MORTGAGE
Complaint
Heather
Country: United States
How We Got Taken in the Financial Crisis.
My husband and I are not spend thrifts. We do our best to save and make sound financial decisions. Two years before the financial crunch became a full blown crisis we experienced a few unforeseeable set backs that cost us dearly. At the time I was finishing graduate school and we were preparing for baby number 2. We'd saved the mopney for the copay for the birth plus a little. Unfortunately there were some minor complications that led to significant medical bills. In the midst of paying that off my husband was called to a meeting at work and told that he wouldnt be paid that week and no longer had a job because the company he'd been working for went bankrupt. They owed my husband two weeks of pay. They were not obligated to provide COBRA and all of their debtors would get paid before the employees (money we've never seen). After two months my husband found an position that was located an hour away from home. Meanwhile I left a part time job working at a school for a fulltime job with no pay increase simply because the other position was a year round paycheck. When the mortgage rates started to plummet we saw the perfect opportunity to reduce our monthly payments and get caught up on our bills. It took almost 4 months to refinance our home because the value had gone down so much. We'd gone originally to our credit union locked in on a rate and stood to save $400/mo. However our home appraisal could not support the mortgage. So our credit union suggested we use a broker and apply for an FHA mortgage. We didnt have the funds to support another appraisal but because ours was a month old we "NEEDED" a new appraisal to qualify. The broker suggested we add the appraisal into the mortgage. I reluctantly agreed because I thought I was doing what was best in the longrun. BUT this broker had floated the interest rate without my knowledge or understanding and the rate went up by a whole point in a few days. When I discovered this I complained and the broker insisted that I would still be saving $200 a month. We discovered....AT the closing...that we were saving $80 a month. My husband and I called the broker from the closing and she was completely unapologetic. Not that it would have helped. We've reduced all of our expenses including getting rid of our home phone. We have both been looking for part time work both in and outside of our field of expertise but have been unable to secure anything. AND my husband's income has been reduced recently. We were hopeful when the "Making Home Affordable" program was started by the federal government. I called our lender BANK of AMERICA. Originally i was told that we needed to get our financial info together and we'd be able to apply. We I called with that info I was told we do not qualify because of the date we refinanced. The representitive told me that we'd be able to make a repayment plan that would add a little more to our monthly payment for 6 months. BUT we dont qualify for that either because we are ONLY two months behind. I appealed to BANK of AMERICA to work something out with us because we have been responsible borrowers. I even suggested that they just change the 30 year mortgage to a 40 yr mortgage with NO interest rate change ...something that would end up making them money and they said that they cannot make an exception for ONE borrower...To add insult to injury the woman from BANK of AMERICA suggested that we sell one of our vehicles. As if selling the Jeep Compass (that we still owe money on) or the USED cruiser would help... We are good people...we work hard and we even VOLUNTEER in our local fire department...getting out of bed in the middle of the night to help our community ...We've always done the right thing...and there is NO help for us...
My husband and I are not spend thrifts. We do our best to save and make sound financial decisions. Two years before the financial crunch became a full blown crisis we experienced a few unforeseeable set backs that cost us dearly. At the time I was finishing graduate school and we were preparing for baby number 2. We'd saved the mopney for the copay for the birth plus a little. Unfortunately there were some minor complications that led to significant medical bills. In the midst of paying that off my husband was called to a meeting at work and told that he wouldnt be paid that week and no longer had a job because the company he'd been working for went bankrupt. They owed my husband two weeks of pay. They were not obligated to provide COBRA and all of their debtors would get paid before the employees (money we've never seen). After two months my husband found an position that was located an hour away from home. Meanwhile I left a part time job working at a school for a fulltime job with no pay increase simply because the other position was a year round paycheck. When the mortgage rates started to plummet we saw the perfect opportunity to reduce our monthly payments and get caught up on our bills. It took almost 4 months to refinance our home because the value had gone down so much. We'd gone originally to our credit union locked in on a rate and stood to save $400/mo. However our home appraisal could not support the mortgage. So our credit union suggested we use a broker and apply for an FHA mortgage. We didnt have the funds to support another appraisal but because ours was a month old we "NEEDED" a new appraisal to qualify. The broker suggested we add the appraisal into the mortgage. I reluctantly agreed because I thought I was doing what was best in the longrun. BUT this broker had floated the interest rate without my knowledge or understanding and the rate went up by a whole point in a few days. When I discovered this I complained and the broker insisted that I would still be saving $200 a month. We discovered....AT the closing...that we were saving $80 a month. My husband and I called the broker from the closing and she was completely unapologetic. Not that it would have helped. We've reduced all of our expenses including getting rid of our home phone. We have both been looking for part time work both in and outside of our field of expertise but have been unable to secure anything. AND my husband's income has been reduced recently. We were hopeful when the "Making Home Affordable" program was started by the federal government. I called our lender BANK of AMERICA. Originally i was told that we needed to get our financial info together and we'd be able to apply. We I called with that info I was told we do not qualify because of the date we refinanced. The representitive told me that we'd be able to make a repayment plan that would add a little more to our monthly payment for 6 months. BUT we dont qualify for that either because we are ONLY two months behind. I appealed to BANK of AMERICA to work something out with us because we have been responsible borrowers. I even suggested that they just change the 30 year mortgage to a 40 yr mortgage with NO interest rate change ...something that would end up making them money and they said that they cannot make an exception for ONE borrower...To add insult to injury the woman from BANK of AMERICA suggested that we sell one of our vehicles. As if selling the Jeep Compass (that we still owe money on) or the USED cruiser would help... We are good people...we work hard and we even VOLUNTEER in our local fire department...getting out of bed in the middle of the night to help our community ...We've always done the right thing...and there is NO help for us...
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