Consumer complaint received 2016-07-19
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: IL
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional fixed mortgage
Issue: Loan servicing, payments, escrow account

Complaint:
This is a follow up to complaint number XXXX, which was originally submitted on XXXX XXXX, 2016. Bank of America sent me a letter yesterday ( XXXX XXXX, 2016 ), which was addressed to me and my husband. While my husband is on the mortgage with me, I submitted the complaint on my own behalf. I question BofA 's decision to include my husband, who was not named in my complaint, on the letter. While privacy laws allow the bank to do this, as he is jointly liable on the obligation, I wonder why the bank would share information concerning my dispute with someone I did not name in my complaint. 
Anyway, I am attaching the letter BofA sent me to this complaint, sent from XXXX XXXX, of the XXXX Customer Care Resolution Team. The letter states that " ... .this communication is from a debt collector. '' The letter itself is sent from Bank of America, not a servicer. Accordingly, I 'm interpreting this letter to mean that BofA, by virtue of calling itself a " debt collector, '' is subjecting itself to liability under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. If that is not the case, then I assert that this statement is designed to intimidate consumers who have either filed an official complaint or have exerted their rights in some other fashion. 
That same disclosure goes on to state that IF the recipient is in bankruptcy or has obtained a discharge ( neither applies to me ), then this letter is for " informational purposes only and is not an attempt to collect a debt, a demand for payments, or an attempt to impose personal liability for a discharged debt. '' Accordingly, the implication of this statement is that if the recipient is NOT in bankruptcy, or has NOT obtained a discharge, then this letter is NOT for informational purposes only, and that it IS an attempt to collect a debt. The language of this disclosure contradicts itself in many ways, and contradiction/overshadowing in the context of collections gives rise to a claim under the FDCPA, as well as federal and state UDAAP/UDAP laws. 
In the letter, BofA states they need more time to research my complaint and their " goal '' is to respond to me by XXXX XXXX, which is tomorrow. I 'm not sure what the delay is -- if BofA had proper vendor management programs in place, they 'd be able to determine which of their debt collection vendors personally visited my home and left a debt collection notice on my front door. In my previous complaint I also forgot to mention that after the debt collector came to my home, the very next day I received a XXXX package from BofA with loan modification and assistance information -- again, over a matter of {$74.00}, which I am willing, able and desperate to pay if the bank would only fix the payment issue once and for all and tell me what the actual monthly payment is. The XXXX package coming on the heels of multiple phone calls and the debt collector coming to my home serves to put pressure on me and makes me feel afraid of what the bank will do, even though none of this is my fault. The bank seems comfortable taking its time with its research, while my mortgage payments are falling late, I am being assessed late fees, my credit bureau is taking hard hits -- all because the bank ca n't figure out what I owe. That does n't seem fair -- they take their time, and the result is that I get punished. 
Please note that if this matter is not resolved timely to my full satisfaction, I will file a class action lawsuit in the XXXX XXXX of Illinois, including the claims from my original complaint as well as the XXXX issue and the conflicting language from the letter referenced in this follow up. I also note that my homeowners insurance, which is what caused the payment discrepancy, is through an entity that is related to Bank of America -- meaning they raised my rates unilaterally and then punished me for it by not letting me pay.

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