A look at how banks are misusing the government’s $75 billion housing program, and why it’s not working
You may have heard about the federal government’s $75 billion dollar initiative to stop the country’s foreclosure crisis. It is called Making Home Affordable, and the key component to this initiative is its loan modification program. An MHA loan modification is designed to entice the banks to reduce mortgage interest rates for their borrowers who cannot afford their house payments. And for a lot of people, getting approved for this program is the difference between keeping and losing their home. All the people who’ve seen their salaries reduced, or their hours cut, or who have lost a job and took a lower paying one because it’s the best they could find. And all the people who’ve seen their house payments spike due to some kind of feature in the mortgage they took out. That’s tons of Americans.
At my agency, the term “loan modification” has taken on almost a mythical status since the program debuted in March 2009. Clients call us pleading to know how they can be approved for the Making Home Affordable loan modification program. “Please tell me, what do I have to do to get a loan modification?” they will beg.
But it’s solely the bank’s decision which of their borrowers to approve for the program, or if they even want to participate in it at all. And from what I witness everyday, speaking to mortgage companies and listening to my clients’ tales, it becomes obvious why the Obama administration expresses anger over the banks’ use of the program, and why the administration concedes the program is not helping nearly enough people.
The spirit of the program seems to be right on the money: Lower a person’s mortgage payment in line with the amount their income dropped, or by the amount their mortgage payment has jumped. Seems simple enough.
But very few people who would actually be helped by this program are being approved for it. Think about it, the person’s transportation costs, the cost to feed their family, these costs do not shrink. For a lot of people, just having the house payment shrink isn’t enough. Many people I speak to who do get their loan modified will lose their home anyway due to other issues with their personal finances. And the unwieldy decision-making procedures employed by the mortgage companies often leave borrowers worse off than they were before they applied.
The way MHA works is, the government gives incentive money to a bank for every loan it modifies according to the stipulations of the MHA program. When a borrower applies for a modification through their mortgage company, the bank’s accountants will determine if the bank stands to make more money by accepting the government funds and modifying the loan, or by keeping the terms of the loan the same. And if they think they’ll make more money by putting their borrower in the MHA program, they’ll do it. Otherwise, they won’t. It’s as simple as that.
The purpose of this series is to illustrate how the approval process can actually make the situations of distressed borrowers worse, and what I see people endure as they navigate the approval process in hopes of realizing the treasured loan modification. It is also to show how the mortgage companies are, in fact, utilizing the Making Home Affordable program in ways that, while adhering to strict government standards, will not prevent foreclosures despite the mortgage companies keeping the government funds received for utilizing the program.
Beware the approval process
Everyday I speak to people seeking to qualify for the government’s loan modification program, which is designed to lower a mortgagee’s house payment to an amount the borrower can afford, keeping them in the home.
But some people find themselves in worse shape after applying for this program, because of the mortgage companies’ cumbersome approval process.
One such client was a man named Don. Don’s company had been bought out, and the new owners were consolidating the operations. They gave Don a choice: take a demotion and major pay cut, or keep his position, responsibilities and salary but take a job at their headquarters on the other side of the country. Don opted to leave his family in Illinois and take the job in Washington. But with an apartment and separate life in Seattle to pay for, he was struggling like crazy to keep up with his mortgage back home. So he applied for the government’s loan modification program to lower his house payment.
Don’s mortgage was up to date when he applied. He was initially approved and put on a 3 month trial period paying $700 less per month on his loan payment. The 3-month period ended up lasting six months. And halfway through the 5th month, Don was informed by his mortgage servicer that he had been denied the program after all.
Now, the bank was demanding the $700 it had not received each month during the trial period, for a total arrearage of $3,500 due immediately. Even worse, the bank had reported five late payments to the credit bureaus, and was considering the mortgage to be in default, all of which was badly damaging Don’s credit.
“They didn’t tell me any of this would happen,” Don cried. “They said I was approved. They certainly didn’t tell me that I’d have to come up with thousands of dollars if I was turned down. I mean, they’re the ones who told me to pay less. And then they wreck my credit? This is unbelievable.”
Don was in bad shape. He didn’t have $3,500 to bring the loan current. With a wife and three kids to support back home, plus his apartment, he couldn’t even afford to go on a repayment plan and pay a bit extra each month to get the loan current.
The kicker was that a $80 late fee would be assessed each month until the mortgage was made current.
“What the hell kind of program is this?” he said.
Beware the confusing language used by mortgage companies
One big problem with how mortgage companies run the Making Home Affordable approval process is their use of confusing language. Often, an applicant will be told that they are qualified or pre-qualified for the MHA loan modification, or in the case above, that they are approved for it. This often (understandably )leads the person to believe that their loan is going to be modified. It doesn’t. It simply means that the person’s situation falls within the eligibility requirements set forth by the government. The investor who owns the mortgage debt still needs to decide whether they want to actually approve it for the qualified borrower. And far more people are denied than are approved.
The approval process includes what they call a trial period, where a borrower is told to make reduced payments for what is supposed to be three months. Often these trial periods last far longer. I’ve talked to clients who have been on a trial period for a year. And at any point during the trial, the bank can suddenly decide they don’t want to modify the loan after all.
Making the situation worse, the customer service reps at the mortgage companies who field calls from applicants tend to downplay the possibility the modification will be denied. From what I hear, they paint far too rosy of a picture.
A recent client I spoke to named Sandra was crushed to learn that her mortgage company was turning down her request for a modification after months of being told she was qualified for the program.
“You should have heard them,” she said. “They told me not to worry about anything. And now they say they can’t help me and to put the house up for sale.”
I think the reason for this is simple human nature. It’s much easier to tell people what they want to hear, than it is to to explain how things could go wrong. So if you’re applying for a loan modification, remember that nothing is final until it’s in writing.
Mortgage companies lose paperwork repeatedly
As part of the approval process for an MHA loan modification, mortgage companies will require a great deal of information and paperwork from the borrower. That in itself is understandable. What is not understandable is the frequency with which mortgage companies lose the paperwork their applicants submit. This happens all the time.
And for some reason, the fax machines at mortgage companies never seem to work right. You would not believe how often I and my clients are told that some document was not received because of trouble with a fax machine.
Aside from the fax machine glitches, the phone lines also suffer frequent malfunctions. Calls to the mortgage companies routinely drop, often after a long time waiting on hold.
All of this would almost be comical if my client wasn’t in danger of losing their home.
Be prepared to wait for an answer
And the approval process for Making Home Affordable can take a very long time. Some of my clients have been waiting for an answer on their loan modification application for over a year. This is very important to keep in mind if you are applying for MHA. Do not expect a quick answer.
The reason (I assume) it takes the banks so long to make a decision whether to approve a borrower for MHA, is because the amounts of money involved are huge. The bank is not going to make a quick decision so that their borrower can stop worrying and sleep at night. They do not care about that. They only care about their profits. Expecting a bank to be concerned about anything besides its bottom line is like expecting a flea to be concerned about whether its presence is making the dog it lives on itch.
This is a major problem with the MHA approval process. A common statement I hear from my clients goes something like this: “I can’t keep making this payment anymore. If they can’t lower the payment then fine, but they need to tell me, otherwise I’m throwing money at something I’m just going to lose anyway.”
The mortgage companies are extremely unforgiving
Here is another thing to keep in mind if you are applying for Making Home Affordable: It is vitally important to follow your mortgage company’s instructions to the letter. Do not do anything they do not tell you to do. Do not deviate from their instructions.
One client of mine, John, was told he would be put on a trial modification period beginning July 1. He was told to submit his monthly payment of $875–$400 less than his normal payment–by the first of every month. John’s loan was five months past due, and he had some extra money available from his tax refund. So he sent his mortgage company $600 to go toward the past due amount as a show of good faith. This was in mid-June, right after he was informed about his acceptance onto the trial period. Understandably, John thought his mortgage company would view this as a sign of initiative on his part, that he was serious about getting the loan current and keeping his home. Unfortunately, the mortgage company didn’t see it that way. They kicked him off the program for not following their instructions, and told him he was being denied the loan modification. John was out of luck.
Why would a business view their client sending them money as a bad thing? I don’t know. I can only assume it is because these banks are gigantic multinational corporations. The sheer size of these banks requires they institute beauracratic processes that produce miles of red tape, and these processes and procedures take away any decision making power from all but a select few in the organization.
So remember, if you are looking for assistance from your mortgage lender, only do just what you are told. When it comes to the lending business, sometimes up is down and black is white. We are through the looking glass indeed.
Banks are misusing the Making Home Affordable program
Lastly, I want to discuss how the banks misuse the Making Home Affordable program. I talk to people all the time who are approved for an MHA loan modification, but because of extenuating circumstances in their finances, these people will still not be able to afford their home, and will end up losing it even though their payment has been reduced, and the bank gets the government incentive money.
It is rather widespread. If I had to put a number on it, I would estimate that maybe half of the people I speak with who see their loans modified under MHA will actually be able to afford the house. A great many people cannot afford even their new lower payment. It’s because of other extenuating costs, such as high utility bills, high health insurance or prescription costs, and high debt payments to other creditors. Very often, we will put together their budget, and their monthly cost of living still totals more than their income, even after seeing their mortgage modified and their house payment reduced to the government stipulated 31 percent of monthly gross income.
For example, one client saw her payment reduced from $2,100 per month to only $1,000 per month–a gigantic savings. But when we put together her monthly budget, her living expenses and debt payments totaled $110 more than her income. And that was just those costs she knew she would have every month–things like car payment, transportation, utilities, etc. We didn’t factor in anything for clothing, flat tires, Christmas presents, nothing.
Below is a look at her household budget:
Net income:
$2,560
Expenses:
$1,000 – house payment
$450 – car payment
$550 – utility bills
$220 – gas and car insurance
$300 – groceries
$150 – credit card payments.
Another one of my clients, a woman named Cheryl, was approved for MHA, and she saw her house payment reduced from $1,800 to $1050, a huge savings. But Cheryl, who’d taken a $20,000 pay cut, had three kids to support on her own, and she was saddled with other debt payments–a $425 car payment, a $110 student loan payment, and $200 in monthly credit card payments. Plus, her utility bills totaled about $600 per month. Her reduced net income was about $2,800 per month. These basic expenses total $2,385, leaving only $415 each month to pay for everything else–food, transportation, clothes–that her family would need. There is no way Cheryl will keep up, even with that lowered payment. She will surely go into default again.
Even though her bank followed the government’s program to the letter, it will not keep Cheryl from losing her home. It’s just a matter of time.
I can’t count how many people I speak to who are approved for Making Home Affordable, and they are in even worse financial shape than Cheryl. Sometimes I’ll put together a budget with the client, and find that their expenses total up to several hundred dollars more than their income. And that’s after the loan is modified and the payment reduced. The bank’s underwriters who make the determination whom to approve have access to their applicant’s budget information. They know there’s no way the borrower will be able to keep up. So why do they approve them? I can only assume it’s because they get to keep the incentive money given them by the government for doing the modification. And of course, when the borrower defaults–which they surely will–they get to foreclose and take possession of the house anyway.
And the government wonders why their MHA program is not stopping the foreclosure crisis.
If you’ve had any experience with the Making Home Affordable program, please feel free to post your story here.
“$415 each month to pay for everything else–food, transportation, clothes”
For $415 a month I could feed a family of 5 plus pets; pay for gas or a used bicycle (even in many suburban and “rural” areas, it’s possible to get to a grocery store, school, sports practice etc on a bike. It may not be comfortable but if that’s what it takes to keep your home… I used to ride 10 miles – 5 each way – to get to events in high school); and buy clothes (there are thrift stores all over and clothing swaps are springing up as well).
Dooming Cheryl to lose her home because she’s not making enough is a frightening assumption; we don’t know whether she’s implemented the austerity measures she’d need to keep her home or what she pays in gas to get to her job (would it in fact be better for her to find a job closer to home, for another pay cut, if it meant lower transportation costs and less vehicle maintenance? Could she reduce her car insurance coverage amounts to lower that payment?). It may in fact be that her costs of living are too high for $415 a month; from where I’m standing, I know that here in PA that’s more than I’ve ever had free for clothing and food and I’m just fine.
Yes, the MHA program has its horrors. I am not downplaying Cheryl’s very stressful situation nor any of the others having problems out there. However, this website should be telling people that there -is- hope, not just providing fear-mongering articles.
Sure,you can feed a family of 5 plus pets at the city dump with 500 bucks. Are you kidding me???
According to the USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, the average cost for a moderate meal plan for a family of four in the United States is $771.10. Even in the Thrifty plan side is $580 for a family of 5.
Look it up at www
.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/FoodPlans/2008/CostofFoodFeb08.pdf
I work for a mortgage company and I am a fannie mae negotiator. I approved and denied HAMP modifications. It brings your payment down to 31 % of your GROSS INCOME, not NET income.
You are right that people have a lot of other debt. It is your home or your credit cards. I would pick my home… When you are placed on a trial payment plan you need to make the payment requested.
Your loan needs to fall behind at least 30 days to be able to buy back your mortgage back for CDO investments. I had borrowers send in their regular payments to avoid being reported negatively on their credit report. I had to deny them too. Apparently there is no hardship if you can make your regular payments. I always asked for a month of current income upfront so there would be no denial after the borrower completed their trial period, at the beginning of the program it was an option of taking income over the phone and then after the trial plan to send in proof of income and that is why so many homeowners were denied after completing the trial period. Borrowers were giving NET Income instead of GROSS Income, a big difference.
I know this process is very confusing. For borrowers that are served foreclosure papers in the JUDICIAL STATES, when the paper work states you have 20 days to respond, you need to respond. File an extension of time to file a response with your county courthouse and send a copy to the mortgage company’s lawyer so you can delay the process of foreclosure. Contact NACA, they are a free 3rd party that will help you with the modification process with your mortgage company.
I hope this helped
Does anyone know if an individual is denied loan mod under MHA is the bank required to give written notice in the state of california?
Our family is undergoing a horrendous MHA application via BoA and we think because there is a little equity in the house BoA i sgiving us the run around so they can foreclose the house while we are under stress…it has been –so sad.
Please provide any advise.
Sincerely,
Amy
We are told that we are in the last 30 days of being approved for the making home affordable refinance after a year’s process. We received our mortgage through a local credit union in which we bank. Recently, the credit union has stopped processing our automatic mortgage payment and than we get a call stating that we are late on the payment even though the funds are there for them to withdraw at their convenience. I asked them why this is happening and they cannot give an answer to us. Nobody has sent us anything yet or told us to stop making any mortgage payment at all. They promised me today that I would not be assessed a late fee and this would not show up on our credit report, however, I am concerned after reading all these negative reports. What should we do?
50% on, 50% off.
I will say that you have shown some very serious problems in the banking industry. Problems with communicating requirements and outcomes are huge. Whether these institutions are giving the wrong information by accident or on purpose does not matter, they should be held to a higher standard.
With that said, your article, as already pointed out by Dawn, is fear-mongering and spreading misinformation (the very thing you seem to be so against). There are multiple examples I could use but will limit myself to the following:
The last segment titled “Banks are misusing the Making Home Affordable program” paints a very heatbreaking story. Yes, this lady’s situation is bad. However, you go on to say how the bank is bad for using MHA to adjust her mortgage even though it will still fail….What would you have the bank do? Deny the adjustment and make her go further into debt? Or are you going to the other extreme and saying they should just give her the house and forgive the mortgage entirely? I really would like to hear your response to this since I have no idea how the bank, which lowered her monthly payment very substantially, can be viewed in a negative connotation.
Further more, the bank owns the property with her. Entering into a mortgage contract is a partnership between two entities. Whether you like it or not, both the lender and the borrower have obligations to each other. Not only do they have duties they must both perform, but they share the risk involved with purchasing real estate. Whether you like it or not, the banks should in no way shoulder the entire risk of a foreclosed property. Again, this story is sad that the person last taken such a reduction in income, but I can’t help but notice other options available to help her pay the restructured debt. i.e., $425 car payment….sell and buy a cheaper car. etc. This person lived at the limit of her means, I noticed a nice cc payment too, and since her means shifted, she can no longer afford it. There is a reason I pay ~$1000 less a month on housing than I could afford….so I can put some money into my savings account in case of a “rainy day.”
Again, spot on with some of the inherent problems with the banks. But stop trying to demonize them without looking at the risks they have taken also.
David, thank you for taking the time to comment.
In response to your accusation that I “say how the bank is bad” for putting “Cheryl” in the Making Home Affordable program: I never once say the bank is bad. (If that statement is in there, and I’m overlooking it, please point it out.) Nowhere in the essay do I judge this phenomenon to be good, bad or ugly. I’m simply reporting what I see in the course of my job. And what I’m seeing is that only about half of the people I personally speak to, who have been given MHA loan modifications, can afford their MHA modified payment. And that’s according to the numbers in the client’s budget, which the client tells me. That’s it.
As to what I would have the banks do, that’s not for me to say because I’m not a banker or a policy wonk. I’m a financial counselor and a writer. Bank executives have to base their business decisions on whatever best helps company profits. And I’m sure that’s exactly what they’re doing.
Sorry for being late responding to the two comments.
The two comments by Dawn and David point out a mistake that I’d like to address, and hopefully fix. Because my intention with this blog certainly isn’t to be a fear mongerer. I realize the example of “Cheryl” didn’t really support my argument that there are a lot of loan modification recipients who cannot afford their house payment reduction. Perhaps Cheryl will be able to keep up with her new house payment. You’re both right, the numbers show she technically can afford the house.
I went back through my notes and found another recent client who’d been approved for a Making Home Affordable loan modification, and I’ve added that person’s predicament as an example.
Because I don’t believe in just burying problems, I’ve left the example of “Cheryl,” which these two readers find objectionable. (And also because I still feel this client’s example is relevant to my point. The numbers in her budget show it will be difficult to afford the home.) Also, in the conversation I had with her, “Cheryl” was very unopen to many of the points and suggestions I would bring up. That’s part of the reason I used it. She seemed unwilling to even consider changes that would save money in other parts of her budget. Of course readers of this blog have no way of knowing that. So, I screwed up. When a writer conveys the wrong message he intends, well that’s a big problem. So thank you for the criticism. Anything to improve the writing.
Thank you for listening to the comments and improving the article!
The added example does a lot more to convey the point.
Can you tell me if HSBC Bank is a player in this federally sponsored program. I have a horror story that may be of interest to you.
Mr. Parlette, no HSBC is not participating with the government’s Making Home Affordable program. Would love to read your story.
i,m writing about my daughter who purchased a home and four months later lost a good paying job and had to take jobs that paid much much less money. she applied for programs through Chase(i believe it was ham?) they did tell her she had to stop paying her mortgage for 3
months which killed her because she had perfect credit. she paid $500 a month when approved- i think it was 6 months and then had to make a $4-$5000 balloon payment.the balloon payment was made
may of 2009. waiting for approval a financial advisor told her to
make a payment in good faith of $800 so they would see she was trying. so the bank has been using the money to pay the $1300 mortgage every other month with late fees so now she is 6 months
behind and just told her she can’t get the modification.
Ms. Bene, your daughter’s experience is way too common. I actually tell a lot of clients to contact their representatives and let them know about the shenanigans that mortgage companies pull. They are, supposedly, working for us.
I have a story, but I am telling everyone to write to the comptroller of currency and to the presidents of the companies that owne your loan. Talking on the phone does not work. Do not give them info. The people on the phone are just puppets. They can do nothing for you. You have to write. Make Home Affordable is a scam they put you in it so you will get behind. They get a little money now them foreclose later because you can never catch up. So they take your home. No feelings at all. You have to write document everything. Do not talk to them on the phone they are bill collectors.
I had our mortage with Washington Mutual who was bought by Chase. I was remodeling the house with an equity line of credit which Chase closed with no advance warning. I owed two companies $16,000 and was able to pay only $2,ooo to one. The larger part of this was put on no interest for one year while I tried to talk to Chase about a refinance. This was before the Bank Bailout. I thought I was doing my part in helping spur the economy and my kitchen cabinets were falling apart. My husband was permanently disabled working at the local prison because they didn’t have a lift for the van that took wheelchair prisoners for doctor appts. Long story short, he is housebound and I try to make it a nice place for him. It is a small beach home which we bought three years before his injury. Using the growing equity in the home kept us able to keep up with the home maintenance and improvements necessary for his care. We opened a home equity line to replace old appliances and fix the kitchen and bathroom. I locked the rate on a first draw, and on the subsequent increase they gave us was unaware that we were set up to pay interest only on a variable interest rate heloc which is still low. When they closed the heloc I was forced to use cc’s to try and stay afloat while I worked with the loan officer at Chase to refiance. He wanted to get us in under 5%, so I was told to keep checking. The cash for clunker car program came about, and I helped my mom trade in her 15 yr old car for a new one, and I went and talked to the loan officer and asked if it would negatively affect my loan application as rates were dropping. He smiled and said no. Well, unfortunately what I was unaware of was how much the housing market was depreciating and I would subsequently find during making an application for a refinance that because of ratio of debt to income combined with the loss in value that the only loan he said I qualified for was the home modification program that the government offered. He gave me the papers and as you mentioned, I was to submit them three times because something was always missing, but they wanted them all faxed again. I sat in the bank the last time and completed a few pages which they wanted me to redo and the bank faxed them to dept handling this. I got a call and spoke with someone who was going to present the loan modification and wanted more information as to our living expenses. I emailed her a list of medical bills and our cost of food etc. She said everything looked fine and she needed to show our need. Well, I was using cc’s to manage to stay afloat as utilities had tripled and so had gasoline. Not to mention the new car payment. I was dumbfounded when she called several weeks later and said that our housing payment was too low to qualify for a modification because although we paid $2,ooo a month between the first and the heloc, the government quidelines did not allow them to consider anything but the first mortgage. Since then I have stopped paying the unsecured credit and focused on the home expenses which are secured by real property, the car and our living expenses. I think this process is exactly as your experience dealing with it suggests. It is not helping those who are having a horrible financial turn of events at no fault of their own but rather by poor advice from their banks.. who by the way are making huge profits at our expense. If my husband was able to move, even if we are for the moment under water yet, we would leave. Unfortunately as we are both disabled and on ssi we have to hope that things won’t force us out of a home we have been in for the last 23 years, and now owe Chase three times more than the original purchase price. It took care of a lot of things we needed for his condition, but at a heavy price.
We have had similar experiences. B of A actually told us to stop making our payments for 3-4 months. I told them to go “pound sand”. I said it was very hard for us to make that monthly payment BUT we were doing our best. They get people to call you that sound like used car salesmen. You have to be strong when you talk to them. I found that a good tool to use when you talk to them …ask “can I record this conversation” you will hear a click of a phone hanging up.
Other talking points:
[1] credit bureaus are in bed with their best customers “the banks”. They ruin your credit and you pay more later for things. Congress should put controls on the “big three bureaus”. They are an extension of banks and corporate america……taboo topic
[2] Time frame for approval for MHA can run over a year…right. I’ll bet it didn’t a year to approve any of these loans.
[3] A lot of these people approving MHA sound like some of the people working in the “sub-prime” lender field. banks can “shake”n bake” when they smell profit. Ever notice banks only offer you things when you don’t need them……..like money.
[4] President Obama is either unware of these activites or is part of the “horse and pony show”. I voted for the man. He is at the right place at the right time do some good for the people.
The “spirit” of the MHA seems to be hiding behind the the $75 billion……you can hide alot behind it.
My first mortgage is with Metlife – Payment is $1699. My second mortgage is with Bank of America – Payment $879. My husband made six figures selling real estate until 2008…We cashed out retirement, sold property, vehicles, cut every expense we thought we could do without. But the job my husband took making $45K and my temp jobs and part time work wasnt enough. We tried to get the HAMP modification and didnt get approved. Then we were offered the Fannie Mae MHA modification with a reduced payment on the first mortgage with Metlife of $510. This was a savings of almost $1200 a month and we were getting caught up on all of our bills that were past due..Our first mortgage was behind two months when we started reduced payment trial period. We were on the reduced plan for 4 months. Now Metlife says we are denied and owe $12,000 in past due payments. WE have no money we are requesting a repayment plan but we do not know how we will afford the $1699 payment plus more to repay the past due amount. We feel screwed. We work so hard and thought we were getting the break we thought we deserved but instead we now owe $12000 on a $45000 first mortgage that pays out in 36 more months. I just wish I knew someone that would loan me the money to refinance. But thats not ever gonna happen….Praying that I dont lose my home.
Can anyone give me information about whether a bank can do a modification and then change the payments when ever they feel like it?(even though you have fixed rate and your insurance and taxes didn’t rise). Have a loan modification horry story that is unbelieveable,didn’t know that a bank had this much power!
APPARENTLY THEY HAVE THE RIGHT i HAD A MODIFICATION APPROVED WAS PAYING ON TIME FOR 8 MONTHS THEN ONE SATURDAY GET A NOTICE IN THE MAIL I WAS LATE WITH MY PAYMENT THE AMOUNT WAS TOTALLY DIFFERENT FROM WHAT I WAS PAYING. AFTER CALLING FOR 3 MONTHS THEY FINALLY TOLD ME IT WAS HUMAN ERROR ON THEIR PART, THEY MADE A MISTAKE i ASKED THEM TO REDO IT THEY SAID NO THEY WANTED ME TO PAY 3500.00 A MONTH TILL I CAUGHT UP. I DIDN’T HAVE THE MONEY. SO WE STARTED A NEW ONE WAS APPROVED STARTED THE TRAIL PERIOD THEN THEY SAID I DIDN’T GET APPROVED. THIS HAS BEEN A NIGHTMARE FOR A YEAR ALREADY HAVE A LAWYER…. MORTGAGE CO. HAVE ALL THE RIGHTS WE HAVE NONE PRAY FOE ME THAT I DON’T LOSE MY HOUSE BEEN IN THE FAMILY FOR OVER 60 YEARS I AM SOOO SICK…..
We have been going through the MHA program, we called every two days for 3 months to keep tabs on it. Every person we talked to gave us diffrent direction, one would say “yes we have all your information”, two days later the next person wanted us to fax 150 pages of taxes, pay stubs, property taxes & lots of others so off to the fax I went. I ended up sending them all 3 times. Only to be denied because of “lack of information”. The letter was sent the same day the girl told me I had 72 hours to get the information in again. It’s just another way they can make a dollar off of sombodies elses bad luck. On a side note take your faxes to there in town location and make them do it. It’s free and you can get a little satisfaction by knowing they are paying a person to watch the fax machine for 2 1/2 hours
Wow sorry to hear this. But my story is close to your. But I started the process in 06/2012 I would fax items over and over call and one Employees tell me nothing needed . Then call in next day this is needed. This ordeal went on for close to a year. I got tired and file a complaint with the BBB wow they response quickly like in two days . I only found out that I was approved on the BBB website from the Mortgage Company response for the Making Home affordable program. I even went on line file a complaint to White House website. They do response back but might take a couple months but they forward the information to correct dept. Really another thing you could do is go to MHA program directly to Freddie Mae or program sponsor and they will fill out the paper work and I was told by rep they would have to close out the other file tell them your ordealand they make calls out every three days and they forms are dated down the bottom when they are send out to you. Good luck but it work for me.
My situation began back in 2008. I lost my job of 28 years. My company just closed up shop. I applied for a loan modification and went circles over the phone. Was told I had to get 3 mos in the rear before they could help. I was already on my way there since we were only living on one income. When BofA requested my financials they saw how I had accumalated a nice employer sponsored 401K account with my previous employer. They advised me that we were not in need of assistance at this time and wanted us to catch up all past due payments which by this time I was 6 months behind. Like a fool, I pulled out money from the 401K and paid but what was I thinking? I was throwing this money at a mortgage I could no longer afford and ended up falling behind again to which the bank refused to help me as long as I had that 401K account. In the end.. (long story short) I exhaused all my 401K money because BofA played this game with me and lost the house. I would have been better to just cut my losses and walk away with my 401K still in my account. Now I have nothing. No house and no 401K. Thanks a lot Bank of America!!!
is there any lawyers to fight these banks, or government officials. need help!!
dan s
i do not get how difficult it is…They lose your paperwork..they tell your loan negotiator is being assigned. then you call back 2 days later and they tell you it have been denied…meanwhile you never even had a chance to speak to anyone….who is getting all the so-called money for these programs?????
true… you know what they say…It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong -Voltaire
Submitted making home affordable about a year and a half ago. Called every week following up and was told the famous words “under review.” After about 8 or 9 months our file is finally looked at and we are told the person who was reviewing it either quit or got fired. So our file was just sitting there for almost a year while being told under review. Now, we are asked to submit more current info because the info in the initial packet is dated. We were then approved or pre-approved and was told 4-6 weeks for the packet and the trial payments. It has now been over 3 months. I keep on calling and now there has been 3 escalations, another commonly used word besides under review. Probably, the banks are truly understaffed and probably they are reluctant to give the modification. There is absolutely no oversight so they “have their way with you.” The people answering the calls are clerks who are reading off the screen for status and they are not qualified. It is a sad situation! We are still waiting and it has been without exageration about a year and a half. Will we get the modification? When I see it I’ll believe it. Good luck to all. By the way the bank is Bank of America and from what I hear they have received the most complaints. Bank of America bank of opportunity supposedly- not when it comes to modifying the loans! If someone would get together as petition and contact government officials and make these banks accountable maybe some good would come out of all this. I truly don’t beleive the banks are complying with the program and they are at the very least dragging their feet. At he very least they are putting homeowners through hell playing with their emotions and the very real fear that they may lose their home. Shame on them!!!!
Yeah, I was approved. They lowered my payment but they didn’t say the payment included principle, interest, escrow and insurance. Everytime I asked I got the same answer. It could go up by a couple of hundred dollars. I new I wouldn’t be able to afford the new payment if they were to include the insurance and escrow at a later date. So I declined the offer. When paperwork arrived telling me to short sale my home, there was a breakdown of the monthly payment. This payment did include principle, interest, escrow and insurance. Having the break down in front on me helped me understand. So I wrote an appeal letter to reinstate the MHA. They declined my offer. Seriously, they would rather the house go into foreclosure or short sale then accept my money. I wrote letters to everyone. The congressman, president and ceo of BAC, attorney general. Anyone who might listen. I received a call from the president and ceo’s office. They are going to help me. Yeah right!!!! After weeks of talking with them, they sent me a new mortgage payment. $1,000 dollars more than the previous amount. I could barely afford the first payment and now they raise it $1,000.00. If I were to payment this new amount it would leave me with exactly $300.00 to live off of a month. Makes alot of sence. I’m still calling every day, and I will keep calling until someone helps me.
I googled ” will I lose my home if i am late on my trial payments?” and this page caught my eye … I have been reading all the comments and the original post and am heart broken! I too have been trying to modify my loan for an amazing 3 years! November 1st 2011 was my first of supposedly 3 trial payments, here we are on last day of May 2012! And still making trial payments, a cousin of mines has been making “trial payments” for 12 months… It is true that the banks play with our emotions and could careless about us, our families and our investment in our homes, but i must be very honest and say, I got myself into this cituation, not the bank, I had a choice to commit to this debt when i signed my loan docs 5 years ago, and i commited, in reality, no one knows what the future holds, there are no garrantees in ANYTHING in this world, and we are all one choice away from a dramatic life change, our now can change in a split second…..
I am a born again christian and ever since i have put ALL my life including my home in the Lords hands, our homes dont belong to the Banks, they belong to the LORD, and ALL those people that could have helped others, but chose not to, will one day have their judgement day….Basically, i thank God for putting this page for me to read, just a reminder that GOD comes first and if we put him first before ALL things, he will take care of us, I was convinced that as long as i keep making my payments I would be fine, but of what I just read, until I am caught up ($45k) and making my regular payments, then I cant be sure, so i will just leave it in Gods hands and just Pray!!!! What else can I do? My life is in the hands of the Lord, not the banks, and if i lose my home, it is Gods plan and i must learn to accept it and beleive that he has something better for me in my future ….. God bless u and i will pray for all those in our situation…
Everyday we make a committment to something,from going to work all the way to picking the kids up from school. This does not mean that we are the only one to blame when: you’re laid off due to no fault of your own, you’re child is hit by a car and needs total care now (running in the backyard is not an option), husband has job as janitor now that the Post office doesn’t need all those mail carriers (not any fault of his due to all the technology to email/fax or reply online). And, you work part time due to your child , remember?
Thank you, Lord, for NormaMay and all of the injured whom You care for. Please help me to remember this is NOT about me, but about YOU!
Voluntarily gave my house back to the bank.. I am now completely debt free, can live wherever I want since I am no longer under “house” arrest and am not fueling the bank’s CEO’s 50 million dollar bonuses. I am no longer under any stress, have more funds to actually go out and do stuff from time to time instead of tossing and turning every single night wondering how I am going to keep paying on a mortgage that is $110,000 upside down. However, I am also single with no children so moving around is not a problem for me so my particular resolution was my resolution as this is a personal decision to make. I too was denied twice for a modification from Chase and I agree a decision was made between me and the bank to agree to the mortgage. It is and was a contract. I have every right to break that contract as does the bank if I don’t pay. So, they now have my house back which has no value to it and I have my life back. Win win (if my case)..
Laura, you make a good point and it’s something I bring up to clients in similar situations. If something is stressing you out that badly, it may not be worth hanging onto. There’s a lot to be said for letting go of something that causes so much anguish.
It is not so much as stressing about the finances as it is about the game playing with the not so direct answers from the corps. Even you would want us to be direct , open and honest. There is more to be said for that and It’s not the material thing that causes the problems, it’s the man made issues that cause stress and heartache.
Weve bern denied modification we are now in forecouse we need help ASAP
Bank of america lead us along for a month then said your denied now we are in foreclosure! Bank of America shut down our escrow and we fell behind on our taxes unknowing to us then we jump their butts they paid them but we are now so far behind we cant get caught up with late fees and interest plus we have an adjustable loan it went from 1100.00 to 1600.00 we cant afford it plus we have had several unexpected hardships since buying the home in 2005 im now on disability ! They are using my income and im not evenon the loan ! My hisbands income has decreased some and is continuning to do so no overtime more meds and grandchildren custody battles daughter in drug rehab so is husbands brother we help my two sisters pay my mothers assissted living rent and her personal needs like depends and ensure ! I was hospitalized last august and sept with a blocked colon for three weeks have medical bills ! Please help us to get a lower note and lower interest rate get our taxes straightenef out and our home out of foreclousure ! My husband works at St Jude Hospital ! And he will til he retires he is 58 yrs old I am 56 we have to save our home we have nowhere to live and we have been in our home since 05/05/05 we have three dogs and a cat been married for 38 years please someone help us get out of foreclosure and get a lower note with s fixed rate! Please Bank Of America wont help us ! We have two car notes and no credit cards!!!!!!!!!!
I recently worked with HOPE who helped me to apply for a temporary mortgage forbearance. Instead of my mortgage holder responding to that application, I received written notice from that I now need to pay much more each month, almost doubling the payments that were a hardship to begin with. This was done by creating a new escrow account when there was none originally in place. On top of this, they are also billing me for the entire previous years taxes and insurance costs, all of which were already paid directly by me on time. I never needed an escrow account, and have always paid my taxes and insurance costs on time without one. It seems like a way to hold my money while I struggle topay what is being paid by my state through homestead exemption. While I am still current on all payments, these new costs are due next month. I have been paying $628 and now they need $3778 within 30 days or they will foreclose. For me, the Making Homes Affordable Plan did just the opposite of that. It made it not affordable, due to the decisions of my lender. I have been living in my home for 12 years, and love it here. This appears to be a cheap trick by an unscrupulous lender to force me out of my home when I am making all my payments. What can I do to stop this and restore my original terms I agreed to with Countrywide before the note was bought out by Bank of America?
What kind of “financial counselor” are you, anyhow? Why didn’t you send her to a bankruptcy attorney for a Chapter 13 that would have allowed her to eliminate all of the credit card debt and modify her car note to pay it out over 60 additional months?
You should be sued for malpractice.
I don’t even know the way I finished up here, however I
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Cheers!
Anyone trying to deal with a loan modification knows it’s enough to give you a breakdown. The deny because they claim missing documents. I think their favorite is the 4501-T. The send a letter stating you have 3 days to resubmit all the paperwork again. They send letters out that don’t apply so they can come back later and say you didn’t send in the documents. Last time I was rejected in 3 days. I have been rejected 3 times now all BS reasons. How do I know for sure it was even submitted? They don’t submit for other relief options unless you ask them to. The CRM’s are grossly unqualified, you can never get them when you call and if you try to talk to someone else they want to reroute you back to the same incompetent and always unhelpful CRM. They ruin your credit so you can’t get a job, a loan and even car insurance, utilities look at credit scores. They stall your application until you can’t qualify.
I also had my taxes paid even though I don’t have an escrow and have always paid on time. They make it harder not easier. The ONLY options they seem to want to give you is deed in lieu or short sale unless you fight tooth and nail with them.
Hope, Hud, foreclosure hotlines, DOJ – none of them are much help at all in spite of the fact they have all received 3 figures sums to help homeowners. No one holds the banks accountable unless you get a lawyer and if you are hurting you likely can’t afford one.
As I understand the laws now change in 2013 so you will owe the IRS if a deficiency is discharged. So you can lose your house, still owe the lender and the IRS. They don’t help, they ruin lives, credit, potential jobs. They are withholding federal funds they have received intended to help homeowners, ignore the guidelines and are not accountable to anyone!!!
I’ve been denied for MHA plan by BOA (formerly Countrywide). Bankruptcy Chpt 7 discharged in 2010. My attorney told me if wanted to stay in my house..pay the mortgage. I’m current but I applied for MHA plan hoping that I can bring my payments down. But nope! I can’t believe this crap! The BOA reps advised me that if I was late and facing foreclosure – I would have a better chance of getting approved. What the heck!? Now I need to call ? who? I’m just so lost and want to walk away!
WOW! It’s in a weird way comforting to know I’m not the only one…
I have a FHA loan, my Leander is freedom Mortage, I being a single mother of 3 kids had got cut to part time around this time last year, I called Leander they in same told me I needed to be 3 months behind for any kind of help, at that time I applyed for MHA, in the past year I have applied 10 and denied 10 times, due to failure of theirs, saying I didn’t provide addicuate info., not turning paper work in, in timely fashion, failure to provide requested information, once was even because page 5 of my 10 page fax didnt have my loan # on it but all the rest did, but really they are not organized, loss of paper work, I don’t think they receive proper training on these matters…
I came home one day to find a trustee sale notice date taped to door which was set for 60 days from date on notice, I called and called Leander, my leander had keep telling me as long as I keep applying for modification my house would not forclouse (LIE) then why did I get that on my door? I seeked forclousor counciling and was refurred to a agency called “save our home” I had to them send them ALL my info, time was cutting closer and closer to sale date, I had gotten approved for assistance for this program now it was a hassle with leander saying they don’t except 3rd party payments and they didnt participate in the program witch program was MHA so goes to show how educated these people are on things, to not even know what programs the company you work for participates in!
LOOONNNGGG story short after begging my Leander for help, after calling them out on their employees not knowing what they are talking about, I sent a nasty unpleasant fax 4 days before sale date saying they gave me no choice other then filing bankruptcy (which I had down loaded and filled out when all this first started, just in case they tryed to screw me) as on day 3 before sale date I was just getting ready to leave my house to go file bankrupty the UPS guy pulls up with a over nighted trial mod. Which I had to fill out sign and western-union them $1200 to save home, the trial mod was $100 a month MORE then it was, they said because I was so behind durring
WOW! It’s in a weird way comforting to know I’m not the only one…
I have a FHA loan, my Leander is freedom Mortage, I being a single mother of 3 kids had got cut to part time around this time last year, I called Leander they in same told me I needed to be 3 months behind for any kind of help, at that time I applyed for MHA, in the past year I have applied 10 and denied 10 times, due to failure of theirs, saying I didn’t provide addicuate info., not turning paper work in, in timely fashion, failure to provide requested information, once was even because page 5 of my 10 page fax didnt have my loan # on it but all the rest did, but really they are not organized, loss of paper work, I don’t think they receive proper training on these matters…
I came home one day to find a trustee sale notice date taped to door which was set for 60 days from date on notice, I called and called Leander, my leander had keep telling me as long as I keep applying for modification my house would not forclouse (LIE) then why did I get that on my door? I seeked forclousor counciling and was refurred to a agency called “save our home” I had to then send them ALL my info, time was cutting closer and closer to sale date, I had gotten approved for assistance for this program now it was a hassle with leander saying they don’t except 3rd party payments and they didnt participate in the program witch program was MHA so goes to show how educated these people are on things, to not even know what programs the company you work for participates in!
LOOONNNGGG story short after begging my Leander for help, after calling them out on their employees not knowing what they are talking about, I sent a nasty unpleasant fax 4 days before sale date saying they gave me no choice other then filing bankruptcy (which I had down loaded and filled out when all this first started, just in case they tryed to screw me) as on day 3 before sale date I was just getting ready to leave my house to go file bankrupty the UPS guy pulls up with a over nighted trial mod. Which I had to fill out sign and western-union them $1200 to save home, the trial mod was $100 a month MORE then it was paying, they said because I was so behind on payments, durring trial it would be more final mod would be lot less! So I sent it in, but they never canceled sale I had to keep calling both trustee and bank all the way upto 30 mins before sale, I payed my trial payments for 4 months I keep calling lender worried about what was next finally they said they was ready to move forward on mod but when they went to pull title I had a $200 lein on it from my HOA that needed to be taken care of first, I said fine I’ll call and take care of that, WEEELLL when I called HOA that $200 had now turned to $1200 due to fees they charge blah blah blaaah I said I can’t pay that much right now so they advised me to write a perposal to the board with a settlement price I could afford, but it could take upto 30 days to get a response so I did that same day notified Leander of time it could take, well in that time waiting for HOA responce someone dropped the ball and my house went to auction beknowns to me,( and I didn’t know they postponed the sale previously not terminate sale..) I got a letter in mail oct. 5 showing my new payments starting dec 1st. Thought wow they did mod without me having to pay HOA lean, then Oct 12th I get a letter sayin house was sold on oct. 10th I have 30 days to move out! Mind you no one bought house it went back to bank!! I’m now unemployed, can’t get anywhere with lender, person that was handle ing loans mail box full cant leave messages, no one else wants to talk to me about it, say I need to talk to her!!! I can’t afford to go lawyer, and I went to the free legal aid but they turned my case over to a nother office!! This morning I got notice taped to door to vacate property within 5 days or leagle action will be taken, so I already feel like shit because I can’t put gifts under the tree for my kids, now I have to tell them that we are now going to be homeless! ( which that’s how my kids wanted to spend this Xmas!, feeding the homeless)…. Thank you whoever dropped the ball and didn’t contact trustee to postpone that sale, I hope you go home every night feeling good about yourself, because atleast you have a home to go to!!!!
We got approved for the home affordable program and were put on a three month trial period. So we paid our mortgage for three months and after the three months we were sent a letter saying that they had to raise our mortgage due to a low escrow balance now our home is not so affordable. It seems to me like my mortgage company took they incentive money from the government and now raised my mortgage in order to have me default and fall into forclosure. My question is, is this legal?
I have heard that every time the bank got an application to modify a loan they receive a thousand dollars. Is that true?
My mortgage was with countrywided at first and then transferred to BOA. I was struggling because I had lost my job but my husband was the only one employed. We begin falling behind on our mortgage and I heard about the home affordable program. First I was told I couldn’t apply because we both had to be employed or showing income. I then found employment and then applied again and was first prequalified for a trial period. I paid my trial period payment for several months. Then I received a letter from sent by fed. express staing that I was approved for the making home affordable program and that the documents stating the agreement will soon to follow in a seperate package and that I should sign and return them once received. I waiting and never received the seperate package with the modification agreement. I called and they first told me I wasn’t approved. I then explained that I received the letter of approval. Then I was told by another representative after calling back that i should be receiving the docs shortly. I never received the docs but did receive a letter from BOA stating that my loan would be transferred to IBM (now seterus). So I asked them do my approval transfer with the loan and they stated that everything remains the same when a transfer is done and guarenteed that they will give me the home affordable mod. This new bank did modify my loan but not under the home affordable program. First they asked me to fax the approval letter to them, which I did, and they turned around and said that document dont transfer because I was approved by BOA and they never sent me the final modification docs. I felt that I was taken advantage by BOA and now after reading the info and the comments from this web site understand how the banks operate. Just a question if anyone knows….can something be done when this happens or do I have to just deal with it because it seems as if banks can do whatever they want and get away with it?
does anyone know if it is required for the bank to provide a breakdown of the amount that is being added to the principal or just give you the amount they are adding to principal balance with no explanation?
thank you
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I have been fighting with bank of America three years now in the mean time I have files and been discharged fro Chapter bankrupcy. Like everyone else have applied fro MHA program three time and been turned down three time because of their stupidity. This last time I have had a girl that has done a great job, followed up every 7 days, kept paperwork straight was a real pleasure to work with but alas the system stepped in and screwed it up. Received my trial payment today that is $50 dollars less than my original payment, if i could do this I could have made the old one. Turns out that payment is based on 31% of your gross monthly income. They give you a lot on mumbo jumbo about looking at all of your expenses but comes down to 31%. They moved all my late payments to end on load, reduced interest fro 6% to 2% and extended the pay back terms but my payment only went down $50. o my payment stayed the same, principal stayed the same but Fannie made a little less. Am looking for ways to get this payment reduced if I can not then I walk away. I will be contacting the Office of the Controller of the Currency, this is the fed office that over sees the banks.
I was in the mhap with BOA, I made the first two of three trial payments on time. I call prior to my third payment being due, and was told they were extending the due date for those affected by sandy, I was told as long as I made my payment in the month it was due, I’d be fine, needless to say I submitted my final payment a week late, and have been receiving foreclosure notices since. I’ve been assured by boa that this was system wide issue and would be corrected but I found out today I have been booted from program.
We jump through hoops like each of you. Lost
paperwork, repetitive refiling due to a missing document. You have to start process over again. Told to go 3 months behind , told is best way to qualify. O/W if could pay payment or did pay, you don’t qualify because you can make the payment, at the sacrifice of dome umpaid bills. Do they ever read the hardship letter
To be continued: It is 3a am. Need sleep. I have had huge hardships. Just can’t wtrite it now. I found this site yesterday. Makes me physically sick knowing what a scam these banks are, tearing up lives with no conscience or any regard to their fellow man that sacrificing every dollar and the roof over our heads to appease these fat cat bankers. CAN YOU TELL ME; CAN I SELL MY HOME BEFORE THE BANK TAKES ALL OF THE EQUITIY OUT, AND DENIES MHA PROGRAM
ANYWAY? Will write again. Will explain more, later.
Wow I thought I was the only homeowner going through this nightmare.
Can you tell me the status that YOUR nightmare is as of now?
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P.S My apologies for getting off-topic but
I had to ask!
How can we get our money back from making home affordable? My husband and I sent them $5184 to bargain with wells Fargo. We cannot contact anyone now, no one will call us back to answer questions, and would prefer to not have their help and get our money back. Anyone know who to contact in cases like this?
Call BBB and make a complaint they will open up a case and investigated it for you and something will begin to happen with good results.
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I was a first time home owner, young and a newlywed, in my mid 20′s. I bought my home in early 2007, right before the market started to crumble. For where we purchased our home (NorthEast Ohio) the market was still booming, and there was not a lot to choose from in our price range. We ended up with an older 2 bedroom home on a small lot in a nice neighborhood, needed a little work (which we were prepared for) and paid 86,500 for it.
Within two years, the economy fell apart in front of me. I lost my job, had to go on Unemployment as there were no jobs to be had. I got an under the table position as a nanny just so I could make ends meet. Same time, I got a divorce…and then a letter stating my property value went down $15,000. Now on a single income and an underwater mortgage I had a house I couldn’t sell…everything in my neighborhood was for sale the last two years and not moving.
I eventually ended up taking a job that paid $13,000.00 less than my previous position. It was all I could find and my unemployment was going to be ending in a few short months. With no longer being able to nanny with my FT hours I started falling behind on my mortgage. Eventually the letters started rolling in. I didn’t know what to do and thought I was just going to have to lose the home.
The bank then suggessted I enroll in the Making Homes Affordable program. I did everything I was asked, was approved, and my payment was only reduced by $100.00. I was eventually able to finally find a room mate through my new job and was then able to make the payments as requested. Once completed with the trial payments, I received all the final paperwork from the bank and it turns out I now owe $96,500.00 on the house. What they did (and was not explained to me at the start) is took all back payments, about 10 months, and added them into the back end of the loan along with all the “reduced” payment amount. My house value is still only at $71,500.00. Houses in my neighborhood are starting to sell for around $80,000.00
In the long run, I should have read the fine print. I should have not trusted the loan modifier I was working with and should have not believed what the court was saying in how this was such a tremendous program for people “in my situation”. Now with the economy getting better, I have managed to land a great job and am back to making what I was before all this began. I have been current with every payment since the modification, I met a wonderful man and we got married this past fall. Things are much, much brighter then that horrible dark period where I cried everyday for months on end.
However, we are not out of the dark completely yet. My new husband and I make a decent living together and we have been able to continue on the minor repairs the house was in need of when purchased (windows, siding, etc…) but we are not rich and we are still in a housing market that hasn’t recovered; And we are severly underwater on the mortgage. Thanks to this “modification” program, more so then when I started this journey. For young, nieve, 1st time homeowners who were in over their heads to begin with I think this program is a joke. How is this helping people?? I am now stuck with a house we will never be able to sell for the price of what we owe on it. Not even close. The rules were never explained and I was beyond desperate to save my house. “fill out this paperwork kid and we’ll get you all caught up on the payments and even get you a reduced payment” is almost word for word what I was told. I take full responsibility for not reading the fine print, and I now know never to trust anything the government/bank is telling you. There really is no such thing as help for those who truly need it.
I have written and called and donated and begged so much in the past 6years that I cant take a chance of carpal tunnel as Medicare probably would find a reason to deny and I can’t afford that chance, I have made so many phone calls l’m losing my hearing and that will lead in the same direction and last but not least I have read so many different programs and promises that my eyesight is just about gone but I’m not entitled to see either so I have decided to remove all my money in the banking system since I can take better care of it on my own and not get charged for the financial burden of having our system take such fine care of it and maybe if we all were to take this burden off the bankers hands then where will they get the money for those large salaries and bonuses they deserve for making them work so hard taking care of all our money so well. So here is my suggestion, we all take our out of the banks now that we can all legally carry guns now to protect it in our own homes and just think how much easier we can make it on those poor old overworked bank presidents. Just trying to do my part.