Broker Scam Now What!

[nol73]

We purchased our house in ffice:smarttags" />lace w:st="on">New Hampshirelace> in 2006. It is our primary residence. We were victims of predatory lending. We had worked with this loan officer for two other loans previously and never had any problems. Three days before we were to close he changed all the terms. We were told the fixed rate loan we originally negotiated was not going to happen and we were offered two separate loans to be paid simultaneously; a thirty year interest only loan with a 5 year adjustable period and an installment loan with a balloon payment at a term of fifteen years. On the day of closing, he said he needed an additional $8,700 which was the exact amount that he knew we had in our savings account at the time, money we were hoping to use for moving or any other expenses that might occur. It was either agree to the new terms or not get the house. ( He promised her would fix it and we believed hom) We agreed and closed on the house feeling that we would eventually within the next few years renegotiate the loan. A couple of months later we heard news reports about predatory lending practices relating to mortgage lending and realized we fit the profile of a lending victim.
The New Hampshire Banking Commission reviewed the paperwork relating to the loans and said we had a solid case of bait and switch tactics.
The President of Company told us that the loan officer was terminated because he had done the same scam on other customers. She would work with us to re-write the loan. They rewrote the loan to the original terms but in the process our mortgage went up $ 396 and we had to make another loan for $ 2,700 for closing fees, and retain the installment loan. ($ 186.93 per month) We also were not able to recoup the extra fees incurred. As of now, we paid $14,400 (Closing cost for both loans) in needless fees, and our monthly payment is $569 a month higher than the payment originally negotiated on the first fixed rate mortgage. That is due in part to our property tax rising.
We were proactive and contacted Wells Fargo in late March/2009 to initiate a mortgage loan modification and the first thing we were told was stop paying our Mortgage. We told them that was not an option.
In over 22 years of home ownership we have never missed a payment nor have we ever made a late payment.
We are now in the process of trying to secure a loan modification and we are in contact with Wells Fargo weekly if not more often. Every time we call we speak with a different person and get completely different information and suggestions.
We have called an hour later and got different information! We have been threatened with foreclosure even though we have never been delinquent with a payment.
We are nearing the end of our rope and would love to get some kind of relief. We are a self reliant family and are in no way looking for a handout, just a fair shake. We have filed a case with the OCC and it has been almost 90 days.
We should be hearing something soon. Any information you can give us will
be helpful. Knowledge is Power. Thank You.

fficeffice" />>>
>>

[Evan Bedard]

Hi nol73 welcome and thank you for joining our community.

Sorry to hear that you have been scammed like so many others with the common case of bait and switch. these brokers have convinced thousands of homeowners that they were getting a great loan, but when it came down to closing day terms change...

By the way who is OCC?

[MaMel]

Hey Evan - OCC stands for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. You can file a complaint there against a federal bank. I did, against Wells Fargo (though it didn't take 90 days for me). I filed the complaint on their website, they contacted WF and told them to resolve it, WF sent both the OCC and myself a response basically saying "see ya in court." So, seeing as we had contested our foreclosure, and hired an attorney to help our defense, the OCC threw their hands up and pretty much said "you deal with it in court, no help for you from us." Just another federal government agency that gets paid to NOT help anyone. Here's their website if anyone else wants to give it a shot... OCC - Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Administrator of National Banks

We're still fighting WF - never give up!!

[Evan Bedard]

Thank you so much Mamel for the information.