Hopeful start

[vikingmom]

Hello,
I have been reading this forum since February, but did not try any of the proactive techniques suggested until just this week, and amazingly, I think I am seeing some progress!
Two years ago, we unfortunately were convinced by a Countrywide Full Spectrum agent to refinance our home in order to complete some repairs and pay off a considerable amount of consumer debt we had accumulated. He at first offered us an attractive rate, but then conceded that we could only settle for a high interest rate due to our high debt ratio. But, he convinced us it was lower than the credit card debt and tax deductible. He reasoned we could easily refinance into a better rate within two years, and we bought it. Fast forward two years, our house has lost about 1/3 of its value, our income has dropped about 20%, and we are currently 5 months behind, due to an uncovered hospitalization. I attended a save your home workshop in April and started a modification application with Countrywide, but the financial docs I faxed in were never matched with my application.
I tried to make a payment at the workshop, but was told to hold on to the money, as I would need it for the workout. We had no more collection calls, and received regular bills, so we thought the paperwork was ok. Then, we received a letter last week that the application had been denied due to a lack of documentation, and foreclosure proceedings begun; we were floored. I immediately turned back to this forum for a strategy.
I registered with NACA and filled out the paperwork (I have a phone appt. tomorrow). I also started a new modification application with CW/BOA by telephone through the Retentions dept, and immediately faxed in the paper work, this time calling to confirm receipt. Then, as a final resort, I e-mailed Barbara J. Desoer, President of Home Loans using the information I found on this forum. Miraculously, a woman from her office - Cynthia, called me today! Less than 12 hours after I sent my e-mail. She asked me to fax everything directly to her in the morning, and that she would personally assign it to a negotiator within 48 hours! I am so relieved. I would never have known to contact Ms. Desoer without this forum, thank you.
As insurance, I will still follow through with NACA, I do not want to risk falling through the cracks again. Hopefully I can report back in a few weeks of another CW/BOA success!

[Evan Bedard]

Hi Vikingmom,


Welcome and thank you for joining the forum.



Looks like the forum has definetly led you in the right direction. Keep us updated on your progress through NACA and the Presidents Office.

[vikingmom]

An update - things seem to be moving quickly, I hope they don't suddenly lose momentum.
First, I was able to get two summer teaching gigs that should help us catch up the amount we've fallen behind once BOA/CW allows us to make payments again (we are currently listed as in foreclosure, 5 months behind, no sale date).
Second, I faxed all of the required documents to NACA, Cynthia Thornton of VP Desoer's office, and BOA-HOPE - that took some time. Naca asks for papers that the others did not need.
I was able to omplete three telephone interviews with NACA in two days - they are amazing. The women called at the time assigned, were very business like, and got all of the details down. Luckily I had all of the papers collected after reading this forum.
One funny side note, my third NACA interviewer was a young woman from North Carolina. She was very worried that the expenses I listed were too high, especially the $60/mo subway pass, $30/mo children's school bus fee, and $7.00 - $30.00/day parking fee ($30 if I have to drive into the city). I had listed. I had to keep reminding her I live near a big north-east city, things are very expensive here. She also exclaimed over my $820/mo groceries bill (including toiletries, cleaning supplies, etc.) I don't know about the rest of the country, but in the north-east, milk is $4.00/gallon and hamburger (85% lean) is $3.50 - 4/lb. I have two teens and a child in diapers. I thought I was pretty conservative.
Anyway, my NACA proposal was submitted to BOA/CW today at 3 pm, just 4 days from my first phone interview!
I also heard back from Cynthia Thornton's (V.P. Desoer's office) that my case had been assigned to a negotiator (I am trying both strategies). Again, less than 48 hours since I faxed all of the paperwork in. Her name is Jennifer Hall. I tried calling several times, but only got voice mail. Does anyone have an e-mail address?

So, I am hoping our family will soon have the success I have been reading about here. Thank you again to all for sharing their stories and experiences.

[cobra]

Vikingmom;

I wish you much success! But...prepare for a long ride. If you go thru NACA(which is the best option in my opinion) BoA will not want to talk to you. They'll refer you back to NACA. So you may not get information as quickly as you like. Thats a trade off only you can determine if it's worth it. If you ask me..I'd say yes.

Keep us posted as you are on the right track.

Cobra...NACA approved loan mod 5/29

[vikingmom]

Thank you both! So far BOA does not know about NACA (although they probably will once the proposal is sent in). I was afraid to not try both routes, just in case. We currently are somewhat underwater on our house. We owe $400,000 with 28 years left @ 10.35% - House is valued at $378,000 according to the town assessments that were just posted. That is probably a generous assessment, although prices in our area have bottomed out, (according to the news). Still there are many empty houses in our little town. Of the 5000 or so single family homes, I would guess 6 - 8% are bank owned right now. Another 5% are on the market by seller. We have some town budget problems that is making our little town unattractive right now.
In my BOA request I asked for a reduction in interest (I boldly asked for 5% for the lifetime of the loan, which would save us about $1000 a month). I see many here have been offered miracle rates of 2%, but the NACA rep told me there was no way we would get that rate given our current income (too high). NACA is shooting for 31% of our gross (I am assuming the Obama plan), but I think that is still pretty high, even though it would save us about $600 a month. Then again, anything is better than what we have now.
I realize it will be some time before I get the NACA results (seems to be 4 - 6 weeks from when the proposal is submitted?) I don't know if BOA will offer something before then. I explained to Ms. Thornton in the VP's office that in July I would be able to pay 1/2 of the total outstanding, and in August another 1/2, so I am hoping that incentive will get people moving, but still qualify us for a reduction in interest.

[tandm]

Good luck vikingmom - I'm glad you've been able to cobble together a plan from this forum.

I've done both routes - BofA and NACA. BofA offer just wanted long-term good enough to meet our financial criteria so I'm hoping NACA will come through for us like it has for many other members that post here. As Cobra said, it might get hairy once BofA finds out you're working with NACA. I'm wondering if they'll try to get an offer out to you (that's not as good) in the hopes you'll take it before NACA comes through with their negotiated offer. And if you take BofA's offer, I know then NACA can't work with you.

Good luck and happy posting!

[vikingmom]

A new crazy chapter. We began this odyssey by submitting 3 different mod requests between 6/10 - 6/12/09
1) Through the CW/BOA Hope program
2) Through the office of the President (Ms. Desoer), assigned a negotiator
3) Through NACA

NACA submitted their proposal on 7/10/09, I am not sure why it was delayed, all docs were in by the 12th. My status is Submit to investor - restructure. I called NACA yesterday (Monday) and the rep told me he could not see what was requested, it was not yet in the system, to call back next week. He explained things are backed up.

I called BOA Advocacy also on Monday (7/13), they have a mod request in review, but it appeared to be from the OOP negotiator, Jennifer Hall. They also could not tell me the terms yet, as it was being reviewed by Fannie Mae (our investor). There was no mention of the NACA submission in the system, nor the Hope file.

Today, I had a FEDEX envelope when I got home from the Hope program. There is no mention of NACA nor OOP/ Jennifer Hall, so I am assuming this has no relation to these two submissions. Now, here is the kicker - the "approved modification" is for the same horrific interest rate (10.375%) now spread out over 480 months (not 360, 20 of which have already been paid). Plus, $26,000 in P&I and late fees/penalties have been added onto the back end, even though I have been begging BOA to let me pay since March and they will not take my money! In the end, this "help" will cost me $200 a month more than what I could not pay before, for 10 more years! I can only hope this is some kind of mistake.

I immediately called OOP/Jennifer Hall, who has only once returned my calls (of maybe 12 calls) and left a message asking if this was her proposal. I will call NACA in the morning. I obviously can not accept this.

I am thinking of writing another letter/email to Pres. Desoer and copying my U.S. Rep, Barney Frank, who has been a very vocal critic of the failure of banks to use the bailout money to help homeowners. I want to know how BOA thinks giving me the same usarious interest rate, over a longer term, with penalties because they would not accept my payments, translates into help. Any opinions? Should I wait and see if Ms. Hall or NACA come up with a better deal? This just does not make sense.

[FLgata]

Good Morning Vikingmom,

The NACA will come up with a better proposal. Their whole objective is to get a payment that is affordable to you. JMO but I would definitely turn down the offer you received yesterday and wait for a better one to come. It's not uncommon for CW/BOA to offer a crap mod first. It happened to me. Just hold strong and be patient. I have faith in the NACA. They helped me save my home with a restructured loan at 2%.

[vikingmom]

So today, 7/17, I received a call from the HOPE dept., asking me if I received their modification offer. When I asked her how it was to help me, given the increase in monthly payment and extended length of loan, she seemed confused. She pulled the offer up on her screen and agreed that it is a terrible offer. She had no idea why it was even sent out! She said she would note the account that the offer is unacceptable. I asked her if that would accelerate collections, but she said no - she as a counselor had determined the offer was unacceptable, not me! I hope she is telling the truth. I still don't know what NACA has submitted (I have left voice mail and e-mailed service@naca.com but no responses. I also don't know if OOP has submitted anything. Just need to keep waiting.

[Hope4aNewDay]

Viking Mom,

Did you register with NACA online or through a workshop? Can you register and get a phone appt. online or call. I am not finding this info. Do you have to go to a workshop or can you register online and get a phone appt?

[rkel11]

Hope,
You do not have to go to a workshop. You can go through the ten step process and then they will email you your ID. You then can make your phone appts and do it all online. Good luck!

[bittersweetme]

Hi all... I am so glad i found this site and the e-mail address for the "big-wigs @ BoA. I took a chance and e-mailed Ms. Desoer (sp) Yesterday and today @ 2:30 pm I received a phone call from Cynthia Perez from BoA who requested my w2, pay stubs, bank records and something else I cant remember. She had them in her inbox within 15 minutes ! She said once she gets the documents and looks them over she will give me a call back ! I really can only PRAY this is the beginning of something good.. or at least the beginning of something that could become good. I have my phone session with NACA Monday, cant wait to see what they have to say. (I did not mention to ms. Perez that I was waiting for help from NACA). So I sit here with my fingers crossed,toes crossed AND if I dont put my glasses on, my EYES crossed. Thanks for letting me tell my little tale !

[sahm2two]

I had a similiar experience. I emailed Barbara at 3 pm and got a call back at 6:30 tonight. I just emailed all of my documents over. So, I hope this is a good start to a never ending nightmare!!!

[vikingmom]

Hello All,
Just an update - I had a disappointing phone conversation with Sergio in the BOA OOP on Monday 8/10. Last I wrote, I thought I had three different mod requests in the works for my Fannie Mae loan - one through the Hope Dept at CW/BOA, one through Barbara Desoer's office, and one through NACA. On July 13, I received a terrible offer from Hope, basically keeping our current terrible interest rate of 10.375% (a stupid refi), extending the terms from 28 to 40 years, and increasing the monthly payment by $150.00. Now, I am not a math whiz, but this seemed to add $500k to the life of my loan, for nothing. I spoke to a Hope counselor on July 15, and she said I would be crazy to take this. She noted my account that we were requesting it be reviewed again, and sent it back to the negotiator. Then, on Aug. 3, I received a letter from OOP - my senior negotiator - Jennifer Hall, who has been MIA for 2 months, has "researched" my account and sees that I have a "good" offer from MHA (it was not MHA, it was Hope). She feels we should take it, and has closed my file in the OOP! She evidently did not see the HOPE notes that I had requested it be reconsidered.

So, I e-mailed the OOP again, and Sergio called me today. His call raised a number of concerns for me:
1) He could not see any mention of a NACA proposal on my account, even though my NACA status has said Submitted to Investor since July 9.
2) He said that the HOPE mod was not resubmitted for review, but listed as refused, and I now had to start the mod process all over again with him.
3) He said - CW/BOA has NO POWER in determining modifications, Fannie Mae (or rather the investor) makes all decisions. CW/BOA is only the servicer. This makes no sense, if that is the case, why aren't we applying directly to Fannie Mae?
4) Fannie Mae is not following the MHA 31% guidelines.
5) I could make a payment to BOA through him. This after I explained that I had tried several times to make a payment and been refused each time. He claimed that no where on my account is it marked not to receive my payment.
6) He also claimed we are not yet in foreclosure status, yet I am receiving letters from scamming attornies every day telling me foreclosure has been filed at our local court.

Now, the only active mod request I think I have going is with NACA (even though he said there is no mention of it). I have called NACA many, many times for updates (and e-mailed) but never get a response back. I have to start the mod request with BOA all over again in the morning.

On Thur. 8/13 I was able to talk to a man in Kevin Winn's office today (NACA supervisor). He told me NACA submitted my mod request on July 10 to CW/BOA (which I thought) and then again on July 28. He did not know why they had to resubmit, but said it was CW/BOA's request. He told me to check back in a couple of weeks. I told him that the OOP rep - Sergio, said I did not have a NACA submission, only the HOPE one that I turned down. He suggested I call the Advocacy dept. to check.

I called Advocacy at CW/BOA on 8/13 and spoke to a wonderful woman - Peggy. She could see that NACA had submitted (yay!) and that it would be sent to the investor soon. She also told me my HOPE mod was so terrible because they (Hope) had my financials all messed up (I showed a $2000 surplus)! So she updated my financials for me and told me to fax in new pay stubs, etc. to both her and NACA. She agreed that our interest rate (and that of the HOPE proposal - 10.375%) was ridiculous, and she felt good about the information now submitted on my behalf.

Finally, she told me that Sergio was wrong, I was locked out from making a payment, but since my NACA submission (July 10), we were in workout, not foreclosure anymore. She recommended I try to make at least this month's payment, plus a bit extra if we can, to show Fannie Mae we are serious about paying. She told me to call Sergio and have him process the payment, since she doubted any other call center person could take it. I assured her we will pay Aug. 27, when I get paid. We can now afford to pay our mortgage, but it will be tough. I would really like a market interest rate, fixed for the remaining 28 years of our loan. I do not want to extend to 40.

Later, Kevin Winn also called from NACA to follow up. I finally feel like things are improving. For a while I was so afraid all three attempts had failed. Thanks for the suggestions to call Kevin Winn and the Advocacy Dept. MORE positive news! For the first time since April I can now log in to my CW/BOA account and see my status! All of the mod paperwork and workout notifications are there (NACA and HOPE) . What a relief..... Now if I could just get that offer...

[vikingmom]

Just an update - Sergio from OOP called me tonight (8/17) to ask why I had not yet faxed updated financials to him. I told him that I had been told to fax them to Peggy in Advocacy and NACA, after Peggy confirmed receipt of a NACA request and updated my financials over the phone. He put me on hold for some time, then came back and confirmed that yes, Advocacy did have a mod request from NACA for me. He did not know why he could not see it on his screen(apparently he was able to get into an Advocacy screen while I was on hold). He also confirmed that Jennifer Hall, my original OOP contact had somehow entered my financials in incorrectly, showing a surplus of $2000/month (as Peggy had said). He said unfortunately, he could not work with me on the mod, since I am now with NACA. He urged me to find out who my NACA negotiator is (I don't know how to find this out) and to get a contact number for him/her. Also to find out who in Advocacy is assigned to my account (perhaps Peggy, he wasn't sure) and to check in with that person. He said this has dragged on too long, I need to be more aggressive. He also promised to take a payment on Aug 27 for me (my first in 7 months!).
So, tomorrow I have some phone calls to make. Anyone know how to find out who your NACA negotiator is? I have a NACA phone appt. scheduled for Thursday, just in case I need it. Hopefully things won't stall out again.

[CW California]

David in advocacy 866-806-2434x8676 knew who my negotiator at NACA was. Go figure.

[vikingmom]

Originally Posted by CW California

David in advocacy 866-806-2434x8676 knew who my negotiator at NACA was. Go figure.

So now I too can add my name to the list of people who have benefited from David L. at BOA. He is amazing! So nice, helpful, what a great guy. First I called the new NACA number, and got right through, no wait. I spoke to Bruce, a very nice guy who assured me that NACA had sent my mod request three times, 7/10, 7/28 (requested by BOA) and 8/16 (requested by me). He also told me my NACA negotiator will be Janice Rucker (sp.) and that I should hear something in 2 weeks or less, as they are moving much more quickly suddenly. He also said that I should update my financials, which I will do in the morning.
Then, I called David L. to get my CW/BOA negotiator's name (Sergio in OOP had told me to do this). He too answered right away. I called at 4:10 pm Eastern Time (right after lunch for him?) He told me only one NACA request was showing, the other two got canceled out by the 8/16 one. He also saw that Peggy from Advocacy had updated my BOA financials, and that I had turned down the terrible HOPE dept. proposal. He said it appeared that Sergio in OOP had requested the HOPE proposal be reviewed for an MHA mod, but since I was with NACA, that would be canceled. He felt NACA was the best way for me to go given the previous errors with OOP and HOPE. He immediately requested a NACA negotiator be assigned to my account and closed all other open requests. He assured me this was the best way to go for me (even though I have a Fannie Mae loan). I asked him about making my Aug. payment through OOP, and he agreed that was the only way for me to make a payment, but that it would not post to the account, it would go into a holding account until the workout was done (so it wouldn't mess up the numbers). He also said making a payment would be a positive, it would show we do intend to pay.
I felt so relieved that he took the time to help me, even though I was not one of his clients. He too said I should hear quickly, 2 weeks at the most, since the financials had been fixed and we obviously met the MHA requirements.
He warned me that my online BOA account might show a mod request canceled first (that is the HOPE proposal) and then say "closed", but within a day or two, it will change back to active processing, under review, and that will be the NACA request.
I just don't understand why only one person in all of CW/BOA seems to know what is happening. I had two different negotiators in OOP, and neither one could explain the process to me or confirm the NACA proposal was there.
When all of this is done, I want to write a letter thanking him to Ms. Desoer. He really goes above and beyond to help people.
He checked my account, saw that

[vikingmom]

I called NACA to ask about making a payment and request an update since 9/8/09 is just a few days away. I was not able to speak with my negotiator (Janice Rucker) of course. The person I spoke with told me I should be calling my BOA negotiator a lot! Hounding them she said, as NACA and Bruce Marks want to push them to make decisions by 9/8/09. So, the 9/8 e-mail may well have been wishful. It does not seem that there is a concrete agreement to have answers by 9/8 - did anyone else get this type of information from NACA (I know not everyone who answers the phone knows what is really going on).
Anyhow, I then called BOA/CW to make the payment, since I am afraid if I leave the $ in my account it will be spent. The woman in Home Retention took the payment! ($20 by phone charge). She then told me the name of my negotiator! John Gilmore. She gave me an extension x8698, but it does not seem to be correct. Does anyone have the correct contact information for John Gilmore? She also told me my request and file are still being reviewed, it was doubtful any decision would be made by Sept. 8. My online account says Sept. 23.
Anyway, looks like 9/8 won't be my day - but I hope it will be for some others!

[Cassietw]

Viking, next time call the advocacy department to make your payment. They can take it and they will waive the $20.00 fee most of the time. They did for me!

I am glad David is helping you. He is truly amazing as you wrote!

Good Luck!!

Cassie