Consumer complaint received 2021-01-15
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: AZ
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Home equity loan or line of credit (HELOC)
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
In XXXX, we applied for and received a HELOC for {$50000.00} with Bank of America. During the XXXX recession, we were forced to file for Chapter XXXX Bankruptcy. In XXXX, when our XXXX child was born, we converted to a Chapter XXXX that was discharged. The HELOC with BofA was NOT included in the discharge. 

We continued to struggle financially for many years. We attempted to pay the HELOC, but eventually it was charged off in XXXX. We have searched the county assessors office over the years to identify if a lien was placed on our home, and were unable to locate the lien. 

On XX/XX/XXXX we received an account statement with a new loan number. We attempted to call customer service on XX/XX/XXXX and spoke to XXXX. We then were transferred to XXXX in Bankruptcy services, who identified that the loan was officially charged off by Bank of America and no additional information was given regarding a lien or further pay-off. 

XXXX XXXX-We attempt to refinance our home with another mortgage company and request a small cash-out for home repairs. We are suddenly made aware that the Bank of America lien is still present on our home, in the amount of {$42000.00}. 

Beginning XX/XX/XXXX, these are the calls and attempts that I have made to rectify the debt, ask for a settlement or to determine next steps with Bank of America : XX/XX/XXXX XXXX AZ Time : Speak with XXXX in customer service, due to the bankruptcy, he is not able to help me, so I am transferred to XXXX in the Bankruptcy department. He informs me that there is " 1 offer to charge off '' but he can't help me, so I am transferred to the Charge-Off department. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX AZ Time-I am disconnected, call back and hold for 8 minutes, at which time I'm disconnected on their end. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX AZ Time- Call back to bankruptcy department, speak with XXXX at XXXX who tells me that I have to speak with Charge-Off 's ( was never given the direct number previously ). XXXX gives me the charge off phone number of XXXX. She transfers me, a male answers, I can hear him, and I keep saying " hello '', he does not respond,, and hangs up. 
XXXX-Call back to charge off 's, a male answers, I say " hello '', he hangs up At this point, I try one more time, but again, I am hung up on. 

XX/XX/XXXX XXXX AZ Time- Call Charge off department, on hold until XXXX speak with XXXX , who states that because of the bankruptcy, he is not able to help me ( he does not even open the account information ), and transfers me to bankruptcy at XXXX. For the next 5 minutes, I attempt to press their " Option 1 '' and continue getting looped back around to the greeting, until finally at XXXX, get a notice that they are closed. 

XX/XX/XXXX XXXX AZ Time : Speak to XXXX in Bankruptcy department at XXXX ( on hold 7 minutes ). He is able to see that the account is a " full charge off '' and states that there is a {$0.00} balance. He is not able to access the account because it is a charge off. He reaches out to his manager, who is also unable to get access to the account, and her phone is " having issues '' so he is unable to connect me to her. They are going to escalate the issue to get a payoff statement and a lien release, however I am told that it is not 100 % confirmed " if the account is charged off ''. His manager will escalate it urgently due to the nature of the re-finance, however, I ask if they can contact me with the final outcome and he states that they are not able to contact me, that I will have to " check back in about a week '' to find out the status. For the record, XXXX was VERY nice and tried his best to help me. He gives me a case number of XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX AZ Time : On hold for 28 minutes, speak with XXXX from BofA bankruptcy department to find out status. She relays that the loan/account was not discharged in the original bankruptcy. She advises we reach out to our original lawyer to see if there was supposed to be a different plan at XXXX. There is a statement in the account from XX/XX/XXXX " charge off of all of account '' She advises that we reach back out to BofA to make other arrangements if it was not included in our bankruptcy. 

XX/XX/XXXX XXXX AZ Time : On hold for 17 minutes Speak to XXXX in BK who again verifies that the account IS charged off, however she can't assist with a settlement or pay-off, that it has to be handled by the " Recovery Team '' ( charge-off 's ) who are only open XXXX Eastern time ( they are now closed ) XX/XX/XXXX XXXX AZ Time : Call Recovery team, on hold until XXXX, speak with " XXXX '' again in " Recovery '' who immediately states that they can ' help because of the bankruptcy ( again, as he did last time, does not even open the account ) and transfers me to Bankruptcy at XXXX. On hold until XXXX, speak with XXXX in BK again, at XXXX he attempts to escalate to a team lead who can help with a settlement. On hold until XXXX, the team lead in the Centralized Escalations Team is attempting to access the account per XXXX. At XXXX, I am again disconnected. Call XXXX in Centralized Escalations Team at XXXX. She is unable to view the loan/account, and is reviewing the procedure for charge-off 's and per her policy, settlements are not available ( even though BofA officially charged off the account in XXXX and was able to claim this on their taxes to the government ). I explain my frustration about all of the phone calls, transfers and lack of ability to be helped to XXXX ( acknowledging that this is not her fault directly ) and that I would like to speak to a supervisor at XXXX. She argues that her supervisor won't be able to access the loan/account either, and I ask if escalating a complaint to CFPB would be beneficial. She states that that is " your right ''. I continue to ask for a supervisor because she is stating that the loan is in the " charge-off 's '' department database and she can't even see the loan to help me. I ask again to speak to a supervisor, and she states " I don't know if he is available, we are working from home and it's not like I can look across the hall to see if he is available ''. At XXXX, she -- places me on hold to find a supervisor. At XXXX, I call back the Centralized Escalations Team at XXXX and speak to XXXX. 
XX/XX/XXXX XXXX AZ Time : I explain my frustrations to her, all of the phone calls and transfers that have occurred, and my desire to just speak to someone who can help settle the account, I tell her that I had asked XXXX to put me through to a supervisor, and XXXX states that XXXX and herself are supervisors. I acknowledge that I appreciate their attempt to help, but that I am getting nowhere.XXXX Romy sends a message to someone ( not sure what department or whom ) who tells her that " Charge-off 's should have been able to help '' At XXXX I am placed on hold. at XXXX, XXXX was still trying to get ahold of charge-off 's, she asked if the BK was discharged, I tell her yes. Placed on hold again, at XXXX, XXXX informs me that charge-off 's doesn't handle XXXX 's, so she is attempting to get ahold of the BK department again. At XXXX, she gets back on line and states that she is still trying to get ahold of BK department. 
I am on hold until XXXX, when I am transferred back to XXXX in BK department ( who again, is extremely apologetic and is trying to help me ). At XXXX, XXXX attempts to reach back out to XXXX in Centralized Escalations. XXXX XXXX asks for my account number and phone number. XXXX, XXXX attempting to get a supervisor from Centralized Escalations on the line. I am on hold until XXXX. At this time, XXXX XXXX in Collections answers the phone and states that a letter was sent to us on XX/XX/XXXX ( we never received a letter or package from BofA ) from the Mortgage and Loans division that gave us a number to call to reach out for payment options. She said that the notice stated that " part or all of the loan had been charged off '' and that we had to contact the Mortgage and Loans division to make arrangements. The phone number is XXXX. She attempts to contact the department, but it is a 20-30 minute hold time as of XXXX. She transfers me to that number, at XXXX, I am disconnected. 

We just want to refinance, and hopefully settle on this loan since BofA has already taken a loss on it. Their communication, lack of information and inability to know what department can help, is unacceptable. 
I have now spent hours and hours in the past 30 days trying to get this rectified. I am a XXXX, and as you can imagine, my work schedule during this pandemic is insane. I simply do not have time to continue to sit on hold while BofA tries to figure out how to help me and my husband.

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