Consumer complaint received 2023-06-29
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Closing on a mortgage — 
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION (TX)

I'm writing to request assistance to address what we believe is a failure by Bank of America ( BoA ) to provide mortgage relief to homeowners such as ourselves as required by its settlement with the Department of Justice after the bank 's acquisition of XXXX XXXX  We obtained a mortgage from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  operated by XXXX, to purchase a house in XXXX Texas in XXXX. As part of BoA 's settlement, it was supposed to forgive or reduce the amount owed on first and second mortgages it held and obtained as part of its acquisition of XXXX In our case, we had just exited bankruptcy in XXXX and didn't think we would have the credit history that would allow us to get a loan Ito buy a home. But when we were looking for a home, an independent broker approached us and explained how. he could help us obtain a loan despite our credit history. Ultimately, he was able to help us obtain a {$320000.00} first mortgage and an {$85000.00} second mortgage to purchase a house with no money down. But the first mortgage was a 1-year adjustable mortgage with a 9.78 % rate and a balloon payment after three years. The payments were high and after the first year the payments escalated when the rate went un Like many pennle, the financial crisis made it very difficult for us to make over {$5000.00} in monthly payments for both mortgages, even with my husband working two jobs ( I was XXXX ). 
In XXXX  BoA sent us a home equity forgiveness letter that was supposed to expunge our second mortgage and they modified our first mortgage by changing it from a 1-year variable rate martgage to a 30-year fixed martgage that reduced the payments to {$2900.00} per month. But my husband lost his job, which made making even that payment difficult and we filed for bankruptcy again in XXXX ( XXXX XXXX ). We were able to get our first mortgage payment reduced to about {$2000.00} through the court! and continued to make those payments until my husband had XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX. We sought bankruptcy protection again ( XXXX XXXX ), but our request for further modification was denied. It was around XXXX that we became aware that BoA had not discharged the second mortgage but instead combined it with the first, despite our having received a release of lien on the second mortgage ( that we had misplaced until we found it again when we tried to sell our house in XXXX At that time BoA claimed that our total unpaid balance was {$430000.00}. 
When BoA refused to acknowledge the discharge of our second mortgage and modify our first by reducing the principal balance further, we attempted to get assistance through HUD 's Home Affordable Refinance Program ( HARP ) based on my bushand 's health conditing, hut nnthing same nf that. We stopped making mortgage payments while in bankruptcy but paid our homeowners association and insurance payments directly rather than through an escrow account. We made the court-ordered monthly payment of {$1500.00} on our non- mortgage debts from XXXX, but as we were seeking to exit bankruptcy BoA once again came in to claim that they were still owed unpaid accrued principal and interest on what was still a first and secand martgugte, but byr thar they tatalad {$74.00} XXXX. We filed for XXXX XXXX bankruptcy in XXXX to address this debt specifically, but at some point BoA sold our loan ( s ) to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. 
We attempted to resolve this mortgage debt once and for all, first with a short sale and deed in lieu of foreclosure in XXXX and then a straight out sale as the housing market had improved in XXXX and XXXX. But by then, and although we held the deed, the combination of mistakes by BoA ( forgiveness of the second mortgage, etc. ) coupled with our multiple bankruptcies made it difficult to establish clear title to the property and who had a properly recorded lien against it. As a result, two attempts to sell our property in XXXX  were scuttled over incomplete and inaccurate information on the closing documents and disclosures and disagreements over who had a lien and whether we were entitled to any excess proceeds ( after debt extinguishment and exiting XXXX XXXX bankruptcy ). It was then that we found out that BoA had lender-placed insurance on our home, because they didn't know that we had been paying for a policy outside of any escrow, and at closing they wanted to recoup the premiums they paid but that were not necessary. We also found out during these closings that a broker fraudulently obtained a loan modification in XXXX XXXX  that we did not authorize using loan documents with our forged signatures. 
For all of the reasons noted above, we do not beliewe that BoA ( now XXXX XXXX ) is owed what they claim they are owed, but because of the problems they helped to create we are unable to sell our house. We ask for whatever assistance you can provide, including referring this matter to those other federal agencies that might have jurisdiction over mortgage and banking matters. Thank you.