Here is another story about a guy right here in my area who tries to do everything he can to save his homes and gets zapped by his mortgage companies.
His story starts 3 years ago when he gets a promotion and moves from Chicago to Wisconsin. Great so far. A new job – one that he really likes and his future looks great.
His family is excited for him.
He has a home in Chicago. Because he needs to move to Wisconsin quickly, he doesn’t have time to sell his home. He buys a new home in Wisconsin. Because he does not have money for a down payment, his company arranges for him to get almost 100% financing. He gets an 80% first mortgage and a Home Equity loan for the balance. Both of these are with Wells Fargo.
Some time prior to getting the new job he got an interest only loan on his home in Chicago through Ohio Savings. Later, they became Amtrust.
He puts his home in Chicago up for sale. He expects to sell it quickly. However, the real estate market in the area around his home suddenly starts to deteriorate. He can’t sell it. He has one offer on it. That is in the summer of 2008. The sale falls apart when the appraised value comes in over $100,000 lower than the sale price.
In the meantime, he is doing all he can to make the payments on all 3 mortgages he has each and every month. He exhausts all of his savings. The he cashes out his 401K plan. Then he takes advances on all of his credit cards. In early 209 he is at a point of no return. He has no savings, his credit cards are maxed out and he learns that this year because of the downturn in the economy his bonus from his work will be nowhere near what it had been in prior years
In January he contacts both Wells Fargo and Amtrust and asks about a loan modification. Things look promising. Both companies send him applications. He completes them and sends them in.
Then the problems start. He follows up with Amtrust. One of their representatives tells him that they have no record of receiving his application. So he has to submit a new one. He follows up with Wells Fargo and is told that his application is being considered.
Months go by and he calls both Amtrust and Wells Fargo regularly. They lead him to believe that they are working on the application. In April he can no longer make the payments on all of the mortgages. So he does not make the payment on the Amtrust mortgage.
Everything comes to a head in May.
In a phone conversation with Wells Fargo he is told that he does not qualify for a loan modification on their mortgages. They cannot explain why he does not qualify for one. Their representative tells him that for $5,000 they can refinance his existing mortgages. The challenge is that he does not have the $5,000.
He follows up with Amtrust. He is told that the representative to whom he spoke several weeks earlier has closed his case. Their determination was that his property be sold as a short sale. No reason was given for this. He also was never notified of this by Amtrust.
The strange thing about his case is that he should have qualified for a modification on his loans through Wells Fargo. They had no reason to offer him a refinance other than to try to make additional money on his case.
While the Chicago property was no longer his primary residence but rather a second home, Amtrust should have discussed a loan modification with him.
In late May he contacted a lawyer for representation.
Here is a man who did all he could on his own to get a loan modification. Neither Amtrust nor Wells Fargo seemed to know what they were doing. He first inquired about a solution to his situation in January when he was still making his mortgage payments on time.
He didn’t fall behind on his mortgage payments until April when he couldn’t make the payment to Amtrust. At that point his credit rating took a hit. When you think about it, that was uncalled for. Both Amtrust and Wells Fargo should have done something on his case in the months before that.
This is one of the reasons I encourage you to get help from a lawyer or an expert in loan modifications as soon as you can. They know how to work with the mortgage companies. They know what to expect from each company. They can guide you accordingly.
Much Success,
Mark Elkins
