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Hundreds of loan modification complaints filed against B of A
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The Florida Attorney General has received hundreds of complaints filed against banking giant Bank of America over the last year. The complaints allege stalled and failed modifications. The Attorney General's office reports significantly fewer complaints against other banks.
Home owners are claiming that they make dozens of calls, and spend months trying to work through the process only to find that their requests are denied, or cancelled after they thought modification terms had been agreed upon.
"I wrote letters to the governor, I called the bank every single month," said Yvonne McBride, a disabled former state worker who received a loan modification for the Sunrise home she shares with husband Herman Acosta. But the bank retracted the deal ? after, she said, she'd paid more than $9,200 to cover mortgage payments through next January.
"When they said I was noncompliant [with the terms of the loan] I said, 'What?' " McBride said.
Bank of America had almost 82,000 mortgage loans outstanding in Florida worth $15.3 billion in 2008, according to National Mortgage News. There have been 452 complaints filed in the last year against B of A alone.
The next largest lender is JP Morgan Chase, which had almost 69,000 mortgage loans in Florida. JP Morgan Chase has 69 complaints on file at the Attorney General's Office. Wells Fargo, which acquired Wachovia, has a combined 51 complaints on file and almost 57,000 mortgage loans in Florida.
Bank of America claims the problem is with the borrowers and their failure to submit required paperwork, or have been failing to communicate with the bank.
One year ago, McCollum, who is a candidate for governor, reached a settlement with Bank of America that was supposed to provide $150 million in foreclosure relief nationwide for its borrowers.
Under the terms of the settlement, Bank of America was to launch a loan modification program that would help 52,000 Florida homeowners get new mortgage loans.
"Bank of America has stated its willingness to cooperate in our investigation," according to Spokeswoman Ryan Wiggins of the Attorney General's Office.
But until the complaints from borrowers have been reviewed, Wiggins said, she could not answer the question of whether Bank of America is complying with the settlement.
B of A claims they have modified 10,000 loans in Florida through June 2009. If Bank of America is found to not be in compliance with the state's settlement, Wiggins said the state could return to court and ask for penalties, fines and attorneys fees.
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