A new petition urging Congress to take swift action and regulate the mortgage servicing industry is circulating and growing momentum. As the economy and homeowners continue to struggle, this unregulated industry continues to be the source of much of the pain and distress felt by borrowers who continue to search for help from the true holder of their mortgage, while simultaneously fighting against illegal foreclosure attempts by their mortgage servicing company.
Here are a few points made in the Petition to Congress:
Tens of thousands of homeowners across this nation have spent hundreds of hours dealing with mortgage servicers who have little incentive to actually help them/us achieve permanent loan modifications; while in the process of obtaining a modification, many homeowners have been lied to, misled, foreclosed upon or threatened with foreclosure.
We propose an immediate halt to all foreclosures until new, mandatory guidelines are established and that these guidelines be overseen by a new Consumer Protection Agency, which was recently recommended by President Obama and endorsed by Sheila Bair, chair of the FDIC.
The American Dream has now become the American Nightmare courtesy of the banking industry, which is taking a cavalier approach to the stress, heartache and despair caused by the current lack of oversight, transparency and enforcement of loan modifications. It is of the utmost importance that action be taken to correct this travesty in order to preserve home ownership for the thousands of Americans that are and will continue to be struggling in this economic time.
Click here to read the petition in its entirety, sign it and send your letter to Congress, urging them to take swift and immediate action.
Please also take the time to urge Congress to mandate that mortgage servicing companies allow all borrowers access to a Monthly Mortgage Statement that would allow the accounting of a mortgage be transparent.
If a borrower has the ability to track their payments they can learn of any misapplied fees and penalties applied erroneously to their account. They will become aware of any mishandled escrow monies, inaccurately applied extra principal payments and learn of any missing mortgage payments. Monthly mortgage statements will give borrowers the ability to verify their mortgage payments are received and applied accurately each and every month.
With access to a monthly mortgage statement, errors and fraud can be detected before they've become too big to repair. The borrower can learn of problems long before they wake up to a nightmare scenario where they are forced to prove their innocence -and forced to right complex corporate wrongs. Without the aid of a monthly statement borrowers are forced to blindly trust their mortgage is handled properly -and we should all know by now...that's just not the case.
UPDATE: today the Huffington Post did a piece today about the Petition! See their article:
Homeowners: Hey Congress get off your ***!
Want more homeowner stories? Read these;
If this can happen to me, it can happen to anyone Jessica's story
Loan modification runarounds McCloskey and Cheverez story
Think you're safe -think again! Jack's story
And, Coleen over at StopMortgageServicers.org offers us this view;
10 Easy Steps to Being a Mortgage Servicer
with a Money Back Guarantee (StopMortgageServicers.org)
1. Become a Business
2. Open a Line of Credit
3. Pay $1 Million for 1,000 Loans Worth $100 Million
4. Use your line of credit to ADVANCE each payment to the investors
5. Accept monthly payments from the borrowers
6. Repay your advances with borrowers' monthly payments
7. Make Money
8. Pretend to help customers while you delay reporting defaults
9. When you finally have to report a default, Foreclose....FAST
10. Lastly, above all else, play by the CRAs' Rules so your rating remains high
For more information and details about items 1-10 on being a mortgage servicer Download the Power Point Presentation
Here are a few points made in the Petition to Congress:
Tens of thousands of homeowners across this nation have spent hundreds of hours dealing with mortgage servicers who have little incentive to actually help them/us achieve permanent loan modifications; while in the process of obtaining a modification, many homeowners have been lied to, misled, foreclosed upon or threatened with foreclosure.
We propose an immediate halt to all foreclosures until new, mandatory guidelines are established and that these guidelines be overseen by a new Consumer Protection Agency, which was recently recommended by President Obama and endorsed by Sheila Bair, chair of the FDIC.
The American Dream has now become the American Nightmare courtesy of the banking industry, which is taking a cavalier approach to the stress, heartache and despair caused by the current lack of oversight, transparency and enforcement of loan modifications. It is of the utmost importance that action be taken to correct this travesty in order to preserve home ownership for the thousands of Americans that are and will continue to be struggling in this economic time.
Click here to read the petition in its entirety, sign it and send your letter to Congress, urging them to take swift and immediate action.
Please also take the time to urge Congress to mandate that mortgage servicing companies allow all borrowers access to a Monthly Mortgage Statement that would allow the accounting of a mortgage be transparent.
If a borrower has the ability to track their payments they can learn of any misapplied fees and penalties applied erroneously to their account. They will become aware of any mishandled escrow monies, inaccurately applied extra principal payments and learn of any missing mortgage payments. Monthly mortgage statements will give borrowers the ability to verify their mortgage payments are received and applied accurately each and every month.
With access to a monthly mortgage statement, errors and fraud can be detected before they've become too big to repair. The borrower can learn of problems long before they wake up to a nightmare scenario where they are forced to prove their innocence -and forced to right complex corporate wrongs. Without the aid of a monthly statement borrowers are forced to blindly trust their mortgage is handled properly -and we should all know by now...that's just not the case.
UPDATE: today the Huffington Post did a piece today about the Petition! See their article:
Homeowners: Hey Congress get off your ***!
Want more homeowner stories? Read these;
Homeowners continue to speak out Coleen's story
Mortgage Servicing Complaints Rise; Tammy's Story
Don't Skip Mortgage Payments Mari's story
Why we need financial reforms The Parton's StoryIf this can happen to me, it can happen to anyone Jessica's story
Loan modification runarounds McCloskey and Cheverez story
Think you're safe -think again! Jack's story
And, Coleen over at StopMortgageServicers.org offers us this view;
10 Easy Steps to Being a Mortgage Servicer
with a Money Back Guarantee (StopMortgageServicers.org)
1. Become a Business
2. Open a Line of Credit
3. Pay $1 Million for 1,000 Loans Worth $100 Million
4. Use your line of credit to ADVANCE each payment to the investors
5. Accept monthly payments from the borrowers
6. Repay your advances with borrowers' monthly payments
7. Make Money
8. Pretend to help customers while you delay reporting defaults
9. When you finally have to report a default, Foreclose....FAST
10. Lastly, above all else, play by the CRAs' Rules so your rating remains high
For more information and details about items 1-10 on being a mortgage servicer Download the Power Point Presentation
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I just signed the petition. Thanks Denise for providing a link to it!
Thank you, Denise, for your help in giving the American People a voice in this continuing crisis!
Thank you, Ms. Richardson, for bringing this issue to everyone's attention! Something needs to be done immediately to mandate mortgage modifications for Americans who want to keep their homes. This has become the Great American Tragedy.
I signed immediately, it's a wonderful petition. It doesn't ask for free rides, it simply implores Congress to DO what they are SUPPOSED TO DO and that is to hold the servicers ACCOUNTABLE.
They are NOT helping homeowners, in fact, they are trying even harder to foreclose, because that's the only way they make money. There is no way the HAMP program is going to help while the servicers remain gatekeepers between borrowers and investors.
Like attorneys, servicers ALWAYS get paid. They don't have to take the loss when a home forecloses, they get to keep the FEES. The investor and the homeowner are the ones who bleed. Congress needs to learn basic fiduciary common sense before spending billions of dollars of OUR MONEY.
PLEASE sign the petition.
Thank you Denise for a great article.
This is an issue that MUST be addressed. The mortgage servicing industry nearly brought us to our knees. It was only through stubborn determination, luck and alot of money that our mortgage servicing issue was recently settled. Some people might say that everything turned out OK in the end, but the years (yes, we were fighting with servicers for YEARS over lost/misappropriated funds)of stress were toxic, and the monetary cost was enormous. Sure we saved our home, but it cost us thousands of dollars. Everytime we thought we had worked things out with a new servicer, they would sell the loan and the whole nightmare would start over again. Each servicer added more and more fees onto a loan that was not dilinquent. Nobody cared about silly old facts or proof. If you think for one moment it can't or won't happen to you, think again. I made my payments, I played by what I thought were the rules. The thing I came to realize is, in their game, there are no rules. That is why it is so very important to have our lawmakers make rules that the servicers must abide by - including a law that mortgage companies must send monthly statements. It was over a year before I discovered there were discrepancies in my account, by then I was told it was too late to dispute missapplied/lost funds. It took 2 additional years to get everything starightened out. These companies just made up rules as they went along to justify their actions. PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION and contact your representatives to urge them to pass legislation to keep these companies honest.
Thank you again Denise for this extremely important information!!!
Thank you for getting our voices heard for our reality on Main Street.
Having gotten into my predatory loan on a lie, to months of working with my servicer before it adjusted that result was more lies, false hope that ultimately set my family up for foreclosure. Make no mistake that is their goal. The result for working hard, doing the best we could making all our payments until it adjusted was the worst emotional hell I have ever been through. I have begged for honesty and straight answers, but realized that will never happen. If the powers that be do not step in and make them accountable for their hidden agenda's homeowners are the ones that keep losing. It is amazing to me how long the process takes to get denied help or the scam to pretend your being helped from high interest rates to the perfect timing on banks/servicers end to get your home to auction. All this started to scam American's with no real change to stop it. Forgive me for being tired of broken promises and no accountability for them. I wish anyone who got a loan set up to fail there was a way to stop this with a simple fix for these loans and give America their lives and dreams back. At the very least a level playing field. What we get now are rules that change so no matter what you do you lose, Catherine
THANKS, a voice for all of those struggling. Captial Hill needs to remember that elections are coming.
We MUST continue to stand up against these bullies. Together we can win. We have truth and votes on our side. I just learned of THE AMERICANS FOR FAIRNESS IN LENDING event in South FL and will try to make the trip from Orlando.
http://www.givemebackmycredit.com/blog/expo.pdf
Signing the petition for sure! Accountability is more & more becoming a rareity than a right. Keep fighting for your homes, keep praying & believing for relief from these servicing demons. Capitol Hill better keep their ears & eyes on the true pulse of the people. If not they will soon realize we are not stupid & we will not take this abuse anymore & their position is not guaranteed. They may want to read about jack & jill, instead of tumbling, they may be thrown off the hill!
Here is a recent letter that I wrote to the Huffington Post with a brief account of my story. I have yet to receive a response as I believe that they are owned by Chase..but we'll see...
Hello,
I am writing you to see if you would be interested in a follow-up story regarding certain comments made by JP Morgan Chase CEO, Jamie Dimon. In an interview with The Huffington Post's Marcus Baran in February 2009, Mr. Dimon said "I don't think just because someone's underwater they say I don't have to stay there. But they're supposed to pay the mortgage, and we should teach the American people, you're supposed to meet your obligations, not run from them. Because you have a mortgage doesn't mean you should run away as it goes down."
Well, it seems as if Mr. Dimon's bank does not follow such principles. Unfortunately, I am one of the many unemployed in this country, despite all efforts to find employment, yet have still managed to pay my bills on time, including my mortgage payments. Thank God for my family, who have helped us through these trying times. Despite family assistance, I am going further into debt as there simply is not enough money at the end of the month to support my family, but I deem this to be the lesser of two evils at this time as I wish to keep my good credit rating. So, that's my situation in a nutshell.
The issue I have with Mr. Dimon pertains to how his comments made to The Huffington Post conflict with the policies of Chase, my mortgage holder. I have been trying for almost seven months to get a simple forbearance from Chase only to be shuffled around from dept. to dept. always resulting in the same negative response. I have spent countless hours submitting and resubmitting documents that were already submitted. I have spent many hours on the phone with various members of Chase only to be continuously turned down for forbearance and remodifications, for various reasons. I have spent the past six weeks or so dealing with Jamie Dimon's assistants and the Executive Response Group only to receive the same response, "we cannot help you unless your situation changes". Ah, what needs to change you may be wondering. Well, Chases' Loss Mitigation Dept. will assist me if I do not pay my mortgage. That's right, Chase will help me providing that I refuse to pay my mortgage but as long as my mortgage remains current, there is nothing that Chase will do. Herein lies my issue and again, it's not that I can afford my mortgage it's just that I am going further into debt to pay it.
Mr. Dimon said "But they're supposed to pay the mortgage, and we should teach the American people, you're supposed to meet your obligations, not run from them." yet his bank is telling me that if I do not pay my mortgage I can get assistance. Now, I am not looking for something for nothing but only a forbearance, to be paid at a later date or loan remodification of some sort, as has been made available to many to help through these trying times. I have tried to get Mr. Dimon on the phone yet he will not take my call. I am told that he knows of my situation yet he will not explain the inconsistency between his statements and his banks' policies.
I want to know why I am being penalized for paying my mortgage on time when the CEO of the company says that "we should teach the American people, you're supposed to meet your obligations, not run from them", yet by meeting my obligations. I am being refused a forbearance. I would like to be able to pay my bills on time, as suggested by Mr. Dimon, so as to maintain my credit scores and still receive some basic assistance available from Chase. Or, I would like to see Mr. Dimon amend his statement to that which represents the policies of his bank. Something to the affect of "Although we should teach the American people, you're supposed to meet your obligations, not run from them, we at Chase will only help you if you do not meet your obligations and under no circumstance will we offer you any of our readily available assistance if you pay your bills to us on time."
This to me would be much more accurate. But that's just my humble opinion. So, to put it plainly, would you be interested in helping me by calling out Mr. Jamie Dimon?
Thank you and I look forward to your response.
Regards,
Alan