Matt Weidner – Fighting For The American People

Posts Tagged ‘Bank Of America home loan modification’

Unless you’ve been on another planet, you’d know that it’s just a pesky little federal program that prohibits lenders from continuing with foreclosure as long as the borrower is complying.  But why should anyone be concerned about that?  I mean, why in god’s name would it matter that a homeowner is under a binding, written contract while their home is being sold out from underneath them…I mean after all, WE’VE GOT A FORECLOSURE DOCKET TO PLOW THROUGH!

Just wait, till these sales start happening and the stories of homeowners who’s rights have been blatantly violated start flooding in….oh, but wait, no one cares because, WE’VE GOT A FORECLOSURE DOCKET TO PLOW THROUGH!

And now a report from that legal twilight zone we refer to as South Florida…..

From Miami-Dade

I went with a family member to court in attempts to stop a foreclosure sale scheduled for August by the 2nd mortgage holder who is a private lender who btw has like 12 of his own properties under foreclosure, so he really needs the money. Anyway, we were there sitting in court waiting for our case to be called. Meanwhile I heard this judge take on other cases. The court room was filled with attorneys representing lenders/investors. There were homwowners with and without legal representation. Regardless of their issue this judge just kept on denying every motion that he was hearing. Not even taking the time not even a minute or a second to even glance at the documents these poor homeowners were bringing to him.

People were telling him that they have been approved and/or were being considered for a modification under HAMP and that they were there to ask to have the sale of thier home stopped because apparently the plaintiffs attorneys were not aware of this information. As you may all know, most of these attorneys DO NOT maintain constant contact with thier clients, therefore servicers even though they may place in thier system for a sale to be postponed based on loss midigation approval, still, it doesn’t reach thier attorneys in time to actually stop the sale. So homeowners are being told by the servicers to actuallly try and contact the attorneys because they are not able to. Unbelievable but true. Anyway, this judge must have rocket through about 35 cases before we were called. and he denied every single one of them except one which was from an association foreclosing on a property with an approved sale and the buyer was there with the approval and the proof that she was going to pay for the associations fees. The one thing I must say is that… one of the first cases that was being heard and the homeowner stated that he was approved for a HAMP mod, and to please stop the sale, then the judge asked the plaintiffs attorney how long has he been in the property without paying and the plaintiff would respond almost 29 months then the judge said… “3 years and you expect to continue in that house? denied.… the homeowner tried to explain his situation, loss of job, adjustable rate, not being able to refinance etc… but still the judge would not hear him out and just flat out denied his request to stop the sale.

Once the homeowner left the court room the judge asked… “what is this HAMP that these people keep claiming they are approved for?” mannnnn i said to myself… “this judge myst have been pulled from retirment from another part of this world, and to get put on the stand to make these decissions… the courts must really be desperate for not even taking the time to even educate them about the huge issue at hand with these foreclosures and modifications and fraudulent documents etc…. then after denying a few more cases in less than 2 minutes he said… “WOW… and i got paid to do this everyday 5 days a week?… this is easy..… I was so close to saying something, but my cousin stopped me since his case still had not been heard.

I was appalled and had to step out for a breather and calm down. Then it was our turn, mind you, in my cousins case, this 2nd lender has been after my cousins house since the day he got the loan. The house is 278k upside down, there is a first mortgage with NOW Bank Of America as the servicer, and Bank of New York as the trustee. Since the original lender is in litigation (CW) then they were quick in providing him with a trial as soon as my cousin was able to find a new job. The intial foreclosure case was dismissed a year ago. Now the 2nd mortgage holder claims that since the 1st mortgage holder was not able to provide an original note or proper assignments then he considers himself the ONLY mortgage holder on that property (my cousin owes him 50k). We have tried to come up with sometype of payment or settlement arrangement but they claim we have not. So when were called to the stand the plaintiffs attorney was not present, so the judge actually took the time to call him, again, i had to be held back from saying anything. The judge got the plaintiffs attorney on the phone and asked the attorney (who btw is the 3rd attorney hired on this case), how long has it been since the defendant has paid you, and he replied, almost 3 years, and the judge said to my cousin… and you expect me to stop the sale? my cosing said, “but I am in a HAMP trial with the first mortgage and the 2nd refuses to come to an agreement with me”… the plaintiffs attorney stated that he was not aware of any attempts to come to an agreement… I stepped up to the judge to show him the many documents, mailed, faxed, delivered with the settlement proposals … but the judge flat out, said… without even glancing at the documents or the HAMP trial… he said… MOTION DENIED!!! you have been living way to long in this property without making payments, so, i am sure you have some money saved… Now I suggest that you come to an agreement with the plaintiff in order to stop the sale. I said that with his ruling he is only forcing my cousin to file Bankruptcy in order to wipe off the 2nd and stop the sale. That i did not agree plus i felt he was not taking the time to actually listen to the case and is on the plaintiffs side for all the cases. He said… “I have already ruled and that is that”, i replied that I am also a tax payer and part of his salary gets paid by those taxes and that at least we deserved for him to consider our written argument which was submitted to the court 2 days before, and that he was not even aware of all the documents that were wrongfullly entered and that the people on title were not even considered in those entries worse yet, properly notified of the attempts by the plaintiff and that according to state laws, the rights of all the title holdersof the property were completly dismissed! Then the bailiff came to me and asked us to leave because the judge had already ruled.

Yes, so beware, because… rocket dockets are being done by retired judges who have no knowledge of anything. and are just there to deny deny deny!!!

We are definaltely going to appeal and maybe even go public with this. I am even considering placing names and making all parties involved including the judge and the courts for the manner in which they are handling these cases.

It is literly a slaughterhouse of foreclosures, and people deserve to be properly heard and represented.

The reports from the federal government regarding the number of homeowners that have obtained permanent mortgage modifications under the HAMP program show once again how hopeless it is to rely upon government programs to resolve the mortgage crisis.  Clients and advocates continue to ask me, “Why won’t the lender work with me on a modification?” I believe the answer is both simple and complex.

The simple answer is money….I believe the lenders have been incentivized not to approve modifications from their own financial perspective because they are getting both tax and subsidy benefits from their non-performing portfolio.  The complex answer is I believe the program requirements are so complex and difficult to comply with that in order for the lender to obtain the subsidy benefits described above, they must obtain so many records and comply with strict documentary requirements.

The result is a maddening clash between servicers and homeowners who are working hard to obtain mortgage modifications.  I attach below a recent exchange between a homeowner who is working hard to resolve an outstanding mortgage claim….reading this will make you want to pull your hair out….

This letter is a demand for additional review of Bank of America’s recent denial of my home loan modification.  I have sent copies of this to various officials, agencies, and others via email or first class mail, which you can find listed below.

After careful review of your denial letter, I find your denial to contain fallacious reasoning—one which is nothing but a red herring,

Further, I have reviewed the PSA of CWALT 2005- 66 (which includes my loan) and the Guide referenced within this PSA, also known as Freddie Mac’s Single  Family Seller / Servicer Guide, which will be referred herein as the Guide.

Your letter states:

“The investor has declined request for modification. Since the loan is not delinquent, for both a traditional modification and to qualify for HAMP, you needed to demonstrate imminent default hardship. One of the imminent default is defined as a long term disability status after the origination of the subject loan. Based on the documentation provided by you, including your statement regarding receipt of Medicare since 2001, you were receiving assistance prior to the origination date of (2005). As such, you are not a borrower and further the loan is not in imminent default as the assistance you received existed prior to the subject loan origination.”

There are serious and potentially litigious issues brought up in the above statements:

1. You state: The investor has declined request for modification.

My response: Why is this up to the investor? The PSA clearly states “…the Master Servicer may waive, modify or vary any term of any Mortgage Loan ….”. See Section 3.11 (b) pp.49-50 (CWALT 2005-66)

2. You state: Since the loan is not delinquent, for both a traditional modification and to qualify for HAMP….

My response: One does NOT need to be late for HAMP; one needs to show a hardship where imminent default is likely. You (the servicer) are supposed to abide by the PSA.

Section 3.01 (b) of the PSA states that you SHALL follow certain rules/regulation such as Freddie Mac’s Single Family Seller / Servicer Guide which, states in part that:

“In pursuing loss mitigation, Servicers must first consider Borrowers in accordance with the requirements of Chapter C65, Home Affordable Modification Program.”

So, we turn to Chapter C65, which states in part:

Borrowers who are current ,…….. but who, due to hardship, may be in imminent default, are also eligible for modification under HAMP. See: C65. 4

See also: http://www.makinghomeaffordable.gov/borrower-faqs.html

See question #22 from the above link. Do I need to be behind on my mortgage payments to be eligible for a modification under HAMP?

No. Responsible homeowners who are struggling to remain current on their mortgage payments are eligible if they reasonably believe they are very likely to default on their mortgage soon (often referred to by loan servicers as “imminent default”). This might be because a homeowner has had (or will have) a significant increase in the mortgage payment (due to a payment adjustment or rate adjustment upwards); …. or some other significant reduction in income; or some other financial hardship that will make the mortgage unaffordable.

3. You state: ….you needed to demonstrate imminent default hardship.

My Response; I did demonstrate imminent default— Loss of household income, change in household circumstances, significant increase in the mortgage payment if the Truth in Lending statement is correct. This was all documented at length in my hardship letter.

4. You state: One of the imminent default is defined as a long term disability status after the origination of the subject loan.

My response. I understand that, but it doesn’t pertain to my case. This is the red herring.

Disability is NOT the main issue. The main issues for imminent default as detailed in my hardship are 1) Upcoming increase in the monthly mortgage payment in 2010, 2) Loss of household income & 3) change in household financial circumstances, 4) Rising costs of living expenses, and 5) I briefly mentioned disability. I only mentioned disability in the hardship letter to let you know that my chances of returning to work do not look good and because I receive disability payments.

5. You state:  Based on the documentation provided by you,

My response: Did you read my hardship letter?

6. You state: ….including your statement regarding receipt of Medicare since 2001, you were receiving assistance prior to the origination date of (2005).

My response: You asked me for this information and I provided it to you. I wasn’t sure why you wanted this information, but it now appears you are trying to divert the main issues and doing everything you can to block my attempts for an affordable loan mod.

Let me ask you—do you routinely ask others how long they have worked at a job and get such proof from the employer? If not, this act certainly appears to be discriminatory.

7. You state: As such, you are not a borrower

My response: This is a legal issue and you know that, especially due to the conflicting documents you sent to me. But if you insist that I am not a borrower– please file for a Satisfaction of the Mortgage since I signed the Adjustable Rate Rider promising to pay you every single month, among other things. Please review the Adjustable Rate Rider and the Rider to the Note for this predatory Pay Option Arm loan.

8. You state: …….and further the loan is not in imminent default

My response: You appear to be ignoring the facts that there will be a “significant increase” in the mortgage payments later this year, which is one of several reasons for my request for a loan modification now. Also, what about Loss of Household Income? What about the Change in Household Financial Circumstances and Rising Costs of Living Expenses?

9. You state: …as the assistance you received existed prior to the subject loan origination.

Like I said, this is a red herring. Please read my hardship letter.

I request an immediate review of my file and an immediate re-evaluation of my request for a modification. Your reasoning is faulty, and may be discriminatory. Please be assured I will do all I can to save my home, and I hope to be able to come to an agreement about an affordable loan modification in the very near future.

Thank you for your time into these serious matters.