Complain about a product or service

Countrywide Mortgage

Patricia of Orlando, FL October 10, 2009

I am unemployed and the unemployment rate in Orlando is between 10-11%. I have two single family homes. One is a rental property which has been owned since 1993 and Countrywide/Bank of America holds the loan. In December of 2008 I lost the tenant in my house and have not been able, like so many others to rent the property again. I lost my job 3/8/2009. The combined total of the two mortgage payments monthly are 2865 and I am receiving 275 gross a week from Unemployment. Please note that in my field, it is necessary to have a good credit report to get a job.

In May 2009 I contacted Countrywide to obtain a total amount to reinstate my mortgage. I was told that I could not obtain that figure from them anymore and I needed to contact Shapiro and Fishman in Tampa, FL. I did so. I only got a recording which told me I had to write to request that information. I wrote and both faxed the request to them as well as mailed the request to them.

I received no response except to receive by mail the initial notice of foreclosure! I then e-mailed the persons noted in the letter, Jessica W. and Heather S.. I waited nearly two months to receive a reinstatement quote. During this time I continued to correspond stating that I did not understand what was taking so long. In exasperation I sent in a check with the mortgage payment X the number of months outstanding and told them to inform me of the late fees. They rejected the check and sent it back to me. I finally got the letter and was appalled by a fee of 2068 for the attorneys.

I then worte them a response letter attaching all the correspondence with their staff and asked them to review and reduce their fees as I had requested a reinstatement prior to ever being served any papers related to foreclosure. Furthermore I indicated that I had been stone walled and not given the total amount due. I finally sent the requested certified check as I could get no response from them.

Shaprio and Fishman again rejected the check and indicated that they had a new reinstatement figure that they would give me. That was the end of August. They still did not again communicate another reinstatement amount and then engaged through "Rewire my Loan" Sherman and Nathanson, Attorneys at Law to negotiate with BAC Home Loan Servicing (Shapiro and Fihsman) a loan modification for 2,495.

On Septmember 18, 2009, I receive two documents separately from Shapiro and Fishman. The first was notice of a hearing set for October 12, 2009 for a Summary Judgment and Request for Attorneys Fees. They are seeking a judgment of foreclosure! I immediately send this information to my contact at Sherman and Nathanson. He assures me that they are working to negotiate with them to put aside this hearing and obtain the loan modification. I tell them that I would pay reinstatement to keep the property although it would be at great financial hardship.

The next document dated Septembet 14, 2009 from Shapiro and Fishman communicated a list of foreclosure alternatives and indicated contacts within their Loss Mitigation Department. This would seem to indicate a desire to work with me. So I hoped to hear from Sherman and Nathanson that they had secured a loan modification.

Well, last evening, Thursday October 8, 2009 at 4:30 I was contacted by my contact at Sherman and Nathanson to tell me that they had had no luck and that Shaprio and Fishman would not consider anything other than a full reinstatement payment! Please note that they again had never supplied with that. UNTIL yesterday at 3:15 P.M. I received an e-mail with an attached letter indicating a reinstatement amount that was only good until the end of the day!! Mind you this is Thursday night prior to the Friday. Monday I go to court for a 9:00 A.M. hearing! They gave me one business day.

I wrote to Fishman and Shapiro that I needed a final figure again by 9:00 A.M. Friday morning October 9, 2009 in order to try and get to the bank and get a nearly 15,000 certified check ready and then get it overnighted to them. At 9:07 A.M. Shapiro and Fishman indicated that the figure they gave me was good for Friday only. I had to get money from everywhere to get the amount together, get the certified check and overnight it to Shapiro and Fishman.

I had communicated by e-mail that I intended to report both Countrywide/Bank of America and Shaprio and Fishman for their unscrupulous behavior and perhaps sue. This is one of the companies to have gotten their own bail out and is noted at the Obama site as one of the servicers offering assistance to keep homes. In fact I let them know I had a letter in hand dated 9/14/2009 that offered this help at the same time they were moving to foreclose.

My house is listed already in the Orlando Sentinel as a foreclosure. I had eight years to go on the loan. The U.S. government is wondering why few Americans were taking advantage of this program. Well, as I check various sites on the internet there are any number of similar stories related to Countrywide/Bank of America. So I go to court Monday morning, having paid them the amount I could sorely afford to face Shapiro and Fishman trying to get attorneys fees added to the tab. Is this not unethical for a law firm? I was contacted via e-mail by Shapiro and Fishman

I am collapsing all my IRAs to pay my mortgages as I need toget my credit report clean to get a job. 2. Instead of getting a loan modification that might have extended my mortgage and lower my interest rate so that I might have a lower payment monthly, I had to struggle to pull together 14,811.97 in one day to prevent them from foreclosing. 3. I still have to recover the 2495 from Sherman and Nathanson. (They have said they will get it to me Monday-not today when I needed it.)

Stacy of Katy, TX October 2, 2009

In March of 2007 my husband relocated to Texas from Michigan because he could no longer find work in his industry. We put our house on the market as of March 1, 2007 but due to the unstable housing market houses were not selling quickly. I moved down to Texas in June of 2007 and left the home in the care of a great realtor who was aggressive in her marketing approach but showings were plenty and offers were few. I paid on the home until March of 2008 when I finally could not pay two mortgages any longer.

In October of 2007 I called Countrywide and asked them if I could do a Deed in Lieu since I knew I could not continue making paymnents much longer. I was told they had to talk to the loan owner who was Fannie Mae and they would get back with me. I waited over a month and called them back and was told that since I was current on my payments a Deed in lieu was not an option, i would have to be delinquent at least 1 payment for it to be considered. I did not want to do this since my credit was great and I did not want to ruin it.

I kept paying until March of 2008 and finally had to stop since I could no longer carry two mortgages. When I did miss a payment I called Countrywide back and asked about a Deed in Lieu and was told that they would have to ask the loan owner again. I waited another month and did not hear anything so I called them back and was told that the loan owner Fannie Mae wanted me to do a short sale. By this time I was three payments behind and my credit was getting worse by the month.

We received an offer on the home and sent it to Countrywide but by the time they answered the buyer had walked. We received another offer and once again after hearing nothing for 4 months the buyer walked. I renewed my listing and once again we received another offer. This buyer also walked because this time it took almost 6 months to hear anything.

In the middle of this Countrywide gets taken over by Bank of America when we have 2 different offers on the table. Bank of America accepted the one offer but because it took so long the buyers found another home, they told my agent that if she received another offer to present it. She said you do have another offer, they didn't know anything about it. My agent asked if they wanted her to fax the paperwork again and they said no. Unbelievable!

Bottom line, my home has been on the market for over two years between Countrywide and Bank of America I have lost 5 buyers and I am caught in a vicious circle since they hold all the cards. The economic damage that has resulted is that my credit rating is totally ruined. My credit rating used to be excellent now I couldn't buy swampland in Florida. I can't even start to repair it since I can't get rid of the house. Physically I am a wreck, depression, frustration, anger, astonishment, I have it all. I have done everything I have been asked with no response back, how unbelievable.

Joan of Arlington Heights, IL September 25, 2009

Countrywide and Homestart Mortgage (broker in Chicago) completed manipulated a loan for us by exaggerating the home value and qualifying us for a 600k loan - when we had no income and no assets! How 'bout that folks! We were desperate as my husband has been severely injured - he required immediate surgery and a long convalescence. Our stupid fault - BUT, how they came up with their figures and how they secured a HELOC with no equity is beyond me. Now we have not paid in TWO YEARS. Still waiting for a work-out - which never seems to come.

Finally took this to Atty General of Illinois who filed suit against them for predatory lending. We'll see what happens. What a nightmare. They should have just said NO WAY - at least we would have looked for another way. Instead, they inflated our value and when we went to sell one year later - WHOP! Home had suddenely devalued 200k in a year? (Before the bust?) Live and learn, but now I am fighting. Mental anquish, kicking ourselves for not knowing better, credit devastation, loss of dream & home, guilt, on and on.

jimmy of Galena Park, TX September 24, 2009

they gave me a equity loan w/ a promise that my loan will be cheaper and not to worry about it going up, within 3 months it went from 490.00 ti 723.00. I'm disable and social sec. and on a friday they sent me a notice that on the comming Monday I'm to pay 723.00 or pay a late fee I couldn't make the payments, 2months went by , they sent me a notice of forclousure, I had without choice to file bankruptcy. After the bankruptcy, they went from 723.00 to 833.00, all this in less than a year.They went to alot of dealing to get this loan thru even to put false income. I went for it because they told that it would be less monthly payments and I would get an extra income, due to my payments. All this happen in 2004 and til today, I'm in a bankruptcy, that , I feel, I was driven to

SHARON of TIFTON, GA September 2, 2009

I purchased a home thru Countrywide in Sept 06. I have my 2 daughters and my son and grandkids living me. Everything was fine until the day of signing. I was told my pmts were fixed for 950.00/month. Then when we get there to the atty office they said almost 1675.00 because they forgot the taxes and insurance. I said "no way" I'm outta here.

David of Reading, PA August 25, 2009

My ex-wife and I obtained a home loan from Countrywide in 2000. We were divorced in 2002, however the mortgage remained in my name, as neither of us had the means to refinance. This was not a problem until 2 years ago (2007) when I checked my credit report to find that the mortgage was showing 30, 60 and 90 days late 15 or more times in the time period shown on the report. I asked my ex, who swears that it was never late more than 5 days over the life of the mortgage to date and, I believe, has the canceled checks to back that claim up. Certainly her bank would have the records even if she does not.

Upon contacting Countrywide many times over the years, claims were made by them that payments were "lost," only to conveniently be found after a replacement payment was made. They also even went so far as to try and manually take a double payment from my ex's bank account without her consent! (she has paid by phone on occasion, so the information was available to them) She even sent the regular monthly payment PLUS 2 extra payments recently, which, she was told by the Countrywide rep she spoke with, would "catch up" the mortgage. Well, it's 3 months later and it's still showing as 60 days late.

Pamela of mt. airy, GA August 14, 2009

I had the American Dream of owning my own home dangled in front of me for three years. I feel as if i was set up to fail from the get go. I was a single mom with two children and was approached with the dream of owning a home designed for my family. Three years later it was foreclosed on because the interest only payments kept climbing. When i first got the home the payments were 975.00 and right before i had to foreclose they were 1400.00. I had a set income and what did take a paycheck to make the house payment ended up taking two of them to make one before i had to let the home go to forecloser. I didn't have perfect credit to begin with but it was decent. Now I am struggling to rebuild.

Mary of Nashville, TN August 12, 2009

My income was exaggerated to qualify me for a loan. I only found out about this recently. This was about 8 years ago. The next loan: I received the closing terms 1 week before closing. When I got to closing the interest rate was up more than 2 pts and a second mortgage I knew nothing about was tacked on. They should have told me before closing. I am now close to bankruptcy and trying to get this last loan modified.

Esther of Rockford, TN August 8, 2009

my husband and I purchased a loan through the Veterans Administration, through Countrywide on September 2007. We moved into that home ........ On or about March or April of 2008 we had got behind on our payments, we discussed this several times with Countrywide, in which they wanted to do modifications that would cause us to have a higher payment than we initially had, when speaking with the Countrywide we advised them it was unaffordable for us..

That was in August, in August I was very sick and we called Davis Foreclosure and hired them to deal with this for us, they assured us they would in fact be able to lower our interest rate and help us to get a lower payment, when calling countrywide in October 2008 they said Davis Foreclosure only contacted them one time and that was all, in October our home was up for sale and after talking with the VA out of Texas, I was informed that we would have a two month deferment and our home would not be sold and we would be contacted by someone in the HOPE dept to help us and we would be able to keep our home.

By December nobody had called and my husband and I just assumed it was because of the holidays. Well come the end of January I was beginning to wonder what was going on, on February 18th I contacted the Veterans Administration again in which I was informed that our house was in foreclosure, and there was nothing further I could do. That we had to move out. That left us less than 3 weeks to be out of our home, packed and moved into another place. According to Countrywide's agreement we had to be out of the home by March 1st and all our belongings removed and the house cleaned, in which we did all of that, they used a local realtor through Realty Executives, to conduct this deal with them, concerning the move out assistance in which I did not receive until after April 5 2009 although all the paperwork was signed and turned in within a day of us being moved out......

From August of 2008-December 2008 I was bed ridden with an illness and my husband and teenager daughter and my mother had to take care of me the majority of that time, until my total thyroidectomy in December 2008. When I was informed we had to move out by March 1 2009 we began looking for a rental, my husband was scheduled to Mobilize and deploy to Iraq on March 31st. we had very little time to get packed and moved out but we did it and moved into our rental home on March 1st. and were expecting the HOPE program to help us but we never received any word at all from them.

I did receive the foreclosure relief settlement paperwork to sign, but have not made up my mind whether I want to or not, I would rather, like I said have the foreclosure removed from my husband credit report so we will be able to buy a home in the future as this affects our family in more ways than one. THere is already a class action settlement for my state but the amount of 1433.00 for the least amount could not even begin to make up for the stress they caused my family and I.

Kathryn of Bakersfield , CA August 6, 2009

On July 13, 2009 I contacted my home warranty protection plan Total Protect Home Warranty, Countrywide Insurance Services Inc. to open a claim regarding my air conditioning unit not working properly. This was the second time in less than 3 months I had to call them regarding my AC not working properly. On July 14, 2009 I was told to call Woodward's in Bakersfield, California. Dave from Woodward's came out and determined my compressor was completely gone and a new AC unit was needed. He phoned the information to Total Protect that afternoon.

From July 14 until July 31, 2009 I was on the phone to Total Protect 2-3 times a day inquiring why my AC unit was not being replaced. I was told Woodward's was not providing numbers needed to determine the type of unit I had. I in turn would call Woodward's and spoke to Dave, Mary, Rebecca and others and was told that this information could not be provided to Total Protect due to the age of the unit (original unit year built 1991). At one point, on July 24, 2009 when Mr. S told me a unit would be released he gave me a breakdown of uncovered expenses totaling 925 that clearly is not disclosed in my contract. Once a unit was released there was a dispute between it being a 3 ton vs. a 4 ton unit and the availability of the correct tonnage of unit.

Christopher S called me on July 30 saying a 3 ton was released and I would be contacted Friday or Saturday for installation. I never received a phone call from either Total Protect or Woodward's. I waited until Wednesday August 5 and once again began making phone calls to both Woodward's and Total Protect with the exact same run around I have been receiving for the past 3 weeks not only about releasing the unit but which size unit to release. Woodward's is stating my square footage (1621 sq ft) requires a 4 ton unit. Mr. S today claimed there was not a 4 ton unit available. Woodward's has been in contact with the Carrier distributor and states there are a 4 ton unit available. Not only have I been given the run around by Total Protect but I am told conflicting information as to why my unit is not being replaced. Each time I ask when I will have an installation date all I am told is it has been released which doesn't mean anything to me as a consumer. Mr. S has not once offered and apology nor has he deviated from his scripted response.

To date I still do not have an AC unit, no installation date, no resolution to my claim or complaint. Temperatures in Bakersfield, California during these past two weeks have run between 103-106 degrees. I am on medication that makes me sensitive to the heat. I have received my PG&E bill which has gone from 122 last month to 386.10 this month with me being out of town the first week of July. This has cost me time away from my employer to deal with this problem.

Resolution to my complaint would be the replacement of my AC unit per my home warranty protection plan without any out of pocket expense to me and the total reimbursement of my PG&E bill in the amount of 386.10 due to the failure to provide service in a timely and professional manner and at great cost to me due to the added expense of being forced to run a faulty AC unit running my electrical bill 3 times what it would normally run this time of year.

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