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This is a discussion on CW/BofA - Making Home Affordable Modification within the Countrywide Home Loans - Tell Us Your Countrywide Story forums, part of the Stop Foreclosure and Tell Us Your Story category; (Advanced warning: This post is going to be LONG)
The following is my experience with CW /BofA in trying to ...
(Advanced warning: This post is going to be LONG)
The following is my experience with CW/BofA in trying to obtain a Making Home Affordable Loan Modification:
Quote:
TIMELINE OF CALLS WITH BANK OF AMERICA IN REGARDS TO SEEIKING ENROLLMENT INTO THE MAKING HOME AFFORDABLE LOAN MODIFICATION PROGRAM BANK OF AMERICA - 5/4/09:
Called 1-800-669-6607
Spoke with LaTanya.
Told me to fax the following items to: 866-261-6472 Attn: HRD. Include loan no.
2 most recent paycheck stubs
Copy of unemployment benefit award
Letter of hardship
Tax return
List of current expenses
She said there is no guarantee we’d be accepted into the program and that the process takes 2 – 3 months. BANK OF AMERICA - 5/5/09:
Faxed to 866-261-6472 the following documentation:
Cover letter asking to be enrolled in the MHAM program.
2007 & 2008 tax returns
Bank statements from the past 6 months.
IRS form 4506-T.
Countrwide/Bank of America monthly statement
Water/Trash bill
Electric bill
Tmobile bill
Auto insurance bill
My 2 most recent paycheck stubs.
My husband's 2 most recent unemployment benefits payment receipts.
My husband's unemployment benefit award statement.
BANK OF AMERICA - 5/6/09:
Called 1-800-669-6607 to see if they received the paperwork I faxed them.
Spoke with Trey. He transferred the call saying he was in the wrong department.
Spoke with Richard. He said the call was transferred to the wrong department.
I was then hung up on.
8:56 a.m. – Called again.
9 a.m. – Spoke with Ira. Was transferring me to the Home Retention Department.
Spoke with Robert. Was transferring me to the Home Retention Department and said their number is 800-669-6650.
Transferred to a Spanish only line.
Hung up.
9:04 a.m. – Called Home Retention Line: 1-800-669-6650.
9:06 a.m. – Spoke with Andre. He said that our loan does not qualify (he looked up our loan). Transferred me to another department.
Spoke with Tabby. Said we can’t have a collection after a bankruptcy and to call the loan modification line 800-669-6650.
9:18 – Transferred again to the Spanish line. HOPE HOTLINE: 5/6/09
9:24 a.m. – Called 1-888-995-HOPE – Springboard Homeowner’s Preservation Society. HUD certified counseling service. Spoke with Anna.
She said our monthly deficit is $308/mo. That the forebearance is $758.00.
Said we do qualify for the Making Home Affordable plan.
If our mortgage was reduced to 2% our payment would be $522.00/mo.
She provided me with Job training/placement phone numbers.
Said a foreclosure in Arizona can take 6 months.
She took all of our financial information and said we have done all we can do to lower our expenses other than to rent out a room in our home.
She would be forwarding the information she collected on to Bank of America and that it may take 2-3 weeks. She said to make sure that I let Bank of America know that I spoke with the HOPE hotline and that they sent a request.
Anna’s Noflo contact info: 1-888-547-8638 x 7726 FANNIE MAE: 5/6/09
5/6/09 – 12 p.m. – Called Fannie Mae and spoke with Brad. He said that Fannie Mae did hold my loan and that I needed to call Bank of America back and ask to speak to someone in Loss Mitigation or Loan Workout. BANK OF AMERICA: 5/7/09
Called 1-800-669-6650. Spoke with Mona. She told me to call 800-594-9345.
Spoke with Paul. Said this was not the right department and transferred me.
9:39 a.m. – Got automated telephone system again telling me to “Please Wait”.
9:40 a.m. – Spoke with Tony. He was in customer service and was transferring me to the Modification Department.
9:41 a.m. – Got automated telephone system again telling me to “Please Wait” and then “Your call can’t be completed at this time. Please hang up and try again.”
9:42 a.m. – Was hung up on.
9:43 a.m. – Called Bank of America Los Mitigation Department – 1-800-66-6654.
9:49 a.m. – Spoke with Margarita. Asked if we could trim our food cost down to $175.00/mo. Said it takes 45-60 days to receive a response from Bank of America and it would take 4 months before foreclosure would start. BANK OF AMERICA 5/7/09:
Called 1-800-669-6607 – Customer service line to make a payment over the phone since I was locked out of making a payment through their website.
Spoke with Ryan. Made payment of $1071.59 – Autodraft out of checking.
He waived the normal $45.00 fee since I was locked out of their website.
Confirmation no: 004816P.
Ryan was upset about how I was being treated in regards to trying to obtain a MHAM. He promised to get the Loan Modification Department on the line and would stay on the line to make sure I received help.
He reviewed the phone log of how many times I had been transferred and said they had kept sending me to the Refinancing Department.
I was transferred to Maria Morris in Loan Retention.
She said that Bank of America was not doing MHA Modifications.
That a letter of invitation must come from the investor before they can proceed. Letters were mailed out in April 2009.
She said that Fannie Mae did not hold my note; that they did. FANNIE MAE 5/7/2009:
11:36 a.m. – Called and spoke with John with Fannie Mae Customer Service.
Explained the treatment I had been receiving from Bank of America and how “Maria” said that Fannie Mae did hot hold my note.
He confirmed that they do indeed hold my note and that I definitely should qualify for the MHAM plan.
He transferred me to their complaint department and gave me their phone number (877-382-4357) in case we got disconnected.
I received voicemail asking me to leave a detailed message about my complaint. I left a message. FANNIE MAE: 5/21/2009:
Received a call from Shanelle with Fannie Mae in regards to my complaint against Bank of America.
She said they definitely hold the note on my home. They have received numerous complaints about many servicers.
She was going to forward my complaint on internally to see if there was anything they could do on their end to modify the loan.
She suggested that I contact the Federal Trade Commission and file a complaint with them. BANK OF AMERICA – 5/28/09:
Called 1-800-669-6654 – Home Retention Team.
8:32 a.m. – Spoke with Delilah. Told her I faxed my information to enroll in the MHAM program on 5/5/09 and asked her to check the status.
She said that our status showed as an active modification but that there was no indication that they had received my fax nor anything from HOPE. She said to refax the following items to 866-261-6472:
2 months bank statements
2 most recent paycheck stubs
Unemployment benefit letter
Hardship letter
Tax form 4506-T
2008 Tax Return
She said to wait 2-3 days and call back to see if they received it.
Said that the review takes anywhere from 30-60 days. HOPE – 5/28/2009 Anna’s Noflo contact info: 1-888-547-8638 x 7726
10:09 a.m. – Called Anna and received voicemail.
Left her a message about how Bank of America states they have not received anything from either HOPE or myself in regards to the MHAM. Asked her to call me back to see if there’s anything they can do to further assist me.
Now the CW/BofA website shows our loan as follows:
Type
Account
Number
Current Principal
Balance*
Date Last Payment
Received
Home Loan
06/04/2009
This account requires special attention. Please call Bank of America Home Loans at 1.800.669.6607.
If I click on the Workout Information tab I get this:
Workout Status Details:
Your request for assistance is under review. During the review process, a thorough examination and analysis of your loan will be completed. During this time, we may or may not need additional information from you. It is common that you will not hear anything from us during the review period, but please be advised that all collections activities have been temporarily suspended during this review period. We expect more information to be available on 06/11/2009. If your status remains unchanged after the 06/11/2009, please call and speak to a customer service representative. Please do not call back before 06/11/2009 as that will delay the process. Please respond promptly to any calls or requests that you may receive from us during this period. Lack of response will cause your workout to be delayed or cancelled. Thank you.
Information as of:
05/07/2009
Workout Stage:
Processing
Phase/Sub-Phase:
Active Processing
Note the part about all collection activities being suspended. They have not for in yesterday's mail I received this:
Quote:
IMPORTANT MESSAGE ABOUT YOUR LOAN
Thank you for your recent payment to BAC Home Loans Serviceing, LP, your home loan servicer.
However, your loan payment for the current month has not been received. As of June 4, 2009, the total due on your loan is $1065.59, which includes the payment due on June 01, 2009.
WHAT THIS MEANS
When a payment has been receive more than one month past the due date, it is vital that the full amount currently due is paid in order to avoid other default-related actions, which may include returning payments that are less than the total amount owed.
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO
Please send us the total amount due, $1,065.59, immediately or contact our office to discuss a mutually acceptable repayment agreement.
Ugh.
So to skip past all of the above information I have a few questions:
1. If I already sought help through another HUD counselor (Hope/Springboard) does that prohibit me from seeking help through NACA?
2. Is a monthly gross income (not including my husband's unemployment since they won't count it unless we can prove he'll receive it for at least 9 months - which we can't) of $1200.00 too little to even qualify for a Making Home Affordable Loan Modification?
Our current principal balance is roughly $141k.
Homeowners Insurance is $578.00/yr.
Property Taxes are $1300/yr.
Current monthly payment is $1,065.59. (PI = $904.61; Escrow = $160.98)
Loan info: 30 year fixed conventional at 6.375%. Note is held by Fannie Mae.
The making home affordable plan has a target payment of 31% of gross income, but Naca has an affordability equation (thier system) which takes other things into account to figure your payment instead of a certain percentage of your income. There have been many Naca success stories on this forum, including ours. You have to be very proactive and keep calling everyone and anyone to get anywhere in this nightmare. I would get the process going with Naca asap their services are free. Regardless of the direction you take be prepared for a long fight since regardless of how you go about it getting any type of help from CW/BOA takes awhile. Good Luck!
Your saga sounds like mine...except I never got transferred to the Spanish speaking line!
I agree with Gray517, submit your info with NACA and see what they can do for you - took me 5 months of CW runaround, then NACA got me approved for an affordable modification in less than 2 months and very little phone call stress. I have spent a total of 9 months trying to find my way out of this crazy maze of bureaucracy.....if it wasn't for NACA, I would be out on the street by now.....
I had my phone interview with "Lyncia" of NACA this morning.
Apparently our income is too low to qualify for any loan restructure/modification. My husband lost his job last year and is on unemployment. I only make $1200/mo gross.
She recommended a forebearance instead.
I declined it as there is now way to tell how long it's going to take my husband to find a job and when he does, would he earn enough money to make our house payment plus pay the forebearance amount? I only see this as a lose-lose proposition.
We're able to stay relatively current now but it's going to get harder as our electric bill will soon be increasing by about $100/mo (AZ summer = high utility bills).
Just out of curiosity: What would a family need to earn a month with a mortgage payment of $1069/mo (only other monthly obligations are food and utilites) to qualify for either the Making Home Affordable loan modification or a NACA restructure?
By my calculations, ( and assuming you're looking for your payment to be 31% of income), you'd need a gross montly income of $3450.00.
A gross monthly income of $1200 would afford a payment of $372, ( again including your taxes/ins.)...Since your taxes/ins are $169 a month, that would leave $203 left for your mortgage payment...Wow, I don't know...But, I will keep you in my thoughts.
By my calculations, ( and assuming you're looking for your payment to be 31% of income), you'd need a gross montly income of $3450.00.
A gross monthly income of $1200 would afford a payment of $372, ( again including your taxes/ins.)...Since your taxes/ins are $169 a month, that would leave $203 left for your mortgage payment...Wow, I don't know...But, I will keep you in my thoughts.
If we made $3450.00 we wouldn't qualify nor need a loan mod.
Oh, I totally understand...I've got a link to an NPV calculator, and just plugging your basic numbers into it, and what you own on your home, it looks as though you'd need a gross mo. income of $1900, for them to consider a modification...NACA may be able to do a little better for you, if you'd contact them...I'll see if I can send you a link to this calculator, and you can play with yourself...I don't think it's completely set in stone figure wise, but it does give you an idea.
I just needed to know the minimum amount that my husband could make for us to qualify. We need this so we know what to put down for a starting wage on job applications.
On the brighter side of things he does have a 2nd interview tomorrow for a job that starts at $14/hr. If he gets this job we won't even need a loan mod.
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NACA couldn't help us. 
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