The Summary:

Unfortunately bad things sometimes happen to honest, hard-working people. A series of serious illnesses and bad luck have made it very difficult for Bruce Banks to pay his mortgage. Mortgage modification programs are supposed to help people facing such circumstances. But Bruce has been unable to get the help these programs entitle him to. Instead Residential Credit Solutions (part of Chase) have repeatedly denied his applications for a loan modification, each time giving a different reason. The justifications are questionable at best. Wanting to do the right thing, Bruce Banks has continued to try to work with RCS, even while facing the trials of having a brain aneurysm, then a heart attack, and finally being diagnosed with a rare kidney disorder. Recently he started chemotherapy treatment for. CRS has responded by returning Bruce’s payments and beginning foreclosure. They are still refusing to give Bruce a loan modification, even though he clearly meets the requirements. There is an auction scheduled for Februay 8th.

Please sign this petition to stop Chase/RCS from foreclosing on Bruce Banks and his family.

The Details:

After being promised a job transfer to North Carolina for health reasons, Bruce Banks moved to down North Carolina and purchased a home there. When the job transfer fell through he was placed on disability, but two years later the company cancelled it. Still in poor health and in need of specialized medical care and additional support, Bruce and his family moved to New Jersey to stay with relatives and began renting out the property in North Carolina.

By the time Bruce finally recovered his health and found a new job he had begun to struggle with his mortgage payments. Then Bruce’s health took a turn for the worse. A brain aneurysm followed by a heart attack left him permanently unable to work. He tried to negotiate a loan modification and was denied multiple times. Chase/RCS stopped accepting payments and warned that foreclosure was his only option. Bruce hired a law firm to help him. The law firm said he was a perfect candidate for a modification, took his money, and then later told him that RCS had refused to modify the loan because of Banks’ “fixed income” from Social Security and because the home is not owner-occupied.

Bruce has since been diagnosed with a rare kidney disease and has recently started treatment for myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells in the blood. Chase/RCS now maintains that he is not eligible for a loan modification because his income is too high. They refuse to count the cost of his medical expenses against his income and continue to count his wife’s income in their calculations even though she is not a co-borrower. His house is in active foreclosure, with a scheduled auction on January 9, 2012.

Bruce wants to pay his mortgage and hopes to eventually return to North Carolina. Chase/RCS has done nothing but put roadblocks in his way, causing Banks’ significant stress and worsening his already poor health. Please sign the petition to help Bruce get a loan modification and relieve some of his stress.