Homeowner Questionnaire Shows Banks Violating Gov’t Program Rules
Homeowner Questionnaire Shows Banks
Violating Gov’t Program Rules
by Paul Kiel and Olga Pierce and Commentary by Kelley Swanson
Commentary: As most people who are going through the foreclosure process realize, there are a great many unethical issues that arise when struggling to get a loan modification, home mortgage assistance, deed in lieu and a waiver of deficiency judgment. At Puccio Law, we recognize that many loan servicers frequently "lose documents", claim they never received the documents, and ask for redundant information. Moreover, there seems to be a high turnover rate in employees at loan servicing companies. Our clients might work with one loan specialist for several months and then be switched to a new loan specialist who might claim to know nothing about your case or have any of the documents that you previously submitted. The struggle to obtain mortgage assistance can be a long, frustrating process, especially when working with loan servicers who are not playing fair. Do not be discouraged. You are not alone. Puccio Law can assist you in dealing with loan servicers. Below is an article that discusses the unethical practices of some loan servicers.
Homeowner Questionnaire Shows Banks
Violating Gov’t Program Rules
by Paul Kiel and Olga Pierce
Mortgage servicers regularly make errors and break the rules of the government's mortgage modification program, according to hundreds of homeowners who responded to a ProPublica questionnaire.
For example, all homeowners who are rejected are supposed to receive a formal denial from their mortgage servicer, according to the program's rules. But 136 homeowners reported that they had been rejected from the program without receiving a formal denial. Additionally, homeowners reported more than 1,000 instances of mortgage servicer errors, including losing documents and giving false information.
ProPublica received detailed responses from 373 homeowners -- all of whom applied to get a modification through the administration's foreclosure prevention program -- and they tell a consistent story. Seeking a modification has been an infuriating, stressful nightmare: a black hole of time lost repeatedly calling an 800 number, faxing and mailing the same documents over and over, and coping with the ramifications of errors made by poorly trained bank employees.
Here's what those homeowners told us:
On average, they'd been seeking a modification for more than 14 months. The process is designed to last only a few months.
Homeowners seeking modifications reported having to send the same documents nearly six times on average.
175 homeowners say they were advised, incorrectly, to fall behind on their mortgage in order to qualify for a modification.
While our respondents were self-selecting and thus are not necessarily a representative sample of all homeowners seeking a modification, the results give a detailed look at the problems we've been hearing about ever since the modification program launched in April 2009. The program provides subsidies to mortgage servicers, the companies that process mortgage payments and foreclosures, to provide modifications that reduce payments to a set, low level.
Although about 1.3 million homeowners have begun trial modifications through the program, fewer than 400,000 homeowners have received permanent modifications, according to Treasury Department data. Far more have either been denied a modification or have been left waiting months for an answer.
