Consumer complaint received 2019-09-16
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: MT
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: VA mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
After finalizing the we were notified that Countrywide a new mortgage lender now owned the mortgage note. We began paying countrywide. At one point there was a question of the disposition of funds paid by us, but rather than respond to our requests for information we were advised that Bank of America now owned the loan, thus leaving the us no known recourse for what we believed was misapplication of funds. 
After investigating what has happened, we later wonder, Why else have Countywide remain known publicly as Countrywide ; rather than Bank Of America but for to confuse and mislead applicants and possible creditors? We feel there is no other purpose but misrepresentation, as most mergers and acquisitions are made public such that the public is aware one party or entity has become another.

Moreover the acquisition purchase or agreements between Countrywide and Bank Of America though done in were allegedly completed in XX/XX/XXXXthough it appears they began preXX/XX/XXXX and potentially before the our loan was sold to Countrywide. Only later notified us the note had SOLD to Bank Of America but for all intents and purposes Bank Of America had previously acquired it in the first place via merger. 
We filed for a reinstatement and those funds were not applied as per the information from Bank Of America. Loan modification which caused multiple pulls to the credit reports increased the balance but also petitioner later discovered large sums added to which there was no accountability. Contacting the bank I was not able to gain any answers. 
Going forward and when interest rates went down, virtually half of the rate at which our loan was then set, we filed several applications for a refinance with Bank of America. The bank failed to respond not even sending out application documents though we had filled them out online and even called to inquire the status and to no avail. 
At one point Bank Of America had sent us a check for around {$400.00}, as unknown to us we were identified and include in part of a settlement in a class action for loan violations following the big bank bailout. 
At one point we had also paid a month in advance which was returned by Bank Of America though it had been sent as a full mortgage payment. At that point Bank Of America was in " breach of contract '' refusing the additional payment though it was specifically allowed by the contract. 
We had as often as possible paid extra funds with our payments noting the additional funds were to be paid against the principal. But we then noticed that additional sums paid to the principal balance were not listed in the principal column but were in fact noted as MISC on the account page we had with Bank Of America. We called and asked why and was told it was just the way they listed amounts above the payment. We also noted that it didnt seem to change the interest amount due though the principal balance was going down but when we called asked Bank Of America about this we were told it would work out at the end of the mortgage. 
My husband also on the mortgage was later diagnosed with XX/XX/XXXX and given 8 weeks to get his affairs in order, but was able to survive 22 months as I watched my husband slowly XXXX XXXX XXXX eventually succumbing to the aggressive and incurable form of XXXX. 
During the latter part of my husbands XXXX treatments I paid several payments in advance on our home, myself being XXXX and that it would take some time for me to get XXXX and pension accounts in place. Unknown to me, Bank Of America had spontaneously and without notice applied our mortgage payments elsewhere. I called Bank Of America and spoke with several different agents in several different departments getting no answer as to what had happened to my prepayments which again were allowed by contract. When I was finally advised by agent for Bank Of America that the funds were applied elsewhere I raised concerns that Bank Of America had not advise us in advance and further that the funds had been wrongfully and possibly illegally misapplied elsewhere because I had paid full mortgage payments amounts intended as future payments and that Bank of America had not been authorized to apply them elsewhere. I advised Bank Of America it was in breach of contract and had applied the funds elsewhere without express consent and in violation of payment instruction. 
After numerous calls and emails to Bank Of America I reached one agent who talked to his supervisor and returned to advise me to send a letter requesting that the payment be moved back to her mortgage account as a payment, however now this would not bring us current. ( By this time the my current XXXX and resume accounts were not yet in place and we were in arrears but still in contact with Bank Of America personnel ). 
I noted that returning the payment to the mortgage account did not also revise the all of the interest shed been charge during that period when the payment has been misapplied and so the balances due were yet incorrect. I continued to call and email Bank Of America for correction to no avail. However during this period I was able to contact yet another agent, a customer service representative and explained that I was awaiting the lumps sums for back payments due to this XXXX and for my husbands service-connected XXXX following his death. 
Next after waiting literally two hours on hold in a looped phone menu, I spoke to yet another agent who said not to worry that Bank Of America would just put the missed payments at the end of the loan and I would be okay. 
But being told being late was ok and not to worry, I began to feel that Bank Of America intended to take advantage of me and force me out of my home because I was now a XXXX senior, due to their failure to acknowledge and fully address my concerns. This was confirmed by the fact that at one point the Petitioner was in receipt of a letter form Bank Of America that I could cure the loan in 30 days. On the XXXX day of the 30 days I called Bank Of America to cure and they refused to accept my payment in full over the phone though I had actually been instructed to do so. I even read the letter to the Bank Of America employee over the phone but she refused to take the payment. I was given another number to call and when I did, was told the same thing and when I disputed the response but Bank of America again refused to acknowledge what I read to him from the Bank Of America letter and the employee simply hung up on me. Having the letter in hand giving me another 17 days to cure the loan, I decided to send a cashier 's check and again called Bank Of America to get a mailing address at which time I was told they could not accept the payment. When I asked why, I was informed that the debt had been sent away to collections and the was no way for them to transfer me to that department nor was there a number for me to contact. 
Meanwhile Id asked for a full accounting, line by line for each payment denoting/identifying the disposition of funds to principal and interest and noting specifically that a summary should not be sufficient. In response Bank Of America did not comply but sent me a summary so Iwas not able to audit what they had done with my payments. 
I got a letter from an attorney for Bank Of America with what I believed was an inaccurate balance due and responded to the same. My dispute was not addressed this time either. Nor were my request for documents. 
I was then told that XXXX XXXX had obtained my mortgage. Next I was led to believe I had no recourse with Bank Of America that they had sold my loan to get out of answering my disputes. 
At which point I applied for a loan modification. While on the phone with a XXXX employee I asked specifically if this XXXX was working on behalf of Bank Of America. The woman responded asking me what I meant. So I then asked if XXXX was servicing the note or if they owned it outright. The employee responded that it belonged to XXXX, further voluntarily expressing that Bank Of America had nothing to do with the loan anymore it was owned outright by XXXX. To me this meant I had no recourse with Bank Of America to dispute the amount due for which I was now forced to apply for modification. 
The modification process was not simply frustrating for any reasonable person it was fraught with inefficiencies, improper and ultimately illegal processes in the form of repetitious demands for documents that had been sent repeatedly per XXXX XXXX  own instruction. I contacted XXXX on a daily basis for the loan application status and was repeatedly informed that they did not have all of my documents. 
I began documenting the successive requests for documents that had already been sent my mail and email to XXXX. Then I noticed several inquiries on my credit report by an unknown party which negatively impacted my credit score. I  investigated and discovered that it was for XXXX XXXX via a 3rd party and that there had been several inquiries each about the time XXXX Mortgage should have received my documents. Each time there was an inquiry I sustained injury as my credit score took a hit and I lost points on my credit scores. 
I emailed XXXX XXXX to complain that I was aware they only need one Credit score report in a 30 day period and that by pulling multiple reports my score was taking negative hits. 
XXXX XXXX  continued to ask for documents so the I reviewed everything I had sent noting I had effectively and efficiently answered every request in a timely manner. So I called and contacted a customer serviced representative and asked the employee to walk through the documents with me one by one and this XXXX employee finally saw that all the documents were in place and said she would send word over to home retention. Note : I had to ask for help from customer service because applicants are not given any contact information for any one reviewing the documents XXXX XXXX received. Her note to home retention was no avail. Consequently I thought about it and reviewed every request and every documents sent in response. Seeing this process seemed to be getting frivolously repeated at my expense, I then decided rather than send the documents titled as to what they actually were, to rename them to accommodate the same titles as the requests. IE. ( bank name ) .Bank Statement would become Bank Statement , Bank Name and date ', and so on with each document as the Id figured out that XXXX XXXX was not crediting me for sending the documents they requested unless the had the title they wanted on the attachment. ( This is not unlike the blitz reported by a whistleblower as Id later discover, where volume of loans were ordered denied without cause but that anywhere from 600 to 1500 applications would be randomly denied, and this amounted to mortgage fraud and was pursued by DOJ and FBI ). It did not matter that they were getting exactly what they asked for, it mattered only if I changed the title of the attachment. On one occasion they asked for a legible copy of a document. When I sent a new copy in a 2nd attachment. Later when I looked at the original email and reviewed the document it was perfectly legible. I realized XXXX XXXX  was engaging in dilatory tactics ( tantamount to if not actual mortgage fraud for profit ) to prevent me from getting the better interest rate Id qualified and applied for, and also that by pulling my credit score multiple times they effectually prevented me from applying with any other lender because by lowering my score I would no longer qualify with other lenders. Hence XXXX XXXX had effectually and obviously with intent had created a situation where I was trapped and had no other choice than agree to the loan modification they sent to me even though XXXX XXXX had engaged in fraud by reporting they had not received the documents though in fact they had received some of the same documents up to three or more times at my expense and then only offered the  current modification verse the VAIRRRL Id qualified for before the negative hit to my credit score. Moreover I believe that XXXX XXXX has a role as a fiduciary being the middle man man between the Petitioner and Bank of America and failed to shop my loan through the various programs for the purpose of forcing me into what is otherwise no less than a predatory loan in addition to instances of what bears the marks of mortgage fraud for profit. I believe these acts by Bank Of America as Countrywide, BAC, Bank Of America, and XXXX XXXX  equates to mortgage fraud for profit as investigated for previously by the Federal Bureau Of Investigation. 
Fraud for profit : Those who commit this type of mortgage fraud are often industry insiders using their specialized knowledge or authority to commit or facilitate the fraud. Current investigations and widespread reporting indicate a high percentage of mortgage fraud involves collusion by industry insiders, such as bank officers, appraisers, mortgage brokers, attorneys, loan originators, and other professionals engaged in the industry. Fraud for profit aims not to secure housing, but rather to misuse the mortgage lending process to steal cash and equity from lenders or homeowners. 
This effectually ended with my being approved for a much higher interest rate and payment than I would have gotten with a VA IRRRL for which I had initialed applied. Moreover XXXX not only raised the interest rate on contract to above a VAIRRRL rate but they also raised my payment roughly {$300.00} rather than lowering it and/or extending the end date of the loan though XXXX XXXX was well aware I was applying in light of a hardship for which I was seeking relief and which was created in large part by the actions of Bank Of America in the first place. Due to the predatory nature of the multiple pulls of my XXXXredit score by  XXXX XXXX and the negative impact costing me roughly 50 point on my scores I no longer could qualify with other lenders. I believe this is a routine predatory practice to force applicants to take the only loan available. The lender had raised my payment amount to the extent of my ability to pay. Additionally, immediately after the modification a new reoccurring charge to XXXX took place lowering her total monthly income by over {$100.00}. 
After the loan was finally approved I finally was able to take a respite from 27 months of traumas with banks and began to suffer delayed response to my husbands death which I had not yet otherwise had time to deal with nor had I been able to even grieve and mourn the loss being wrapped up in the pass the buck game I was forced to endure with Bank Of America and then XXXX XXXX Home Retention division. 
I believes these acts by Bank Of America as Countrywide, BAC, Bank Of America Mortgage, and XXXX XXXX   are multiple instances of mortgage fraud as investigated by the Federal Bureau Of Investigation and that the mortgage fraud for profit I was initially a victim of, did not cease with DOJ investigation and settlement with Bank Of America but perpetuated and is still on going.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation