...or maybe not, because this is the country that allows them to carry on the way they do. I loath this bank. I did not choose them, they bought my mortgage from another bank and they have the most underhanded way of doing business.
A little background, I lost my job in 2008 and since then I have only been able to locate temporary or un reliable work. I have 3 kids, and I am single so of course I try and find a job that works around my kids.
I applied for a modification for some temporary help because even the jobs I had been finding paid me a quarter of what I was making before.
I got declined for MHA after a year - That's right a YEAR of going back and forth with Bank of america ( I will refer to them as BOA from here on out) they kept claiming to not have all the paperwork or that the new person who had the paperwork needed something different etc etc .. constant headache.
So they decline me because they said they would have to lower the mortgage down so much it would no longer be beneficial to them, they would not profit enough.
So they offer to do an in house modification, so I asked them does the fact that I do not work play a part in me getting approved and he told me no, that doesn't matter. One would assume, unemployed people are the ones who can't pay the mortgage due to the lack of employment. If I had a job and a good amount of income I would be paying the mortgage.
Now I applied and sent allll the same paperwork again for the 28th time. After the man went on vacation and took care of everything else, he finally got back to me to let me know I was declined due to not having a job.
Big Surprise.
Now here is the part where this bank gets lower then they are normally known for. When you apply for a modification they require you to establish escrow. Of course I was past due on some taxes because I really was limited on income. So they paid all the taxes. Now here we have a person who couldn't afford the regular monthly payment, and BOA decides they cannot remove the escrow to allow me to pay it separately. No they want to attach it to the mortgage so the mortgage increases $230 monthly. Just what a person who applies for a modification needs, a higher payment !
If I went ahead and sent them what the payment was before the escrow they will not apply it to the loan until it equals the amount they WANT (so the $230 more).
Now here you have a person who is already down getting kicked by this bank - but it gets better.
So they told me the change would take place May 1st, so I am here trying to get the last couple payments at the lower price together before this increase. Well... BOA decides NOW that they are going to make this change of monthly payment 2 months retroactive. So now I am way past due for a substantial amount.
Had this bank been upfront about the escrow being a permanent thing if i got denied for the modification I would have not even applied. I would have slowly paid my taxes back on my own terms and just stayed with my regular mortgage payment.
Now I am paying last years taxes, this years taxes and paying into escrow for next years taxes on top of my mortgage payment I was already having trouble with.
God Help me, because BOA surely has no intention on helping anyone but themselves. They see my house is valued at more then I owe so there is no incentive for them to give a shit.
I now have an appointment with a credit counselor to see if they can point me in any direction other then homelessness.
I just wanted to write this so if anyone is out there about to apply for a modification they know what they are getting themselves into.
If you are working with BOA - do not .. I repeat DO NOT trust them, go to a counselor and let the counselor do your application this way they can't screw you out of your home. I have read story upon story of people being told to make payments and then they foreclose anyway or they tell people not to make payments then they foreclose after they told the people they were on a forbearance.
This bank is horrible, the government should really take back any help they gave them cause all they did was give their employees bonus's and raises and I have that info first hand.
They are not applying it to the people they are suppose to help.
