B of A has "sent it for review"...what does this mean?

[s m l]

Hello All..........
New here! I am happy to have found this board.
In April my husband and I hired a loan mod specialist. We submitted paperwork in May to B of A. We have waited and waited and waited...it's my understanding that B of A wasn't set up for some of these govt programs until July?
Well, I called B of A yesterday...the 800 number...I spoke with someone who says that the computer shows "over eligibility" and that my account was sent for review on the 28th of this month. They said from this point it is a 45-60 day process and at the end of that time they will tell me if I have been approved for MHAP. If I have, from that point we will go into the 3 month trial period.

Here are all my questions:

What does "sent for review" mean? Has it been assigned a negotiator??

Is there a way I can speed this up without making these people mad? I am getting extremely nervous about my financial situation. I am current on my house because even if electricity bills, water bills, cell phone bills got paid late, my mortgage was paid on time. I had bad credit due to a bad marriage/divorce and I've worked my tail off to get my credit back up. I had loss of income so my savings is almost gone making sure my mtg was paid on time every month.

I see that a lot of people have contacted someone by the name of Barbara? Is this something I should do or should I just let it be since its in "review" now?? Also, will this person even talk to me since I do have a loan mod person?

If I am approved and we begin the trial period...what happens during that trial period? Do I continue to show financials?

Lastly, B of A told me yesterday since I am in review that it is okay to make a house payment based on 31% of my income...I asked if this will affect my credit, they said yes. Does anyone know how badly?

Sorry for the length of this...sometimes it is much easier to talk to "outsiders" than the bank. I am really hoping this is approved for me.

[ama125]

I would check your status online. I have posted details on contacting Barbara Desoer (she is Pres of Home Loans division). See this thread for more info and I would not advise sending in a payment until you have something in writing...
Escalating your Making Home Affordable Program request to the Office of the President

You should only need to submit financials once unless they need more info or the data is outdated by 90 days or more.

[caldwellb02]

ama - Not a BofA customer - having a hard time believing that BofA only asks for financials once. Are you sure of that? Surely is different than Chase, if so.

As for s m l I'd say "hold on to your hat." This is a looooooong process for the vast majority of people. And you may get different stories from different BofA folks depending on which day you talk to them.

Good luck.

[ama125]

Originally Posted by caldwellb02

ama - Not a BofA customer - having a hard time believing that BofA only asks for financials once. Are you sure of that? Surely is different than Chase, if so.

As for s m l I'd say "hold on to your hat." This is a looooooong process for the vast majority of people. And you may get different stories from different BofA folks depending on which day you talk to them.

Good luck.

Note that I said "should" only ask once. If you've gone through customer service, it will likely be lost and every new person you talk to will ask for it again (they don't go hunting it down even if you have already sent it). I've done that already and it went it nowhere, but since emailing OOP, I've only been asked for it once. Of course, they could always misplace it, etc or you might get re-assigned to a new negotiator who may ask for it again. Also important is that anything sent to them can become outdated (usually will not accept or work with data that is more than 90 days old). So, for someone on a 3 month trial, that info will be outdated by the trial's end will likely be asked to re-submit updated documents.

[monidel]

S M L - I had submitted my paperwork back in Aug 27 and hadn't heard anything. When I called the 800 they also told me it was in review. However, I did email the OOP office (see threat posted by ama) this past monday and I got a call back on tuesday. He didn't give me any detailed information, but at least now I have a contact person with a direct number that I can call.

[nativelasvegan]

I contacted BOA in March when I realized we were struggling with the monthly payment. Called 800 number on website, waste of time.
Email Barbara in April, got a response almost immediately. Assigned a "negotiator".
April-July - "review time". Not sure why we had this much time pass. I called the negotiator three times a day every day of the week.
July 21 - negotiator told me we were "qualified for the nationwide program" and gave me the new terms of our modified loan. Said documents would be sent out fedex, sign them asap and send them back.
September 11 - called negotiator and said tired of waiting for documents, where the heck are they? He does not know. Said they are being prepared. Asked him for the number of the "document preparer" he said he did not know who that was. Had no idea, even tentatively when docs would be sent out. Told him we could not make Sept. payment (current until September). He said he could put me on special forbearance, asked me what I could afford to pay and I told him 31% of our net income or $1488. He sent me a repayment agreement via fedex on a Friday and marked it for Saturday delivery. My loan is owned by Fannie Mae. I researched the fannie mae guidelines and realized that a repayment agreement is not the appropriate remedy for our situation.
September 25 - called negotiator. Told him I think he made a mistake by sending us the repayment agreement, and we would not be signing it nor sending in a payment.
September 30 - two calls from negotiator asking for our monthly payment. I asked him where the forbearance agreement was and he said we had it. I told him I did not have it, I had a repayment agreement (by the way, the repayment agreement gave the bank the right to call the entire amount of the loan due at the end of its term which means, and I could be wrong, that we would be screwed.
Negotiator said he could offer "verbal" forbearance and he could accept our payment over the phone.
I told him thanks for his help but I will not make the payment and instead will wait for the modification documents that were promised on 7/21.
........ to be continued.

[s m l]

Thanks everyone....I just sent Barbara an email. Keeping my fingers crossed...

Just out of curiosity, I was under the impressiong that once the loan went to the 3 month trial period that it was as good as done...I am finding on this very valuable site that this is not always the case.

Why would the lender suddenly say "no" after the 3 month trial period.

This is all very nerve wracking...been waiting patiently since May...guess I should've been "on the ball" a little earlier.

[nativelasvegan]

s m l -- Who owns your loan? I can certainly understand your financial situation. I am about the same place you are. I too worried about making people mad. I would call three times a day: 9 am, noon, 4 pm. Every single day until I got a call back or some information. Finally got a "negotiator" assigned to my file.
Now I am down to calling on Mondays and Fridays to see if my status has changed. I don't want to take time away from a BAC person if they are helping another homeowner.