Can Countrywide Home Loans tell me not to send in a payment?

[fndwalker]

Here is my story as of today. This is the letter that I am taking to my attorney's office tomorrow to see what other options that I have. Sorry that it's so long.

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I am writing this letter in regards to the actions of Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. I have been having a hard time dealing with this company’s workout department. I lost my job in August 2007 and notified Countrywide Home Loans that we were having financial difficulties. I was told that they could not do anything for us until we were three months behind on our mortgage and I had a job.
I was offered a job in the Charleston, South Carolina in late September and I called Countrywide Home Loans again and told them that I had found a job and wanted to see if they could put us on a workout agreement. I also explained to them that we were looking at renting out the property so that we could save our house. I was then informed that if we were not living in the house that they would not be able to work anything out with us. I was also told that since we were not four months behind so there was still nothing that they could do. In the previous conversation that I had with Countrywide Home Loans, I only needed to be three months behind.
I started my job on 4 October 2007 and called Countrywide to report that I had started a job. They told me that since I was not four months behind yet that there was nothing they could do. I called FHA on 30 October 2007 and spoke to a man by the name of John. After talking to him for a few minutes he told me that I was calling the wrong number and that I needed to talk to Melissa Conrar or Amy Brown. I tried to call them but was not able to leave a message. I called FHA back and asked if there was anyone else that I could talk to and they directed me to talk to Diane Paul or Peter Otero. I never was able to get in touch with either of these people. I was also told to try Countrywide’s Loss Litigation Department as they were usually good about working with people.
I spoke to Misty at Countrywide on 31 October 2007 and after running the numbers she said that there was a plan they could put us on. She gave me the details of the workout and told me that we should be receiving our paperwork for the workout and that I needed to have it returned to them by the date on the paperwork. She also informed me not to send any money as that would negate the workout.
On 3 December 2007, the company that I was working for in Charleston, South Carolina shut its doors and has since filed for bankruptcy. The package from Countrywide did not show up until the middle of December (two months later). My brother called me and told me that it was at the house. At the beginning of January we moved back into our house and the middle of January I called Countrywide Home Loans and explained to them what had happened. I talked to the person that was negotiating for us and she told me that she was going to cancel the first workout and to call back in 48 hours to get set up on another plan. I called back and was told that we were pre-approved for a HUD workout plan and again I was told not to send in any money as it would negate the plan.
We got the packet on 24 March 2007 (two months later) and filled out everything that they asked for and sent it back to them on 28 March 2008. My wife and I waited and the next thing we got in the mail from them was the money order that we sent to them for “late charges, inspections fees due, and miscellaneous fees”. We got this back in the middle of April. I promptly called and spoke to someone who told me that we have not been assigned a negotiator. I have letters showing who our negotiator was supposed to be. I explained that we had received the money order back a wanted to know why. She told me that the reason they sent the money order back was that one of the documents was not signed properly. She told me the document and we promptly sent it back with the money order. About 2 hours later I got a call back asking if I had already sent the paperwork and I said yes. She said that there were some other documents that were not signed properly and that I needed to send them back also. So we sent those too. We mailed it back to them on 16 April 2007. I was also instructed to mail my mortgage payment on 1 June 2008, as per the documentation.
In the middle of May we received the money order back again. I immediately called back and spoke to a person named, “Candy”. Candy had informed me that the negotiator that I had been working with was no longer available and that she was out on medical leave. Candy also informed me that she was now working on our file. She gave me the documents that we needed to send in to them and we did. I asked Candy if the money order would be staying this time. She told me that it would.
I had called Candy on 2 June 2008 to insure that everything had been done properly and she told me that it had. I asked her if she received the money order and the mortgage payment. She said that she had not. I told her that we mailed it out on 30 May 2008 and that it was signed for on 2 June 2008. She told me that it would get to her then.
The middle of June we got the money order back again. I called Candy back and wanted to know what was wrong now. She informed me that the Notary did not put our initials in our name. It took us a week to get this straightened out since my wife had taken off work the previous times to get all of the glitches worked out. My wife had finally gotten a day off that we could get it done. We sent it back to them on the 12^th or 13^th of June. We had no further correspondence with them and figured that it was all worked out.
On 24 June 2008 we received a Fed Ex package from Countrywide Home Loans stating that they were not going to be able to work with us due to “non-compliance”. They never stated how we did not comply. When I tried to call the number for the person who sent me the letter (the same person Candy told me was not working on our case anymore), I was directed to a voicemail and the voicemail stated that the person I was trying to reach does not subscribe to this service. I tried for two days to get a hold of this person or anyone else at that number and was not able to so I finally called FHA. Another thing is that this letter was dated for the 13^th of June; we did not receive it until the 24^th of June. Eleven days later.
On 26 June 2008 I called FHA and explained to them what had happened that I did not know what was going on since no one from Countrywide Home Loans workout department ever called us to inform us that we were not in compliance. I was told that a negotiator would call me back in the next couple of days.
On 28 June 2008 I called FHA again and told them that I had not received the call back that I was supposed to from my negotiator. They informed me that the negotiator called back and was not able to get through. I found out that my phone had some kind of privacy directory on it, which is now turned off.
The end of June we received the money order back again.
On 7 July 2008 I tried to call the FHA number but it was busy every time I called.
On 8 July 2008, I finally got through to FHA and was directed to contact the Atlanta office which was busy also. It has been busy every time that I have called.
On 10 July 2008 I called Countrywide Home Loans back and ask them how we were not in compliance. I was told the reason why was because we never sent in the paperwork. We sent the paperwork to them four times. We are not even sure if it ever got into the right persons hands or not. When I talked to Helen, from Countrywide Home Loans, on the phone she told me that we no longer qualify for the HUD program that was offered to us. She also told me that the case was closed out on the 23^rd of June. So why was our mortgage payment sent back on the 18^th of June. She also stated that the person who told me everything was in order should not have said that. She told me that they could try and do a loan modification but that I was going to have to come up with more than the $1,300 I now have and that I have to do it in the next 48 hours, but that was still no guarantee.
The problem through this all is that if Countrywide Home Loans had not drug their feet, or better yet if they would have let us pay when we first started having the money to pay again we would not be as far behind as we are now. We would not be 12 months behind but would only be 6 or 7. We were told that as long as we were not more than 12 months behind we could get a workout program through HUD. We are pushing the envelope, but if they had let us make payments prior to this we would be in a lot better standing.
I hope this helps explain why we are in the situation that we are now in.
Sincerely,

[schwefls]

Welcome to our forum fndwalker:

I wanted to stop in say hello and assure you .. you are not alone. I am sorry you are living this nightmare. But, shortly someone will be reaching out to you with some sound advice/suggestions in ther interim please hang in there and know that we are here for you.

[Cat Damiano]

fndwalker,

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

What did the attorney say that your options would be?
Please keep us updated..........

[fndwalker]

Well the first thing the lawyer said was: "Oh Countrywide". By those two words I knew that we were in trouble. After reading my letter he told me that he does not understand why these people are not working with us. If it was just one initial, why not go ahead and let them do the workout send us back the paperwork and let us correct it. He also said that he's never seen people trying to get some one to work with them that would not work back.
He told me not to panic that there was still plenty of time to get a work out and even the lawyers who would probably do the foreclosure would try and work with us, if Countrywide would agree to it. He also told me the name of the company that does 80% of the foreclosures in Georgia are his former employer and that they work for Countrywide. He also told me that 90% of the 80% of people that were foreclosed on were done so because they did not respond to the action that was taken against them. He went on to say that clearly we have tried to work it out with these people and for them not to give us a workout option over one missing intitial was a bunch of #(%*!.
There were a couple of options that I was told about today, one being roll the back money to the end of the loan and the other was a loan modification. Either way I would be happy. As I told the folk at Countrywide in a mass email that I sent last night. I am not looking for a handout, just some one to help me work this out. We can afford our house unless now they want a lot of money up front, if they do that then we are screwed.
He also told me that he was going to write and call Countrywide and see if he can light a fire under their butt, because sometimes that is all they need. I was instructed to send back the payment and the money order, the more arrows I have in my quiver the better. He has copies of all the times that they sent back the moeny order and the first mortgage payment that I was supposed to send to them.
He mentioned also that we may have a lawsuit against them for breach of trust of something like that. But he said that we would get into that later if we had to.
The only part that I don't like about this whole thing is that I am having to put my hands in the trust of some one else again. The last thing that he told me to was send in my letter and don't stop there email it and fax. Show them that we are serious. I have done everything but the fax part. For the most part keep plugging away.
I also did a mass email last night to Countrywide asking for help. The only response that I got back was Ms. Jameson was no longer there and that Mr. Mozilo has retired as of July 1.
I also did an email to both presidential candidates, my congressmen, my representative, the White House, and the Vice President. As of yet, nothing has been sent back to me. I figured as much. But I am trying to bring as much attention to this as possible.
Well that's where we are today. I feel better than yesterday, but not much. It looks like there may be a light at the end of the tunnel. But as I have learned with Countrywide, their bulbs do not always burn bright and more times than not burn out before you get to the end of the tunnel.
I would also like to encourage any one struggling with Countrywide to email any one and every one sitting in a political seat. We voted for these people and they work for us, make them get involved. Countrywide has caused us so much grief and I know that we are in good company that there are others who sit where I am sitting now. Let's try and get something done about the way they handle things. Sure, I know they are underworked and underpaid (the Countrywide employees that we talk to), but they need to be better at what they do and more efficient.
Thanks for letting me post my problem. This site is a God send for me.
Frederick

[schwefls]

Findwalker I am glad things are looking up for you keep up the fight we are all in this till the end, together as one

[fndwalker]

Hello all,
I have posted a thread about a month and a half ago after Countrywide Home Loans told us that we did not comply. I called FHA and after about a week was told by FHA that the reason Countrywide Home Loans pulled the offer was because they did not reveive the signed docs or the corrected docs (she sounded like she was confused and did not understand what they told her).
When I followed my attorney's advice to send a mass email of a letter I typed outlining everything that had taken place I received a phone call from someone in Countrywide Home Loans wanting to get more information on the letter that I sent. I explained to her our situation, that we had called in January and were told by Countrywide not to send in any payment as that would negate the workout offer (how this is possible when they are going to send it back to you anyway if it's not the full amount). Is it legal for them to give you this advice?
The person that I spoke to told us that they tell their agents not to tell borrowers and "since it seemed to be a recurring issue with that department, she would give me the benefit of the doubt". She also told me that she was going to put a "credit block" on our account since we were told not to send in any payments and that she was going to roll the credit block back to December since we were told not to send in a payment.
Well you guessed it. We got a new loan mod and guess what? I know cannot get a hold of the person that gave me this information. She also told me that they would stop reporting to the credit agencies, but guess what, they still are.
Is there anything wrong with this picture? The original loan modification back in June was dropped by Countrywide Home Loans for non-compliance, but yet when I spoke to this person, they told me that the paperwork was there on time, the manager just did not check to see if it was there. Hmmmm.
Any comments.
Frederick

[chief115]

Your horror story almost mirrors mine! What should have been a 3-4 month deliquency has turned into 16 months. There has got to be something or someone that can get this taken care of! I bought four more months and believe me, I am going to email, call and fax to anyone that can stop this company from doing what they are doing.

Don't give up, there is power in numbers

[fndwalker]

I tell you, honestly I feel like throwing in the towel, if it wasn't for the fact that I have a wife and five kids I would. But now I am on the short list. The have set a sale date after they told us that everything was frozen! Explain that too me. Plus now they are charging us the lawyer fees for the foreclosure process, another $1700+ that I do not have. They have drug their feet in so many ways. But when I have to return paperwork it has to be there in 10 days or less. This is crazy, I just do not know how much more that we can take of this. The whole problem stems from some one not checking to see if the paperwork was in on time and now I have to pay the lawyer fees because someone there did not do their job. People like that are a disgrace.

[chief115]

Trust me, I know exactly how you feel! It is a very frustrating process and you often feel like you are in this alone. You are not!!!!!!!! I can't tell you how many nights I laid awake in bed worrying. Turn this over to God, he will never leave you nor forsake you!

Call them everyday! Demand that they talk to you! Don't back down and don't give up! They use so many scare tactics and they prey on people who are on their last straw! Keep you head up and your faith strong. This will work out. Hopefully, someone will be able to stop them from their predatory tactics. It doesn't look good on them to put a family out of their home and it certainly makes the investor look bad. This too shall pass and you will be a stronger person because of it.

[Tmar898]

I will pray for you and your family. I too am dealing with Countrywide- and because of the information I have received from Loansafe.org, I'm being persistent, demanding and determined!!!! What about calling your local newspaper or tv news station? Maybe they have a "What's buggin you" department like Fox News. I'm sure a lot of people would be interested in a story about a man trying to take care of his family. But being screwed by a Big Mortgage Company- especially in light of the fact that Bank of America just took over Countrywide. It wouldn't hurt to try that angle as well. God Bless you, your wife and your five children. May the Lord Jesus Christ Keep you.

[fndwalker]

Here's an update,
I just got off the phone with our lawyer and he is ready to try some "legal" manuevers. I didn't know it but he is also a bankruptcy attorney also which in a way gives him a little more leverage in our situation. As I was talking to him, I explained that I did not think that we should be paying the foreclosing attorney's fees since it's not our fault that they did not follow through. He agreed with me but said that might be a little hard to pull off because some one is going to have to pay the lawyer for them working. So it's either going to be them or us. Chances are it's going to be us, but he is willing to try and negotiate it for us. He then went on to say that if they don't want to go that route that we will just threaten them with bankruptcy. Not actually do it, just threaten them. He says that is not the way to go, but in some cases it is the only way. So he now he see's what we have been dealing with.
So that's where we are now. I feel a little more encouraged but still know that we have a long hard road a head of us.
Thanks for the prayers we can use them and we will pray for you and anyone else who is dealing with Countrywide Home Loans.
Frederick