Perhaps you can be of some help, if not for me, then others in my predicament; this being loss of income, my house and my credit rating, unnecessarily.
I purchased a house 5 years ago when my income was well within the parameters to afford the mortgage. In the past two years my income has decreased by 66%. I was living on credit cards for most expenses in order to continue to make my mortgage payments. I knew I could not continue to try and make ends meet with maxed out credit cards and no near future hope for an increase in my income so I placed my home on the market in August of 2009.
My real estate broker felt the price was at a good market value. There were no offers on the house from August through February of 2010 even though the price was reduced several times. In February of this year I applied for a loan modification with the lender, Wells Fargo. Approximately two months later I received a letter from WF stating they would lower my payment by $100 for three months and then I had to make full payment again. I could not accept this offer because it wouldn’t help my situation or even come close.
Also in February I was forced to stop making payments, a very difficult decision, as I have always had very good credit. It was my mortgage or all my other expenses that would suffer. By May with still no offers on the house I decided to apply for a short sale, as it was my understanding that this program was put in place to help people in my situation, by the government giving money to the banks for that purpose. The short sale application was approved, all documents requested were sent and acknowledged and we were told by Wells Fargo that an acceptable offer would be approved in 15-30 days.
In June we received a very good offer from a very qualified buyer, for almost $7, 000.00 more than my mortgage balance. We waited until almost 30 days went by and started calling Wells Fargo for updates on the process. A once a week call at that point (in July) always got the same response; “application is still in review” and we were never able to talk to the same person twice.
In mid July I received a letter from Wells Fargo stating that my house would be auctioned on November 8, 2010..Three days later I received three letters identical to the first one via certified mail. Three of these letters were addressed to me and one was addressed to ‘occupant’. The next day a gentleman came to my house and taped another of the letters (exactly the same as the first four) to my front door and took photos of it and my house.
Also in July two different individuals came to my house stating they worked with Wells Fargo and were “inspectors”. They each asked me three questions: Did I have gas or electric, a pool or hot tub and was I behind on my payments? They said they were not Wells Fargo employees but worked with WF.
August arrived with still no approval so we started calling twice a week for updates. We were told that a second negotiator was on the case now and it was “still in review”. Several more documents were requested and sent. By the third week in August the buyer was getting nervous as he needed to know if he had a place to move into. So the next call to Wells Fargo was a request to talk to a supervisor which was granted.
The supervisor stated that everything looked good and the approval would be forthcoming in 5-7 days. The following week with no communication from Wells Fargo, another call to them with the same message, “the approval would come in 5-7 days”. We were advised that there was now a third negotiator. Another call the following week to them with the same response, “approval would come in 5-7 days”. Another document was requested and sent (the same document that was sent four previous times to them).
The buyer (a local Medical Doctor) at this time is looking at other houses to purchase as he needs to find a home to move into and is getting impatient, as we all are.
September 3rd came and went with still no communication about approval from Wells Fargo.
We have lost the buyer for good; he cannot wait on Wells Fargo any longer. September 7th, in my last call to Wells Fargo and attempt to possibly save the sale; I was told that the sale was not approved because Wells Fargo did not receive the required documents. I asked what those were and they said the same 20 pages that I initially sent them in June. They told me on September 7th that all those documents became outdated every 30 days and needed to be sent in every 30 days. I asked why I wasn’t informed of this back in June as I certainly would have complied and she stated that she “didn’t know why I was not informed”.
The documents she referred to were my 2008 and 2009 tax returns, proof of income, financial statement and hardship letter. Although none of these things had changed in three months, I would have happily complied had I been informed they were necessary every month. And, to add insult to injury, I was told “not to call them anymore”. So, even though everything they asked for was supplied to them, WF has refused to approve a sale that was $7K over the mortgage balance and I’m facing a foreclosure. They lost a good buyer and payoff of the mortgage and my credit is ruined for years, unnecessarily. The entire process has been incredibly frustrating and discouraging to say the least.
As a public servant, would it be possible for you to find out exactly what has happened/is happening to all the money the government (taxpayers) have given the bank to help people like me? Statistics I have read state that only 3 in 100 people in similar situations are actually getting any help through modifications or short sales. It is too late for me, losing my buyer and an excellent offer, but perhaps something can be accomplished to help prevent others from going through my horrible experience with Wells Fargo.
I feel the general public needs to know that this type thing is going on.
Sincerely,
Myra Greene
