Helen's son (courtesy of Helen)
Helen contacted me after reading my post about Loan Modifications and the HOPE program. Because of her personal experiences, she feels it is important for people to know about the problems you might encounter if you are in a modification process, or thinking about doing a modification yourself. She asked that I tell her story, but omit her last name, for the sake of the privacy for herself and her family. She also hopes this will serve as a cautionary tale for anyone tempted by those flashy “easy modification” ads online, and even on media such as television and radio. Unfortunately, there are too many unethical companies out there ready to take advantage of distressed homeowners, like Helen.
Helen’s story began five years ago when she purchased her home in Washington D.C. At that time, she was working as a successful licensed family counselor, had money in the bank, and a credit score of 720. In order to capitalize on the best rates available at that time, she took out a 5/1 ARM interest only loan, and put $130,000 down for her home purchase. This woman was definitely NOT a sub-prime borrower trying to buy beyond her means. During the next few years, when she had cash on hand, she made additional principal pay downs on her mortgage to ensure that when her ARM reset in 2009, she would be able to afford the new payments.
In October of 2008, Helen, a single mother with a 2 year old autistic child, and income that had dropped due to the economic crisis, started the process of applying for a loan modification, as she knew then that her adjustable rate mortgage was scheduled to re-set in August 2009. She hired a modification company in California she had heard about, to help her modify the terms of her loan. (Remember that the HOPE program did not exist yet at this point, but loan modification companies had sprung up out of the woodwork, advertising their successes.)
Because she already had invested $150,000 cash into the house, Helen wanted to utilize any means at her disposal to keep her home, regardless of the fact that it had dropped in value substantially below her original purchase price. When she started the loan modification process, she had brought her credit score up to 770, so she did not see credit as a roadblock to a successful modification.
After signing paperwork with the modification company, and paying a deposit of $1400 for their services, her contact at the modification company told her she needed to be delinquent to get any attention from Wells. They advised her that because of the volume of requests, Wells only reviews modification requests for customers already behind in their payments. Shortly thereafter, per her instructions, Helen stopped making her payments and waited for news.
Helen fired the loan modification company in February 2009, when no one there returned any of her phone calls. From her experience, it seemed that they had essentially done nothing for her. Fortunately she was able to get the $1400 refunded to her.
In February 2009, Helen began to try to negotiate her loan modification directly with Wells Fargo. At this point, Helen was already 4 months behind on her payments, very concerned about her credit, and the potential loss of her home. To make matters even tougher, in the spring of 2009 Helen temporarily moved to Oregon to seek advanced autism treatment for her child that was unavailable in Washington D.C.
Shortly after applying with Wells directly, Nicolas, a customer service representative at Wells South Carolina office, called Helen and told her what documents would be required to get her modification process moving. Helen sent in the required paperwork as quickly as possible and confirmed via a phone call into customer service that her file was being reviewed for eligibility. She was told that she was to call into customer service frequently for updates on the status of her modification request, and that modifications typically took 45-90 days to be completed. Helen was delighted. She had lost six months, but at last her paperwork was in the system, and things were moving forward, or so she thought. (It is important to note here that no one at Wells ever told Helen to resume making payments, and/or that her current delinquency was sufficient to qualify her for a modification. However, she was told that Wells would not accept partial payments towards catching up on her delinquency).
Helen never actually talked with Nicolas again, as he was apparently just the paper gatherer, so she continued calling Wells 2-3 times a week in April. Finally, on May 5th, Helen was told by Temisha, in the Wells Fargo San Bernardino office, that she had been approved for one of their loan modification programs. Temisha told Helen she would be receiving information in the mail shortly and to call back every few days for updates, so that’s what she did.
In Mid may, after many follow up phone calls to Wells, Helen was told that she had been assigned to Kurt, a negotiator in their Milwaukee office. He called her shortly thereafter and told her he required all her paperwork again, with updated information. He informed her, that her modification would put all her arrearages, attorney fees, late charges, etc., on the back of her loan. Her modification would be for a 40 year fixed rate loan. BUT, Wells would require a cash contribution from her of $2,000 - $20,000. Hold on – attorney fees? Yes, during this process, Wells had filed a notice of default, and a foreclosure was already in process. When Helen tried to pin Kurt down on the amount of the required “contribution,” he told her he would get back to her. Though Helen called and left numerous messages, she never talked to Kurt again.
In June, Helen received a letter from Wells telling her again that she was being considered for a loan modification. On July 8, she has another letter acknowledging her efforts to resolve her delinquencies. Throughout July, she continued calling customer service (she was never given direct contact information for her negotiators), and was told that her paperwork was all too old (again!), and updates were required.
On July 17th, another negotiator, an Ankete, out of the Minneapolis office was assigned. Helen never actually talked with Ankete, nor received any correspondence from her. However, at about this same time, she did receive a notice from Wells Foreclosure department that a foreclosure auction (to auction off her house) had been scheduled for August 4th!
In a panic, Helen began calling customer service several times a day. Each time she talked with someone different, and each time she was told that emails were being sent to Ankete, because she alone had the power to stop the foreclosure auction. The customer service representatives she spoke with kept trying to reassure her that 9 out of 10 foreclosure auctions are cancelled once a loan is in the modification system, but Helen ‘s auction was not cancelled. She spent hours, everyday, on the phone, being bounced around between the foreclosure and loss mitigation departments, but was never able to get any resolution. Everyone kept repeating that Ankete was the only person with the authority to cancel the auction.
On August 3rd, just one day before the scheduled auction was to take place, Helen finally reached someone in the legal department to learn the amount required to redeem her foreclosure. She was given three different numbers, with a disclaimer that if she did not remit sufficient funds, her house would be sold at auction. In a major panic now, Helen withdrew funds from her IRA and wired in the highest number she was quoted. She managed to get the funds to the proper people just 40 minutes before the auction was to take place.
Here we are now, two weeks later, and Helen continues to receive daily calls from Wells telling her she owes money to satisfy her delinquencies. She believes her mortgage rate has re-set but she does not know what the new payment is. She still has never heard from her negotiator, Ankete.
On August 5th, Helen received another call from Wells, that she is again in their system for a modification, and that they have her documentation. And so, the story continues. Does this mean a modification is imminent? Or she is starting all over again?
Just this morning, Helen learned that yet another negotiator has been assigned to her, and no one seems to know what has happened to any of the paperwork she has already submitted.
The cost to Helen during this process has been enormous.
1. Legal fees, late charges, and penalties totaling approximately $10,000.
2. Her almost perfect credit with a score of 770 is destroyed. She now has months of late payments and a pending foreclosure on her credit record.
3. She had to prematurely withdraw funds from her IRA so she is subject to penalties on that account, as well as the tax consequences for the early withdrawal.
4. When she should be focusing her energy and attention on her autistic child, the doctors have recommended she spend 4-5 hours a day working with him, she has instead been focusing on her mortgage, which is still not resolved.
I hope that Helen does indeed have a happy ending to her story, and I will continue to follow her and report to you the outcome. In the meantime, if you have a story to tell, I’d love to hear it, especially if you can tell our readers about how you succeeded in getting your loan modified.
Note: Helen has been very forthcoming with providing paperwork she had received from Wells. She has several letters from them, but only one that even mentions “modification.” A letter dated July 8, 2009, indicates that Wells will make every effort to help her, so why didn’t anyone postpone the scheduled auction of her home?
I did call Wells customer service department to see if there were any updates available, or for their comments on this story. The representative I spoke with declined to comment. However, I would welcome the opportunity to speak with someone at Wells Fargo about this story.
Regards,
Shelby
For more articles on loan modifications, click here and here
For a recent update on the HAMP modification program and why it isn't working, please click here
Comments
We had the same experience with Wells and we were able to get a specific negotiator assigned to us the day before our auction date. We emailed the wells fargo executive loan office in Des Moines Iowa and within 2 hours received a call back from a very helpfull woman who was able to get a 30 day extension for us.
Thank you for your update Manolo. I'm happy to hear about your extension. I'd love to know if you were ever able to get a modification, and how long that took. Poor Helen has been bounced around from negotiator to negotiator, and just today was assigned yet another one. You apparently were one of the lucky ones.
I had a similar experience with Indymac. They sent me a preliminary modification agreement and I sent the money in. Only later to find out that the fees and late payments have increased to 14,000 in three months, while I was making the payments. Its a scam. Do not fall for it. Indymac now is supposed to send me the "real loan modification" agreement which lowers the payment but increase the principal, sort of like a negative amortizing loan. The more I pay the more I owe. I have already invested 125,00 down and three years of payments. Its time to walk away.
Denise - Thanks for the info about Indymac. If you were already delinquent on your payments, adding your delinquent payments and late charges, etc to your loan balance is a very common way that lenders are trying to help borrowers in trouble. This really is not like a neg am loan - it's just not forgiving you what you owe. But when they add the delinquency to the balance, they are in effect bringing you current - no more late payments being reported to the credit bureaus, no more late charges accruing. What is interresting is that they are charging you for the modification. They are not supposed to be able to do that anymore, from all that I've heard. Please keep me posted on how your modification goes. All news helps others.
Thank you
I have had a similar experience but to a lesser degree. I am very sorry to the person that this has happened and Wells Fargo should do everything within their power to restore this person's financial history and home ownership- what a mess.
Every contact that I've made for this loan modification program has been awful. Depending on what day, time I can the call center I get a different response on basic questions like:
1) What are the implications on my credit score rating if I have been on time for all my payments if I do the program or pay the trial payments. - The response I get varies, Wells is evasive in answering. Finally today someone told me if I make the payments that I am making now on my mortgage- I WILL NOT be reported as delinquent, if I make the trial payments for the amount quoted I will be reported as delinquent.
I have a couple days to sign the dotted line but still do not feel comfortable because I am not able to get STRAIGHT ANSWERS To my questions!!!!!!!
to add -
Ive taked to probably 30 Wells people on that call center- different responses have been received.
- they told me that in their records I agreed to the loan modification and I did not sign any paper work to agree to anything!
- they will not give me the contact info for my negotiator, they will not tell me exactly what my interest rate will be if the loan modification is approved or exactly what my payments will be. nor do they tell me how they came up with the calculations of what would go to interest and what portion of my loan modification will go to principal.
- they told me that my interest rate would cap off at a particular interest rate but told the co-owner that also called a different interest rate.
I am incensed! I am so upset at WELLS I am not able to sign any documents because I am doubtful of the answers I am being given.
to the fellow Wells customer(s) - from everything I have heard and read, Wells is making this process as difficult and confusing as they can. It sounds like they are trying to discourage you from going through with a modification. But, in addition, they are incredibly unorganized and inefficient. If they really cared about successfully modifying loans, they would get their act together and get them done. A loan modification should not be anymore difficult than underwriting a loan application. Basically negotiators should be underwriters putting togerher a file to determinef you can qualify, and what rate would work for you. Again I have to come back to the premise that they do not want to modify your loan, so they don't.
I agree: the banks really do not want to cooperate, and they don't.
I had the same scenario happen to me in Phoenix. Wells Fargo is not user friendly. I finally got my issueresolved after 8 months. The phone calls I made were numerous and the response from Wells was less than helpful om 99 percent of the calls. I had to re-submit the papers on numerous ocassions. Their phone numbers are even incorrect and you are transferred from one number to the other to the point where you are finaly cut-off and have to call in again.
Thank you for your comment Ann. I'm so glad to hear you got your problem resolved finally. Do you have any advice for Helen? She just heard that her mortgage payment is increasing $1000 per month, which she obviously cannot afford. How did you finally get your loan modified, and can you give me details? Would you be open to an interview so I can report your story?
Thanks again.
Wells Fargo made promises of forbearance while my loan is being modified and I paid as instructed. My loan has always been up to date and the reason I paid $2,000 less on each of two months was due to an offer to lower my payment during the loan modification period. I also made my first payment by phone with the person who told me I am guaranteed this lower payment for two months. Wells then filed with the credit bureaus that I am in default on the two payments that were lowered through forbearance and are threatening foreclosure. Wells created the environment for foreclosure, and also falsified my file in several categories. Does anyone else have a similar experience? If so, please contact me at Gary_Pearl@Pearlpics.com as I have contacted my US Senators and would like to also offer more back up of other similar situations.
Gary
Yours is just one more story in a long line of horror stories I am hearing. I am still offering to publish any of your stories. Please feel free to contact me at shelbyb28@gmail.com if you'd like to chat.
The first story about Wells Fargo Home Loans is so sad. I would have been worse off if I hadn't located a professional that helped me get my foreclosure resolve. He detailed my case and pushed Wells Fargo so hard that they called his practice and thanked him personally for taking on my case. WOW! Thank God for this man. You can contact Mr. Watkins at global.i3431@att.net
Thank you for the referral. I did talk with this professional, and have referred Helen to him. It is up to her whether or not she chooses to work with him to try to solve her problems. But I will certainly keep you posted and let you know how things work out for her.
Shelby
How's this for our tax dollars at work: After a terribly shameful process of getting conflicting answers from different people at Wells Fargo for two months, and being asked for updates along the way of information I had already provided, this is the offer I got from Wells Fargo today: Take three months off of paying my mortgage. On 12/1/09, a balloon payment of four months worth of payments are due. There will be no grace period in December. If the payment is one day late, my entire balance of 480,000 becomes due. Further, (and this is stated on the agreement!) if I accept this agreement, I will immediately be reported as late to the credit bureaus--BY WELLS FARGO. What help is this? And WHERE IS ONE DOLLAR OF TAXPAYER MONEY???? I feel raped, not only as the homeowner for all the trouble they put me through to give me nothing, but as a US Taxpayer. All this money was given to the banks to help us, and where did it go? To administer this financial masturbation?
Chris
Yours is just one comment in a long list of comments I have received about Wells Fargo in particular. They are looking for excuses to not modify, in spite of their public comments about trying to make modifications happen. Please take a look at my most recent article about the HAMP program and why it's not working. Apparently all this media exposure is getting the attention of the powers that be - so some revisions to the program may be upcoming. I certainbly would not sign what Wells sent to you. Would you like to expose your story? I'll be happy to write it. Email me at shelby.tnc@comcast.net.
Thank you for your comment.
JimWHenry - Yours is one of those sad situations that is too common with no easy solution. There is talk about low cost loans to people like you, to tide you over until the economy turns, but who knows if this will ever happen. I do wish you all the best though.
Shelby
As far as I am concerened Wells Fargo is crooked! My husband and I are full time real estate brokers and have been hit hard by the economy. We turned to WF for loan modification as a last resort. After almost a year of very limited income we ran our savings account dry, then turned to credit cards to keep our heads above water. We turned to WF for help when all our other options were gone. WF did nothing for us except give us the run around. We re-submitted numerous "lost" documents, were jokeyed on the phone from rep to rep. We finally were assigned a negotiator after 50 days into the process, then told it could take another 45-60 to get a loan modification from there. All out of resources by this time we missed our first payment, which WF promptly reported to the credit bureau, even though they are not required to do so. My credit score of almost 800 has now been shot. Long and short of it? We were denied due to lack of income(duh) and told our only option is foreclosure/short sale!
Jo C
Unfortunately, one of the prime requirements to get a modification is to be able to show income to carry your payments once the loan is modified. If your income has dropped to the point that you still can't qualify, it seems your only option is a short sale. I would suggest you get going on that as quickly as possible to avoid a foreclosure on your credit. I don't know how much your score has dropped, but a foreclosure will make it much worse. Please read my post on short sales if you want some help with how to make that happen successfully. I'm so sorry to hear your story. As a loan officer, believe me, I can definitely commisserate with you about your reduced income. Shelby
I have an adjustable mortgage that is at 6.5% and will adjust in about 8 years. after hearing about President Obama's Make Home Affordable plan I submitted a loan modification through Americas Service Company which is really Wells Fargo. I work in the automotive industry as a auto technician so I have had my work hours reduced /pay reduced. My wife was hospitalized for a short time but grnerated a hospital bill of over $40,000. I submitted the requested documentation in March and after numerous calls was advised that I did not qualify for a loan mod because I did not have enough money left after all my bills have been paid. I thought the object of a mod was to reduce housing cost to the 31% guideline. I am not delinquent on any of my debts. I am now working with a HUD approved counselor who was able to get WF to offer to raise my monthly payment to $1700 from the $1560 I now pay with no escrow for property tax/insurance. I also have a second with GMAC Mortgage for $560. HA!HA!
As far as I am concerened Wells Fargo is crooked! My husband and I are full time real estate brokers and have been hit hard by the economy. We turned to WF for loan modification as a last resort. After almost a year of very limited income we ran our savings account dry, then turned to credit cards to keep our heads above water. We turned to WF for help when all our other options were gone. WF did nothing for us except give us the run around. We re-submitted numerous "lost" documents, were jokeyed on the phone from rep to rep. We finally were assigned a negotiator after 50 days into the process, then told it could take another 45-60 to get a loan modification from there. All out of resources by this time we missed our first payment, which WF promptly reported to the credit bureau, even though they are not required to do so. My credit score of almost 800 has now been shot. Long and short of it? We were denied due to lack of income(duh) and told our only option is foreclosure/short sale!
As far as I am concerened Wells Fargo is crooked! My husband and I are full time real estate brokers and have been hit hard by the economy. We turned to WF for loan modification as a last resort. After almost a year of very limited income we ran our savings account dry, then turned to credit cards to keep our heads above water. We turned to WF for help when all our other options were gone. WF did nothing for us except give us the run around. We re-submitted numerous "lost" documents, were jokeyed on the phone from rep to rep. We finally were assigned a negotiator after 50 days into the process, then told it could take another 45-60 to get a loan modification from there. All out of resources by this time we missed our first payment, which WF promptly reported to the credit bureau, even though they are not required to do so. My credit score of almost 800 has now been shot. Long and short of it? We were denied due to lack of income(duh) and told our only option is foreclosure/short sale!
i've been dealing with wf as well. deal is 5 months late payments get paid over a 15 yr period at 5 percent, starts in 6 months. i did not get any tax payer monies however, i am grateful they let me save my house. income should increase, has slowly..i don't want something for nothing i just want the opportunity to save my house and they are going to let me. deal is not closed but on its way..stay tuned
We filed loan mod papers with WF in Jan 2008. We scraped together all resources to stay current on our payments while we waited. In June, they finally gave us a 3-month forebearance on payments, promising that they would have a decision on the modification ready by the end of the period. Hated doing it since we were current, but stopped making payments for the 3-mnths. We called them weekly and sent docs the day they asked for them. At the end of August and they told me they weren't done with the modification, so the forebearance would be extended. They said not to pay the balloon payment that was due at the end of the 3 mnths. We've continued to call them weekly and were assured ALL IS OK. This weekend we got a letter that they've started foreclosure proceedings. Also learned that they've reported serious delinquency to all credit bureaus, which is affecting other credit lines. We are calling WF tomorrow to see what can be done. Furious since they led us down the forebearance path...
so fla - thanks so much for your comment. It's good to see that Wells is actually helping some people now. According to the news, and their press releases, they are moving more in that direction now - but take a look at the comment from angela. You are one of the lucky ones. All the best to you. Please keep me posted when you get those papers Shelby
Angela - I'm so sorry to hear your story. Unfortunately, it's too common. The problem with many of the big banks is still that they are too big. Their foreclosure departments don't know what their risk mitigation department is up to - and they have too many people all over the country handling this mess. Until they get their internal communication process working, your story is all too common. I'm so sorry to hear it. I hope you can get things worked out. Shelby
We have been in a modification status since huricane ike September 2008, decided to hit us. We are with WaMu, documented all the calls(our part only, they don't call back) we have made, one everyday and even on Saturday. We have had 5 people on our account, sent in papers so many time, but get nothing from them. We have been told to make forebarance payments(320.00 less), no payments due to messing up the escrow balance while in negotiation. Now we were told the modification went through, but it is in the form of a laon at 5% for 14 years, on top of our payments. Our income is reduced and our payments have been increased. Our money is in some account that no one has the ability to get to. We don't know where we stand with anyhthing and can not get a straight answer. Any no of an attorney in south texas?
Thanks, Matt and Gina
Matt and Gina
I'm so sorry to hear your story. You know of course, that Wamu no longer exists, but was taken over by Chase. You are working with them now. aren't you? The issue of sending in partial payments, or payment amounts that you do not receive a payment coupon for, is that banks tend to put these funds into some type of "escrow" account, and I've heard on numerous occasions that the funds seem to disappear. Apparently the accounting for those funds is not well monitored.
Have you tried contacting an attorney to light a fire under those people to find the funds you have already sent in? Sometimes attorneys can get more answers than the rest of us can - though the banks are not cooperating much with attorneys either, from all that I am hearing.
I wish you all the best. Please let me know if you get anywhere with your problems, or read the more updated information on modifications at my other column at www.examiner.com/examiner-21893-Mortgage-and-Housing-Examiner.
I live in Las Vegas loan with B of A they said I had been approved through Obama's modification. Just was waiting for the paperwork and our house was sold in the auction after being told the auction was cancelled. B of A has acknowledged this is their fault but doesn't want to do anything to help us get our home back because in my county you have to go to court to resind a deal. I have an attorney and paying 10K to get my house back also put 120k down when I bought the house so it is very hard to walk away. I have tried to conacting my government with no response. I have a family and my daughter cries for us not to move. No judge wants to hear my case frankly because a lot of people are in the same boat I am in. So we sit and wait and hope an eviction notice doesn't get put on our door it is very stressful
I am also dealing with Wells Fargo trying to get a loan modification out of them. I started the process May 22,09 and we are already in Dec 16, 09. It doesn't seem like I see a light at the end of the tunnel. In Sept we did however receive a forberance agreement for 3 months. Because this is all new to me the agent at Wells assurd me that the forberance agreement is similiar to the trial payments. Little did I know that was not the case. Now my forberance is coming to an end and different reps are telling me different things. Some tell me to pay the old rate while another tells me to just continue the forberance amount. Based on what I have learned from your other readers I am planning to pay off what I owe at least I will not lose my house. But, really what is the point at the end of the day? They are planning to charge me late fees for not paying my mortgage on time. I thought the reason why we would turn to lenders is to get help but at the end we are worse off then before.
Has anyone used a HUD agent? Do they really help and make the loan modification process go faster? Or are they another agency that makes money off of tax payers?
For all of you still fighting with the banks, all I can say is how sorry I am. I know it doesn't help at all to know that you are in very good company. People are losing their homes left and right. I've heard that with B of A at least, if you call them everyday, you usually have some luck with getting at least a temporary modification. BUT, you do have to submit a lot of paperwork to get to that point.
Smaller banks are being more helpful, but that doesn't help the majority of home owners with loans with the big 4 banks.
I don't know of anyone who has had any luck dealing with the HUD counselors - does anyone else know?
I've read everyone's comments, I am in the same boat with WF, however I will start the 3 month trail on 1/1/10, my mortgage pymt went down by less than $100 which is a joke. WHAT ABOUT A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST WF AND THE HAMP OR HUD DEPT. THIS CAN BE A LUCRATIVE RESULT FOR ANY ATTORNEY. IT WILL TAKE LOTS OF WORK BUT AT THE END IT WILL BE WORTH IT. IF ANYONE STARTS A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT, COUNT ME IN!!! THIS WILL BE THE ONLY WAY TO RESOLVE THESE ISSUES.
I feel your pain, all of you. I was fortunate enough to find a company that is legitimate. Now I know that the banks the news and government say we shouldn’t go to any company that charges, that the banks will modify your loans for free. Well, how many of us on here have had our loans modified by the banks?
A lot have lost their homes, and lot more still will unless you do what’s necessary to save your homes from the banks. I went through what most of you have, I was there. Then I was referred to Corey Lassiter of Clear Image Financial Group. They saved my home.
I know I would have lost it to Wachovia if it wasn’t for him, Tasha, Denise and the rest of the people who work there. Got me caught up on my mortgage 1st & 2nd, lowered my interested rate & payment, and secured me a 50k principle reduction.
Before anyone else on here loses their homes you need to give them a call 877-940-1477 ext 231. Corey Lassiter. Don’t be afraid of hiring a loan modification company, be afraid of
VIVIAN: COMMENTS ABOUT WELLS FARGO: CLASS ACTION LAW SUIT: LETS MOVE ON THIS; FIND A LAW FIRM WHO WOULD REPRESENT THE BORROWER IN HARDSHIP EVERYONE PAY A PORTION OF FEES INVOLVED AND TAKE THEM TO THE OBAMA CAMP FOR ACCOUNTABILITY......MY STORY IS ABOUT TO GO PUBLIC AND AFTER 1+ YEARS IN MOD PROCESS IT IS AMAZING WHAT THEY ARE ALLOWED TO GET AWAY WITH....
I am in same boat with WF. I used a HUD agency who assured me that I qualify for HAMP. I was current when WF sent me the 3 mo forebearance letter and when I called about that was told not to worry about the balloon payment, that a mod was in the works. I to, got a foreclosure letter, and when I called noone seems to know where that came from, and that I'm not in foreclosure, and that mod cannot be done because they added the deliquency back in, which makes no sense - of cours I will not be in the allowed range if that's added in. they told me that I have to pay my original payment + 40/mo for the next 3 mos. No mod, they will add the delinqwuency back in and put me back to where my morg was 9 years ago. THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS. Something needs to be done, they're not following the rules.
We are in the exact same boat with WF. They are the worst. We've been "working" with them since October 08 and still have not gotten on our loan modification. We are beginning to believe that they are stringing us along only to foreclose on us in the end. We have spent countless hours on the phone (and have detailed every call), faxed them forms and financial statements each month upon request, and pulled our hair out as we listen to each WF rep give us different instructions and reasons as to why we aren't getting a decision. We've been working with NACA as well, but with little luck.
Something needs to be done as we feel as though we have done everything in our power to meet the conditions and terms set forth by WF to get our loan mod approved. The stress on our lives has been utter hell.
Me too story. Called immediately when i got in trouble August 09. After literally 75 phone calls and 100 of faxes of any paperwork they asked for (both 2st and 2nd), threatened foreclosure (days away) angry collections folks, nice CS folks and all in between, I was put on a forbearance progrma, scraped up three payments that were the same as my original mortgage payment, the was offered a "modification" of putting my past due in the back of the loan and continuing to make the payments I couldn't make before. I called and the lady said since i was in such a large deficit, they could offer a better program or HAMP. I'll say it again since it sounds so crazy - they said they couldn't help me because I needed the help? Oy vey. I am exhausted.
Me too story. Called immediately when i got in trouble August 09. After literally 75 phone calls and 100 of faxes of any paperwork they asked for (both 2st and 2nd), threatened foreclosure (days away) angry collections folks, nice CS folks and all in between, I was put on a forbearance progrma, scraped up three payments that were the same as my original mortgage payment, the was offered a "modification" of putting my past due in the back of the loan and continuing to make the payments I couldn't make before. I called and the lady said since i was in such a large deficit, they could offer a better program or HAMP. I'll say it again since it sounds so crazy - they said they couldn't help me because I needed the help? Oy vey. I am exhausted.
Here's what BOA told us when they turned down our loan modification: that Fannie Mae is the investor for our loan and no matter what else, they have only three ways one can qualify for a loan modification for the mortgages they back: death, disability or divorce. Freaky that loss of job/financial hardship is not one of the qualifiers.
The associate at BOA said they will send us a letter telling us we were declined, but it hasn't come yet. Apparently once we receive this letter we're supposed to wait 3 months before we could reapply for the loan modification and the only thing that would give us a chance down the road -- when and if that chance to reapply ever comes -- is if we've either had a substantial increase or decrease in our income. HELLO! If we have a substantial increase, we won't need a loan modification, and I told the BOA rep that, but that's what their parameters are and it's a JOKE! Unfortunately the joke is on US.
After reading all these comments, at least I don't feel anymore like my husband and I are the only ones in this situation. But I do feel like we were all on the Titanic and now we're in the water gasping for air and it is SO WRONG! I would just like to unload this house, go rent something somewhere or live in a trailer, and yank all our money out of the banks, because they are clearly CORRUPT!
Im cring right now just saw your posting we also have BOA same notices and we have some other place to that is suppost to be helping us, yeah ok, its like NOBODY CARES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TO ALL WHO FEEL GIVING UP IS THE ANSWER:
We can't even start to state what we have gone through with Wells Fargo. It took us 38 months to get our HAMP modification approved and through the system. Of course having to update bank statements, tax information, hardship letters, check stubs every 30 days grew old and really didn't help with all the stress that is related to this matter. The lies that were told and the BS that is supported by team leaders is unbearable and very real.
We know and understand that WF has undergone much with the state and federal agencies but so much more needs to be done. We have been so beaten down mentally that we are now considering moving on and renting the house out. The modification was good and we were offered a 4.785% fixed for the duration of the loan. Much better than the 12.375% we had. No one should have to but up with and go through what we did when in fact we were only a few months behind. Never again will we ever use them to finance anything because if one ever falls into trouble, look out, the trash fees and the BS starts up immediately. Good luck to all who are still trying to beat these people at their own game.
My heart was racing after I read this, SAME THING WERE GOING THREW!!! Paper work, calls, paper work CALLS, NO CAll BACKS, UNBELEVIBLE, its like I have to beg somebody to call me to see where were at this month, one place says the other place doesnt know what there talking about and viza verza, and here we are 8MONTHS LATER STILL WAITING, we dont even know if they SNUCK behind our backs and started forclosure or not ,GOD BLESS AMERICA, CT.
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