Do we have any recourse?

[G851613]

I feel absolutely sick to my stomach.

My husband and I bought our first home in 2005. December 31st to be exact. Our mortgages (1st and 2nd) are in DH's name only, and we found out at closing that they're both ARMs. Not a good time to find out, and hindsight is 20/20. I had to leave my job in 2006 due to medical reasons, so we lost my income. We fell behind, but I have somehow managed to keep us out of foreclosure until now. When someone at Chase mentioned modification to me, I just about cried. The rate was already adjusting on the 1st, and Chase swore up and down that the 2nd wasn't an ARM. I figured I wouldn't argue with them, and maybe it was explained incorrectly to us at closing.

In May 2008, I submitted all of the modification documents to Chase. I called several times and was finally told in August that it was in Underwriting. I called the number given to me, and the lady told me that she couldn't tell me anything, that it was being worked on and that it would most likely take at least 3 months before we knew anything.

On September 19, the doorbell rang. I opened the door to see the Fedex man leaving and a Fedex letter from Chase on the porch. Oh Joy! It was a modification agreement for our SECOND mortgage. I wanted to make sure I understood exactly what we were signing, so I called Chase again. The young lady I spoke with answered my questions, and when I asked (because I thought it odd to receive mod papers on the second mortgage before the first) she told me that the first had been approved for modification on September 10th. BUT, it was still in Underwriting and that there was NO information in the system regarding the terms of that modification. She told us that we just needed to wait for the documents. So, we waited, remembering that we had been told it could take over a month.

Fast forward to the end of October. We receive a letter from Chase offering to help us save our home with a possible modification of the first mortgage. I immediately called and was told they no longer had authorization on file to speak with me. My husband called back with me on the line, and we find out that the modification offer on the first mortgage has expired and was cancelled on September 29th by the underwriter. Because of non-response from the homeowner. WHAT?! Trust me. When we got that packet for the second mortgage, we sent it back ASAP.

Come to find out, Chase now says that Fedex delivered the modification packet for the first mortgage at the same time as the second. It did NOT come to our door. It may have been delivered to Court or Circle, instead of Drive (our street). I'm betting on Court since Chase has our address down as Street instead of Drive. My heart dropped to my shoes when I realized what happened, and it's still there. And while we were on the phone, September 25th came up several times as the date that it was sent. But the tracking number (that we got from Chase) shows the 19th. I don't exactly understand how Fedex could have possibly delivered a package to us on the 19th that Chase is saying was sent out on the 25th, but maybe it's just me.

At any rate, the 2nd is modified and current. The 1st is now in front-end foreclosure, and Chase wants around $5k or more by the end of the month. THEN they will possibly do another modification. I accept that I didn't call as often as I should have called. I DID call the day we got the modification packet and was told that the other packet had been approved but not sent out yet. It IS documented in Chase's system that we were told this.

I'm working very hard to remove my emotions from this. I feel utterly screwed. I know it doesn't work this way, but why in the heck would we take care of the modification on the 2nd and just ignore the 1st? Why would anyone think this?!

My DH just wants me to fix it. I want to at least consult an attorney. Chase did not send it 'signature required', and at this point, even if I had called sooner in October, the offer STILL would have been off of the table because it had the same end date as the other modification (September 29th). It's probably not possible, but I just want them to 'un-expire' it!

So, wise ones, any advice?

PS. Sorry if this is jumbled. I'm trying to get my thoughts in order. If any other information is required, please just ask. Thanks for any help given!

~Heather

[Moe Bedard]

Hi Heather,

Welcome to the forum and thank you for joining............

Try calling into the CEOs office and telling them about the runaround that you are being given and how a modification that was not able to be tracked to your address by FedEx and never showed up, was not being resent to you but instead cancelled. And also ask them about the announcement they made that beginning Oct. 31st.......Chase might not be your investor, and this most recent modification effort only applies to the loans that are owned by them in their portfolio, but you had already been given the mod and they should be able to resend it to you.


J. P. Morgan Chase & Company has announced that it will make its own contribution to stemming the tide of foreclosures sweeping the country by modifying around $70 billion of its owned mortgages that are in or nearing default.


JP Morgan Chase & Co.
James S. Dimon (CEO)
Office of Secretary
270 Park Avenue, 39th Floor
New York, N.Y. 10017
1-212-270-6000
fax: 1-212-270-1648

[G851613]

Thank you, ***, for your response!

This is my next step, after faxing the authorization letter they now seem to require after talking to me (and only me, I might add) since they became our servicer or whatever they are now.

I know our loans were originally supposed to be with WAMU, then they transferred to Litton, then to Chase. So, I really have no clue who the actual investor is at this point.

I will say that FedEx shows they delivered to our address, but I opened the door and SAW the guy leaving. My mind might be playing tricks on me, but he could've had an envelope in his hand. At any rate, the only thing left on our front porch was the mod for the 2nd mortgage.

I just don't get how they don't send these things 'signature required'. It blows my mind.

I'll be sure to keep you all updated. I will call Mr. Dimon's office and follow that phone call up with a fax. Thank you for the information!

~Heather

[G851613]

Pulling up this oldie, but goodie because we're in it again. After meeting with an attorney and being told that even Chase's attorney recommended they should just do the modification, I feel shafted yet again.

The attorney had ME call Chase's attorney to negotiate. ??? My thoughts too. Finally I'm told to call an 877 number. I get Loss Mitigation/Foreclosure. They set us up on a 3 month repayment plan with a payment about 300$ MORE than the original payment, plus a down payment of $3,000.00.

We made the last payment in July. We've been taking out loans to keep the utilities on, and Chase wants us to continue the 'trial payment' for August, September or however long it takes them to get back to us. My husband is done. He has basically said he'll let them have the house, at this point.

I did not contact the CEO last November (and I freely admit I should have!) because my husband wanted to try it this way. So, now I am going to contact the CEO tomorrow. I am going to find an attorney that will help us.

And I'm currently taking more suggestions.

[caldwellb02]

Thank you for your post, and I'm so sorry this has happened to you. I hav ebeen working with Chase for 8 months, and just 3 days ago had my first default. I let the Executive Team member know that I would be defaulting last week. She said she was going to "e-mail my negotiator to get status." I never heard from her.. I have been going to call them this week but I'll admit I'm scared. I know I'm gonna have to start all over. Your post, however, has made me realize I'd better call.

[G851613]

Caldwell - Do call. I urge you to call frequently. I keep a log on my computer of everyone I've talked to since things with the attorney went south. The more I'm reading here, the more I feel like we're going to get shafted again. I hope you don't have to start all over.

[Riley18]

It doesn't seem that things are changing with the banks. They are simply not participating in any government programs for refinancing or modification. They took tons of taxpayer money and are using it for their own benefit. I think that we need to get the word out as much as possible. There is an article on the banks' slow response to homeowners on Huffington Post, and they want our stories so I sent them mine. Also, through their site I found ProPolitico, Inc., and sent them an email. A reporter called me today while I was at work, and I plan on calling her back tomorrow. The banks know we cannot hold on forever. We need to make some noise

[G851613]

Update of sorts:

I am still getting the runaround via the Loss Mit/Foreclosure department. I'm being told to make a 4th trial payment (which btw was NOT explained as a trial payment, and I TOLD them it was too high), but my husband is adamant that he will not make another payment. He agreed to three months. He's paid three months. He's done.

My dad, a retired attorney, is looking at our situation and looking for a well recommended attorney for us to meet with about it. He's also apparently writing a draft of a letter to be sent to Jamie Dimon.

I pulled my husband's credit reports today, and it's just heartbreaking. For two years we've been playing catchup or trying to modify the mortgage, and it feels like we're backed into a corner with nowhere to go. So, I will fight as best I can to get out of that corner. According to one report, we are 13k in arrears, so I wonder where that 7k we've paid since the payment arrangement began has gone? An accounting of our monies is my next step.

I also emailed Jamie Dimon, just to kind of see if I would get a response. If anyone wants to see what I sent, I will share what I'm comfortable with sharing.

I'm currently making a list of questions to ask next time I call Chase, but like my dad said, most of the questions that need to be answered CAN'T be answered at the level I'm reaching by calling them. Hence the email to Jamie Dimon. I'll be sure to let you know if we get a response.

~Heather

[G851613]

Just another quick update:

I sent my email this afternoon. Much to my surprise, I had a response in my inbox by 9:40pm CST from a gentleman named Jimmy Laguna thanking me for my email and apologizing for my trouble. He said that in the next few days I would be contacted by someone from the Home Finance Executive Response Team. I guess that's a good thing.

My husband kind of laughed at me after work and said, "I can't believe you threatened the CEO of a major bank with a lawyer." I told him I didn't threaten him at all. I simply pointed out my next step and that I had documentation to back up what's happened.

Things might get interesting now. I guess we'll see.

~Heather

[Jillian118]

I think we all have responses from Jimmy. Keep calling and at least you know the email arrived.

[G851613]

That's what I figured. But I'll just keep on trucking - towards what, who knows - but the important thing is to keep moving.

[diana0806]

I feel your pain g8. I have been at this for 22 months. I wrote to jimmy d. They forward it right to executive res. Team. In my case ohio. You must call, call , call. Fax, fax, fax. Fight you a.......... Off. I got a supervisor handling my case. Keep us updated on your journey. We will prevail!!!!!!!!!!!

[G851613]

Thanks, Diana! I call every week. Sometimes three or four times, and at most recent, 3 times in a row to get clarification.

My biggest fear now, after reading other stories, is that Chase is going to take the fact that we paid those three payments as proof that we can pay it and deny modifying the loan. Good luck on your journey!

[G851613]

I really wish all the departments at Chase knew what the other departments are doing. Seriously. We did the three payments even though they were higher than the one we hadn't been paying. And the rep who set it up did tell me that she was sorry, those were the payments the computer said we could make.

No one seems to realize we have TWO mortgages with Chase. That's TWO payments, then taxes and insurance. Chase recently paid our back property taxes for last year. A few days later we get an Escrow Statement. That's great. Now we have an shortage for this coming year AND still need to pay last year's taxes. But, in the Escrow Statement, they figured the payments based on what our interest rate should be if we were current. Case in point: our three payments were for 1289.02. The payment we were having trouble making was 1016.xx. AND if we were current, our payment right now (without escrow) would have been 770.26 (with escrow they want 1226.14 because of the shortage and balance). Our second mortgage payment is 289.60, but we fell behind on that trying to make the three payments on the first. So, our second is three months behind, and we've received Notice of Default.

And, sadly, I had a rep at Chase tell me to make the payment on the first rather than the second because "if we foreclose on the second, at least we can't take your house". Nice.

No response from the Executive Team as yet, so I'll be on the phone tomorrow to check our status and see what's happening, if anything, with our loan.

[G851613]

Just a quick update:

We never received a call from the ERT, but we did receive a letter in the mail from the guy on the ERT (with his contact info) who says he is investigating the matter. I suppose that's a plus. I have no money to make a 4th payment or to pay on my 2nd mortgage - at least not this month like they want. Tuesday the second goes 4 months past due. The young lady at Chase said she hoped that there were no fees assessed because that would change the amount we owe. I told her I could pay 2 payments on the 2nd on the 4th and possibly catch up the other two later in the month. We shall see.

[caldwellb02]

Hi all. I e-mailed Jamie Dimon but all I got as a result was that Chase won't talk with me now (I had been working with the Executive Team) because I told Mr. Dimon in the e-mail that I was also working with NACA. Chase now says that their contract with Naca says they can't talk with us if we are working with NACA. I am trying to get to the bottom of this. Are any of you working with NACA? No one told me at Naca or through this forum (not that I hold this forum liable) that I couldn't also negotiate with Chase. All I knew was that if I got a proposal from chase I should run it through Naca because they might have a better idea. Anyone hear of anything similar?

[G851613]

Caldwell - At this point, we're not working with NACA, and I know we don't qualify for Obama's plan. I emailed Jamie Dimon as a last ditch effort before we decide to find a lawyer and go from there. I'm not extremely hopeful. It just seems like they're just covering their collective behind.

Have you asked your rep at NACA if they know why Chase suddenly won't talk to you?

[G851613]

Hello - I know I haven't updated in a while, but that's because there's nothing to update! Much to my dismay.

I called the person listed on our letter from the ERT on 9/3/9, and he told me that he had accepted another position in the department and that our file was assigned to this other lady. Great. Got her info. He also checked and said it was odd that he hadn't received a response yet from the modification department on our file. That they ask the ERT to give them a 72-hour turn around time to respond.

SO, I have called 3 times since the 3rd (I wanted to give them time to get a response since he emailed them AGAIN while I was on the phone) and left a message on the new person's voicemail with no response. I will be trying again later tonight, but I think they're figuring out they screwed up and screwed us over. Bah.