I started contacting our mortgage company in May 2009, long before we were late with any payments. We could never get anyone to talk to us and were always told that they cannot help us unless we've missed a payment.
Finally, when we could no longer avoid the unavoidable, we missed a payment. Since I've never missed a payment before, I assumed someone would contact us about the missed payment. I was wrong. Not only did they not call us, when I called them to discuss our situation and ask for help, they told me there was nothing they could do until we missed another payment. Seriously?
I am a Realtor with contacts in the mortgage industry! I can do this! I turned to every professional source I could find for help and advice. It seemed that nobody was having any luck with their personal mortgage company and this so called Making Home Affordable Program.
So we missed another payment, and again, no call and no help when I called them. I began to worry and get frustrated. Then we got a letter. The letter told us that if we missed another payment the mortgage company would begin the foreclosure processes and after 120 days our home would be auctioned/sold.
What? But we tried to communicate with you and you wouldn't even talk to us and now you are going to take our home? What about the Making Home Affordable Program? Once again, Panic set in!
I began to process the inevitable. We would have to move. Our twins would head to college, and we would look for a home to rent. After Christmas, we would say good-bye to our beloved home and turn the keys over to the bank. I couldn't walk through my yard without crying and thinking of the many losses that would soon follow...my roses that I tenderly pruned and groomed...my collection of flowers that I acquired from friends and nurtured though our 10+ years here...the deck my dad and I built the summer before he died...the arbor my father in-law built so I could plant my favorite plant-wisteria...the memories made with birthday celebrations and family/friend BBQ's...the days playing in the sunshine with my kids...and my special made gate and stone walkway that I created to my best friend's house. I hadn't even told her I was in trouble financially, and now I would have to tell her I would soon be moving.
I have contacted the mortgage company over a dozen times since May, 2009 and still haven't had anyone communicate with me/help me figure out what I can do to adjust my mortgage, keep my home, or arrange to refinance!
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This is just like you and Brian, on top of things trying to figure out what could be done before a situation gets out of control. I just can’t believe no one from the mortgage company would talk to you until you had a late payment. You would think that they would want to work with someone trying to be proactive. What happened to mortgage companies helping those running into trouble with their mortgages? I thought there was a law past stating they need to work with the homeowners. I can see why you are exasperated when you are trying so hard to make things work until your back on your feet and no one from the mortgage company who can help will get in touch with you.
ReplyDeleteI know how much you love your home and our neighborhood and it would be yours and Brian’s last choice to move. It kills me to know that soon I could look across the street and the gate to our homes will no longer be because you have to turn your keys over to the bank. I truly hope that someone from the mortgage company gets with you soon to work things out so you can keep your home and your gate remains the pathway to our homes.
I am shocked at the run-around you got when you tried to work directly with your mortgage company. I always believed any creditor would work with a consumer who was forthcoming about having trouble making payments.
ReplyDeleteWe were told the same thing, you have to be 30 days behind a payment to get any help. Malcom is the nice guy at our bank that I have talked to many times in the last 4 years. I have been fortunate to have someone helpful to talk to. I have the paperwork to try to redo our mortgage if we need to, but can not submitt it until we are 60 days late. At the begining they would not take partial payments, but in the last year that has changed. They will take what we can give and apply it. I think that is because more people are in our situation.
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