But this does not eliminate the fact that it is almost impossible to get representatives of lenders to call anyone back, either to approve a loan modification or other plan or issue a short turn-down. For one reason or another, mortgage companies are quite capable of incessantly calling homeowners who are behind on their payments, but are equally incapable of returning a phone call to these same foreclosure victims when they are attempting to find a solution.
The irony of the situation defies logic and is beyond belief: lenders try to contact their clients to get their money, but when offered a plan to get them their money, they ignore the same exact clients for months, pushing them to the brink of losing their homes to a sheriff sale. Can anyone honestly determine, based solely on their actions, if lenders want foreclosures or not?
But what should homeowners do when faced with this situation? There are probably two main options that they have to deal with the event of the lender ignoring their attempts to save the home from foreclosure. They can either try to file a complaint with regulatory agencies, or fight back in the court system.
Although there are numerous regulatory agencies that oversee the banking industry, most of them represent dead ends for homeowners. Complaining to the Federal Reserve system about a bank that is a part owner of the Fed reflects some conflicts of interest that will not be easily overcome. As well, complaining to a government agency that receives the money for its annual budget from these big banks, through the Fed, will also result in a quick disappointment for homeowners. No, it seems that there is no agency that foreclosure victims can report the bank to for their failure to give them a phone call back. Besides this, if the mortgage company called them back and said their modification or payment plan has been turned down, they still would not have anyone to complain to.
It is really not surprising that the lender's loss mitigation specialist is unable to return the homeowners' calls, though, as these lenders are notoriously incompetent, and will wait until the very last second, mere days away from the foreclosure auction, to tell their victims that they did not submit all the right paperwork, the four-month old paperwork is not out of date, the owners do not make enough income, or could not qualify for the modification. The bank's customer service representatives just put it off as long as possible. Complaining, unfortunately, will get the homeowners less than nothing and will waste valuable time that could be used finding other methods of saving a home.
Another almost equally futile attempt might be made by the homeowners if they really think there is a possibility of qualifying for a plan from the lender. In this case, they would want to keep trying to get in contact with someone at the bank and try speaking with other people in the same department and explain that they have not had a phone call back in 45 days or however long it has been. In most cases, though, they will simply be told who has their file, reassured that they will get a call back, and then transferred back to voicemail.
The immense frustration that homeowners experience when working with the bank is just one reason that they should have backup plans to stop foreclosure. Try dealing with the lender, but also try other options. There are professional companies that specialize in this kind of loss mitigation negotiation and may have better contacts with the lender, and other companies can help refinance, work with an investors, or file bankruptcy to avoid foreclosure. The homeowners will just have to figure out what the best ways to stop foreclosure are for their situation, regardless of how the bank acts.
As a last resort, the homeowners should go to the courthouse and ask for a hearing before the judge in the case. The can explain that they have been trying to work out a modification outside of the legal process, and had been told that they would receive an answer, and that they have not gotten one, despite sending the lender all of the required information and documents months ago. Time is now running out, and the lender should be forced to respond or the foreclosure process should be put on hold until they have figured out what is going on with the loan they are trying to foreclose. The judge can order the lender to give the foreclosure victims their answer, or not allow the mortgage company to go through with the foreclosure auction. That means keeping the sale date off the schedule entirely until the bank lets the homeowners know whether they have qualified for a workout program or not.
Going to the court like this may seem intimidating to the vast majority of foreclosure victims, but it should not be. The lender will not hesitate for one second to use the legal process to their advantage, and owners ignorant of how the system works are one of the bank's greatest strengths. The clerks of the court can usually tell the homeowners which forms to fill out to request a hearing, though, as well as how to file and when the hearing will take place.
Once the hearing date is set, the foreclosure victims should make absolutely sure that they can attend. Then the most important point will be for the homeowners to make sure they bring records of their calls to the lender requesting an answer, as well as documents they have submitted to satisfy the bank's checklist for a workout plan, and explain that they have so far received no response and are losing valuable time and the opportunity to work on other solutions by trusting in the lender's offer of potential workout plans.
Complaining to a regulatory agency about the bank's nonresponsiveness will most likely result in the homeowners getting a form letter saying that the bank has been investigated and they did not do anything wrong. The regulatory agencies will have no resource to provide direct help to homeowners anyway, and the foreclosure will proceed. But using the courts can force the bank to get their act together, or else they will have to pay their attorneys more, and have the foreclosure postponed.
Banks definitely do not want to lose even more money on the foreclosure than they are already expecting. Until banks are taken out of the foreclosure process entirely, which is not expected to occur anytime soon, the best resource available to homeowners may be finding options to stop foreclosure that do not involve the bank, or working in the court system to force the bank into competence.
on January 31, 2008, 12:52 am