To: Governor Gavin Newsom and The United States Senate
Bank of America Review
Force Bank of America to get an independent review that they are complying with the law before they can foreclose on any more properties.
Why is this important?
Unlawful foreclosure practices continue by Bank of America. Here is my personal experience.
11/2008 I contacted BofA and asked to modify my mortgage as my home was extremely underwater being in one of the hardest hit areas of the country in terms of housing values. BofA said that they would but could not until I stopped making three consecutive payments as my loan was current. I complied.
02/2009 BofA modifies my mortgage. Constant and continual communication, numerous exchange of paperwork, subsequent approval and notarized signing of final documents including payment schedule to be recorded.
03/2009 BofA contacts me and informs me that they have received the final docs and the loan is being recorded. Diligently they explain to me that although the loan is a “done deal,” (their quote) it can take up to six months before I receive my first updated statement and that it is imperative that I begin making my payments as instructed regardless. I complied.
06/2009 BofA contacts me and asks me if I would be willing to apply for a modification on my mortgage since it is six months past due. I inform them that I just modified it and have been making payments as instructed even though I had not received my first statement to date. They informed me they do not see a modification nor any payments and asked how I paid. I informed them that I paid my payments online through BofA bill pay. I said that I would check to see if BofA had cashed the payments and would get back to them as they stated they did not have the ability to check themselves as it was another department. I confirmed that BofA did receive and cash payments and subsequently informed them of such. Again they informed me that they could not find any modification nor payments but that they would get back to me. They instructed me not to make any more payments until they could locate where the payments where as the address they were going to was correct but they could not find the modification nor payments.
06/2009-04/2010 No one from BofA ever contacts me regarding the status of my payments nor modification. I “do” however continue to receive numerous harassing phone calls regarding the status of my supposed delinquent mortgage from representatives who know nothing of the current situation.
04/11/2010 By this time never receiving an updated loan statement nor any correspondence as promised regarding current modification and payments I contacted an attorney. Per his advice I sent BofA a letter demanding that they refund my payments in order to get some sort of attention and response on the matter.
05/26/2010 After no correspondence to my letter for almost two months I finally received a phone call from Reshonda who introduced herself as a BofA supervisor, employee id 2467. I took copious notes during the conversation. Reshonda stated that they had found my modification and found my payments. She stated that, “BofA did not request from me updated income information at closing as the investor requested so the modification was cancelled and the opportunity to participate in that modification program has expired.” She profusely stated that it was BofA’s fault and apologized. She further went on to explain to me that BofA could of remedied the situation by pooling the loan in another modification program called the, “Affordable Home Loan Program,” had they of found the modification earlier. She then stated that unfortunately I had been told previously by a BofA representative to ignore the calls to apply for this program since I had already completed a modification and therefore lost the opportunity. Further, she stated that my payments on my new modification had been mistakenly applied to my previous mortgage and therefore she was unable to refund them. I informed her that it was my legal understanding that upon signing final loan documents for the modification I was released from any financial obligations of my previous mortgage. She stated that was true and asked me if I would be willing to apply for another modification. I told her I did not think I would be approved due to a change in circumstances and shared some of those with her to which she replied, “No, you would not get approved.” I told her that I appreciated her candor and acknowledgement that this was BofA’s fault but that I am concerned that I am not hearing any type of resolution and would contact an atty for advice which I did. My attorney advised me that the ball is in BofA’s court and that I should give them time to get back to me with some sort of resolution to the matter but should I receive notice of foreclosure we would take the matter to court.
07/2012 I received several advertisements in the mail from businesses that wanted to help me try to avoid foreclosure since my home was scheduled to be auctioned. After researching and verifying the auction date I contacted my attorney. I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the state of California that I “never” received the legal notice required by California law that my home was scheduled to be auctioned off. In addition to my efforts in court I have contacted the California state attorney generals office and am keeping them up to date on this matter. They informed me that Recon Trust, the company foreclosing on my property, is a wholly owned subsidiary of BofA and constantly violating numerous requirements of the California legal foreclosure process. They also advised me to seek out numerous media outlets that would be interested in reporting on this matter which I am currently in the process of doing.
11/2008 I contacted BofA and asked to modify my mortgage as my home was extremely underwater being in one of the hardest hit areas of the country in terms of housing values. BofA said that they would but could not until I stopped making three consecutive payments as my loan was current. I complied.
02/2009 BofA modifies my mortgage. Constant and continual communication, numerous exchange of paperwork, subsequent approval and notarized signing of final documents including payment schedule to be recorded.
03/2009 BofA contacts me and informs me that they have received the final docs and the loan is being recorded. Diligently they explain to me that although the loan is a “done deal,” (their quote) it can take up to six months before I receive my first updated statement and that it is imperative that I begin making my payments as instructed regardless. I complied.
06/2009 BofA contacts me and asks me if I would be willing to apply for a modification on my mortgage since it is six months past due. I inform them that I just modified it and have been making payments as instructed even though I had not received my first statement to date. They informed me they do not see a modification nor any payments and asked how I paid. I informed them that I paid my payments online through BofA bill pay. I said that I would check to see if BofA had cashed the payments and would get back to them as they stated they did not have the ability to check themselves as it was another department. I confirmed that BofA did receive and cash payments and subsequently informed them of such. Again they informed me that they could not find any modification nor payments but that they would get back to me. They instructed me not to make any more payments until they could locate where the payments where as the address they were going to was correct but they could not find the modification nor payments.
06/2009-04/2010 No one from BofA ever contacts me regarding the status of my payments nor modification. I “do” however continue to receive numerous harassing phone calls regarding the status of my supposed delinquent mortgage from representatives who know nothing of the current situation.
04/11/2010 By this time never receiving an updated loan statement nor any correspondence as promised regarding current modification and payments I contacted an attorney. Per his advice I sent BofA a letter demanding that they refund my payments in order to get some sort of attention and response on the matter.
05/26/2010 After no correspondence to my letter for almost two months I finally received a phone call from Reshonda who introduced herself as a BofA supervisor, employee id 2467. I took copious notes during the conversation. Reshonda stated that they had found my modification and found my payments. She stated that, “BofA did not request from me updated income information at closing as the investor requested so the modification was cancelled and the opportunity to participate in that modification program has expired.” She profusely stated that it was BofA’s fault and apologized. She further went on to explain to me that BofA could of remedied the situation by pooling the loan in another modification program called the, “Affordable Home Loan Program,” had they of found the modification earlier. She then stated that unfortunately I had been told previously by a BofA representative to ignore the calls to apply for this program since I had already completed a modification and therefore lost the opportunity. Further, she stated that my payments on my new modification had been mistakenly applied to my previous mortgage and therefore she was unable to refund them. I informed her that it was my legal understanding that upon signing final loan documents for the modification I was released from any financial obligations of my previous mortgage. She stated that was true and asked me if I would be willing to apply for another modification. I told her I did not think I would be approved due to a change in circumstances and shared some of those with her to which she replied, “No, you would not get approved.” I told her that I appreciated her candor and acknowledgement that this was BofA’s fault but that I am concerned that I am not hearing any type of resolution and would contact an atty for advice which I did. My attorney advised me that the ball is in BofA’s court and that I should give them time to get back to me with some sort of resolution to the matter but should I receive notice of foreclosure we would take the matter to court.
07/2012 I received several advertisements in the mail from businesses that wanted to help me try to avoid foreclosure since my home was scheduled to be auctioned. After researching and verifying the auction date I contacted my attorney. I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the state of California that I “never” received the legal notice required by California law that my home was scheduled to be auctioned off. In addition to my efforts in court I have contacted the California state attorney generals office and am keeping them up to date on this matter. They informed me that Recon Trust, the company foreclosing on my property, is a wholly owned subsidiary of BofA and constantly violating numerous requirements of the California legal foreclosure process. They also advised me to seek out numerous media outlets that would be interested in reporting on this matter which I am currently in the process of doing.