For the record, you should know that BOA constantly plays games and the reason they do that is this :
In many cases they don't know who your investor is. They do whatever they can to screw up your loan, then tell you that it's your fault all the while your are getting later and later with your payment. Then they drop the bomb.
If you live in a judicial state you have hope. But if not, you have problems. We had gone through two completed "trial periods". They felt although we finished the one and complied with all of the rules, that they could do us better and started us over on an even lower payment and we completed that "trial period". All the while, please keep in mind that we were not behind on the mortgage originally. They called us and offered us this modification because they knew we were barely making the payments because my husband was laid off. After we finished the second trial period , we received a letter to that affect and that we would be receiving our documents to finalize the modification. Months later after calling them weekly, we get a letter saying the investor wouldn't approve it, so now (after they dragged it out) we are 24 months behind because we have to go back to the original loan agreement, and pay up or they will foreclose. After doing a little digging, we learned that they didn't even know who the investor was. All of those helpful customer service agents just make things up as they go along, but once in a while, you will come across an honest one, and you get enough info from them to run with it.
Our mortgage was securitized, and then the originating lender went out of business and they now have no record who would "hold the note". In the meatime these banks used MERS (Mortgage Electronic Recording System) to do the original filings at our county courthouse, but as the ownership of the mortgage would change hands which it did at least three times that we know of, it was never refiled at our courthouse (which is against the law), so on record the originator is the only note holder and they no longer exist.
What we found out is that BOA is the "servicer" they don't know who owns the note or the "investor" so they haven't been forwarding the funds so if that investor should come forward at anytime they could claim they never received a payment and just pull the rug out from under us. BOA has no idea what to do so they do nothing and find all of these different stahl tactics.
Look at your original deed, and if it was filed at your local courthouse through MERS and there has been no updated filings if your mortgage has changed hands, then there's your answer.
We've met with reps from the State, the Atty General, and two attorneys. What it boils down to is this. Since we are in a judicial state, BOA can't do anything. Their hands are tied, and we were advised not to pay them one more penny. Right now we don't own the house even if we paid off the mortgage because we cannot satisfy the note because BOA doesn't have it! We were advised not to pay them to force them into a situation where they would file for permission to foreclose. That's the only way we can get it in front of a judge in the proper court. He can fix the deed and make it valid, and we were told the only way to do that is to invalidate the note, and release our obligation, and because we are in the house and can prove ownership due to the fact we have our copy of the note, he will have to deem it free and clear and forgive the mortgage. That's what BOA is panicing about and stahling the way they are because they don't know what to do.
They can tell you that they are not filing foreclosure on these homes for years because of a backlog, but the bottom line is they just can't.
On top of the 24 months that they claim we owed to add insult to injury we asked if we could qualify for another program other than HARP, and we did but . . . now get this, . . . because they already put us into two trial modications, pass or fail we can only apply for 2 within a five year period so now we would have to wait. So we are waiting. Not making the payments so according to them we owe 30 months now, and they aren't going to do anything.
They cannot file for bankcruptcy without all the written and signed documents in our state, so until this investor surfaces or some bought off politician does something to help them we live free. Now keep in mind we weren't behind on the mortgage when this started, they did this to us. So it will be a law suite in the making, but for now we are just taking the advice of the attorneys and we quietly wait.
Thanks for letting me vent, I hope you don't have to go though something like this, but I learned just in our local county there are over 300 homeowners in the same boat as us.
If anyone is going through this too, I would be anxious to hear their story.
Thanks !
Edited by Cathaloo, 28 November 2011 - 01:53 AM.