Consumer complaint received 2021-01-28
Company: BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON CORPORATION, THE
State: MO
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
Bank of New York Mellon vs XXXX XXXX Case number XXXX in the XXXX County Indiana Court system My name is XXXX XXXX, I am the granddaughter of XXXX XXXX. I also have power of attorney over this matter. We are desperate for some help to save his home from foreclosure. The story is long but there is a ton of information to share. My family became aware of the situation 8 years after the loan originated. When Mr. XXXX was XXXX XXXX XXXX and dragging his belongings to the flea market to try and make money to cover his house payment, he finally let us know about the embarrassing situation he had gotten into. Mr. XXXX was unaware of what he had gotten into at the time of origination, because he trusted that a man who would come to his house and drink coffee with him at his kitchen table would be someone you could believe in. As time went on, he learned that there are some really awful people in this world. 

On or about XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX, entered into a loan to consolidate debts. At that time, Mr. XXXX was XXXX years old. XXXX XXXX was the originator of the loan. 

Mr. XXXX has lived at XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, Indiana XXXX for over 65 years. When this loan was originated, Mr. XXXX lived on the property in a double wide mobile home which was placed on the property when the original home burned down in XXXX. The mobile home was never converted to real property. 

Around XX/XX/XXXX Mr. XXXX entered into an agreement with XXXX XXXX XXXX  out of XXXX to refinance and consolidate outstanding debt. 

On or about XX/XX/XXXX, the property was appraised by XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX of XXXX XXXX  for {$150000.00} XXXX was subsequently indicted in XXXX and later tried and convicted of conspiracy and mail fraud for his part in a scheme to over appraise homes in Indiana. XXXX was sentenced to 44 months in prison for his crimes.. 

XXXXXXXX XXXX  brokered a loan in the amount of {$150000.00} with XXXX XXXX. They received {$6000.00} for their services out of loan proceeds. The loan terms were {$150000.00} principle, fixed interest of 9.9 % with 179 monthly payments of {$1300.00} with a balloon at the end of the 179 payments of {$120000.00} The settlement statement indicates that XXXX XXXX was paid {$24000.00} out of the loan proceeds. Mr. XXXX does not have any recollection of a loan with XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX, was contacted in XXXX when Mr. XXXX family became aware of this situation, they claimed they never had a customer with Mr. XXXX name or social security number. 

Mr. XXXX made these outrageous payments to XXXX XXXX, then XXXX, then XXXX for over 8 years. When his daughters became aware of this situation, they tried to help him get the loan refinanced. They tried with several mortgage companies, and none of them would loan anything near what was owed, because the home was a double wide trailer. When I became aware of this situation, I began to investigate. It took a lot of calls and letters to finally obtain the appraisal for this loan. Having worked in the XXXX XXXX, I could not fathom how a mobile home would have been appraised as real property and been given a loan of {$150000.00}. 

I was able to obtain the appraisal in late XXXX. That is when I got the name of the appraiser. I simply XXXX his name and found out about the conviction for appraising homes at 2 to 3 times their value in a mortgage fraud scheme in XXXX. He was sent to prison for 44 months for his part. Upon going over the appraisal, it became clear that Mr. XXXX did not even go to the property to appraise the home. Mr. XXXX had always maintained to me that he did not, but being in the XXXX XXXX, I could not fathom that to be true. But, upon looking he not only appraised the mobile home as real property, he also said it had 2 bedrooms when it in fact has 3. There are also no pictures from inside the home. 

Based on this appraisal, XXXX XXXX, entered into a loan for an amount many times over what the property was actually worth. 

After finding the appraisal I went about trying to file a lawsuit against everyone involved in putting together this loan. The attorney we hired, and the attorney general of Indiana at the time both informed me the statute of limitations had expired. Our attorney said that we would have to go into foreclosure so that we could open that back up and fight our case. I had to really talk Mr. XXXX into not paying the loan to do that. 

On XX/XX/XXXX XXXX, the loan servicer at the time, filed in XXXX County circuit court for a foreclosure. We immediately responded and asked for a jury trial. Throughout it all they maintained that the appraisal was lost, once they realized we had it, they did everything in their power to delay, delay, delay. For over 10 years, they changed council, sold the mortgage, and filed motions to keep this in limbo. 

In XXXX of XXXX, our attorney withdrew from the case for medical reasons. In fact, she retired from law. She gave our case to another attorney who made at least one appearance in front of the judge, as well as many motions. This thing just drug on and on for years. We would hear a flurry of activity and our attorney would respond, and they would back off and we would not hear anything again for years. 

In XXXX of XXXX, XXXX, the mortgager at this time, filed a motion to have our counter suit dismissed. The law firm they hired at this time is XXXX XXXX, XXXX located in XXXX, Indiana. Instead of notifying our attorney at the time, XXXX XXXX notified the one who had retired in XXXX. Mr. XXXX was informed by mail, and it came after the fact. The judge granted a default and the house was foreclosed upon and set for sheriff auction in XXXX County on XX/XX/XXXX. The auction claims it is a house and is worth {$220000.00} plus dollars. 

In XXXX of XXXX, I hired a new attorney to help us with this matter. We again determined that the house is in fact a mobile home and not subject to sale as real property. We had an appraisal done of the land, and it came back at {$23000.00}. We offered XXXX to pay the fair market value of the land to settle this. They refused. We filed a motion with the court on XX/XX/XXXX asking that the mobile home be removed from the sheriff auction. The judge agreed, and issued a notice on XX/XX/XXXX that the trailer be removed from the auction. XXXX, filed a motion on XX/XX/XXXX asking the judge for a hearing to reconsider. She did grant that motion, but ordered that the sale be cancelled until after the hearing, which is scheduled for XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX XXXX did not remove the sale from the auction and we had to scramble at the last minute. Our attorney was able to contact XXXX XXXX within hours of auction time and convince them to remove the sale. It was at this point that things became even more ridiculous. 

On XX/XX/XXXX we had a hearing in front of the judge. My grandfather, and my Aunt XXXX XXXX both testified in the hearing. The hearing was to determine if the mobile home on the property could be sold with the property, or if the mobile home was considered real property that Mr. XXXX owned outright. On XX/XX/XXXX the judge issued an order agreeing with Mr. XXXX that the mobile home was his and he could move it when he left the property. I have attached a copy of that order. 

Bank of New York had their attorneys file a motion asking the judge to reconsider. On XX/XX/XXXX she denied that motion. I have attached a copy of that order. 

On XX/XX/XXXX Bank of New York Mellon filed a motion with the court to set aside in Rem Summary Judgment and to remove the order to have the Sheriff inform bidders that the personal property would be removed. Once again we had to spend money with our attorney to counter this. On XX/XX/XXXX we filed an objection. I have attached both of these motions. 

On XX/XX/XXXX there was an attorney only hearing due to covid regarding the aforementioned motions. On XX/XX/XXXX of XXXX, the judge issued an order denying their motion to Set aside in Rem Summary Judgement. I have attached that order. 

On XX/XX/XXXX Bank of New York Mellon filed a motion to have this sent to the Sheriff 's auction. They did not change the wording to indicate that the sheriff inform the bidders about the personal property not being part of the sale. Once again we had to defend ourselves and file a motion asking that the judge issue an order for Bank of New York to inform bidders. On XX/XX/XXXX the judge again issued an order for the Sheriff to inform bidders. I have attached that order. 

On XX/XX/XXXX Bank of New York had an appraiser reach out to me to come and appraise the property. His name was XXXX XXXX of XXXX XXXX. Phone number XXXX. We agreed that he would come to the property on XX/XX/XXXX. I would be there by facetime on an XXXX with my aunts. Mr. XXXX appraised inside and outside of the home and property. We tried numerous times through our council to find out what the appraisal came back as, but our questions went unanswered by XXXX XXXX law firm. However with in days, XXXX XXXX did remove the property from the Sheriff sale scheduled for XX/XX/XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX Bank of New York Mellon once again filed a motion for this to go to Sheriffs auction. We had never heard from them regarding the appraisal. Our attorney reached out to them again and we were informed that since we did not allow an appraisal one was not done. This in fact is a lie. We did do an appraisal with XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. After much back and forth, Bank of New York Mellon agreed to do another appraisal. This one was scheduled for XX/XX/XXXX. The appraisal company was XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX Indiana XXXX XXXX. They also did an inside and outside full appraisal. 

On XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX sent our attorney what he claimed to be the appraisal from XX/XX/XXXX done by XXXX XXXX. In fact it was an internet appraisal done on XX/XX/XXXX by a company called XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. This came in at a ridiculous amount of {$270000.00}. This is not an appraisal by any of the companies we agreed to come and appraise the property. And is {$250000.00} higher than the appraisal we had done in XXXX of XXXX. We have contacted XXXX XXXX to try and get a copy of the appraisal they have done. 

As we sit at this moment, this house is scheduled to be sold at Sheriff auction XX/XX/XXXX. It still is not mentioning that the personal property is not a part of the sale. We have spent over {$8000.00} on attorney fees in the last 18 months on things that have already been decided by the court 3 times now. Not to mention none of this would have happened had XXXX XXXX and Bank of New York Mellon actually informed our attorney at the time and not we that had not been practicing law for over 5 years. 

I do not believe what they are doing is ethical in the least. I have reached my wits end here and do not have any idea what to do next. I do know we can continue to fight them in court and win, but we should not have to keep spending money on attorney fees for a case that has been decided. It is not fair for a company the size of Bank of New York Mellon to be able to try and out spend us. I am asking for help in how to go about putting an end to this unfair and unethical treatment by a bank. 

I would like to add that since this loan originated, Mr. XXXX has paid over {$130000.00} on this loan and only taken {$1200.00} off the principle. 

Please let me know if you can help. My email is XXXX and my phone number is XXXX. 

Thank you for reading! 
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Mo XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation