Profiled Homeowner Gets a Mortgage Modification

Although I am thrilled that this homeowner got her modification, and thankful that ProPublica is being so proactive, it quite frankly disgusts me (actually my feelings are stronger but I won’t write them here) that it takes media attention to get the modification she deserved. There are tens of thousands of others whose stories are not being profiled who are being tossed under the bus. Either they are not getting modifications, or they, like me, are having fees tacked onto the end. Like I’ve said before, this is all a crap shoot. It’s luck of the draw if you get profiled, and luck of the draw if you get a mod. Main Street is getting raped and very few people (ProPublica excluded in this) care.

Thank you for what you do. I wish it could be enough.

I totally agree with Barbara that it sucks that this is what it took to get her the modification she already deserved.  However, this is the state of affairs in American media today.  I thank God for this site, and the other few journalists that are working this story (Huffpo). 

Granted, you have to go looking for it as we do, but if not for them, NO ONE would be covering it.  It stinks that the media is reduced to this level, but the right wing corporate media controls most of the message Americans hear, and their job is to keep people stupid. 

I for one wish everyone here would take the one minute it requires to copy their comments here to the Rachel Maddow show at MSNBC.  She and Chris Hayes in her absence have covered this story.  Someone else here said Anderson Cooper of CNN did as well.  We are the ones who should be bombarding them with our stories.  We know that no one else will, so maybe it’s worth a shot.

You know the mainstream media can’t stand it when one network gets a story none of the others are bothering to cover.  Suddenly, all of them are covering it.  Let’s get smart and with our numbers try and make them hear us!

By the way, WAY TO GO PROPUBLICA!!!!

good idea Jean. it is clear this issue is off the radar of MSM and even most cable talkers.
where do we go for a good media contact sheet, such as those used by crank groups? and can we copy the elected officials?
I think Barney Frank could use a wakeup call (he is not my senator.)

There is a good list on the following site:

http://beingmiddleclass.org/forumdisplay.php?88-Contact-Information

Also - I totally did NOT mean in any way to put down ProPublica. I am so thankful for what Paul and Karen et.al. have done, and totally value their continued work on this issue.

There is a good list on the beingmiddleclass.org site. Look under the forum titled “Homeowners Dealing with Banksters” and then to the “Contact information” thread.

Also - I totally did NOT mean in any way to put down ProPublica. I am so thankful for what Paul and Karen et.al. have done, and totally value their continued work on this issue.

You are right! Thanks to ProPublica and Paul. Because of them I was able to get Bank of America to recognize that they made a mistake when they put my home on auction. It’s unreal what they put people through. There are millions of people facing this situation and it is impossible for ProPublica to help them all. Something needs to be done so hopefully by them doing a few we can get to somebody or somewhere to hear us out and help out so many families facing homelessness! I am still not back in my house because Bank of America is taking their time deciding when they are going to give me my house back! It is frustrating to be waiting day after day to see what is going to happen to your home that has been home for THIRTY years! I feel humiliated and abused and I can relate to what everyone else is feeling out there. They put me in a worse hardship than I was before. I pray to God that something gets done and families dont keep losing their homes like I have. Its very frustrating so if you know anything or anyone that is helping people just let me know. Thank you.

Agreeing total with Frances Gomez - my husband and I have been dealing with the INCOMPETENCE and lies and lost paperwork etc., of BANK OF AMERICA since 10/2009 and they caused us to go bankrupt and because of their stories and wasting our time and saying we were getting approved or/and trial we missed out on my husbnd being entitled to a FORBEARANCE & A DEFERRMENT since he met the requirements well over a year ago, we are now set up for foreclosure - received an Act 91 letter and mentally a mess because of this and disgusted! My husband just went back to work after being out for 14 months now and I am still disabled and can’t help except for my disability $ but this has caused a real TOLL ON MY HEALTH as well as his. A lawsuit is my next step big time if BANK OF AMERICA doesn’t call us REAL SOON letting us knwo it went thru for trial as we re-submitted AGAIN all the financials and paperwork one last time on Aug 17th and they better help us Since they were WRONG and because we waited for them day after day after night of sleepless nights for them to call or send us a Fed Ex that Never came as promised. I hope to get their answer THIS WEEK as we were told for the 40th or 50th time that this time it was escalated to the proper department after we heard that story so many times.. TIme will tell we have lost pretty much everything including OUR CREDIT, OUR PRIDE & Owe our families a fortune and are so stressed we hardly communicate with each other any more. It is Horrible what they did to us after buying our beautiful quaint home in PA 4 years ago and never missing a payment prior and always were Excellent Customers of the bank! DISGUSTED IN LONG POND

I am so happy for Suzanna Wertheim and ProPublica.  But despite her success, it just depresses me more.  Do I have to garner media attention and let everyone know about my poor financial situaiton in order to get resolution?  I don’t want to be a media darling to get my mortgage company to obey government options for me.  And I’m truly amazed.  Suzanna is the first actual modification I’ve ever heard of that was granted.  I’m just more depressed now.  If that’s what it takes to get a modification, then I might as well give up now.  Has anyone heard about MERS?  Is the information out there about mortgages not being owned by your individual mortgage companies true?  Has anyone scored their home free due to the MERS misappropriated paperwork?  Just wondering.  Type MERS into a Google search and see what I’m talking about.  Is it a scam?

So can someone please explain this whole situation to me? I’m not an American, I’m a New Zealander, and I’m trying to understand what’s going on over there. Here when you buy a house, you apply for a mortgage, at which time you chose either a fixed or a floating rate. Unlike the USA we don’t have very long fixed mortgage terms - typically people here either run a variable mortgage, or fix for 1 - 5 years at a time.

What I don’t understand is why people talk about getting the modification they “deserve”. I must be missing something, because over here it’s quite simple - you take out a mortgage knowing the terms, and if you fail to pay the mortgage the bank is within its rights to foreclose on the property.

Keeping in mind this is rare here for two reasons - firstly the recessions here hasn’t been that bad, and we haven’t had a lot of job losses. Also, banks are willing to work with people with mortgage holidays etc, because it’s often cheaper for the banks than foreclosing. But still, surely you all know the terms of the agreement before you sign the dotted line - I don’t understand the mentality that you deserve a modification, and I don’t understand how the banks became the bad guys for seemingly doing nothing but holding up their end of an agreement. But like I said, I feel as though I’m missing something.

Chris: If you scroll to the top of this page and click ‘Loan Mods’, you can read previous articles on this issue. That might give you a better sense of how this particular program has unfolded.

If you want to understand what’s going on over here in terms of mortgages in general - and how we came to bail out banks that were preying on people (including non-deadbeats) - I’d recommend “The End of Wall Street” by Roger Lowenstein. It’s a great read and, title aside, definitely not a polemic. 

About the banks holding up their end of agreements: keep in mind what their end of the agreement is supposed to be here.

It’s called “Getting an Education”.  They do not teach economics and how to balance a checkbook at school.  School is primarily to teach you how to read and write, but not how to function in a society where you can make your own judgements on what to purchase and what YOU can afford.  That is where you are to rely on someone else to make that determination (your elected official for instance).  You are not responsible for making sure you can pay the taxes and insurance (escrow); income tax, fica (look it up), medicaid, state unemployment, fed unemployment, work comp (employers all take this out BEFORE you get get your hard earned check).  The only taxes the general public knowingly pays is sales tax.  I would bet that 99% of the people that read this have no idea how much tax is on gas (state .14-.29, fed .32 per gal), cell phone (12-26%, yes, look at your bill), cable, internet, home phone (9-18%), electric (4-16%), natural gas (4.8-21.2%), and on, and this does not include the FEES by the provider that are mainly paid back to—- local, state and fed gov’ts.  If you got to keep half of the amounts I am talking about, you could afford what you have and then some, but MOST cannot see past the amount printed on thier check at the end of the week.  I run a small business and usually a newly hired employee needs some financial help because of changing jobs, and I provide that assistance OUT OF MY POCKET, but I also assist in giving them an education on personal finance, since the public school system has taken this out of the cirriculum (yes, my wife is a public school teacher).
An EDUCATION is what YOU make out of it, and most of it is not learned in school, but in your daily living.  Start learning by researching what ALL politicians say, not Rep or Dem, but all, and you will find out that most of the current elected elite are lying through their teeth, because we, the general public are so “uneducated” and lazy, that we will believe what they say and not what someone else says about them.
Sorry for the rant, but basic finance (money in money out) and saving for a rainy day have left the US society.  Today Mastercard or Visa are the rainy day (if theres any room left) and that really pisses me off.  I have struggled with a small business and have been blessed to have more good months than bad months, and was able to put back a few $$ during good ones, otherwise my employees and I would be out of a job.  You wonder why nobody is hiring?  Because they do not know what the new tax laws will be, what health care premiums will be, and will next months revenue be enough to pay the bills without taking it out of MY savings account to pay everyone.  If we all lived paycheck to paycheck, you would not be getting a paycheck.

Chris:  You apparently went to the bank….got a mortgage and now you deal with that bank…All is good.  However, some mortgages were sold off, then sold again, and again.  We quite frankly had to “track down” who to pay!  Then, when we paid the mortgage they said they never got it.  Again, and again and again until you finally realize after about two months of phone calls and agonizing with documentation and FedExing (because the mail was lost??!!) you are getting screwed with late fees, unpaid mortgage, etc.  Long story short…some of us did things just the way you are but the banks and servicers got bailed out and we didn’t and still haven’t.  You DON’T have to chase down your bank to pay your mortgage or try to figure out who to pay and if they get your check.  I am sure your check is taken and paid toward your mortgage.  A majority of us weren’t that lucky or this wouldn’t be as bad as it is.  Now we are in a situation where we need a modification because we all got screwed, not because we can’t afford it or are looking for a way out!

Although I/we have been in this meat grinder only about 8 months, it seems an eternity!!! The constant threat of having to pull up stakes, brings up scenes from The Grapes of Wrath? How in this great Land can so few manipulate the system for their own greed? All I keep gettin from CitiBank is non-working phone numbers and voicemails from un-concerned phantom counselors (?) con men! Some where in this abyss is dream’s shattered and lives destroyed? The only standard answer is the Rich get richer and the poor get poorer!!!

I am so very happy for Ms. Wertheim and pray that she can take pleasure in her home and life once again.

A choke-hold has been placed on the American public. Big pharma, the insurance industry, banks and worst of all, with the blessing of our own government, have systematically undermined the middle class. I feel helpless, I vote, join organizations, voice my opinion, pay my fair share of taxes, but still feel that the American Dream is quickly slipping away. I’m a senior citizen, have seen many adms. come and go, the feeling of helplessness intensifies. The candidates suck!! in plain english, they all appear to owe their alligience to big business.Keep up the good work ProPublica, you give us hope.

That’s awesome!  I’m almost starting to lose hope, but then seeing an article like this gives me some hope it’ll get done.  Chase is awful and I feel like they have me against a wall despite all the letters I’ve sent to SIGTARP etc.  Just want this thing over and done with.

Nice job, ProPublica! Keep up the great work!

I am so happy for her and she, along with millions other, deserve and qualify for one…why the sickening run around and game playing on part of the banks??

So does this mean in order to get a modification, one must be showcased in a newstory and appear on national TV??!!

This is very real, my mother has been going through this same issue with BofA for 1.5 yrs now, they lost her paperwork also and at the beginning of the modification they told her to pay a partial mortgage payment. Now that balance is considered past due and could put her in foreclosure if they don’t approve the modification. They actually tried to deny the modification just 2 months saying they didn’t have all they paperwork which was false, but thankfully a woman from a state agency spoke with them and they advised her she needed to have all paperwork in again within a week. She is now waiting on the decision.  I was so upset when my mother told me that she had paid 3 months of partial mortgage because they told her to with no guarantee of approval…It all seems suspicious like they want her to go into foreclosure.

I am happy for Suzanna, but there are still too many victims in the shadows, unable to get the help she did.  My suggestion:

To all the victims:

—-Contact the FTC - they will assign a case #.

—-Write to your State Attorney General; his/her portal has forms that you can print, and attachments are allowed.  Be sure to put the FTC case number in the complaint.  With enough complaints, his/her office will do something: either penalize servicers, or fashion some other kind of punitive action.

—-cc to:

*Corporate Offices of your servicer

*Comptroller of the Currency (call 800-613-6743 to obtain their web-page for your state)

*Your state’s Department of Savings and Mortgage Lending

*And last, copy the FTC quoting the original case number.

Be professional and do not let your emotions be apparent.

It is OK to vent your frustration here, but the only way that agencies will take action is when they can no longer ignore the issue.  Let us flood them!!!

It may be good to let propublica.org know that you did (mention your state) so that they can keep track.  They have the tools to do so.

My story extends to 17 months of everything everyone is talking about.  No additional debt.  Started with a credit score higher than 820.  Wells Fargo approved me for the 3-month trial, then a few days before the permanent mod was to take effect, I was notified of a rejection over a fact known to them for more than half of the 17 months and was never a problem before.  Wells ordered six credit reports without my knowledge or authorization and my score is down to 791. It goes on and on.  But taking action is what is needed. 

Please do. 

LINKS

One of the things that really just annoys me to no end is that when the banks needed a hand, our gov couldn’t get to them fast enough.  Yet, when us folks down here need the banks help, they just let us dangle in the wind.  They want our business, and once they have it, are a deaf ear. 
I agree, taking action and making a lot of noise is the answer. 
You know the banks are holding on to a lot of the homes that they foreclosed on.  Not sure what there goal is there.  With all the homes currently on the market and more to come, they better wake up and realize it is really in their best interest to work with people.

Chris: I understand you may not be a close observer of American politics, so let me fill you in.  Not too long ago, mortgage bankers and their Wall Street financial services partners drove this economy off a cliff.  For this feat, they were first bailed out with taxpayer funds, then placed in charge of the President’s signature foreclosure prevention initiative. 

Meanwhile, through no fault of their own, hundreds of thousands of ordinary Americans face wage cuts, job loss, and displacement from their homes.  They can afford their mortgages with some reasonable modification of terms.  When these Americans apply for this relief, which is designed to prevent our economy from plummeting yet further into the abyss, the mortgage banking industry turns them down in droves, wrongfully, incompetently, and without justification.

We always feel a sense of injustice when the cost of society-wide problems are borne by the many rather than the few that caused them.  This woman had no part in creating the financial catastrophe that robbed her of her livelihood and threatened to drive her out of her home.  The industry most responsible for this tragedy should bear the cost.  This woman deserves this modification and much more.

Why am i not surprise? WF finally modified her loan? does this mean she qualified for a Loan Mod from the beguiling when she started the modification? Of course she was !

I think that there is a mess here with so many
agencies-organization-lawyers-etc.
I’m lost….....our case go nowhere….....BofA is full
with incompetent employee which try to be debt
collectors instead of providing real info about our
application for loan modification….......they don’t care
about government program…..18 months of stress…
no hope….......not ready to be a homeless…..
we will re-emigrate back to Europe…....

My husband and I lost our house after it was sold by GMAC at auction-after two years of trying to a modify a loan that we really only wanted to refinance as our real estate broker told us we would be able to if we just keep up our payments for a year-we did. But everything crashed in on us, credit freezed up, our loan was sold and payments not properly credited. payments went up, in desperation we took some bad advise-like a lot of people early on we missed 2 payments to try and force a modification-that set us up for foreclosure- We kept send in three month mod packets, each time being told something different was wrong: a signature was missing, too many notary stamps, payment of by cents; we were denied, then approved when document found; then denied again. 
Thinking we must be doing things wrong, we went to an authorized HOPE adviser to get them to fill out the papers, they said we made too much money -based on our gross income (who lives on that!)) but submitted and our payments went up another $1,000. For the next 3-month mod we decided to do our self again and resubmitted- we called every day to see where we were, if we should make same payment as last month, and were told to hold off because we would be “locked in"and they were still processing docs 2 days before payment due- they turned us down because of document not being signed correctly (same packet they had already approved three times) and sold our house, before we even received the denial, sent regular mail, postmarked two days after letter date-
GMAC’s letter of denial said they would continue to work with us to come to a solution!

All this time we thought we were in the HAMP program, but little did we know- until we consulted an attorney- the scum at GMAC had, without our knowledge or approval, taken us off of HAMP and put us in some other program— all the paperwork was the same, the only thing different was on the last packet there was not HAMP Stamp. But because of it, we lost our protections under HAMP- and they could foreclose and sell on our house even as we were seeking a modification!
Its been a month and GMAC has never even told us they foreclosed or sold the house—we found out when notified by a real estate agent looking for info on the house-

Apparently the law says that GMAC r any lender only has to notify you once a year about an impeding foreclosure—they don’t have to set a date for sale and let you know—the can just sell!

The courts are refusing to overturn the sale 9 times out of 10-to the “bonifide winner” at auction.even if there are documents showing the sale should have not occurred- because the person who bought the house did so in “good faith”—never mind that there is evidence of a fraud—as our attorney told us—

We are lucky that we took on a tenant to help pay the increased mortgage—at least we have 90 days to be here—with approval from the tenants who still have rights, even though we don’t—

ProPublica, pls do a story on what people should look for in their documents; how they can protect themselves; what rights they have, if any, when their house is foreclosed on and what right their tenant,if they have one has.  Is each sate different, or is it under federal law?

thanks to my tenants, my kids aren’t homeless right now and we can save some money to move, and our tenants will qualify for cash for keys to get a new place.

I agree with Kim, there are a lot of people who did everything right and still were not successful. We are not deadbeats, or ignorant as we are being painted out to be.

We made our payments on time, paid insurance and taxes, the problem is the lenders didn’t play fair, they changed the rules. and Obama’s program was just any empty promise without teeth,

My husband and I tried to refinance a loan and got caught up in a mess when credit froze up.
Because the banks were too afraid to make loans, we had no choice but to seek a modification when fees and payments skyrocketed after our loan was sold 2 times in a year.

We fed ex’s documents but were told something was missing, How do you prove you put everything in? or that the loan servicer misplaced or lost a document? they have all the power.

All we wanted to do was pay the same amount or close to it that we started with: $2,900 per month. Through 18 months of modifications, our payment went up to $3,865 a month. We put down nearly $60,000, our loan balance was $410,000. why would we mess around and not include documents needed to save our home and investment? The incompetence was on the side of the people the lender had working for them—just another call center.

We too have lost our home. It broke our heart, but with no resolution in sight and after we saw our loan balance grow from $420,000 to $530,000, and home values in our area drop to $400,000, we decided we could no longer afford to stay. he lender wanted $130,000 to “get even,” we just didn’t have it.

Our house fetched $290,000 at auction. Who won? the person who bought it. But my neighbors’ home values dropped and the amount of property tax LA County will get will go down.

The everyday taxpayers gets screwed again.

CHASE has now asked, in writing, for my DEATH CERTIFICATE!!

REALLY!!

Here again is my personal CHASE saga, updated with the latest craziness from CHASE

Another CHASE BANK Loan Modification Saga:

1. I was laid off in May 2009, right after my 55th birthday, ending a 32 year career at Macy’s.

2. I paid my mortgage for as long as I could, while applying for a Loan Modification with CHASE.

3. CHASE bank moved us to foreclosure rather than process our paperwork within the stated 30 day period.

4. CHASE has made it almost impossible to complete the process.  They have employed the following tactics:

They made it EXTREMELY difficult to communicate with them

They asked over and over, and OVER for the same paperwork, including those that don’t require updates

They told me that we don’t qualify for the Federal Loan Modification program because ours is a 2-familiy house (which of course, is a lie!)

They sent a package marked “FORECLOSURE” all over the outside, to me, at my former place of employment, Macy’s, even though this was never a contact address on file with CHASE Bank, and I hadn’t worked there for 10 months!

After I complained in writing, about the FORECLOSURE package sent to Macys, CHASE sent yet ANOTHER package, marked “personal and confidential” in an OPEN, UNSEALED, envelope!

They sent us a written rejection from the Federal Loan Mod. program, stating that we didn’t meet the 31% income/housing cost requirement (which is a lie)

They failed to answer how they came up with that assessment when the NPV input values show that we DO meet the 31% requirement by a HUGE margin.

They failed to send a corrected rejection letter from the Federal Loan Modification program, even though they acknowledge that the stated reason for reject was incorrect.

They put us on a CHASE (not Federal) Trial Modification.

They told us that we probably didn’t qualify for the Federal program because we have TOO MUCH EQUITY in our home, but again, refused to put that in writing.

They told us that they are NOT TRYING TO KEEP US IN OUR HOME. They ARE trying to mitigate their losses, and that CHASE BANK WOULD PREFER THAT WE SELL OUR HOME and pay off our mortgage!

They told us that CHASE will most likely reject us for a permanent CHASE modification because we have TOO MUCH equity on our home.

They failed to answer our repeated, written requests for an explanation of all the items listed above.

They failed to complete our modification after 3 trial payments, as specified and as indicated on the CHASE web site. (I’m making our 5th trial payment today.)

CHASE advertises “CHASE. THE WAY FORWARD”.

One of the CHASE web sites states:

“THE WAY FORWARD”

“At JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), we do our best to manage and operate our company with a consistent set of business principles and core values. First and foremost, this means always trying to do the right thing. “

REALLY?  Their actions tell a different story!

UPDATES AS OF Aug 30th:
======================
1. CHASE sent a letter dated Aug. 18, 2010, stating that we have now been rejected from both the Federal AND CHASE loan modifications because our housing expenses are less than or equal to our gross monthly income.  THEY ARE NOT. NOT EVEN CLOSE! CHASE (Bonnie) has already acknowledged this verbally!

2. CHASE sent a letter dated Aug 21, 2010 stating that they recently wrote to us to advise us that they don’t have all the required documents for our loan modification.  THIS IS FALSE.  FURTHERMORE I SPOKE TO CHASE TWICE RECENTLY , AND THEY STATED THEY HAD EVERYTHING!  They are now asking for things like a “Copy of Recorded Death Certificate.”  (NO ONE HAS DIED!... although they are making me seriously consider a self-induced death!). 

WOW CHASE, I think you’re ad’s are meant to say “CHASE - THE WAY BACKWARD”  not “CHASE - THE WAY FORWARD”

This really is quite unbelievable! 

Propublica; SOMEONE!  PLEASE HELP!

PLEASE feature my story.  Help me embarrass CHASE into doing the right thing!

......hmmmm maybe I AM dead, and this is hell?

..small correction for the sake of accuracy:

The latest rejection stated that our housing expenses are less than or equal to 31% of our gross monthly income.  (THEY ARE NOT)

JS,
I understand your frustration.  Dealing with Chase is like dancing with the devil himself.  They still plan to sell my home at foreclosure on 9/21/2010.  I converted my home to a B&B and also work as a mediator.  I appreciate all that you’ve expressed.  I am realizing through the various blogs that the judiciary or Congress must rein Chase in but they won’t.  The OCC is a toothless tiger that allows banks to self-investigate all complaints filed—as to our Legislators.

Let’s pray for a miracle!

http://beingmiddleclass.org

this is a good source of HELP to stay away from.

Anne -

Why? Didn’t have a good experience?  Just wondering.  I’ve actually gotten some really good ideas from that site.