Waaaa Mooooo

In the month of June 2007, Rosa came in to see us regarding her home in Weston. She had to relocate to Palm Beach due to her job. She listed her property in Weston for sale and purchased a new home in Palm Beach. The property was on the market for over one year and received no offers. During this time, Rosa was paying for both mortgages, exhausting her savings account so she decided to list the Weston property for rent. By the time she was able to get a renter, she had fallen behind on two (2) mortgage payments totaling $5,500. With the deposit from the renter, Rosa called the bank and advised them she had $4,500 to send them and would send the remainder of $1,000 within a month.
The representative at WAMU advised her that nothing was acceptable other than full payment, and that partial payment is not an option. With WAMU not willing to work with her, Rosa let go of the interested renter. She could not find it in her heart and good conscience to rent to a family and then let the house go into foreclosure.
In an effort to help Rosa, we listed the property as a Short Sale and started the negotiation process. Rosa was unable to make payments on both mortgages and she owed a lot more than the appraised value of the property.
On August 11, 2007 we received an offer on the property for $240,000 and submitted the Short Sale package to the bank. Between August 15th and September 30th, 2007 we made (19) calls to WAMU to inquire about the status of the file. To our disbelief a negotiator had not yet been assigned to the file. Finally on October 1st, 2007 we were told that a negotiator had been assigned but the appraisal that had been ordered on the property (on September 25) was not back yet. Fifteen (15) calls were made between October 1st and November 14th, 2007 as we kept checking in with WAMU on the appraisal status. It finally came back and WAMU countered for the appraised value of $330,000. Once again WAMU had no sense of urgency and three (3) months later, we lost the buyer. We never had a chance to counter our buyer’s offer because after three (3) months and with all the houses on the current market at “bargain” prices the buyer was frustrated and simply walked away not wanting to wait on WAMU’s slow response to their Short Sale offer.
All of this could have been avoided back in May 2007 when WAMU had the chance to take Rosa’s $4,500 and work out a repayment plan that would include the $1000 difference. Unfortunately WAMU’s protocol strictly prohibited any flexibility in assisting this customer when it came to working out a repayment plan. If WAMU had been willing to work with Rosa she would have been able to reinstate the mortgage with the new tenant and at the same time WAMU would still be getting paid on the original loan of $380,000. Now WAMU will most likely have to settle for an offer of $280,000 which is what the properties are selling for currently in this area or foreclose on the property altogether.
So WAMU we ask you, by not accepting an offer to reinstate a mortgage that was off by a mere $1000.00 you would rather settle with a foreclosed non performing asset now worth a whopping $100,000.00 less in value?
SHAME ON YOU WAMU FOR NOT BEING PROACTIVE, FLEXABLE AND UNDERSTANDING WHEN ASSISTING YOUR CUSTOMERS IN THESE TRYING TIMES! AND, AS ONE OF THE LARGEST LENDERS IN THE COUNTRY, FOR NOT TAKING A LEADERSHIP ROLE AND SETTING AN EXAMPLE FOR THE OTHER LENDING INSTITUTIONS!

Homecomings - Better yet Homes Going, Going, Gone

Jolie & John Smith listed their property for sale over a year ago. They bought this little house as an investment when the real estate boom was hot. They took out a line of credit on their home to purchase this property, fixed it up and put it back on the market in the hopes of making a little money.
Then came the real estate crisis – nothing was selling, they tried to rent it out but the rent was not covering the mortgage and the tenants stopped paying the rent so they had to evict. Meanwhile they were coming out of pocket for over a year on this property causing their savings to run out. The Smiths then started to fall behind on the mortgages for both the investment property and their primary residence. To make matters worse, John lost his job causing them to barely cover their living expenses.
We listed their house as a short sale – their property was now “upside down”, they owed more than what the house was worth. The house appraised at $235,000 and they owed $342,000. On July 11, 2007 we received an offer for $185,000 CASH, we promptly submitted the offer to the bank, but unfortunately it was declined.
On September 18, 2007 we received a second offer at $165,000 CASH, and again, the bank declined the offer. We received another offer on September 21, 2007 for $180,000, which was once again declined by the bank.
Meanwhile the clock was ticking towards the foreclosure sale date which was scheduled for December 13, 2007. On October 10, 2007 we submitted an offer for $215,000, the buyers were renting but were getting married and wanted to move in by the end of December. We passed this information along to the bank’s negotiator. Between October 11- 19th we left four (4) voice mails requesting a return call from the negotiator with no immediate success. Finally on October 19th, we got through to one of the customer service representatives who sent an e-mail to the assigned negotiator while we were on hold. Thank God for e-mail because it was the only way to get him to respond to the urgency of this file and remind him that this home was going into foreclosure the following month. While speaking with the negotiator, we asked if the offer presented was a solid one. He assured us that this was a very good offer, and that he was just trying to get the second lien holder (who was also with Homecomings) to sign off on the deal.
On October 25, 2007 the negotiator advised us that he was really busy with October closings but this file was on his priority list for the upcoming month. Meanwhile the buyer’s were getting anxious and worried that they needed to find a place soon.
From November 1st – 28th we left a total of 17 messages for the negotiator asking for an update on the status of the file. Once again, there was no sense of urgency on this file and we never received a follow up phone call. Meanwhile we were explaining to the buyer’s agent that we needed approval from the second lien holder, and to please be patient. We were also sending out letters to the bank’s attorney to get a postponement on the sale date to buy time for the second lien holder to approve the offer.
On December 10, 2007 we still had not received any news from the negotiator. We were able to reach an operator for assistance only to find out that this negotiator was no longer employed by Homecomings. Needless to say we were shocked and concerned. At the same time we were able to contact the second lien holder directly and he told us that on November 29, 2007, he had received an e-mail from the terminated negotiator informing him that our deal was dead. He then went ahead and closed the file.
On December 12, 2007, a new negotiator called us ready to close on the deal. Unfortunately due to the terrible mismanagement of this file we lost a very qualified and patient buyer. Now, the seller is at a loss still facing foreclosure and the investor backing this loan will continue to hold a non performing asset losing the chance to recuperate some of their loses.
Shame on you HOMECOMINGS for allowing an incompetent negotiator over two months to review this file only to terminate this employee and then let this file sit on a desk unassigned! Why can't an assigned third party get a supervisor on the phone that can help expedite the process when this situation occurs?
Where is the customer service??? Who is reponsible for monitoring and managing the LOSS MITIGATION DEPARTMENT???

Do The Math

Elsa & her Husband Efrain were happy to get an offer on their investment property, they were getting nervous since the foreclosure was scheduled just a couple of weeks away. After waiting for eight (8) weeks they finally got the short sale approved with Chase Home Loans. The offer was for $195,000 with a net to the bank of $168,301 and closing to be within two (2) weeks.

The buyer was excited to finally get the process going and get a mortgage. Since there was no guarantee that the short sale would be approved, the buyer was waiting on the approval before ordering the appraisal, which was required by the lender.

After submitting the appraisal to the lender, the buyer was informed that it would be about (ten) 10 days for a clear to close. The only challenge was that the foreclosure date was just a few days before the closing.

After pleading our case to the negotiator and the Attorney for Chase and requesting just a few more days to close on this property, we were turned down. Our calls to supervisors and higher ups went unanswered and the property went up for sale on September 26, 2007 .Ultimately the bank took back the property after no bids were made.

As of today the home is listed for $177,000 with $1,500 incentive to the selling agent, $5,000 to buyer towards closing cost and a $5,500 credit to the buyer for repairs. Add another $10,620 for the Realtors commission, $1,239 for doc stamps and $3,667.00 in taxes. This would make the net to the bank $149,974 which is $18,327 less than what they would have netted with the Short Sale, not to mention the cost to foreclose on the property. Now Chase, I ask you: Do your investors know how logical and fair this offer was? After all a non performing asset on the books really is an ass in the way.

About the Authors:

Mia Lutz & Luz De La Cruz of Say No To The Bank, are avidly seeking the attention of the Lenders to make them aware of their internal conflicts and ways to come together to solve this housing crisis.

Countrywide Big Lender Small Heart

Miriam was diagnosed with breast cancer. She fell behind on her mortgage by two (2) months because she was unable to work and had to receive cancer treatments. She called Countrywide to notify them of her situation. She went on to explain that due to the circumstances her husband was the only one bringing in a paycheck and it was not enough to cover the mortgage. She wanted to work something out with Countrywide to help her get back on track and avoid a foreclosure.

The customer service representative was extremely agitated that she was unable to bring her payments current. Miriam requested that customer service provide her some more time so her husband could borrow some money and make at least one mortgage payment to avoid falling behind any further. The representative suggested that he get a second job. Miriam explained to customer service how he was unable to do so because he already was working long hours and working overtime to bring in extra money. At that point, the customer service representative suggested that Miriam rent one of the rooms in her house to make up for the difference in the mortgage.

Miriam and Daniel were devastated. Miriam, already mentally and physically weak, broke down and cried out of frustration and anger that Countrywide would be so insensitive to her illness and her situation. On a positive note: Say No To The Bank, managed to negotiate a successful loan modification plan with Countrywide for Miriam and Daniel and actually had a positive experience with the representative assigned to their file. Why Countrywide was so willing to work out a plan with a third party and not the homeowner direct says a lot about their sensitivity towards their customers.

So for the lack of sensitivity this customer service representative showed towards Miriam and Daniel we induct them into our LENDER HALL OF SHAME.

About the Authors:

Mia Lutz & Luz De La Cruz of Say No To The Bank, are avidly seeking the attention of the Lenders to make them aware of their internal conflicts and ways to come together to solve this housing crisis.