‘colleen.haggerty@bankofamerica.com’; ‘britney.w.sheehan@bankofamerica.com’; ‘nicole.nastacie@bankofamerica.com’; ‘joe.price@bankofamerica.com’; ‘keith.banks@bankofamerica.com’; ‘michael.jones@bankofamerica.com’; ‘brian.t.moynihan@bankofamerica.com’; ‘amy.brinkley@bankofamerica.com’; ‘ken.d.lewis@bankofamerica.com’
Comment by Uel Brown on 15 October 2009:
Anyone with FHA from Taylor Bean turn over to BofA in the middle of loan mod? BofA say they got no paper work on loan mod, but I do, BofA said have to start all over, but that I would not quafie because of income but yet Taylor Bean said I would, BofA said they did not get all the paper work I faxed them only the bank statement and the payments I made under the taylor bean agreement,whith were not credited, but the the letters from taylor saying they were makeing a mod to my loan they didnot get. What the hey no wonder the banks are maken a killing. HELP
Comment by Trying to help BoA customer on 6 November 2009:
My cousin in Maryland going thru same thing as Jack Thomas. Have loan Mod Agreement from Countywide dated April 2009, mod pymts started in May 2009 & they have been paying. They just found out 1st week of November that BoA won’t honor and “denied” approval and want them to pay huge amount, which I suppose is calculated based on previous payments and charges they have added,etc. My cousin is beside herself and barely able to function due to the stress and worry. I am going to try and call MD AG, MDHOPE and Md commissoner of financial regulation to see if I can help. This is crazy! if anyone has had any luck, please post contacts!
Comment by CC on 15 November 2009:
B of A has been horrible to me and my family. First, they took over Countrywide, took away my only source of business (I am a home loan consultant) and cut my pay in half. My income is now 1/10 of what it used to be when I fully qualified for my home loan (no reduced documentation).
I applied for a loan mod in May 2009, can’t get an answer from anyone at B of A and they scheduled a sale date of 12/26/09…THANK YOU B OF A for making it the day after Christmas and not communicating with me. When I call them, they state they don’t even know about the sale date being scheduled? I am in school to become a nurse, working as a loan officer and only need the mod temporarily until I am a nurse in 12 months…no, they can’t seem to get to me but they can help people who are receiving unemployment? Gosh…I can’t stand B of A!
Comment by BofA Worker Bee on 22 November 2009:
After reading all or your comments, I am compelled to respond as a “worker bee” at Bank of America Home Loans. First of all…stop whining about how bad Bank of America has treated you. I realize that the economy has not been kind to any of us and we are all experiencing stress in this difficult time. However, there are many of you who have created your own destiny by purchasing homes that were just barely within your reach instead of buying a smaller, more economical home that would be more comfortable in the event that the economy took a turn for the worse…which it has. I wonder how many of you drive a big “Urban Assault Vehicle” that guzzles gas like a beast…or smoke cigaretts that cost $50 a week…or shop at the mall instead of Wal-Mart…huh? And then when you find yourself in a situation where you cannot pay for your home you complain and blame Bank of America for not coming to your rescue! It is not Bank of America’s responsibility to take care of you or your mortgage payment. There are thousands of people who have applied for loan modifications and get them…and STILL don’t make their mortgage payments…REALLY? And then you get pissed off when your home goes into forclosure…REALLY? As for the people who were formally clients of Countrywide and Taylor, Bean, and Whittaker…STFU! Bank of America is committed to responsible lending which CW and TBW never were. I believe if you do some checking, you will see that TBW is currently under investigation for their lending practices. These loans came to BofA in horrible shape and BofA has been left holding the bag for millions of dollars in mortgage payments and escrow dollars that were never received from clients that made their payments in August. We are still waiting on these payments…and you get angry when we ask for you to provide us with your cancelled checks and proof of payments…REALLY? So go ahead and file your class action law suits…but search your own spending habits and make damn sure you did EVERYTHING you possibly could to cut your spending to bare necessities before you blame your bad decisions on Bank of America! Try eating Hamburger Helper and drinking water for dinner…stop smoking…turn off your lights…set your heater to 66 and wear a sweatshirt…turn off your cable cause local channels are free…do your own pedicure…tell Aunt Sue you won’t be there for Thanksgiving or Christmas cause airfare it too expensive…play a board game instead of going to the movies…cut up all of your credit cards, yes even your BofA CC…if you have to charge it, you can’t afford it!! All of these things will save you money…you will be surprised how much you can do without if you have to…but making your mortgage payment to keep your home is not one of them. Get off your asses and think! Stop blaming your personal wowes on the government, the bad economy, and BANK OF AMERICA!!
Comment by aswan on 27 November 2009:
To Whom It May Concern at Bank of America,
I do not believe anyone at Bank of America understands the unnecessary stress, and severity of the situation which your company has put my family and I through. On after Tuesday December 1, 2009, my family will be homeless, because I did not renew my lease, this is due to our belief (which I have in writting) that we were going to close on a mortage provided by your company. Now it is posted on your web site that our anticipated closing date is December 15, 2009, prior to me logging on to check the status of my loan process no one at Bank of America informed me of this change, or any of the changes which have occurred since the begining of this process. I have three children, and we are going to be homeless. If there was any doubt about my qualifying for a home loan I should not have been deceived into believing this process would be completed by November 30, 2009. Not only are we going to be homeless, but we are going to have to pay $100. a day to the sellers until we close, if we close on December 15, 2009 this is going to cost me $1500. If I am not going to get this loan I need to know by the original dead line, Monday November 30, 2009, so I can find a new apartment for my children, and so I can resume my life.
Comment by liz on 29 November 2009:
i spent the better part of the summer trying to get my loan modified through BofA. My original loan was through countrywide. the people i talked with on the phone and BofA were pretty ignorant about the process. each person told me something that contradicted what the others told me. I was told i was not eligible for the obama making home affordable plan. I finally decided to go into the forbearance program because as far as i could figure out this was my only chance of reducing my monthly payments and becoming eligible for a future modification. Just this week i received a loan modification offer from BofA. The terms seem reasonable although vague – for example it doesn’t say how much of my monthly payments will be principal and hoe much interest. they also seem to have tacked on a lot of charges which has increased the amount of principal i owe by about $7,000 – with no explanation. I called and spoke with 2 different departments, neither could help answer these questions for me.
all in all, i am very happy that this forbearance has led to a loan modification offer that seems pretty good. but i am still very concerned that BofA has such remarkably poor customer service representatives who do not have access to important information. they are making it impossible to make informed decisions about loan issues
Comment by David Crispin on 3 December 2009:
Evidently you get kick-back from Bank of America, because they have done less than nothing to help anyone. They have the worst phone system. You can’t get a knowledgeable human no matter how hard you try. They drag help out so that they can tack on charges. We wanted to pay our mortgage on the 28th late day to avoid going 30 days late, but they had denied us access to that part of the website. They are a sorry organization.
Comment by MIKE on 4 December 2009:
WHO KNOWS? MAYBE ITS TRUE,REMEMBER JUST THIS WEEK THEY ARE RETURNING ALL BAIL-OUT MONEY TO THE GOV,CLEAR EXAMPLE THAT IS BETTER TO BE INDEPENDENT. THIS IS WHY THEY ARE WILLING TO HELP KEEP THEIR CUSTOMERS AT HOME AND MAKING A REAL MOVE TO HELP THE ECONOMY. NOT JUST THE COMMON MAKE BELIEVE (THE HOPE ,OR CHANGE STUFF)
Comment by Kristine M. Croft on 7 December 2009:
I cant’ believe the response from the “worker bee” at BOA…I’m sorry Mr. Worker BEE, but I DO all of those things….except moron…I shop at Dollar Tree for a lot of food….not Wal-Mart….you idiot!!! How dare you just assume that we are all like that? We are NOT!! We don’t smoke, we barely USE our heat, we have BASIC cable, not fancy cable, we make a lot of Romen noodles…(sp??) We have NO credit card debts at ALL!! WE pay for cash for everything…and if we don’t have it…we don’t get it!! My kids just got accepted for Medicaid you idiot because we make below average (I tried paying for Peachcare for them but we were refused due to our income falls below) as we are in the construction field and i work odd jobs and take care of my kids at the same time. OH yeah, and I drive a 2004 minivan at about 335.00 a month, and my husband drives a 2002 Ford F-150 bottom line truck that will be paid off on Dec. 14th!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH, and I have NEVER had a manicure, (nor do I want one) and the last pedicure I got was a gift!! Otherwise I never get those either!! My kids get hand me downs and if we need something….Goodwill is just down the road! So…..we DO pay our bills and have just asked for a loan modification as our house is not worth what we paid for it. Our 2nd loan has gladly accepted us modifying and cut our payment in 1/2. I am not even asking for 1/2 with you all. We would be grateful for just 200.00 a month cheaper. We can’t even get an answer from you all and we have a lawyer friend who is helping us on her time and SHE can’t even get you all to respond!!! Come on! What happened to the money Obama gave you all? In the future, do NOT just assume everyone is like what you described. There are some of us who are really trying here to make it work! I pay my bills…..and they are just living expenses!! We just would like a loan modification!! That’s all!
Pingback by Bank of America Modified 600,000 Mortgages in Last 2 Years Missing Goal Significantly : The Real Estate Bloggers on 7 December 2009:
[...] pretty powerful numbers but they are a bit disappointing. Why, because back in January Bank of America promised to modify 630,000 to avoid foreclosure. Reading the comments of the post I did back then shows a great deal of incompetence and [...]
Comment by BofA Worker Bee on 14 December 2009:
Hi Kristine M. Croft…I wasn’t talking to you sweetie! I was talking to the people who don’t do the things you do to cut expenses…so calm down! I was talking to the lady I spoke to on the phone last week that was mad because she was turned down on a loan modification and was concerned how she was going to make her mortgage payment AND keep up her pool that costs her $300 a month to maintain. I have a suggestion…turn it into a flower garden…dumb ass! Or let the water turn green…but for christ sake…don’t let your home go! Geeeezzzz!!!
Comment by phillip on 14 December 2009:
Bank of America completed a whooping 98 loan modifications for troubled homeowners with the TARP money received from the Obama plan!
Comment by Dave on 22 December 2009:
The whole mod process is just another way the banks are taking our hard earned tax dollars and then screwing us. They count the trial mods in there stats and then deny practically everyone unless the property is under water. If you have equity they will say you didn’t get in all your paperwork or some other cheating excuse. Then just while you are hoping for the mod to arrive it’s a foreclosure served.
I’m suing these cheating bastards. They caused much of the problem took our tarp money until bonus time then paid back the money just in time for bonuses. You are just as likely to get struck by lightening than get your final mod. If you are in trial mod be prepared for the worst. Sorry but I don’t trust any of these BANKSTERS!
Comment by michelle on 30 December 2009:
Does anyone know of a lawsuit against Taylor Bean on behalf of homeowners? I would love to show my paperwork that they contributed to the lose of my home and caused financial hardship. BOA is no better they have only sent me one letter in Aug 09 and when I called to find out what was going on they said they had no information yet because paper work was complete yet.
Comment by VERONICA on 7 January 2010:
Bank of America will not help me with my loan modification and i do not know why. I had a cut pay of 30,000.00 a year i qualify and i got a letter from them taking only $30 off my loan . I call and call I never get a response.
Comment by HON3Y on 19 January 2010:
I have a few things to say about BANK OF AMERICA they are a bunch of crooked SOB’s. Let me tell the crap I have going through and its amazing how people could be so cruel when it comes to money. I have been trying to modify my mortgage and they give us the run around. I am working with a non-profit group to help me get in contact with them because each and every time I call them about handing over my MODIFICATION APPLICATION they transfer me to one office to another. Now as I have spoken to my rep she is stating that she is getting the same run around. I believe this is one of BANK OF AMERICAs tactics to NOT MODIFY ANY MORTGAGES. They have classic M.O.
Comment by Brian on 19 January 2010:
Re: Comment by BofA Worker Bee on 22 November 2009
Your objectivity is skewed. You’re assuming rather than basing your ideations on facts. BOA along with its subsidiaries created the “junk loans” that led to the collapse of the international monetary system including the United States. BOA has been ordered by Congress (the peoples representatives) to be accountable for their actions and have yet to admit that their actions were inappropriate. I have written proof from the appraiser (in exchange for her immunity) that she was paid to appraise our home at twice its value to qualify for a mortgage that would meet the Loan to Value ratio which we required. The fact is; you’re an uninformed idiot! The fact is; appraisers were paid with either money or kick-backs! The fact is; “big banks” profited at the people’s expense! The fact is; executives profiting from their inappropriate financial actions should be in jail forever! The fact is; this country is by the people for the people and our Congressmen better remember that!
Comment by Rebecca on 21 January 2010:
WHAT IF YOUR LOAN IS NOT MODIFIED AND YOU ARE FORCED WITH FORCLOSURE OR A SHORT SALE.
Some state laws have made it tougher, if not downright impossible, for lenders to collect such short-sale debt. But others allow lenders to have free rein unless, that is, you had the foresight to get your mortgage company to agree to a “waiver of deficiency.”
I have plenty of clients who had loans with BOA that were allowed to do a short sale and obtained a waiver of deficiency.
Even if someone in your lender’s office made a verbal promise saying you’d be totally off the hook when the deal was done, it could be pretty tough to prove in court. So barring something in writing, stating that you aren’t responsible for the deficiency … well, you know the rest.
If the amount at stake is a small amount it probably wouldn’t be worth taking the mortgage company to court over. But you should feel free to discuss the issue with a real estate attorney who may recognize other recourses based on all facts of the case.
Now to the matter of your tax treatment. There is help: The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, which was signed into law in December 2007. It was designed to relieve taxes on forgiven debt, previously considered by the IRS as “phantom income” that is realized in a short sale or foreclosure. It applies to most relief given after Jan. 1, 2007, and through 2012.
What if I’ve filed my returns and didn’t take advantage of the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007?
The good news is you can correct your little faux pas by filing an amended return for the 2007 and 2008 tax years, using Form 1040X, the Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. Be sure to explain the change very clearly on the amended return. Such amendments are common and shouldn’t be a red flag for an audit, should that concern you.
You should also try to negotiate the deficiency to obtain a lower amount. When you hear, “We’ll settle,” that usually means there’s room for more negotiation. Make sure you mention to the mortgage company that you believe it gave you wrong or even deceptive information when you made your short-sale decision.
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Comment by Kevin Lambright on 2 February 2010:
My wife and I had a modification going with Countrywide and then Bank of America bought our loan and even after they said the modofication was going through and to not worry we recieved papers yesterday that house will be foreclosed on March 2nd. Here is the kicker! I have a witch for an exwife, who got a hold of Bank of America filled out paper work, even having me not living in the house and cancelled the modification without my knowledge. They let me know three months later and will not release the paperwork she forged and just won’t speak to me. I have a lawyer going after Bank of America and my exwife and hopefully I don’t lose my house
Comment by Screwed in Virginia on 3 February 2010:
Bank of America Mortgage is STEALING my home from me. Adjustable Rate loan payments skyrocketed – we had trouble struggling to make payments. They advised that until we were at least 2 months late on payments, they couldn’t help us. At the two month mark, i tried to make a payment, so it wouldn’t get any later than that – and they refused to accept the money. They had already decided to foreclose. House is for sale 2/16 – and we have to move. We’re not alone – realtor we spoke to last weekend recited our story to us chapter and verse – all we had to say was “Bank of America”. Said she’d spoken with dozens of clients with the same exact circumstances as us. Think something’s going on here? I sure do. This is heartbreaking – we have 8 grandchildren, and this is the only Grandma & Grandpa’s house they’ve ever known. All of the Christmases they’ve had here and all of the summer’s spent here – some of their fondest memories STOLEN by a horde of corporate thugs. Think I’m ranting? Do business with bank of America and sooner or later – it will happen to you too.
Comment by patthechick on 3 February 2010:
I think BoA is stealing my home as well. Like the others, I was told I could not make a late payment and that I could be eligible for a modification. I was given 48 hours to complete the process and fax all my documentation in. I did it and, in late November, 2009 received a modification approval packet with a new mortgage contract, better terms even with the missed payments rolled into the principal. I sent the notarized contract and the required payment back to them. My next payment was due February of 2010. In late December I received a standard BoA payment coupon with a huge amount on it saying it was due by January 20 BUT it also said that if I had made arrangements with the loan mod department, that I should follow those arrangements. To my absolute shock and embarrassment, on January 27, I received notice that my home has been foreclosed upon and is set to be sold on the courthouse steps in 21 days. WTF. Of course I can’t get them to even put a human on the phone. My lawyer has written to their lawyer who initially indicated that it was a likely miscommunication between departments at BoA – but is it fixed? I’m at a loss because I paid them the money they asked for so now I don’t have it to move somewhere else. I have quite a bit of equity in my home and I have been a good steward of the property. When I heard that they only completed 98 of the loan mods by December 1, I was so happy mine was one of them – Now I wonder if I will be seeing the other 97 people in court when we file an injunction to stop the sale and seek punitive damages for what appears to be blatant fraud. If it’s not fraud – just fix it.
Comment by Maria on 23 February 2010:
Same ole story as the rest. I submitted information to Bank of America in June ‘09 for a loan modification. I called each month thereafter for a status. In September ‘09, a gal with the bank told me that I do not qualify because I did not live in the property. I never told her that !! I asked to speak to a supervisor and this person spent 30 minutes with me and got me approved for a loan modification. Each month thereafter, I called for status and documents. I kept being told that documents were on their way. By December ‘09, I was told I needed to make trial payments for three months. I set up payments by phone for the three months. They did not deduct my payments. I called early January 2010 and was told that I was now rejected for a loan modification. I was told that an appraisal was done on my property and that based on the appraisal and the price of the home, I no longer qualified. I am moving out and will no longer deal with Bank of America. They are a big joke. They are ruining the lives of people and don’t care. They are toying with peoples minds. They should not be allowed to continue this fiasco. I will never bank with these financial hoodlums. PLEASE BOYCOTT BANK OF AMERICA. Oh, and I would love to join in on a Class Action Lawsuit !!!
Comment by Shelby on 25 February 2010:
Pretty much same story here. We applied for a loan mod with BOA back in Dec of 2008. Signed and had contract noterized and mailed back within 3 days of our receiving them. Paperwork said our first payment would begin Feb 1, 2009. New mortgage payment was $400 less than previous. We received a new payment book two weeks later showing our payment was only $150 less than the original. Calling BOA, I was told the new mortg payment on the contract did NOT include interest, taxes or home owners insurance. If we only needed $150 a month extra to make the morgage payment I could have found a part-time job! Both my husband and I were layed off 1 month apart. (And, for the record, we received approval on our home loan with husbands income only as I was not working at the time and had no intentions. One kid to college and two others for braces changed that). He was able to find a job before me (I’m still looking!) but not before our savings was sucked dry and our mortg became delinquent. We continued to make the “new” payment.
Flash forward to Dec 24, 2009. CHRISTMAS EVE, I receive a phone call from BOA wanting to touch base with us regarding our FORECLOSURE because we were 7 months delinquent. WTF??!!! I freaked!! I explained about the Mod, she didn’t see any of that. She researched further and called me back two days later. She explained that the Mod was never finalized and payments were being posted to the OLD LOAN because they had the WRONG interest rate on the Mod contract and we had to start all over and re-apply. This is where I am today. Since December I have been trying to get someone to help me accomplish this to no avail. 20 mins ago I received an automated phone call from BOA saying they were trying to contact us to discuss changes made to our loan. I’m terrified to call them back. Did they correct their error or are they foreclosing?
We had BOA as a mortgager 15 years ago and my experience with them then had me BEG the bank we were approved through for this home, to NOT SELL the loan to BOA! Of course she said that was not possible and imagine my horror when they did purchase the loan. If we make it through this, I am selling the home and I will rent for the rest of my freaking LIFE just to avoid BOA buying any mortgage payment I might have. I am just sick to my stomach with stress and anxiety. And every person I speak with over at BOA has this snotty and holier than thou attitude, like they are soooo much better and smarter than me. I hope to God nothing ever happens to them that is beyond their control and they need to deal with their own freaking employer. Ugg.
Comment by Maria on 26 February 2010:
I heard on the news the other day that Obama is considering putting a halt on all foreclosures until reasonable consideration and negotiations have been made regarding loan modification. This will not help me because I am now walking away but I sure do hope this happens and in enough time to help the rest of you. May God Bless you all and watch over you during this very difficult and trying time.
Comment by jon conlin on 1 March 2010:
BOA is full of shit. I have tried a loan modification since Oct 2008 with Countrywide and still ongoing with BOA. I keep getting runaround. The only thing that appears to me that works is a threatened class action lawsuit. I saw posting by Jack Thomas. When I called they said they couldn’t discuss it due to a non disclosure clause. They got their deal and refuse to help out anyone else. Its everyone for themselves. Anyone knows of any other class action lawsuit against BOA?
Comment by Hillary on 2 March 2010:
Skank of America is foreclosing on my home. I have been trying for a year to get my loan modified. I was told several times I am eligible for the Making Home Affordable loan but they never do anything. I send in paper work and then they take it and they shove it up their ……. Folks these people don’ t want to help you and they could care less about you. The problem is that all these banks need to be regulated. First they made bad loans. Then they get money from the govornment. Then they froze everyones equity line, even when the market value of their property did not substantially decreased. Then they file foreclosure actions with out the note, which I would consider a meritless claim and they can’t prove they have standing to bring the suit ie your mortgage was with Discover Home Loan and Wells Fargo is the plaintiff sueing you. Gee can anyone bring a mortgage suit -think I will try that. Oh wait I am not a bank only they can get away with it. . Next on their agenda are defeciency judgements But you say they are not filing them now. Well of course not they have up to five years to file them and the judgment are good for 20 years. Thats the next wave of economic destruction they will cause in the future year. Get it they are ruining the country.