Q: I am really angry about what’s going on with my loan modification – or I should say, my non-loan modification. I have been going back and forth with my big box lender and first they say I can get a loan modification and then I can’t.
I know you’ve been encouraging people to tell their loan modification hell stories. Mine is too long to go into in an email. But I want to do something to get my lender to pay attention to me. What do you recommend?
A: I’m sorry to hear that you’ve had so much trouble getting a loan modification from your lender. Perhaps it will help to know that there are literally hundreds of thousands of folks having the same confusing and frustrating experience you are.
After consulting with some sources at the Treasury Dept., someone suggested that if you’re in loan modification hell, you should write a concise letter that clearly details what has happened to you. Organize your thoughts into a timeline of events. And, be sure to include any information you have that identifies which employee you spoke with (the employee’s identification number, office or location would be helpful), the date of the contact and even the time of the call. If you’ve received a letter or emails, include a copy of them with your letter.
You’ll want to address your letter to the president or chief executive officer of the bank. If you don’t know who that is, go to Yahoo.com finance page. Under the “investing” tag, use the search box to type in the name of your lender. A bunch of company names will pop up. Choose the company you’re interested it. On the company page, choose the “profile” tab on the left navigation bar. That will take you to a page with the company headquarters and the names (and salaries) of key employees, including the CEO.
Once you have the CEOs name and address, you’ll want to write a letter that roughly follows this format:
Dear [name of bank president or CEO]:
I am writing to tell you how confused and unhappy I am because [fill in reason why]. Here is what happened:
On [fill in date], [fill in what happened, with whom you spoke with, contact information for that person and any other information.]
(Repeat until you have finished the time line.)
My question is: [fill in the questions you want to ask].
What I want you to do: [if you want the company to look into your situation, approve your loan modification, or do something else, write it here.]
I’ve attached supporting documentation, including:
I’ve copied the Treasury Dept., the OCC and the FDIC on this letter.
I look forward to hearing from you or your team quickly.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
You should then overnight the letter, or send it return receipt requested so you know that your letter was received by the company. Be sure to send a copy to the Treasury, OCC and FDIC so there is a record of your complaint.
According to the latest figures, some 650,000 loans have been put into temporary loan modifications under the MakingHomeAffordable.gov program. Big banks say they are putting thousands of others into their own loan modifications.
Some people will slip through the cracks, or wind up on the phone with someone who isn’t trained well or isn’t knowledgeable enough to help you.
I hope that by elevating your concerns to the executive suite, your loan modification will get the attention it deserves.
Good luck. Let me know what happens.
Read more about loan modification help and why some lenders are slower than you’d like
I wish there were a way to bring a class-action lawsuit against ALL government entities AND the banks who helped create this housing mess AND their lobbyists AND lawyers. Think about it: all these non-working programs created by this Administration and Congress are NOT a “bailout” of Wall Street and the “Too Big To Fail” banks that is trickling down to save Main Street. These programs are allowing the Fed and these financial institutions to survive by financially ruining many of us in the middle class, the “backbone” of this country who are supposedly going to help it recover from this ever-worsening economic disaster. If “we” were all TRULY in this recovery together – including all those economic entities & the federal gov’t – the banks wouldn’t be allowed to “modify” underwater mortgages on properties that will now not be adequate collateral for YEARS for their existing mortgages (& I’m only talking here about those of us who did what WERE all the “right things” to do financially to purchase our homes). Just as the banks would previously have LAUGHED AT approving a home loan for $150K for a property worth only $115K – or less (just an example) – they ought now to be making “mortgage PRINCIPAL modifications”, reducing the PRINCIPAL amount of the mortgage – not the TERMS of it – to reflect the reduced value of the collateral it was/ is now secured against. They’d still be making plenty of money – just not as easily or as much of it – and there’s nothing like going through REAL pain to make one change one’s ways. I’d bet money I don’t have that this solution would have kept a HUGE majority of people who have been robbed of their homes from losing them. Many banks – ALL the big ones – and other financial institutions are just a little too happy with this new financial world order. There have been no major changes – NONE in the consumers’ favor – in our national banking & financial systems or the regulatory bodies that were nonfunctional for the last 15+ years; our national bailout debt is unfathomable and can’t be paid for EVER; jobs are NOT being created; the banks and their lawyers are making money with EVERY transaction – and WE’RE paying for all of it PLUS paying our already outlandish taxes. “Too big to fail” is too big PERIOD. What we are witnessing is a well-disguised generational transfer of wealth the likes of which all three branches of government acting together couldn’t have pulled off. I won’t mention details of my own situation because I’m consulting an attorney about errors my ginormous bank put in the fine print in my foreclosure papers that look VERY intentional (AND are in their favor). But even if that weren’t the case, nothing about the overall picture of the last two years passes the “smell test” for me. Am I the only one who’s seeing and smelling this??