Consumer complaint received 2018-04-15
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: TX
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: FHA mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
I contacted Bank of America, our lender and servicer in XX/XX/XXXX asking for a 6 month deferment. I was advised we would have to be in default in order to obtain assistance. So 2 weeks later I called again and was told we had to be 30 past due. I called on the 31st day and was told we had to be 45 days past due. I called on the 46th day and was told we had to be 60 days past due. I called on the 61st day and was told we didn't qualify for any loan modification or assistance. President Obama announced the Making Home Affordable plan on tv. So I called BOA again to inquire. I was told we didn't qualify. I asked how did we not qualify. BOA rep said she didn't know exactly but we didn't. I found HUD 's website which had a " See if you qualify '' link. So I filled out the information, HUD said we did qualify. So I again called BOA and again the rep said I did not. Each and every call to BOA I spoke to a different person, never the same person even when I specifically asked to speak with a person by name I had previously spoken to. I also asked if we had an account manager, I was told no we did not. I continued to call every week, each time a different person and each said the same thing ... we didn't qualify. In XX/XX/XXXX we received a foreclosure notice, the foreclosure was scheduled for XX/XX/XXXX. I again went to the HUD website, again HUD said we qualified and this time there was a link attached advising further assistance was available. I clicked the link which had a list of XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. I made contact with one. The XXXX asked me for our financial info, after which she too said we did indeed qualify. So she called BOA, it was a 3 way call which she also recorded. She spoke to the rep, gave the rep our info and the rep miraculously said we did qualify. Both myself and the XXXX   rep sent BOA the requested docs. The foreclosure was postponed while our application was under review ... per the BOA rep. We called back ( 3 way recorded call ) a week later to verify all docs needed were received. The BOA rep said yes, and said our application was under review. We called 4 times in XX/XX/XXXX to check the status of our application, each time a BOA rep said it was still under review. Then on XX/XX/XXXX I received a letter from BOA attorney saying our home had been sold in foreclosure to BOA on XX/XX/XXXX. I called BOA, my call was auto routed to the REM dept. The BOA REM rep transferred my call to the Foreclosure dept. The BOA FC dept rep said I need to be assisted by the Loss Mitigation dept. and transferred my call to them. The BOA LM dept rep said I needed to speak to the Foreclosure dept. and before I could say anything he transferred my call and a few minutes later my call was disconnected. The whole call and being transferred around and place on hold took over 38 mins. And each time I had to explain to each person the reason for my call ... which was shock and disbelief because our application was " under review '' and " being processed ''. I was bewildered as to how they could foreclose before our application was finalized / reviewed. I called again only to be transferred around again and disconnected. So I then proceeded to call the XXXX rep, she in-turn called BOA ( 3 way recorded call ). The BOA rep said our application had not yet been reviewed and it had not yet been assigned an account manager. BOA had our application and documents in their system for over 30 days! I also received a letter from BOA advising they had cancelled our home owners insurance due to the foreclosure.

Lots of phone calls occurred over the next 2 months, as well as, I filed a complaint with the Texas State Attorney General 's office and HUD with the help of the XXXX rep. XXXX XXXX with the BOA Office of the CEO called me after the XXXX  contacted her about my complaint. Long story short, BOA rescinded the foreclosure sale, they also did lender placed hazard insurance through their own insurance company XXXX / XXXX at thrice the annual cost of our privately obtained insurance and for half the coverage we had. We were assigned an account manager, XXXX XXXX whom requested we re-apply and send in " fresh '' financial documents. With the help of the XXXX  rep, we reapplied and sent in all required documents. The XXXX  rep called XXXX XXXX ( 3 way recorded call ) to verify all needed documents were received. In mid XX/XX/XXXX we received a " Loan Modification '' packet from BOA. We signed all documents as required and sent them back to BOA. I called XXXX XXXX to advise him the documents were signed and being returned to him, that I would follow up within 5 days to verify his receipt of said documents. I called back to verify, XXXX XXXX confirmed the signed Loan Mod was received. Everything was good to go for our Trial Period that started on XX/XX/XXXX. A few days later I received a noticed from the BOA Attorney stating our home was scheduled for foreclosure on XX/XX/XXXX I immediately called XXXX XXXX who didn't seem to know who I was. I gave him my account number, he placed me on hold while he reviewed our account. After about 8 mins on hold, the call was disconnected. I called back the next day but the automated system did not directly connect me to XXXX XXXX as it had previously done. After several attempts for several days, I gave up and called the XXXX rep who once again called BOA ( 3 way recorded call ). The BOA rep who took our call said that the foreclosure sale will be postponed because we were in fact starting our trial period onXX/XX/XXXX. I called again onXX/XX/XXXX, I spoke to XXXX XXXX  to verify the foreclosure sale was postponed. He said it was postponed, nothing to worry about, and he proceeded to remind me that the first trial period payment was due on XX/XX/XXXX in the form of a cashiers check. I asked if I could just pay online through my BOA checking account? He said no, it must be a cashiers check and he proceeded to give me the mailing address again to send payment.

I purchased a BOA cashier check in the amount required for the first trial period payment at my local BOA branch on Friday, XX/XX/XXXX and went immediately to the post office to mail it. I then went home and called XXXX XXXX. I was advised by the man that answered my call that XXXX XXXX was on vacation ( XXXX XXXX weekend ). He also confirmed the FC sale had been postponed, our trial period started on XX/XX/XXXXXX/XX/XXXX and said he would make a note of my call to advise XXXX XXXX the payment had been sent per his instructions.

After work ( after XXXX ) on Friday, XX/XX/XXXX, I received a noticed from BOA Attorney that our property was sold in foreclosure to BOA. On XX/XX/XXXX, I called BOA during my 15 min break ... my call was once again transferred to the REM dept, the Foreclosure Dept, the Loss Mitigation dept. I had to hang up because my break was over. I called again during my lunch hour. Again my call was transferred around, again I spent over 30 mins being transferred around and placed on hold and had to explain to each person the purpose of my call before I was finally sent to XXXX XXXX. And once again I had to remind him who I was and wait for him to review my account. After being on hole for 6 mins, I advised him my lunch break was almost over, I had 4 mins left. I asked him to review my account and find out what happened and why the foreclosure wasn't postponed and call me back during my break ( XXXX  CST ) or after work ( XXXX  CST ). BOA sent back our first trial period payment. XXXX XXXX  had me send it in twice and twice it was returned. I spent days on the phone during my breaks and lunch hour trying to get this mess cleared up. XXXX XXXX   once even advised me I should call the BOA attorney office to get the FC sale rescinded! I advised XXXX XXXX that they did not work for me, they worked for BOA and it was his job to fix his mess! He admitted that he didn't know he was suppose to notify the BOA attorney 's office to postpone the FC sale, and he admitted to not knowing how to change the codes on our account .. ergo the reason my calls were always transferred around. He said that the FC sale had to be rescinded before we could re-apply and move forward. Between XX/XX/XXXXand XX/XX/XXXX I paid BOA over {$10000.00} though XXXX XXXX to process the payments made by " check over the phone '' ( he said he had to over ride the codes and I needed to keep making those trial period payments ). We received the rescind paperwork in mid XX/XX/XXXX. I called XXXX XXXX to re-apply. My call was automatically routed again to the REM dept. The codes were still on our account. The BOA REM dept rep I spoke to said she would send XXXX XXXX an email advising him the codes need to be removed. I never heard from XXXX XXXX. I kept calling only to be transferred around. The codes finally disappeared in XX/XX/XXXX orXX/XX/XXXX? Then in XX/XX/XXXX I received a call from a BOA rep advising me she was my account manager. She seemed very unaware of everything that occurred in XX/XX/XXXX. I asked to re-apply, to which she advised me we no longer qualified because we were over 12 months past due! I was shocked. I said no, I paid over {$10000.00} to keep our account current for the trial period. She said the money was applied to the escrow account. The escrow account consisted of {$9000.00} in hazard insurance payments for one years coverage to XXXX. I have the 3 letters from BOA where they paid {$3000.00} for 3 consecutive months. Our private home owners insurance cost less then {$900.00} a year and it had twice the coverage and only a {$500.00} deductible. XXXX / XXXX deductible is {$2000.00}. The escrow also had attorney fees for 2 foreclosure sales and the 2 FC sale rescissions, and late fees, and property appraisal fees, and misc fees.

So what is my complaint?

BOA created this manufactured default. It's been over 8 years! We still reside in the property.

* I have been asking for 8 years for an itemized detailed accounting of our account. The amount they claim we owe does not match my accounting, there is a difference of {$30000.00}.

* The lender placed insurance was their own company, conflict of interest and it was triple what we previously had with less coverage. XXXX / XXXX * We have filled out applications and submitted documents over 2 dozen times in the past 8 years. Many times BOA claims they never received our documents or they claimed they were out of date or I was told we didn't qualify but no one could ever tell us how we didn't qualify or what the requirements were. And there were months between XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX that I rarely heard from BOA.

* We've had over 16 account managers in 7 years. Each time I have to start over! And NO ONE at BOA wants to take responsibility for the robo-signed FC sale or that XXXX XXXX   messed everything up due to his incompetence.

* BOA transferred the servicing of our loan inXX/XX/XXXX to XXXX  because XXXX doesn't have to honor the DOJ settlement.

* The DOJ settlement ... we're still waiting on our principle forgiveness and lower interest rate and the HARP. BOA sent us a loan modification, which is NOT the same.

* XXXX County property records shows we sold our property to BOA in XX/XX/XXXX. It also shows that the swimming pool was built in XX/XX/XXXX, it was in fact previously and correctly reported as being built in XX/XX/XXXX. It's appears BOA erroneously did so to increase the properties value? Also BOA cancelled our Homested in XX/XX/XXXX. So for the past 8 years, our property tax has been doubled. Per XXXX   County Records, BOA claims they purchased our property. How can they purchase a property twice?

* BOA made numerous hard inquiries on our credit reports, they claim it was part of the application process for HARP/MHAP. And they reported both foreclosures but never the rescissions. So our credit scores were impacted, lowered. I have letters from BOA loss mitigation dept from XX/XX/XXXXand XX/XX/XXXX advising we did not qualify for any programs because our credit scores were too low. The only negative items on our credit reports were BOA! They created a hardship and then used that against us.

************ It's been 8 long years of going round and round with Bank of America! I have complained over and over about their stonewalling, their incompetence, the games they play, the stress they inflict, the sleepless nights of worry that'll they'll robo-sign foreclose on us a third time. I've asked for a payoff amount, an itemized detailed payoff amount numerous times ... they send me a printout without code keys! A CPA looked it over and couldn't figure it out! And it has " misc posting '' transactions. I've asked what is a misc posting? I get told " I don't know '' or " it's a late fee '', but how does an account coded as a foreclosed property accrue late fees?

And why should we pay the BOA attorney fees? The dual tracking, the manufactured default, the deceptive practices, the insurance fraud, and robo signing wasn't our doing! It was BOA. Let them pay their own attorney fees!

And why wasn't our account included in the DOJ Settlement or the Foreclosure Review or the XXXX / XXXX   settlement? Was it because BOA keep our account coded as a foreclosed property?

WHO? What government office regulates mortgage lenders and makes sure they comply with RESPA or the DOJ Settlement? The government bailed out BOA, who is bailing us out???

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