New DOJ program--BOA says no appeal of their NPV?

[sautesmom]

Hello:
I am new here, and hoping someone can give me some guidance. I live in California, had a 2005 Countrywide loan taken over by Bank of America (BOA), seriously behind in my mortgage due to a lot of reasons not relevant to this post. I applied for Keep Your Home California, which I was told I qualified for, in Dec 2011.
In June I got a letter from Keep Your Home saying I was taken out of the program because BOA was putting me into their new Dept of Justice program. We've been going back and forth over the paperwork in the last 2 months, BOA continued my auction date to August 9, while I was sending in paperwork.
I just got their "decision", saying they are denying it based on their NPV analysis and the investors don't think it is a good value to modify my loan, (because they think they will make more money selling it, hahaha.) The NPV has serious problems, including blank boxes, but the biggest problems is my house value which they say is $262,000, while my loan balance is $260,000. On Zillow my home and the others on my street are all listed around $150,000, and Zillow has me at 2 bedrooms when my house is really 1 bedroom. I pulled recent sales in this area off Zillow for my sq. footage, and they are $130,000 to $150,000. When I used the HAMP NPV program, it shows with my income and home value, I AM approved.
I just got off the phone with my BOA guy, and I asked him where do I send my appeal, because I understand I have 30 days to appeal. He told me unlike the old program, under the new DOJ program, it HAS NO APPEAL AVAILABLE if you are denied! I said so BOA can just put crazy numbers in here, and say "Oh Well!" and the program provides for no appeal??? That just doesn't make sense!
Can anyone direct me how do I file an appeal under the new DOJ program? I do intend to get a real appraisal myself, but I don't have a lot of time before the auction date.

Thanks,

Carla in Sacramento

[TomEason]

Hi Carla

Welcome to the community.

I empathize with the frustration of dealing with BOA. As is the case with most lenders, a majority of the reps are uneducated and untrained.

For the real loan mod criteria, I would recommend you download and read the DOJ v BOA consent judgment (settlement terms). The specific terms concerning escalation/appeal procedures are specified therein.

Good luck to you!

[sautesmom]

Thanks so much for the direction to the consent judgment--exactly what I was looking for!

Unfortunately, the next day I went to a BOA outreach event (which just happened to be in town--a fun little 5 hours of my time) and I brought a copy of the consent judgment, with all the appeal scenarios tagged and highlighted (and my Zillow and 3 comps, of course) I told them all I wanted was an appraisal, and to pay them my $200 toward the appraisal as it directs in the Judgment, and for them to re-run the numbers with an actual appraisal. NONE of the counselors or their supervisors would even look at the Judgment! "Our official information is that there is no appeal for the DOJ program--all you can do is re-apply, it doesn't matter what those pages say" every person I spoke to told me. Aaaagh!

So my next question is: Does anyone have any information on how a homeowner can enforce this Judgment, which in my case is the required appeal section? Reading it, I don't see anything allowing for enforcement in Court. Should I call my Attorney General?

I set an appointment to re-apply, but the earliest isn't until August 7. As I said to them, what difference is that going to make, if you are not going to have an actual appraisal done and instead are just going to use whatever program you used for this one??? The numbers for house values are going to come up the same. Meanwhile I need to be getting my lawsuit ready if they won't take the auction off calendar and they won't let me use a real appraisal.

Thanks so much!

Carla in Sacramento

[TomEason]

Hi Carla

Thanks for your update.

Sorry to hear your five hours at the outreach event was unproductive. But at least you tried! BOA's reaction is typical for them. Their employees are trained to ignore consent decrees (not that they've knowledgeable about them) and blindly follow internal BOA policy.

Fortunately the settlement (and consent decree) specifies that borrowers have a private right of action, i.e. standing, to sue to enforce the consent judgment, along with other causes of action against their lender.

I recommend you take the following actions:

1) Contact the AG's office.
2) File a complaint with the CFPB.
3) Ask a local RE agent active in your neighborhood to do a CMA (no charge) or pay for a full appraisal as you mention (if time allows).
4) Escalate/appeal the denial of your DOJ loan mod application, citing the applicable section of the consent judgment. And provide the current CMA showing your house's valuation.
5) Reapply for the Keep Your Home California program.
5) Write to CEO Brian Moynihan's office at BOA Hqs in Charlotte.
6) Contact the office of your congressperson and/or one of our senators.
7) Last, but not least, consult with a RE lawyer about suing BOA. The newly passed Homeowner Bill of Rights law, which takes effect January 1, 2013, will afford you even more legal options that can be against BOA.

Good luck to you!

[sautesmom]

Hi Sorry for the slow reply, my work has been crazy busy.

So I filed a complaint with the California Attorney General and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The AG's office sent me an email asking for documents, but also let me know they don't help individual consumers. It was also not an easy process. The CFPB, however, produced almost immediate results--4 days later I got a call from BOA's office of the CEO, letting me know I have a new case worker there, replacing my former case worker. I was very hopeful.

Unfortunately, it has not resulted in a change in BOA's mantra. Below I will post BOA's reply to my complaint on the CFPB website, which was copied in a letter also mailed to me. I will start a new post with my reply to their response, where I cite the terms of the consent agreement. I am going to spend the next few weeks getting my lawsuit ready to sue them, assuming they do nothing else. (BTW, I am a lawyer, and, although not a property lawyer, I have no problem suing BOA over this, although I would really prefer not to pay the $500+ in court fees to file a lawsuit.) It just makes me so crazy they keep denying that I am allowed an appeal and to get a real appraisal, when there a pages and pages in the Consent Agreement about appealing the NPV!!!
Carla

[sautesmom]

BOA's reply
(Well DUH, I know Zillow is not a "preferred appraiser", it's just a rough ballpark, that's why I am asking a real appraisal be done!!)

To answer your concerns regarding your account being denied for the principal forgiveness program we must explain that the calculation of the NPV for a modification uses a formula developed by the Department of Treasury. The calculation requires Bank of America to input specific financial information about your income and your loan, one of which is the appraised value of the property. Other factors considered in the NPV evaluation include unpaid balance on the original loan, monthly insurance payment, real estate taxes, monthly gross income, and borrower’s monthly obligations.Program guidelines indicate that these factors be evaluated to calculate a modified payment that is 31 percent (or less) of your gross reported income. Unfortunately, based on the information and documentation provided to us, your loan was determined to be ineligible for modification assistance. Bank of America utilized data which we have about your home loan dating back to its origination and the most recent appraisal made by an approved appraisal contractor, as well as the financial information which you sent in when the review began. Our calculations based off of this current information disclosed that the principal forgiveness program under the Department of Justice guidelines would not be in the financial interest of your loans investor. As for the estimates and calculations of the NPV figures submitted with your correspondence, Bank of America must respectfully decline these calculations. In the calculations, numbers were used which were recovered from Zillow, an appraisal site which is not recognized by Bank of America to appraise the property. Bank of America insures that appraisals are made by reputable contractors who abide to certain standards and responsible business practices. Zillow is not one of our preferred companies for these appraisals and therefore the numbers with which they supplied are not relevant as it may not have taken into account all the necessary figures which must be analyzed. When you spoke to our representatives you were informed that there were no appeal to our conclusion as the financials which we processed were based off of your financials and the other NPV metrics. We understand your concern with there being no appeal process for a DOJ modification review but it is based on the facts of the property and your financials, as well as by the guidelines approved by the DOJ settlement. As a financial institution, Bank of America has an obligation to report on our customer’s accounts accurately, whether it is favorable or unfavorable and must follow the guidelines put in place by regulatory bodies, as we did in the case of calculating your NPV metrics. Therefore, we must respectfully decline your request to have the numbers corrected and reviewed again as it was determined proper calculations were used. As for the request to have another appraisal conducted at your own expense please contact Ms. Wells as she will be able to make such requests on your behalf as well as insure that the appraisal is made by a reputable source. I understand that the level of customer service you experienced fell short of our goal and your expectations, particularly concerning the amount of time you have spent reaching out for a loan modification. We strive to give our customers the best options available when doing business with us, and it is never our intent to frustrate our customers. Be assured that Bank of America appreciates your feedback and we see this as an opportunity to evaluate and improve the service and communication we provide to all customers

[sautesmom]

My response, faxed and mailed:

Dear Ms. Wells:


Pursuant to our conversation today, I am appealing and/or submitting a formal dispute to Bank of America N.A. of the NPV values which formed the basis for your denial on July 16, 2012, of a loan modification for my Countrywide/BOA Home Loan under the DOJ Program (which was not mailed to me until July 18, 2012.) As described herein, according to the law I have 30 calendar days from the date of the Non-Approval Notice to appeal and dispute the inputs on the NPV, and to request that Bank of America perform a new NPV with the corrected input values. Included with this packet are my own NPV calculations from the MHA website, which shows with the proper home valuation and other corrected information, I am a good candidate for a loan modification even using a higher value than what I believe my home will be appraised at, but when using your incorrect numbers, I am not. Also included are a page listing my actual taxes and the Assessor’s value of my home, and two similar Comps of recent homes sold.


Pursuant to Paragraph IV.G.3.a of the attached Court Order filed April 4, 2012, and Supplemental Directive 10-15, I am requesting an independent appraisal be performed of my home, and a new NPV calculation be performed with the new appraisal amount as well as with the other information corrected, as detailed below.


Also, pursuant to Page 7 of Supplemental Directive 10-15, I am requesting a copy be immediately provided to me of all pages of the appraisal which produced the number used in the NPV in your denial letter ($262,900), including the name, State of licensing, and license number of the person who performed the appraisal.


I am disputing the following item inputs on the NPV included with your Non-Approval Notice dated July 16, 2012:


Input number 4–Zip Code: There was no zip code input. The Zip Code should read 9****.


Input number 5– Property Value: This was listed as $262,900. The correct number probably should be between $120,000 and $140,000, because as you can see on the attached listing of my property taxes the County Assessor values my home at $132,655. Also attached are two “Comps” of homes nearby that sold recently, which are of a similar style and size to my home (which is a 1924 bungalow and only 666 square feet.) These larger homes, 836 sq. ft. and 704 sq. ft., sold for $105,500 and $130,000. I am therefore asking for an independent appraisal to determine the real value of my home and that actual appraisal number for my specific home be used to perform a new NPV calculation.


Input number 10– Investor Code: The was no investor information listed, this needs to be provided.


Input number 13– Product Before Modification: There was nothing listed here, it needs to state the type of mortgage.


Input number 18– Remaining Term: There was nothing listed here, it needs to state how many months are remaining in the loan term.


Input number 20– Monthly Real Estate Taxes: This was listed as $479.68, which works out to $5,756.16 annually. The correct number to use is $127.91 monthly, or $1,535 annually. As you can see on the attached listing of my property taxes from 2004 through 2011, my taxes have never been over $2,040, but with the fallen property values here, my taxes are now the lowest they have been in years because the County Assessor values my home at $132,655.


Input number 22– Homeowners Association Dues: This was listed as $29.72. The correct number is ZERO, because my house was built in 1924, and there never has been a Homeowners’ Association in this neighborhood, much less dues.


Input number 23–Months Past Due: There was no Months Past Due input, this needs to be provided.


Input number 29–Amortization Term: There was no Amortization Term input, this needs to be provided.


Please feel free to contact me if you have further questions. I am hopeful with this clear explanation of what my rights are under the law, we can resolve this dispute without my having to ask the Courts to enforce the terms of the Consent Judgment entered into by Bank of America N.A. on April 4, 2012.

[sautesmom]

OK just to update on my situation--I have received several FedEx's telling me they are "reviewing" the situation, plus my assigned rep periodically calls to tell me the same. Two weeks ago she told me my October 9 auction had been taken off while they are reviewing. Yesterday she told me they WOULD use my appraisal if I paid for the whole thing, and I said great, I will get that going.

YESTERDAY I thought to check ReconTrust (the auction company for BOA) about the auction to be sure, and NOOO my auction was NOT taken off--it is still a "Go" for next Tuesday. So I sent a fax today with a copy of the language from the DOJ order saying they cannot have it auctioned until 15 days after the denial letter of my appeal, which hasn't even happened yet, and I will be suing them for wrongful foreclosure if it is not immediately taken off. We will see if that happens in the next 2 days.

WARNING!!! DON'T JUST BELIEVE THEM IF THEY TELL YOU THE AUCTION IS OFF--CHECK FOR YOURSELF!!!!!

[TomEason]

Hi sautesmom

Thanks for your post. I agree wholeheartedly!

I always take the time to confirm with another source what the lender has told me about a TS having been postponed.

While they usually tell the truth, I've encountered several instances where their allegations have been false!

[tahoeclean]

Hi Sautesmom,

Thank you for sharing your information. I am going through the same situation. I have contacted the California Monitors office that they have helped me get a written response from the bank for appeal. The bank has made multiple mistakes with the NPV calculation. I am glad I came across your post. I would like share more detailed information with you on the subject. currently, I am preparing my appeal response. The bank has asked me to provide proof of items that are incorrect. I have used the checkmynpv.com site multiple times with various scenarios and it passes everytime. I have also done some study of the NPV calculation in depth. I have actually studied NPV calculation before and have used for project justifications. But the bank formula is a bit complex due to credit score inclusion and so many other things. There is a detailed explainantion available from HAMP. The NPV formula was recently improved (V.5.0) and implemented in June 2012, I wonder if the bank is even using the updated version.

[calimada]

I am experiencing the exact same problem. After taking several months to deal with the moronic CRMs at BOA (Including those at the office of CEO & President), I finally got an NPV that had values that were close to correct (but not exactly correct), however they still claim I have negative NPV. Using the same values they use in their NPV input chart on checkmynpv.com, it reports I pass. What gives? How do you proceed in this case? I've tried talking with the HUD but they haven't been very helpful.

[sautesmom]

You sue them in civil court to enforce the contract as a third-party-beneficiary of the DOJ judgment.
As an update, I just got my own appraisal back, and it was valued at $150,000 as I thought it would be (compared to their $262,000). I am just about to send it in and I will see what they say, but I have no confidence they will play fair, I am just gathering evidence for my lawsuit at this point.
But for everyone reading this, you need to know that the terms of the DOJ settlement say homeowners have to make sure the appeal letter is sent within 30 days of the denial!!! Don't let your right to appeal run out because you delayed too long.

[calimada]

I'm trying to work the with CFPB, but like everyone else they seem like very little they can actually do. I've built up enough evidence against them as well. I'm now looking for counseul w/ experience/success to go after them.

[joeythe jet]

I just registered on this site, as I see a consistentency with BOA, I have been in touch with a RFM, who sits in the office of the President, who gave me the same scenarios as above re: my NPV. When any of you filed your appeal, did your RFM or case worker have to be present on the phone when you called the appeal number? I attempted to file my appeal and was told that the other day. I called my RFM and explained and he stated he was not aware of that and I need to setup an appointment with him and the appeal Dept. as he will be going on vacation and my 30 days will expire.

[TomEason]

I just registered on this site, as I see a consistentency with BOA, I have been in touch with a RFM, who sits in the office of the President, who gave me the same scenarios as above re: my NPV. When any of you filed your appeal, did your RFM or case worker have to be present on the phone when you called the appeal number? I attempted to file my appeal and was told that the other day. I called my RFM and explained and he stated he was not aware of that and I need to setup an appointment with him and the appeal Dept. as he will be going on vacation and my 30 days will expire.

Thanks for your post and welcome to the community. I recommend you make an appeal via letter, and forget about doing it by phone.

[sautesmom]

Well, I was originally told there WAS no appeal, so I didn't have an appeal phone number to call. But forget calling, how would you prove you did what you had to do?
Absolutely put it in writing, because you have to go paragraph by paragraph listing whether each one is correct, or incorrect and why, with accompanying proof (such as tax bills.) Under the law they then have to re-run it using your corrected info. Then fax your appeal letter with a fax confirmation AND mail it priority mail with a tracking number, so you can prove it got there.
Ironically, they just sent me another NPV, this time with the info that I do have 30 days to appeal (however, did they correct any of the problems I cited?? NOOOOOO, of course not. Still have HOA fees that don't exist, the wrong taxes, etc etc, and of course the fake "appraisal.") So, I get to appeal two NPVs simultaneously now.

[LoanModHelpCenter.com]

sautesmom - we see this all the time phantom HOA , wrong taxes and insurance wrong income wrong inputs which of course lead to wrong denials.
this is the number I was given for appeals at BofA:

800-854-6885 appeal number. Centralized intake for appeals of denials hope this helps it has helped on our cases.

[sautesmom]

Well, I am sure it will be no surprise that BOA again denied my appeal. Got the letter today, and the total "reason" given was "your loan is not eligible for a loan modification."

(Becaaaaauuuusssse?????????)

No rerunning my NPV with the actual appraisal, no corrected inputs, no reason given, just I am "not eligible."

So tomorrow I will once again send them a copy of the pertinent pages from the DOJ judgment, showing they HAVE to rerun it with my paid-for appraisal. But I have little faith I will get a new loan offer, so I am back to preparing my lawsuit against them. The good news is I now get a few more months with no mortgage payment!! (although I had really hoped to start 2013 with this extremely stressful situation resolved by sending off a monthly check once again, as a bone fide homeowner)

[calimada]

sautesmom, running into the exact same problem. One of the "explanations" they told me is that you can only appeal income and appraised value of the home. Even though real estate taxes/HOA/unpaid princicapl balance were wrong, you can't appeal them... because of this they won't re-run my NPV evaluation.