Few borrowers seek foreclosure reviews
Only 4% of the more than 4 million eligible homeowners have asked to have their foreclosure cases reviewed. Some say the letter is confusing, but others believe homeowners are cynical.
Nearly six months after 4.1 million homeowners were offered independent reviews of their foreclosure cases, only about 165,000, about 4%, have accepted the offer.
The reviews were part of a deal made last year involving 14 loan servicers and the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Office of Thrift Supervision and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in the wake of the robo-signing scandal. If a review finds that a homeowner suffered financially because of improper foreclosure practices, the homeowner could receive compensation ranging from several hundred to thousands of dollars.
Why haven't more borrowers sought reviews? Suggestions range from the form of the letters sent by federal banking regulators offering the reviews to misunderstanding to homeowner cynicism, since the reviewers are hired by the banks.
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"They are really jaded by what's going on," lawyer Tiffany Norman told The San Francisco Chronicle. "Most of the people were trying to get a loan modification for a couple years; they turned in the same documents over and over. They don't really think the courts or the banks are going to do anything to help them, even though they say it's independent."
The reviews are free, but borrowers have to submit a five-page form to get one. The original deadline of April 30 has been extended to July 31, and regulators are planning another mailing to eligible homeowners in June.
To qualify for the foreclosure review, the homeowners must have had a primary residence in the foreclosure process between Jan. 1, 2009, and Dec. 31, 2010. In addition, the loan would have to have been serviced by one of the 14 servicers that were part of the settlement, which include Bank of America, Chase, Citibank, GMAC Mortgage, Wells Fargo and most other major servicers. More details are at the Independent Foreclosure Review site.
One of those who didn't bother to request a review was Pamela Hall of San Leandro, Calif., who has been trying to get a loan modification for 2 1/2 years. "I figured, why waste my time?" she told The Chronicle. "Filling out paperwork hasn't worked so far."
| Tags: | foreclosuresloans |
Really...the paperwork and the b.s. from the banks were what propelled me to sell my house. Nobody at the bank really tried very hard to assist me. I even used a Loan Modification Group sanctioned by the state of NJ to assist me with the process..nothing. Big fat 0. I sent the same paperwork over and over to CHASE BANK. Again, nothing but a bunch of clueless, butt munching, mindless ****s who could care less. That was back in 08 when I knew I better try to do the responsible thing and work things out with my bank (the one that bought my mortgage). Well, what goes around comes around my friends...
Over 2 years ago, I did go bankrupt with my mortgate. I jumped through all of the bankruptcy hoops, and hired an attorney who was paid in full. My mortgage was with BOA. My bankruptcy (Chapter 7) was released by the Federal Bankruptcy court in Feb. of 2010, I am still receiving phone calls, nasty letters and threats of judgements my BOA, through their collection agency called ReContrust.
Calls to attorney have done no good. Calls to the bank have told me that they have no record of my bankruptcy. When calling the bankruptcy dept.. of BOA, I am told that they know that I have been released from my bankruptcy. however, these calls, letters etc., are just to let me know the status, that as far as I am concerned is no longer my house, is just to let me know the status of the situation. GO FIGURE. BOA forclosed on homes that they should not have, and will not leave the people that took every legal precaution alone. To say that I am frustated is an understatement.
THE BANKS ARE CROOKS AND THEY HAVE BEEN PAID. THE HOUSE IS WORTH 400K BOUGHT IT FOR 600K AND BANK FEES AND LOAN UP TO 900K TO PAY BACK ..........WHAT THE HELL IS THIS ....NOT TO TALK ABOUT ALL THE LENDERS OUT THEIR THAT ARE FRAUDULENT CALLING AND SENDING PAPERS TO TRY AND FORCE YOU INTO A LOAN DEAL ...I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE THE LOAN I LOCATED ANYMORE.... TO PAY IT...
the Banks have had their day now give the American people their day......Close the loans and zzero out the balances send the deeds to the owner.......
They are just adding on nterest and late payment to drive up the loan ad thepay back
This is wrong the have asked that we pay taxes to help them wih he loans we did now they want to keep the houses and plus charge more interest ....WHAT IS THIS A 60K HOME IS NOW IN BACKUP TO 900 AND THE WANT YOU TO PAY IT AT 2% ...WELL TAKE THE TAX MONEY AND PAY IT
BECAUSE i AM NOT A LAWYER, ANYTHING i SAY HERE IS NOT TO BE TAKEN AS LEGAL ADVICE.
One big reason why people are not jumping at the offer to have their loan reviewed is, that they would be acknowledging that the bank/servicer is the lender in due course when in fact in the majority of cases they are not the actual lender AND HAVE NO RIGHT TO BRING A FORECLOSURE LAW SUIT.
Another reason why a loan modification is not the route to take is... If by some remote chance, and I mean very remote chance it is approved, the bank would be requiring you to complete new loan documents which would automatically supercede and delete all of your old loan (original) documents, which may, and in most cases will contain violations by the lender, which if contested by the homeowner would more often than not get their foreclosure case dismissed by the court.
Here is a point to ponder... Why would the banks be interested in entertaining a loan modification with someone they already know that can't pay? Why would they even go to the trouble of approving a loan modification with someone who already has a bad credit rating which the bank helped create through their foreclosure action or other credit rating flaws?
Even if they approved a loan modification the amout of reduction in your monthly payments would be so insignificant that you would end up going back into foreclosure again. Only this time when the borrower goes into foreclosure he would have to fight against CLEAN loan documents which guarrantee that he will lose his case.
I will answer my own questions for you, its for the reasons I mentioned above, it is so that they can effectively eliminate FLAWED and FRAUDULENT original loan documents that the homeowner has against them if they chose to contest the banks foreclosure process.
Some of the more informed home owners are filing motions to dismiss and then letting the law firm for the lender set an appearance date which more often than not takes months for them to do. If the lenders law firm does not set an appearance date they run the risk of the foreclosure being dismissed under the courts own motion for lack of prosecution.
Some homeowners are even declaring bankruptcy and filing their home as an unsecured asset. When they do that, the lender has to contest your claim and prove to the bankruptcy court that your home is a secured asset. They won't want to do that because they already know that they have flawed loan documents as well as not even having the right to foreclose in the first place because they don't actually own your loan. BELIEVE IT OR NOT, FOR THOSE HOMEOWNERS WHO CHOOSE TO FIGHT, THEY WILL FIND THAT THEY ARE IN THE DRIVERS SEAT.
Thought I would be surprised reading these stories and I Figured MY story was new and different. Ya know what my story is not new and different and i wasn't surprised by anyone else's story.....SOS..............It is going to keep on being the SOS until people get really tired of it and do something..............I for one am really tired of being screwed by the banks and the government and the used car sales man(why not throw him in)
Look on the internet for different stories you would be surprised what they do if a home goes or is close to going into foreclosure and the fine print Damn!. Look up somone named Katakis(sp) look what he did along with B of A and he is still doing it. If I did what he is doing I would be shot and I do believe he is just a B of A flunky. He is being indicted or going to trial but he'll probably get off
The idea there is help for foreclosed people is false. The banks are NOT interested in helping, only giving people the runaround. The government has set the tone for this ridiculousness and really doesn't monitor any of the mazes the banks set for their victims.
Stop giving press to this monkey business. It only gives people false hope.
If you're foreclosed, your best bet is to go bankrupt and put the screws back to the banks.
We tried to modify a loan on our home and the bank would NOT, Because we were not behind in our mortgage yet. So this is BS that they will reveiw or modify a loan, THEY WILL NOT DO IT. They told us we will have to go into forclosure first and then they may do something. They did nothing for us. They wanted the property back to resell it. A loan we payed on for 15 years, 20% down and all. Loss of work sucks...So do the banks that got all the injection money (BILLIONS) and did nothing for us but screw us.....
The problem is we need everyone who was wronged by banking tactics to come forth and sue the sh-t out of them .................all of them. I am suing Bof A but unfortunately for me they are a lot bigger than just I am and I am losing this battle...........
Judges don't want to buck them!
They have more money than god so when they get fined they sit back and laugh. They lie(what a surprise).............
They make up the rules as they go along
They skirt the laws. Their truly are 2 sets of laws, one for them and one for us and that why us 'lil people' scratch our heads when a judge throws something out if B oif A did it but if you did it he throws you in jail
Anyone want to get a class action going , look me up! seriously
About Teresa Mears
Teresa Mears is a veteran journalist who has been interested in houses since her father took her to tax auctions to carry the cash at age 10. A former editor of The Miami Herald's Home & Design section, she lives in South Florida where, in addition to writing about real estate, she publishes Miami on the Cheap to help her neighbors adjust to the loss of 60% of their property value.
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