As 2008 opened wide, predictions were made by seers of all stripes. Britney and Hillary would triumph/implode. Pakistan would stabilize/explode. The housing market would rebound/erode. Predictions re the latter tended to focus on nuts, bolts, and bailouts. As in– Bernanke and Paulson, foreclosures and bankruptcies, and government powered plans to keep prices inflated and mortgage backed securities from turning into Confederate money. A nice slice of subprime borrowers would have their contractual obligations erased, taxpayers would back more subprime oops FHA mortgages, and legislation would Destroy All Mortgage Monsters. Some pundits did tackle the moral rot, gonzo greed, and financial duh underlying the mortgage mess– qualities which stretched from the inner mind of borrowers to the outer limits of large scale investors in subprime securities and funny funds. Free market optimists say that since Wall Street now gets the diff between pork bellies and homes, the excess is over. Real estate visionaries predict an ethical revolution in the industry.
Meanwhile, housing bubble watchers say 2008 will be the year of the mortgage mess lawsuit.
Crowds of aggrieved parties are queuing up. Some have real bones to pick. Such as home-buyers who paid developers big bucks for houses that won’t be built. Or homeowners who made payments that weren’t credited by mortgage servicers. Servicers like to say complainers are deadbeats, looking to hold onto unpaid-for property. But paper trails say some servicers are thieves. Home-owners who can’t afford legal battles with servicers based in other states or countries, lose their property. Flip! Another piece of real estate, back in the game. At least, that’s how the hand used to play. Now that no one wants to be caught holding foreclosures, will servicing abuse go the way of the bidding war?
Countrywide Financial Corp. is among the lenders being sued over alleged mortgage servicing abuse. (Government investigations are also in the hopper.) In mid January, Bank of America announced a plan to buy Countrywide, thereby rescuing it from the rumor of bankruptcy. Whew. Taxpayers dodged a bullet. Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) that enjoy a comfy line of credit from the U.S. Treasury and implicit backing by the federal government, have a whole lot of Countrywide exposure. Inquiring minds want to know: will BofA also acquire Countrywide’s liabilities? Which cover far more than just mortgage servicing. For instance, civil suiters in California claim Countrywide has been–
Predatory!
From sea to shining sea, class action suits are being launched by borrowers who claim they were steered into big bad risky loans. A dubious bone. Not that lenders didn’t hustle adjustable rate mortgages (ARMS) and other highly profitable usurious mortgage products. (Which for some bizarre reason were called “affordable”.) And profit seekers can be predatory. But in most cases, the ugly truth was spelled out in documents signed by borrowers. The print may have been fine, but there it was. Now that sagging values can’t make bad loans good via refi, or by predatory flips to greater fools, will borrowers pack magnifying glasses when hunkering down with folks whose self-interest is as active as their own, but whose financial sophistication is much greater?
Genuine victims of predatory lending do exist. But their numbers aren’t the legion invoked by “non-profit” housing and community groups seeking payouts from mortgage lenders and more power, via government decree, over the real estate market. Many of the bailouts proposed by pols call for non-profits to lend a big hand in mortgage work-outs for borrowers facing foreclosure. The role non-profits have played in many an FHA mortgage fraud is no cause for concern. HUD will weed out the bad apples.
Also big on the suit circuit: banks and investment firms suing mortgage lenders for passing along dodgy loans, and lenders suing mortgage brokers for originating dodgy loans. When the bubble was inflating, few seemed concerned about dodgy. Shareholders are also suing mortgage lenders (including Countrywide Financial) over sinking profits, while disappointed investors are suing banks and investment firms. Some investors claim they weren’t fully informed that securities backed by mortgages dubbed “subprime” were risky. Others say they didn’t even know they were investing in subprime.
In Springfield, Massachusetts, the Springfield Finance Control Board and other officials are riled at Merrill Lynch for making a bum subprime investment with municipal funds. The Control Board was created by the commonwealth of Massachusetts in 2004, to save Springfield from imminent financial collapse. A condition brought on by corruption (the FBI know Springfield like the dead know Brooklyn) and fiscal mismanagement, plus the loss of manufacturing as economic base. Upon submitting to state rule, the city received extensive financial resources, including a $52 million loan. The first payment is due in June, the full amount by 2012. Mayor Domenic Sarno and state Senator Stephen Buoniconti (D-West Springfield) are optimistic an extension will be granted. But just till 2025. Not the year 2525.
In April 2007, Springfield made a short term investment of $13.9 million with Merrill Lynch, in a high yield hedge fund named Centre Square CDO (Collaterized Debt Obligation). A fund based in the Cayman Islands. In August, the investment started tanking. By November, it was worth $1.2 mil. The Finance Control Board and local officials (including former Mayor Charles Ryan and new Mayor Domenic Sarno) claim Merrill didn’t reveal Centre Square was backed by subprime. Merrill says city officials “reviewed, approved, and authorized”* the investment. Merrill hasn’t named the officials yet, but should a lawsuit develop (Springfield has lawyered up) some public servants may have to ’splain why a hedge fund described by Standard and Poors credit research as “a CDO of CDOs backed primarily by investment grade tranches of CDOs” seemed such a sure bet. Particularly in mid 2007.
Merrill Lynch will also be doing some ’splaining. The Massachusetts office of the state attorney general and secretary of state are investigating the Springfield investment. (State law allows municipal funds to be invested in securities, but mortgage backed securities are a no-no. Too risky don’cha know.) Secretary of State William F. Galvin has subpoenaed the Merrill reps who sold Centre Square to Springfield– an assistant vice president of global wealth management, and a wealth management advisor from Merrill’s office in Albany, New York.
In Maryland, the administration of Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon is suing Wells Fargo Bank. Calling it “predatory”. Blaming the bank for burgeoning foreclosures in Baltimore’s black neighborhoods. Wells Fargo has been big in Baltimore since 2004. They sold a lot of high-interest mortgages in black neighborhoods. More than in white ones. Though subprime, most had fixed rates. The attorney representing the city says Wells Fargo should have known the borrowers couldn’t afford to repay. Some even suggest Wells Fargo was setting up borrowers to fail. If so, the city’s schools colluded by not teaching people how to compare their income and assets with the cost of carrying a mortgage.
Baltimore’s foreclosures may have more to do with white collar crime jacked by ubiquitous crap lending than with racism. The city has a history of real estate fraud leading to extensive defaults. In the late 90’s, mortgages backed by taxpayers via the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage insurance program were mined to a fare thee well. Frauds typically involved inflated appraisals on homes sold to first time buyers who couldn’t afford the equally inflated mortgages, and on properties illegally flipped to absentee landlords. The latter collected rent while defaulting– a practice known as equity stripping. The foreclosures and abandoned buildings which followed the frauds made Baltimore’s distressed neighborhoods even more so. In 2000, HUD (the parent agency of the FHA) created the Baltimore City Flipping and Predatory Lending Task Force.
The task force was composed of reps from HUD, the FHA, Fannie Mae, and the Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors. Along with the Baltimore City Housing Administration, assorted elected officials (including the office of U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland) lenders, developers, and local housing and community groups. Various law enforcement and regulatory agencies were on board as well. In October, 2003, Senator Mikulski issued an enthusiastic press release on the success of the task force, saying “Together we are driving the scammers and scum out of Baltimore.” In 2005, the task force disbanded. Could be the scammers and scum didn’t.
Incidentally, the Dixon admin isn’t suing Wells Fargo for borrower relief. The city wants compensation for projected harm caused by the loss of projected property tax revenues, plus the projected cost of maintaining stripped and flipped nabes. Other afflicted cities are watching the case avidly.
In Ohio, Mayor Frank Jackson of Cleveland isn’t suing just one measly predator. Jackson is targeting 21 investment banks and lenders! His hit list includes Bank of America, Countrywide Financial, Deutsche Bank, Bear Stearns, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, IndyMac Bancorp, J.P. Morgan, and a host of eminent others. Deutsche Bank has the most mortgage mess: 4,750 foreclosures in the last four years. Mayor Jackson is putting a new spin on the suit game. Claiming banks and lenders in Cleveland created a massive public nuisance by doing the housing bubble do. As in, churning out foreclosure prone loans in order to fill tranches of profitable CDO.
Oh– did you hear the latest? Everyone, from the lowliest borrower to the largest investor, is joining a class action suit against God. In 2007, astronomers spotted a hitherto unseen planet circling a red dwarf star named Gliese 581. Apparently this planet can support human life. Folks are really pissed. The Big Guy wasn’t supposed to be making any more land…
Carola Von Hoffmannstahl-Solomonoff
Mondo QT
*“Merrill Lynch defends move,” Peter Goonan, The Republican, 12/30/07
Sources include but are not limited to:
“Merrill Lynch agents called,” Peter Goonan and Dan Ring, The Republican, 01/15/08
“Cleveland’s lawsuit against investment banks may prompt other cities to pursue action,” Henry J. Gomez, The Plain Dealer, 01/13/08
“Bank of America Buys Countrywide (Along With Its Lawsuits?)” Peter Lattman, Law Blog, wsj.com, 01/11/08
“Baltimore Sues Wells Fargo for Subprimes,” Ben Nuckles, Associated Press, 01/08/08
“Lawsuit by city targets lender,” John Fritze, Baltimore Sun, 01/08/08
“Springfield seeks loan extension,” Peter Goonan, The Republican, 01/03/08
“Astrobiology Top 10: Astronomers find Habitable Earth-Like Planet,” 01/02/08 www.astrobio.net
Finance Control Board, City of Springfield Massachusetts, Management’s Discussion and Analysis, 2006
Baltimore City Flipping and Predatory Lending Task Force, 2005 Final Report, Community Law Center, www.communitylaw.org
“New Information Shows Property Flipping in Baltimore Down 59% Since Last Year,” News From U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski, 10/09/03
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20 users commented in " The Mortgage Mess Lawsuit: Countrywide and Miles High "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackThe drunken orgy is over folks. It’s now time to deal with the hangover, pick up the dead bodies, take out the tons and tons of trash, deal with the unexpected babies, explain to your Mother what happened, make up lies to cover the embarrassment, pay the fines for the disorderly conduct, and pay the cater.
All parties end sometime. This will just end more badly then several generations have ever experienced.
It’s going to take years folks. All this because group think set in and greed took over. But we will have this party again someday, most likely in 7 generations from now when the pain final fades….
Did It Fall, Or Was It Pushed?
So, America woke this morning to the bad news about the market dropping three hundred points yesterday. But you didn’t. You are an investor. You took that troubling news right to bed with you last night. You tossed and turned. You turned on CNN, CNBC, Fox News…you got online and checked your portfolio again, just to be sure.
We all know who the losers are when Wall Street has a bad day. But who are the winners? You know what I am going to say next, don’t you? You know it intuitively, instinctively. The winners are those who knew where the market was going, the ones who shoved it that direction because…well, because they can, and because they were positioned short in all the right places. So, while you languish over losses and worry whether to sell or hold, they line their pockets and count down the days until their billionaire benefactors pay them another fat bonus.
Reminds me of a joke. Seems this investor is at his favorite bar after another brutal day on Wall Street, tossing back a brew and watching the evening news. On the TV, there is a guy standing on a window ledge 10 stories up, threatening to jump. The police and firemen are there, trying to talk him off the ledge. His girlfriend is on the ground, watching and crying hysterically. Another fellow at the bar says to our investor, “Bet you ten bucks he jumps.”
Investor says, “You’re on!”
As soon as they shake on it, the fellow on TV jumps to his death. The investor sighs, figures it matches the way the rest of his day has gone, and fishes out the ten dollars, handing it over. But the other fellow waves it off, saying, “Naw, man. I can’t take your money. I cheated. I saw this same news report on the 6 o’clock news. I knew he’d jump.”
Investor insists, “No. Take the money. I saw that report, too. I just didn’t think the damn fool would do it again!”
That is the way it is, my friend. The difference between what you see happening in the market and what the insiders see is night and day. They have hedged their bet. They know the fellow will jump. Heck! They pushed him. And when he crashes to the cold, hard earth below, they will cash in and have another cold beer.
I think it is time we started pushing back. Don’t you?
That’s the Word on the Street.
Veracity Jones
http://www.basherbusters.com
All of this mortgage mess is the end result of the Bush Administration’s lack of regulation and enforcement of these banks, mortgage lenders and mortgage servicers.
I might add that many of the states are also at fault because they also, jumped on the band waggon not enforcing their state and local laws against these criminals.
I WAS FINANCED WITH COUNTRYWIDE AND DUE TO HURRICANE RITA THEY HAD DEFERRED MY PAYMENTS, WELL TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT THEY WANTED ME TO PAY A BIG LUMP SUM AND OF COURSE I COULD NOT, SO I HAD TO SELL MY HOME AFTER 10 YEARS. I HAD READ WHERE THERE WAS A LAW SUIT GOING ON AGAINST COUNTRYWIDE AND AM TRYING TO FIN INFO ON IT. IF THERE IS ANY WAY YOU CAN HELP ME OUT PLEASE LET ME KNOW
THANK YOU,
SUSAN PURSLEY
where are you finding the information on the class action lawsuits for the people who were tricked into the arms? I am unable to find information about them?
I was tricked into making a lump some payment to “save” my property from being forclosed and come to find out, none of my payments that I had been paying for about a year were ever credited to our account….according to the 3 credit bureaus agencies, NO payments have been made for a year!….Just last month the the western union office sent us a letter stating that our quick collect payment that was sent to Countrywide was declined….NO ONE at country wide knows what is going on…and the people that we talked to before to make these arrangements to save our home are no longer in that department or simply don’t work there anymore…
Who is handling the class action lawsuit?
I’m in Tamarac, Florida.
Thanks
Luis Carabali
Fed is in the process to Bail out the Mortgage industry & the banks, whoever else can afford a lobbyer on the Capital Hill working on their side, not the Home Owners. This is Discrimination. Meanwhile Homeowners have to lose their houses, because the banks would not negotiate with them directly. These are the same Banks that are involve in trying to get another %14 on these high risk loans, which they had no business in writting them to begin with. On top of the %8 to %13 they are getting from the Home Owner. So the banks are forcing the Home Owner to fund their illegal fraudulant activities. So as home Owners we have to pull together and Sue the Fed for Discrmination. Banks for Fraud. Both lawsuites are class action. We need to set up a resource directory of pulling our resources. This is when the true spirit of being Americans would come together.
It’s a shame. “Creative Financing” has caused this mess. i am a victim of such. “helping families own homes in good faith” What’s that? Its away to SELL homes nothing more. Making the imposible - posible. Fraud is the only way. Since when is lying leagal? Being a high risk your mortgage is sold again and again. The home owner and the the last lender looses. This should be a crime. Is it?
I am currently w Countrywide//////was thinking about refinancing w another company /////I show no record of my pytms from april 2007 to Dec 2007.. I have an ARm//which really was not explained to me. I would like to get more info about this lawsuit and join it. I do not want to lose my home.//If anyone has anyinfo about the lawsuit please please send it to me @ aparition2000@yahoo.com
We went to the closing extecting a 30 yr fixed and the paper work said 30 yr fixed 7 yr arm . We told them that it wANT WHAT WE ASKWD FOR . THE TITLE CO SAID THE PAPERWRK WAS SENT THAT WAY AND IF WE WANTED TO CHANGE THE PAPERWRK WE COULD BUT IT WOULD TAKE 2 WEEKS AND AND THERE WAS NO GAURNTEE THE RATE WOULD BE THE SAME THEN PROCEEDED TO RATONALIZE KEEPING IT OF COURSE WE SIGNED , UNTIL NOW I DIDNT THINK WE COULD POSIBLY CHANGE THINGS BUT MAYBE ? (aLSO AFTER COMPALINING .tALKING TO PEOPLE IN REALESTATE THEY SHOULD HAVE JUST REORDRED PAPERWORK FOR THE CORRECT TERMS SND THE SAME RATE SO ANY NEW BUYERS KEEP THAT IN MIND
TO: Carmello Piscopo Keener
919 Market Street
Suite 1401, P.O. Box 1070
Wilmington, DE 19899-1070
302-656-4433
302-658-7567 (Fax)
Date: 06/05/2008
SUBJECT:Foreclosure Suite - Countrywide - from article reported in the Tampa Tribune on A COMPANION BLOG TO THE HOME EQUITY THEFT REPORTER, AT, HTTP://HOMEEQUITYTHEFT.BLOGSPOT.COM.
We are in foreclosure by Countrywide. It appears from the limited report referenced above that the same treatment by Countrywide pertains to our case, too. We wondered if the case you are dealing with descibed as: “the estate of a Florida woman and accused of charging borrowers improper foreclosure fees: Gregory O’Gara, who sued as executor of the estate of Tamara Portnick,”
We would like to join your effort. Same companies, same charges, same cheating. Can we talk, please? Urgently?
Chris Morton
chris.morton@comcast.net
cheri.morton@comcast.net
561-685-8158
Yes
I have a home refi from Countrywide… My wife had a 780 credit score, they gave us a jumbo option arm, the closing officer said she had never seen anything like it. Not only do I now believe the appraisal was suspect, but they charged 18,000.00 in fees for a 200,000.00 loan. I’ve since learned alot about mortgages the hard way,now I just wonder where we will live once they come to take our home. We just had our first baby and now we have to start over, I mean nobody said negative amoritization until we saw the third statement. We though our P&I was 1300.00 it ended up being well over 2000.00 now it’s 2600.00 just to pay towards the principle. I hate Countrywide.
Hi,
i don’t know what to do with countrywide ???…they are abusive. There is a company called Allied Interstate calling my home at all hours…
Is this normall??
is there someone that I can talk to prevent this from accuring??
Thanks
Louis Carrabali
Hi Louis,
Please call me. I have a letter that you can give Allied Interstate so they will stop calling you…..or any creditor for that matter. I feel your pain…….I hate Countrywide.
Thanks,
Misty Gillam
239-410-9890
I want to know how can I get in that law suit or where can I get information please let me know.
Sorry it isn’t just countrywide there are many out there that have done the same. I am also looking for a law suit or anything anyone can give out for Status Home Loans a broker that scamed me with predatory lending and used world savings which is now wachova. I have filed formal complaints and am now looking for more information figured blog good place to start. I feel your pain, and thought I was pretty street wise till this.
Country Wide Home Loans,
Credit Dept.
Customer Service
Impound Dept.
December 18, Regarding; account # Turlock, CA
To Whom It May Concern:
I’m writing to confirm my recent phone conversations with Country Wide representatives and document the timeline of events as well as the moneys owed to me.
As a result of this, you have sent me late notices, charged late fees, sent the loan into default and foreclosure, and sent my credit rating into the tank.
My credit was impeccable prior to dealing with you and, You need to fix it all by January 1, 2008.
*Nov. 2006 paid $1207.60
-This loan was sold to you and my payment was to be $1207.60 until December 2007
*Dec. 2006 paid $1207.60
-received increase of payment and called to advise that you had the wrong property tax info and gave it to CW representative. (Charging $2500 too much per year) and that the ho insurance was over $300 too high.
*Jan. 2007 paid $1207.60
-I called about the pre-authorized payment plan and reminded CW that my payment with the original loan was set up to be paid on the 15th of each month and was told it is not an option with CW and they would not honor any previous lender’s agreement for this.
*Feb. 2007 paid $1207.60
-I called when I received the Feb. 22 mortgage expense record showing the property taxes were still at $5500 and the insurance premiums were increased by over $300. Talked to a rep and then the manager named Winston or Winslow about these two items and that the payment rose to $1284.80, he said it was all in order and that it again was the type of loan I had. I notified him that I was not able to continue paying the higher payment and would like to meet with a CW rep. to discuss my options asap. He explained that I would need to do that over the phone and would have someone contact me to begin.
*Mar. 2007 paid $1500 (just to be safe until you work out the payment problem)
-you sent me 2 bills in Feb. both due on March 1 and with different $ amounts. And both higher than my contract amount of $1207.60, I called and did not record who I spoke with but told them the story and was told it would be fixed. Just to be safe I paid $1500
On March 22 I received notice that I was short on the payment and I was being assessed late fees back to Feb. I again informed them I was being overcharged and was told the loan type I have is the issue.
On March 29th I received your letter acknowledging receipt of my inquiry regarding my monthly mortgage payment and my concerns about the impound account. In the letter you said you took the larger amount of min. payment and the $215.20 extra was applied to principal. NOT AT ALL WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT, and you also said the next monthly mortgage statement would reflect the posting. IT DID NOT.
*Apr. 2007 paid $1500 (again, just to be safe hoping you’d work out the problem)
You once again paid the wrong tax bill and once again over charged me the min. payment and charged late fees for being delinquent.
April 26th received an email saying that additional funds were posted to my principal and were not, also charged me the higher payment so it still looks like I’m late.
*May 2007 paid $1284.80
My payment should be $1207.60 but I sent the requested higher payment and wrote on the stub that I am paying it under protest. Nobody really cares though.
May 14th received letter of Escrow Account Review still showing higher impound amounts and increasing the min. payment now to $1562.24 effective July 2007. I called and was told my insurance was much higher and that they had just paid it and for me to fax the insurance and tax quotes to office in Simi Valley for proof, so I did.
May 15th received payment statement with the original payment due of $1207.60 and I thought we had fixed it all except where did my monthly over payments go?
*June 2007 paid $1500,
Even thought the bill was for $1207.60 and was still charged a late fee and you posted a higher min. payment and still did not credit the principal
Also still had the higher impound amounts.
*July 2007 paid $1700
This bill the min. went to over $1600 and I’m 6 months into the loan.
You also paid another insurance premium to an insurance co. American Family Ins. Co. of $1581. And it happens to be what you have been using for my impound amounts to I start wondering, did you already pay them in Dec.? Even if you did not, you show that you paid my ins. Co. the same amount and IT’S TOO HIGH. I am not going to try to get it back from them, you do it.
About now is when I start getting Country Wide letters, (2 per week) saying they would be glad to offer me another loan.
*Aug. 2007 paid $1700
Again, I paid more because, until you get this worked out, I don’t want to risk my credit getting affected. Again the payment went up to over $1600 and still no action on changing the impound amounts. Also received 2 statements again with different payment amounts making me think you are showing me late or under paying.
*Sept. 2007 paid $1207.60 (mostly because I’m mad now)
I received your letter called “Payment Adjustment Notice” saying effective Nov. 1 my minimum payment will be $829.82, you guys are crazy.
Then Diane Donavan with my insurance Co. “Allied” called and sent me a letter saying my policy will expire Oct. 15th if they are not paid, she spoke with Jennifer at CW and she needed me to call her to clear it up at 817-230-6495. Allied said you told her the ins. got paid to another company again. I called Jennifer and she was not in, I talked with Amanda and she transferred me to her Manager the same Winston or Winslow? He said he paid my ins. To American Fam. And that I must have 2 policies on the home. I gave him the entire story and he paid my policy that day and back dated the check for the correct amount of $1224,,,,,FINALY. He was supposed to have my impound account credited back for any payments make to other companies in error for over $1500 and fix all the prior stuff as well as the payments. Also I received a statement showing past due amount of $1562.24????
*Oct. 2007 paid $1700 (to try to keep the principal down)
NO ADDITIONAL PRINCIPAL EVER SHOWED UP ON MY STATEMENTS, you need to fix that by sending me cash.
Received a statement with additional past due amounts of $1562.24 and that a partial payment balance of $21.96 was due???? You guys are Killing me.
It was at this time on Oct. 13th I received a call from a guy who said he was with Country Wide “customer service” regarding “straightening out my account for me” only to find out he just wanted to refinance and charge me the prepayment penalty of $7000 and his name is Justin at 866-645-5293 X5383, You guys have no shame, How do you sleep at night?
I got another one of the same from Alex Anderson at 818-456-1430 and I faxed him at 818-456-1207 all of the prior tax, ins. and payment info with the promise he was going to straighten the whole thing out. Only to find, while he is a Country wide rep. he just wanted to sell me another loan.
*Nov. 2007 paid $1207.60
November 16th received your letter of Notice of Default and Acceleration, total due $3,160.41 to be paid on or before Dec. 16th. I’m very scared at this point and decide to try and sell the home. As soon as I list the house, the renter moves out leaving me without income. All because of your inability to correctly manage my loan.
More phone calls to CW resulted in finding that another property in Minnesota has my account # and the same street address, and you have paid the Minnesota property fees out of my impound account since January of 2006. sending my loan into late fees every month since.
November 26th I received a Foreclosure notice and was to pay over $4000 by December 1st. YOU GUYS ARE NUTS And you notified the Credit bureaus and I have seriously been affected by this. My Credit Now Sucks because of this fiasco.
November 28th I met with my original lender and he got on the phone with CW on my behalf. We went through all the channels for 2 hours, and spoke with Shantisha in customer service about the foreclosure letter, then with Nicole at 800-374-0008 X8406 she spoke with her supervisor John Harris and said the late fees will be reversed, and not to worry about the Nov. 30th payment or the foreclosure letter or the default and she transferred us to Jackie in Impounds, she got American Fam. Ins. Co on the phone in Minnisota and found that their client has the same street address as me and also has the same CW account number somehow. Jackie was able to transfer us to her supervisor, Javon who was able to make the adjustments to my property taxes ($3233.14 PER YEAR, NOT $5600) and to the insurance ($1224 PER YEAR, NOT $1581 EVERY 6 MONTHS) and said she would follow with confirmation and a detailed account of what happened and where we are so I can understand it. (VERY IMPORTANT TO ME). She also was to send me and all the credit bureaus a letter retracting all of the bad information and correcting my credit to better than it was before.
Also she said Jackie would follow up with a phone call later today.;
Late on Nov. 28th, Jackie with CW called me back and said my Dec. 1st payment is lowered to $1150.05, that no other moneys are due, that all late fees, ever, will be credited back to my account, that $1581 was deposited back to my impound account today from the wrong ins. Company in Minnesota, that I would receive confirmation of all of this and that my 2008 monthly payment will be and stay at $1207.60 all year, and that my over payments will be accounted for in the confirmation letter.
*Dec. 2007 paid $1150.05
On Nov. 28th I received a new statement and bill and Just like Jackie said, it had all of the correct impound amounts and my new payment was $1150.05 Thank you Jackie.
Dec. 5th I received a “Significant Payment Increase Alert” estimated to be #2065.98, what the hell am I supposed to do with that? It also says my current payment is $1236.16??
Dec. 7th I receive the Jan. 1st bill with a late charge from Nov., YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING. The payment however is correct at $1207.94 just like Jackie said it would and the impound amounts are good too.
But as of today, I have not seen any confirmation letters regarding my credit, or an account of the moneys that have been flying back and forth this year.
As you can see, this is not the first time I brought this to your attention and I am tired of being ignored and told that “all is as it should be”, or told that “everything will be worked out”, only to receive another letter telling me that my payment is going to double next month and full of inaccurate information.
This is what I want done;
1-I need a letter from you explaining my credit has been cleared up
2-I owed you 14 months of payments at $1207.60 totaling $16,906.40 and I paid you a total of $19,280.45, You owe me a check for $2,374.05 By January 1, 2008, with interest.
3-My principal amount is surely not correct and needs to lowered anyway for my inconvenience to a total balance owed of $180,000.
4-You need to freeze immediately all interest and monthly payments until we get this worked out AND, the home is rented again or sold.
5-I need an account of all impound account money, in and out and cut me a check for any overpayments.
6-If I decide to stay with the loan, I need it fixed at %5.8 and I’ll pay $1207.60 per month, you figure out the length.
Steven Woodhouse
Phone 209-570-4226
How do I join the Countrywide class action suit? They have screwed up my financial situation for a year now. Now I have to put my house on the market, and just pray I can sell it for what I owe them…and quickly! I tried many times to either re-finance or get them to lower the interst rate, but they told me that “I don’t make enough money to even own the house.” Funny, they didn’t say that when I bought my house 4 years ago. They were like lions, licking their chops, waiting for me to sign my life away on the dotted line!
Please! I need information to sue them! Thank you!
MY BROTHER HAS COUNTRYWIDE WAS NOT PAYING ENOUGH ON PROPRERTY TAXES THEN WE FOUND WE COULD LOSE HOUSE SO WE CALLED THEM AND WE DECIDED TO PAY BACK TAXES OURSELVES CHEAPER THEY WOULD ADJUST HOUSE PAYMENT IN SEPT TO REFLECT NEW TAX AMOUNT HAS ALSO HOME EQUILTY LOOKS LIKE THEY ARE TAKING MONEY FROM HOME EQUITY TO PAY ON TAXES IN ESCROW ACCOUT RAISED HOME EQULITY PAYMENT VERY CONFUSED NEED HELP WHERE IS CLASS ACTION LAWSUITS FOR STUFF LIKE THIS PLEASE EMAIL THANKS
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