Here is my mortgage nightmare. Like so many things in the Bush administration the full truth is not being told.
Over and over again, I hear that the problem is that these mortgages occured because Clinton wanted to open up the housing market to poor people who did not deserve the credit. This burns my hide and does not fit with my reality. I have posted, blogged and diaried this topic wherever I could hoping to get someone to see the truth and scope of this problem.
This story, like many stories in D.C is trickling out little by little. Therefore, it is time for me to tell my story. I realize that many people will blame the victim and say it's all my fault, but what I would like to have you all focus on is the scope of the illegal behaviors and the fact that if these servicers had not engaged in these behaviors my loan and my credit would be fine right now. I would be all caught up and problem over. Follow the links to read thousands of stories some far worse than my own. Follow me over the fold for my story of foreclosure, illegal behaviors and resolution!
It started for me in the year 2000 when my ex husband a computer analyst married his third wife. I was a single mom raising four kids and renting a house at the time. It was a great house, outdated but just a half block from the elementary school and a block from the highschool. The neighborhood was wonderfully supportive.
At that time, my ex husband decided he wanted custody of his two boys now 13 and 15. He had a vasectomy with wife number two and wanted children and a family with his third wife. He had always paid his child support and up to this point, I truly felt we had a "good" divorce in that; I admired him and respected him. So, the lawsuit cost me 10k. My entire savings for buying my first house gone, so that my boys could live in the neighborhood I worked so hard to get them into. The course of this journey included me working 2 and 3 jobs while finishing a master's degree. Today I work as a licensed mental health counselor with victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.
So, as the lawsuit begins, my landlord out of the blue, after 4 years of living in our home decided to sell the rental. I began my journey trying to find a way to buy the house from him. I had a couple thousand to spend, but the custody case was draining my savings. The house was a 120,000$ house. My credit rating ranged from 720-780 with a 760 in the middle. They had to use my child support income, which is legal, for me to qualify for the loan. However, unbeknownced to me back in 2001, this meant I could only qualify for a subprime loan. I was working with a broker who steered me into a loan. She told me that the child support income was income free and clear and the fact that I could show that he paid faithfully for the last 3 years meant that I qualified for the loan. The loan was a 30 year fixed mortgage with a 9.75 interest rate (which was two points above the rate at the time).
I had no trouble paying my loan for the first two years. During this time I married someone who worked in the unions and life was good. We won the custody battle and of course, as predicted by every lawyer but his (who just wanted his money) my ex's child support was increased. (he was making 150k by the time of the custody battle and had only been making 60 as we divorced, I had been able to go back to increase the support but had opted for peace...yea, that paid off!!)
Within 8 months of his losing the custody battle, my ex quit his 150k a year job. Moved to the state next door, and began his own business. At this point all child support stopped suddenly. AT that time the amount I needed to make my mortgage was 1000k a month. He was ordered an increase to 1450$ a month. (I could have cared less about the increase, but that thousand was needed). During that very same month, my new husband lost his union electrician job. Suddenly the market was not hiring the unions to do the work but was undercutting the unions by using non union shops. So it was a double whammy.
Luckily I had never depended on the money from my new spouse, but that 1000 from child support had qualified me for the loan. To top it off, his sudden not payment was a surprise. I had no idea that he would just stop payment after 10 years. As a result I made my usual payments only to find myself in overdraft wondering where his check was!! He wouldn't discuss it with me or tell me his plans. And of course with child support the state will do nothing to enforce the order until they are 90 days or 2000k behind. I was socked with check fees from the over drafts, and was unable to pay my mortgage for the first time. I slipped to 30 days.
Eventually I ended up 60 days late on my loan. Once I was 30 days late I was notified that I would go into foreclosure at 60 days. I had always heard that loan companies will work with you because they don't want your house. (do you know who owns those companies that say "I want to buy your house"? one guess). Anyway, I called and told them my situation and that eventually he would pay and the loan would be caught up. The person on the phone offered one solution. My only option was to finance the amount I was behind at 24% interest and make a higher payment for the next 6 months. The increase in my payment would have been 300$ a month. NOw at this point, my ex had still not been hauled in to court. (because he lived in another state there were more hoops and it took a lot longer). I couldn't make the increase in payments. There was no way. The guy yelled at me and told me how irresponsible I was for taking out a loan I could not pay. At 60 days late, within two days, I recieved a letter telling me I was in foreclosure.
I called the mortgage company, where they recognize the phone number you call from and where it asks you for your social or loan number before allowing you into the circuit. I was transferred to a voice message that told me to leave a message. I left a message every single day for about 30 days. (all documented today). They never returned a call. Finally I faxed them. They never returned my fax. I was recieving a letter from them telling me to call them that they wanted to work with me to save my home but they never returned my call.
In the following month my ex-husband was finally hauled into court. I was given a lump some of 5000k and he was forced to pay a higher amount or go to jail on a warrant. With this money, I knew I could get caught up but I needed to know the pay off amount. So I doubled my efforts to reach them. Told them I could pay it up. Sent them a check for my next house payment. They did not return my call but did return my check. I had no information about the foreclosure date, the amount to pay it off and they would not return my calls. (this lack of contact is a violation of RESPA law).
So I contacted the A.G in my state. I was told that they had to demonstrate a refusal of contact for 60 days. Then it would be a 30 day investigation by the state who would contact the lender. Then, the lender had 30 days to respond. I have no idea when the foreclosure date is at this point. I called the state offices to see if the date was given to them since it has to be given to the state. No record. Finally, after calling literally 15 to 20 lawyers all who told me to file chapter 13, I went in to see one. He told me that the things they were doing were not legal but that there was nothing I could do about it. He scolded me for getting into the loan. He told me my only hope was chapter 13 and was amazed that I didn't have any debt but the fees on the house. He was able to find the foreclosure date which was a month away. He said I didn't really need bankruptcy though, and encouraged me to keep trying to contact them. He said "They don't want your house".
Now I am 30 days from the sale date. This is may of 2004, the foreclosure date is June 7th. No one will contact me. Still nothing from the mortgage company. In desperation I google for help. I make a complaint online with the FDIC. I also find that there are numerous companies who call themselves foreclosure specialists. For 1500$ they will contact your lender and work out a plan. It will be the same plan they offered before with re-financing the pay off on the loan. At this point I was told that my pay off was 11k. This was far more than the house payments I had socked away because this pay off included inspection fees, lawyers fees, and even miscellaneous fees. Now, if the RESPA laws say that these companies must maintain open contact during foreclosure...why were there so many of these foreclosure companies online?? Why did they even exist? During the senate hearings on the mortgage crises one of the lobbyists stated that the problem in the mortgage industry was that 50% of the time, consumers did not contact the mortgage companies to work out a deal. I about went through the roof. http://www.ripoffreport.com/...
You can find one complaint after another from other people reporting the same problem since 2004. Their are literally thousands of reports just like mine. Browse, some are worse. About a week before I was scheduled for foreclosure I was sent a work out packet from the lender. They offered me the same deal as the foreclosure specialist did. I took the deal and refused bankrupty. I guess it was pride. I had always had good credit. No one seemed to know what was going on and every lawyer I talked to assumed that my story couldn't be accurate. Or they knew it was but didn't want to take on a giant mortgage company. I contacted legal aid but even with 4 kids made too much to qualify. They had to count the child support I wasn't recieving.
So I started making a mortgage payment that was now 400$ a month higher than the one I used to make. My ex is now paying child support, my husband is still not working, but we are making it. In December my ex doesn't pay me. I have to make the choice between the mortgage (which in the new aggreement has NO grace period, one day late and back to foreclosure) or christmas. I chose christmas, but hoped to work it out with the mortgage company. If they would let me be two weeks late I can pay for christmas and the mortgage even if my ex doesn't pay me. My husband worked a few side jobs that were not electricity (he would lose his pension if he worked electrical outside the union).
So, I call and fax to notify them of my plan a head of time, hoping they might return a call. Of course I hear nothing from them. I paid them late as I said I would and then two weeks later, I recieve another refinance that increases my payment and says it must be turned in by the date that my letter was postmarked!! THe contract stated it had to be signed by last week or I would be in foreclosure. AT this point, I threw up my hands and started looking for a lawyer in earnest. My ex wasn't paying again, the courts were slowly trying to collect the fees from him, and I was tired of being dicked around. This time I called every lawyer I could until I found one that believed me and recognized the name of the company. He told me we needed to file chapter 13. He told me we couldn't fight them because it was too much work and there were too many loopholes. He told me the FDIC complaint would not be answered in time to save my house.
Why didn't I sell my house and move!! Four kids and a dog. My house needed updating because it was a rental. At this point I could not make the amount they said I owed. I would have to sell my house and keep paying them. How would I be able to live?
So I filed chapter 13. Everything goes fine. They say I owe 8300k at the start of the bankruptcy. I make every payment on time. No problems. Till one month I accidently wrote the amount on the check in the hundreds instead of thousands. They sent back the check, I quickly returned a good check. But with it came a letter stating that I owed 6 months in payments and they wanted to dissolve my bankruptcy protection and put me back in foreclosure.
So I contact my lawyer who has now been deployed out of the country and cannot help me. I have 30 days to respond. I finally find a lawyer who will take my case. He is now more knowledgeable about these lenders. We go to court and prove that I made all my payments, using my bank statements. What I find out is that they increased my mortgage because of my escrow. Yes, they didn't pay my taxes on time and put the late fees on my escrow so, now I am behind in the escrow and they increase my payment which is why it shows up as if I am six months behind. They do it again a year later, but this time I have paid the increase for a full year. My lawyer goes to court and the judge threatens them with punitive damages. In my state punitive damages go to the lawyer and a school fund.
They stop that behavior, but I keep getting statements that say that the payoff amount on my loan is 13k, instead of 8300K. I am now going backwards!!! Despite the fact that I have never missed a payment, and I am also paying through the bankrupcy court each month. I filed in 2005, and am paying 48 more than the amount they say I owe AND paying through the courts. My lawyer has asked for my payment history in preparation for the pay off time at end of the bankruptcy. They are known for jacking with the pay off and putting you into foreclosure after your chapter 13 is completed. My lawyer says we will have to sue for an accurate accounting. He has requested my history twice but they have not sent it. (this is also a RESPA violation). The lawyers in my state are not sure who has jurisdiction, fees are unregulated with lots of loop holes, puntive damages may or may not be awarded. Listening to the corporate lawyers talk it really is a balance about whether it's worth their time and energy. http://www.msfraud.org/...
Please understand that this crises involves thousands of people and businesses that were owned as subsidiaries of these servicers. These mortgages are junked not only because of the high credit risk consumer, but because the worth of the loans were over valued with junk fees. Then these loans were passed on in buyouts that were not worth half of what they were sold for. Then the new owner has to figure out how to get the value out of these loans.
It's really a bigger mess than the media is telling. In the end thousands are losing their homes because of illegal behavior. Please follow my links read the posts. The media is only focusing on the ARM's and the high risk consumers but very little is being said about the eventual reparations that will be required. They must keep it quiet because no one would buy these loans if they knew what has been going on. These companies are fearless. Class action lawsuits fail because they work the law like the Bush administration does. They have HUGE legal teams who work out the loop holes. I have been involved in two that failed on technicalities. I am part of a third one now.
I share my story so that you understand the degree of duplicity the illegality and how all of this fits with the deregulation that Mcsame wants and that Bush reigned over. It was not poor people who caused this crises by not paying their bills as the republicans would have you think. It was not Clinton's plan to have these companies violate federal banking laws. The behaviors they engaged in were illegal and this is what the media and republican hacks want you to believe. Don't believe them. See the complaints with your own eyes.