Consumer complaint received 2015-08-29
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: MO
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional adjustable mortgage (ARM)
Issue: Loan modification,collection,foreclosure

Complaint:
I have applied for loan modification with Bank of America to reduce my payments to an affordable amount as well as to put me in a fixed rate mortgage. My current loan is an ARM loan with an extremely high rate, making it difficult for me to make the payments.I have almost lost my home due to foreclosure and had difficulty keeping up with the payments during the life of this loan thus far. 
I have tried several times in the last few years to make application for a loan modification and each time I sent in the proper paperwork, I was repeatedly told it was never received and to send it again.I would call Bank of America repeatedly to check the status of my application and could never get my questions answered, repeatedly was told conflicting information regarding my loan and was never able to achieve any progress to complete the loan modification application process. After several attempts of phone calls with hours spent on the phone and sending in required paperwork repeatedly, I realized that Bank of America was not doing its job and were not ever going to complete my application process and I finally gave up. They never followed up with me or offered resolution. 
I attempted the loan modification process again this year and was assured they had streamlined the process and that I would have a different experience. I was assigned a loan officer/manager for my application and was never able to reach this person but only able to leave a message. After many attempts, I was finally able to speak with someone. When I explained that I did n't have my taxes filed, she assured me that sending in my paperwork without the taxes would make the application incomplete and I would n't be able to move forward. I explained that I did n't currently have the money to file the taxes, and if I did, by the time they are processed and put into record with the IRS the expiration for applying for loan modification would expire. She assured me that would be the case and the modification process would have to start all over. She did not offer anything at that time to help me with my current situation. 
Bank of America has provided me with an adjustable rate mortgage which has rendered me a very high interest rate over the last few years when compared with the much lower rates today and in the past few years. These are predatory lending practices and they are unwilling to take responsibility and do anything about it. If they had done their job and completed the modification process for my loan the first time I attempted this process, the issue would have been resolved for both myself and Bank of America and would I have been able to make affordable payments on time. 
Bank of America states in their loan modification paperwork that they are willing to help others by reducing interest rates on loans to an affordable rate, and reducing or eliminating the principal balance of the loan. They have failed to respond in any of those ways. They offered to fix my rate for 5 years and when doing so, still left the rate much higher than normal rates and soon as the 5 years expired they went back to increasing the rate under the terms of an ARM loan. They did not fix the problem, they put a band aid on a huge problem for a short time period and that was it. If Bank of America can send me a letter initiating that type of change on my loan, on their own suggestion without requiring me to fill out paperwork, they can do what is necessary to resolve this situation quickly and act as they promised. Enduring years of predatory lending with Bank of America, they have a responsibility to at the minimum put me in a low fixed rate product. They need to also consider reducing or eliminating my principal balance due to the circumstances of my situation and the fact that they have continued to ignore my situation and do nothing.

Company public response: Company chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation