Here Is Why Bank Of America Is Being Sued

Last week, the attorney general in Arizona filed suit against Bank of America, alleging that it hadn’t made good on its promise to implement a functioning loan modification program. And while Christine doesn’t live in Arizona, her story should give her state’s attorney general reason to consider joining the legal fray.

In 2008, Christine and her husband filed for a modification on their mortgage. Everything went smoothly and they received documentation that they could start paying the reduced amount in February 2009.

Then came the March 2009 statement, with — not surprisingly — the old amount.

“[T]hese things sometimes take a month to show up in the system. Just keep making your adjusted payment,” she was told.

In April 2009, that became, “it looks like here that a supervisor did not finalize your modification.” But she was told it would be fixed on her next statement and to keep paying the adjusted rate.

Then came May and claims that her notary had somehow nullified the modification paperwork by writing down the expiration date of her notary stamp. BofA was wrong and admitted that much when she called back.

Once again, she was told to “please be patient.”

And so she continued to be patient, paying the adjusted rate just as she’d been told to on each occasion. A few months passed until Christine received a packet of paperwork via FedEx asking her to apply for the modification plan for which she had already been approved.

Here is her recollection of the phone convo that followed:

“I’m already in the plan, right?”

“Yes.”

“So I don’t need this plan that you’re sending me, because I’m already in the plan.”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

“So what you’re telling me is that you are declining enrollment in the plan at this time.”

“Not the original plan but in this packet that you’re sending me now.”

“Okay.”

You’ve probably already guessed that this didn’t end well.

The next month, she received a notification stating that she’d declined membership in the modification plan. Once again, she called BofA and confirmed that she was still enrolled. And once again she was told to just be patient and that these things take time.

Fast forward through more months of erroneous statements and dead-end phone calls to November 2010. That’s when Christine, who had actually been paying $200/month more than the adjusted amount, receives a letter from BofA telling her that she is $16,000 past due and that the bank is beginning the process of “accelerated foreclosure” on her home.

This is the point at which BofA tells her that by declining that second modification offer her original membership in the loan-mod program was canceled and that she needs to reapply all over again.

Christine and her husband are now lawyering up because no one at Bank of America appears to be willing to actually fix the mess.

We have a hunch who they will be voting for come Worst Company In America time.

The details here are just an outline of the two-year hell Christine and her family have been experiencing thanks to Bank of America. You can read her whole story on her personal blog.