Promises of oppression -- er, I mean suppression

Tired and admittedly a bit curious and itching for a confrontation, I decided to answer the phone when BofA called this evening. The 7:30 p.m.-ish call, I mean, since there are several during any given evening.

The rep, a very nice woman who kept calling me Miss Christina because I don't think she could pronounce my last name (happens a lot), went through the spiel about phone numbers and how they're a debt collector, and how my Notice of Intent to Accelerate expired Aug. 17. Then she told me my total due, about $3,300, and asked if I were calling to make a payment.

"Nope," I replied simply.

She then asked how she could help me, to which I responded, "Well, I'm returning one of your 1,000 daily phone calls."

Let's give her lots and lots of credit. She didn't rise to the bait. Instead, she told me about their "Suppression of Calls" policy, whereby all collections calls will stop for a given period of time. In my case, it's 14 days.

Should start tomorrow.

I can't wait for the silence.

Please remove heads from asses. Thanks

Bank: Early payment foreclosure a mistake

Published: Aug. 23, 2011 at 3:05 PM

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla., Aug. 23 (UPI) -- Bank of America said it made a mistake in filing to foreclose on a retired Florida couple who made their mortgage payment a week early.
The bank said Monday James Bullington, 78, of New Port Richey, and his wife Sharon, 70, will be returned to their loan modification plan and foreclosure proceedings will be halted, the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times reported Tuesday.
The Bullingtons said they made their mortgage payment for January a week early, when it was still December. Officials told them the bank dropped the couple from their plan and filed for foreclosure because the payment was not made during the month in which it was due.
"We apologize to the Bullingtons for this error, and we hope to have a response for them shortly," Bank of America spokeswoman Christina Beyer Toth said.
James Bullington is bedridden with a terminal illness and Sharon serves as his sole caregiver, the couple said.

http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2011/08/23/Bank-Early-payment-foreclosure-a-mistake/UPI-61221314126307/

Let's see what happens

Two things.

The first, very minor but still worth mentioning, thing is that I've sent an equity payment off to BofA with the "Pay to the Order of" line addressed to Bank of Assholes. tee-hee. I can't be the only one, right? Let's see what happens.

Second, the deadline in the "Intent to Accelerate" notice is Monday. I can't say that I'm not afraid. I am. Very much. Because I have absolutely no idea what's going to happen. There's no way I can come up with the total amount due, so I've just been sending along pieces. I've been trying to let it all go ... so MUCH of my life these past few years has been consumed with an aching stomach full of worry. What's going to happen is going to happen.

At least that's what I keep trying to convince myself.

Your future is calling

Have I mentioned yet how often BofA calls? Here is another thing I can document. Because it's part of my phone record, that fucking 800-669 message.

Do you know why I don't answer? Because what would be the point?

I have answered often in the past. The computer-generated message first tells me (doesn't ASK me, though it has called) to wait. Then I am asked to verify my account information.

Um. WTF are you to robodial me (sorry, but I guess automation is cheaper than wage-raping Third-World countries) and THEN demand *I* provide YOU with information?

Yeah. That would be why I don't answer your repeat phone harassment.

And I know I could block you.

But some part of me still believes in responsibility and accountability. This is MY house, I WILL pay for it.

Except ...

I won't be wage- or any other kind of raped without first scratching your balls off.

Bunch of rambling shit

Friends have been telling me you're out there, and enjoying what I've had to write so far. But will you enjoy it when I tell you how close to the brink I am?

OK, OK. That is SO manipulative and unfair. But sometimes I just get So. Damn. Tired. of trying to play by all of the rules and still get (unpleasantly) fucked in the ass anyway.

I grew up in what's now considered The Ghetto of Seattle -- White Center. (When *I* was growing up, the ghetto was the CD ... the Central District. So see? Things DO get better!) Back to the point. I grew up poor, but was told all the time all I needed to do was get an education and I could escape. Make a better life for myself ...

And it was good, because for whatever reason, I was given the gift of intelligence. Curiosity. Creativity. And despite being the most stubborn person you would never hope to meet (till my daughter was born ... except you SO would want to meet this amazing human being), I still listened to and believed those people who said I actually would be somebody someday. And I pursued education to a perhaps obsessive degree. A master's degree in ... JOURNALISM??? WTF?

Wrap up, Christina. Wrap it up.

OK. Here I am. 40 years old. Supporting two children on my own (NOT my choice, judgmental fuckwads) as well as an unemployed-for-too-long sister who doesn't know how to say no when I ask her to do annoying things ... like wash my daughter's curtains. ALL of them. And our dad lives with us, too. He gives me what he can ... but with this mortgage, it's just not enough. My finding and scraping for whatever freelance stuff I can get also doesn't do it.

Aug. 22 is my deadline. BofA's Notice of Intent to Accelerate tells me this. I'm a month and a half behind in my payments. I have lived in and loved this house for 11 years, through a devastating breakup that contributed to this financial situation (YOU try buying out your soon-to-be ex when the real estate market is at its highest point), through losing my Dream Job ... through everything.

It.

Is.

MY.

GODFUCKINGDAMNED.

House.

Try taking it away, BofA. I have a plan.

It involves my ass.

And it involves SuperGlue.

Got another one

Thanks to a friend for sharing this with me.

http://tinyurl.com/suckitbofa

Stop BofA's Foreclosure on Vera Johnson's Home & Business

SIGNATURES

11,309

PETITIONING

Brian Moynihan, President, CEO and Chairman(Bank Of America)

STARTED BY

vera johnson

Seattle, WA

• about this petition
• petition activity

OVERVIEW

I’m a single mother of two kids and a proud Seattle business owner. When our family fell on hard times, I asked the bank for a loan modification that, under law, I am qualified to receive.

Now, Bank of America is trying to kick my family out of our home and foreclose on my business. But with your support, I’m fighting back.

I have been trying for 17 months to get a loan modification with Bank of America, providing endless copies of paperwork and being told repeatedly to resubmit lost or misplaced paperwork. A Seattle reporter verified the bank’s carelessness in dealing with my case, in a story here.

Bank of America even went so far as to “block” my account to prevent any payments to make sure my account went into late payment so as to “help jump start the loan modification action,” as they put it! Is that legal?

As a small business owner and well-respected member of the community, I am ready to make my story public. This is my home as well as my job. I am a divorced, single mother of two. I was recently awarded the house and property, as this is where I work.

I own and operate the home-based business Perennial Nursery and educational center in a very culturally diverse community. This business hosts many classes for our community, including planting, permaculture, sustainability and composting. We host schools and camps for classes and educational tours.  We also work with the South Seattle Community College by proving internships and training programs.

I regularly work with many schools in the area, local non-profits, and South Seattle Community College and strive to bring my community together by collaborating with other business owners in the White Center/Seattle area.  It's time for homeowners and business owners to stand up together. We deserve a fair, reasonable process for pursuing loan modification. 

New information

So today I had to call and find out the status of my account. First person I spoke with (after fighting through the automated system for five minutes, only to have it hang up on me) told me I only owed one month's payment. She also told me I have a "special" account and had to speak with a certain department. When I asked what that meant, she said it was a "Pay Options" account. I explained that no one had ever told me my account was "special" before.

I write this only because it's yet another example of, though my mortgage is 11 years old, how BofA is so vastly overcomplicated with layers and layers of unnecessary bureaucracy, it has absolutely no idea what it's really doing.

Made it through to the "special" department, where I was told that I only owe for one month.

Hunh.

So how come I received an "Intent to Accelerate" letter?

Asked to be transferred to the Home Retention Department.

And they hung up on me again.

sigh

Even better explanation

(And forgive this awkward sharing. I imagine there is a less cumbersome way to do this, but give me some time to figure it out. Thanks!)

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/State-accuses-Bank-of-America-unit-of-thousands-1743800.php

State accuses Bank of America unit of thousands of illegal foreclosures

By VANESSA HO, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF

State Attorney General Rob McKenna has accused a Bank of America unit of conducting thousands of illegal foreclosures in Washington, in which he said the company had confused homeowners, made it nearly impossible to save their homes, and failed to act as a neutral third party.

McKenna sued ReconTrust, a California-based foreclosure trustee, in King County Superior Court Thursday.

The lawsuit alleges that the Bank of America subsidiary has violated state laws in "each and every foreclosure" in Washington. Since 2008, ReconTrust, which forecloses statewide, has done 9,900 foreclosures in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties alone.

"ReconTrust ignored our warnings, repeatedly broke the law and refused to provide information requested during our investigation," McKenna said in a statement Friday.

"ReconTrust's illegal practices make it difficult, if not impossible, for borrowers who might have a shot at saving their homes to stop those foreclosures."

At a news conference held by McKenna, two women said ReconTrust had improperly foreclosed on their homes. Myra Cola, a single mother from Spanaway who was laid off, said her loan servicer was reviewing her home for a loan modification, when ReconTrust sold it at foreclosure.

"I couldn't understand how this could have happened," Cole said in a statement released by the Attorney General's office.

"I got the run-around. I just can't believe that the company that's supposed to be helping me is foreclosing on me. ... We are trying to save our homes. We're doing the steps they tell us. In the end, it's all for nothing. It's an injustice."

McKenna said ReconTrust violated the state's Deed of Trust law, which requires that a foreclosure trustee maintain an office in Washington. That's to help homeowners ask questions, make last-minute payments and request a foreclosure postponement.

"ReconTrust's claim that the company doesn't have to follow Washington law and procedures because it is a national bank is wrong," McKenna said.

A spokesperson for Bank of America, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, did not immediately return a call for comment to Bloomberg.

The complaint against ReconTrust stems from a larger investigation into foreclosure mishandlings that McKenna and other state attorneys general began last year.

Washington is a so-called nonjudicial foreclosure state, in which courts don't review foreclosures. Instead banks hire trustees, who are supposed to act as neutral third parties, to handle home seizures.

In addition to failing to keep am office in Washington, McKenna also accused ReconTrust of:

• Failing to identify the actual owner of a promissory note being foreclosed.

• Giving confusing information on how borrowers defaulted and how to fix a default.

• Holding foreclosues in private, like an Bellevue office park, instead of in a legally required public place.

• Allowing documents to be improperly signed and notarized.

• Failing to act in good faith toward a borrower.

McKenna is seeking a fine of up to $2,000 per violation.

Visit seattlepi.com's home page for more Seattle news. Contact Vanessa Ho at 206-448-8003 or vanessaho@seattlepi.com, and follow her on Twitter as @vanessaho.

Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/State-accuses-Bank-of-America-unit-of-thousands-1743800.php#ixzz1UC1pGKog

One for the good guys

Via: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-05/bofa-s-recontrust-unit-sued-by-washington-state-over-foreclosure-practices.html

Bank of America Corp. (BAC)’s ReconTrust unit failed to conduct foreclosures as a neutral third party as required by law, Washington state Attorney General Rob McKenna said in a lawsuit.

ReconTrust, which acted as a trustee handling foreclosures, had a duty to act in good faith to borrowers as well as lenders, McKenna said today at a press conference announcing the suit. ReconTrust also concealed or misrepresented the actual owner of the debt when handling foreclosures, according to the complaint filed in state court in Seattle.

The lawsuit follows an investigation of Washington trustees’ foreclosure practices, including faulty documentation. McKenna said the lawsuit was filed because ReconTrust didn’t take corrective actions to change its ways.

“They have left us with no choice,” McKenna said. “We will have the full attention of ReconTrust and its owner, Bank of America, and they will be more interested in sitting down and making things right.”

Lawrence Grayson, a spokesman for Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America, didn’t immediately return a call for comment on the lawsuit.

Nonjudicial Foreclosures

Washington is a so-called nonjudicial foreclosure state, where courts don’t review documents and banks hire trustees to handle home seizures.

ReconTrust processed deeds that contained “material misrepresentations,” the attorney general said in the lawsuit. The company also didn’t maintain an office in Washington, as required by state law, McKenna said.

Washington law requires trustees to act in good faith for all parties, McKenna said.

“ReconTrust looks to the bank for direction and orders about what it’s supposed to do,” McKenna said.

The state is seeking civil penalties of $2,000 a violation and the complaint alleges thousands of violations, McKenna said. The lawsuit also is seeking restitution for homeowners who unfairly lost their properties.

The case is Washington v. ReconTrust Co., 11-26867-5, Superior Court, King County, Washington (Seattle).

To contact the reporters on this story: Margaret Cronin Fisk in Detroit at mcfisk@bloomberg.net; Brad Broberg in Seattle at bradbroberg@comcast.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net

Share your story

Yes, the point of this blog will be to help me save my home, where I live with my two young children, my sister and my elderly, veteran father. Oh, and six cats, two dogs, a pet rat and some fish. But ultimately I of course want to make some kind of difference for someone.

I know you're out there -- scores of you, all having gone through the same shit from Bank of America (hereafter referred to as either Bank of Assholes or BofA, always remembering that A stands for Assholes and not America. Because America is suppose to be better than this. The American Dream, after all, is home ownership.) I have read so many horror stories all over the Web. What I want now is resolution. Accountability.

Bank of Assholes must pay.

I want to hear your stories. You can leave anonymous posts.* You can e-mail me. You can send me advice.

I will not exploit you.

What I will do, as I relate my own experience, is also tell your story.

*I reserve the right to delete and block spammers, trolls and various idiots who have nothing better to do than sit home in dirty wife-beaters, with a Coors in one hand and their dick in the other.