Indy Mac construction loan

[detleffish]

long story - but the main point is Indy Mac devalued our home internally. Our appraisal was fine - but Indy Mac dropped it 50K and would not give us the money to finish our home. Now we have paid them over 65K in interest and with that kind of hit to our budget we have been forced to finish our home ourselves....the clock ticks and they take more money. They presented this loan as one closing cost construction rolled into regular mortgage. But, now they offer 8.75% as the final interest rate...which we cannot afford and with interst rates at 5.25% (we pre qualified with another lender at this rate) it seems like predatory lending to us. We cannot get this new loan because our house needs to be finished but we do not have the money to finish because Indy Mac lowered our value and for many many months would not fund our home. This in turn meant we lost people who were working on our house (very difficult to replace people in our market - lots of construction here). And all the while paying construction interest payments of 8.75% to Indy Mac.

We sure could use some help with this. If anyone has information or ideas how we can get our house finished so we can qualifiy for a regular mortgage we will really appreciate it.

[detleffish]

I heard Indymac is settling mortgages 20 cents to the dollar. I heard this is happening in the las vegas area. Does anyone know the lawyers doing these transactions?

[detleffish]

Hi ***,
I'm having trouble getting a response out of Indymac. I sent my letter into the emails listed here (sent it request read reciept) and no one has... I did get a call from a Kristina in Eric Friedman's office and she assured me she would call Tuesday...I've left messages, and sent emails.
We have a construction loan with Indymac...it's been a long haul with them...they lowered our appraised value and refused to give us the money to finish...after months and months of haggling over the appraised value I finally reached Mike Perry on the phone...within days I had the money. It got us further - but because we have been paying $4000 interest payments and it took them so long to give us the money (7 months) our project died for many months and thus we are having to finish it ourselves - which is taking more time and more interest payments. I want to negoicate with them to release our interst. If they do so we can finish our house and qualify (our Loan to income is to high) for a new loan and move away from Indymac. We have to do this ASAP.

My question is should I be trying to contact the loan modifer people? OR, should I approach this another way.

I have an attorney and he is chomping at the bit to jump in and ask for damages
I'm trying to navigate through Indymac without triggering a worse situation for us.

Do you have any advice? I'm all ears. Thank goodness for this forum...I have learned a lot already.

[Moe Bedard]

detlefish,


you had posted in another members thread this:

Apparently my emails from ***'s list have gotten through to :
Eric Friedman
mitch.oringer@imb.com

These two read my email:
frank.sillman@imb.com
drew.buccino@imb.com



Because of the nature of what it is that you are trying to achieve in the email (having IndyMac release their interest)..............it might be beneficial to you if you have not already done so to give permission for your attorney to start dealing with them on your behalf.............you really need the attorney to help you with what you are asking for..........

[detleffish]

I just contacted Eric's office again - he's on vacation. Quite the time to take a vacation... anyway the person he put me in contact with last time I called (Sat) hasn't returned my calls.

I have a construction loan and I'm wondering if it's the same that there is an investor behind it. I have requested Indymac relinquish all the interest payments (it was because of them downgrading our appraisal, not giving us the money to finish, finally giving the money to us 7 months later after talking with Mike Perry...and the money was not enough to get there because of the high monthly interest payments and all the delays). They offered us a "roll over" perm mortgage at 8.75% - the same we are paying for the interst payments - we cannot manage this.

So would I be asking for a modification? Or, is there something else I can ask for? My attorney said we should be asking for damages but I'm trying to see if I can make headway with them without a law suite...

[Moe Bedard]

I posted an answer to your question here in your thread................

At this point in time you really need to get an attorney involved with IndyMac..............to help you..........this doesn't seem to be something that you should do on your own...........your type of loan is different than the loans that are being modified............

[detleffish]

Thanks ***. I came to the same conclusion a few moments ago when I got a response from Indymac. The readers may be interested in this statement from Indymac...I'm not sure if they are just pulling the wool or if this is true.
"....your loan continues to have delinquent interest. Although we had offered the forbearance agreement as IndyMac Bank, it is no longer available. I encourage you to bring the loan current. The goal of the FDIC is to sell the assets of IndyMac Bank. Should that occur, it would be to your advantage for your loan to be in good standing."

Any other advice is helpful. Thank you for your response.

[right_thing]

Dettlefish's story sounds like other borrower complaints that lenders are too conservative on appraisals. This is the opposite of what the press and politicians would have you believe - that lenders conspired with appraisers and others to lend too much based on pushed-up appraisals just to get more fees. Come on. We can't have it both ways!

Dettlefish says the lender "devalued" the home? Ever think that maybe you over-valued your home. Given where property values have gone over the past several months, if they said the property was worth less....looks like they knew what they were talking about.

And it's a construction loan? Did they commit to lend you more if you under estimated your costs...or over estimated your value? I doubt it.

My husband and I have had a differenct experience with them. We had a "one time close" loan from First Horizon that was a mess. An IndyMac loan officer in their construction group helped us refinance the First Horizon loan into a new construction loan (yes, we had to pay fees for this), but the loan went as promised and we have a perm loan with them. It worked like a charm. I'm not saying it was a slam dunk, we had to do our part and we documented everything (including our income). This made it much easier.

I'm no expert at this, but I hate listening to "victims" complain when they should look in the mirror to find the source of their problems.

God bless.

[elpjohnson]

right thing....

I'm not sure you know what this forum is about....it's about HELPING each other not criticizing and judging others. I for one do not appreciate you calling detlefish a victim and telling him/her to look in the mirror for the source of their problems. That was cruel and harsh.......maybe you ought to find a different forum where you're allowed to bash homeowners who are struggling with their mortgages....cuz it's not going to fly around here!

Oh and just because you say God bless in your post doesn't make you righteous!

[right_thing]

elp -

Sorry if I offended you or anyone with my comment. You have helped me understand the nature of this forum.

With all due respect, as a struggling homeowner that had to repair my first loan with another loan, I fully understand the stress and anxiety levels we all share. Maybe I should have made my point differently....it's too easy to blame all the "bad guys" in our country. We must take personal responsibility. At the rate we're going, there won't be any professions (other than lawyers) to provide services because we'll regulate or sue them into oblivion. Then, we'll wake up one day and find the government runs everything from home loans to health care....and when we compare the level of service and compotency, we'll ***** about how bad it is and wonder where the competitive, free market went.

I know that's a big stretch from this individual's loan problem...I just don't want the cure to be worse than the disease....especially if the disease was self-inflicted.

PS. My wish for blessing does not come with any expectation of righteousness.

[detleffish]

Right thing - It feels to me that your comments are entrenched in stereo- types: i.e. if you join this forum and complain you are not taking responsibility.
First of all "I" did not over value my home. The appraiser valued our home. We are in a small - and very high cost of living area. There is no road to our community - an appraiser would go out of business in a heart beat if they were "over valuing." The fact of the matter is our property values in this community have increased - and part of our problem with construction was - because IndyMac devalued our property - we could not get the money to pay people & we lost our workers- and because there is so much construction going on in our community it is difficult to find workers.

IndyMac may have helped you - but I think we need to consider the time line here. I was subject to IndyMac’s poor mortgage decisions - which we were not one of them. And, you may have needed their help when they were running after every mortgage they could - and weren't running scared - as they did when we asked for an extension.

The fact of the matter is this: A mortgage is a big deal in most people's lives. It's not like going to Wal-Mart and we can comparison shop, educate ourselves about our purchase and make an informed decision. NO. When you comparison shop for a mortgage - your credit score is checked and it lowers your credit score; so the more you shop the higher your interest rate climbs. We are all very dependant upon the mortgage industry to guide us through this very complicated process; few of us have the extra cash to hire a lawyer to help. And here is the problem: when the bank misleads you, changes their rules in the middle of their program and literally forces you into foreclosure one has to ask: Where are the protections?

And, yes I take personal responsibility for going with a bank who is housed in California and not in my community - but again this is permitted. Somewhere along the line one cannot help but ask the question - if a company like IndyMac holds me to the standards of California market should they be allowed to do business in my state - where the housing market is vastly different? Where are the consumer protections - and yes we are talking about regulations - because regulations are about protection. Read our history -as much as it's a pain to have regulations in the end they are created to protect us. I'm not saying that the regulations should shut home buyers out - that protects the lenders. We need consumer protections.

1. We can lobby to stop the practice that when one "shops" for a mortgage it lowers their credit score.
2. We can promote government grants to non profit organizations who can become "loan specialists" to help buyers interpret the mortgage documents they are given to sign.
3. Allow home owners the right to see the banks "internal appraisal" - how they came to those figures, etc.
4. We can lobby that banks who cannot prove they have worked with a home owner to stay out of foreclosure will get a "rating" and have to borrow at a higher interest rate than if they can "prove' they worked with troubled loans.
5. Take back the "federal reserve" from private ownership.

I'm not a victim. But, I am only as empowered as the information and education I have to navigate a very complex system.

You were fortunate to have IndyMac work with you at the right time and place. Your good fortune isn't cause to be insensitive to the plight of others.

My husband and I have lived in a 30 ft trailer all winter - our precious dog passed on; we had no money to complete our house and all winter the house stood still. We are finishing it ourselves - with the help our dear friends. I am determined to be a success. You have no idea what personal barriers I have overcome in my life –and made a success from.

And, every New Year's Eve for over 10 years I cooked a traditional English dinner; Roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, mushroom hat....and treated the people we love. I felt it was important to start the New Year off by giving. Not expecting anything in return. And, today - it has been all the people I fed who came to our rescue.

It's about taking care of each other. And this forum is all about that.

Goddess Bless

[Moe Bedard]

detleffish,

Well said..................and you will get to success off of your sheer determination and will to succeed................I know you can do this, I have faith in you..........

[The Professor]

In defense of those who level criticism, I'm getting a little cranky at those who blame the owners of their loans for not being cooperative in terms of not bending over backwards to achieve successful modifications. This is in part because I understand how the secondary market works (with a full understanding of Article 6 of the Uniform Commercial Code).

Let me lay it on the line with a short commentary. The party that owns most of your loans is not the party who made you the loan. They bought your loan in an arms length transaction where they paid for it, expecting you to fully perform on your obligation. They are what the UCC calls a "holder in due course." They are the "good guy" in all of this, allowing your original lender to continue to loan money out to other borrowers, thus allowing your community to prosper and grow. If you have a beef, then that beef is with your original lender, and not the entity currently owning the note that contains your written promise to make payments.

Try as you might, logic doesn't provide much of a basis for concluding the current owner of your note is the bad guy in all of this. For all we know, that current owner might be a pension plan that isn't going to be able to meet its payment obligations to retirees because borrowers fail to meet their repayment promises.

That is my $0.02 worth tonight. Sorry if I offended anyone.

Daniel

[right_thing]

Professor - I agree with your crankiness position. I don't think our loan has been bought by another party as IMB still sends out our building draws.

Dettlefish - Unfortunately you read my comments as insensitive....sorry. They are not intended that way. I disagree that our empowerment is limited to the information and education to navigate a complex system. We just have to read the contracts and ask questions. Once you've signed a contract, the time for information and education are done. The empowerment is transfered to the makers of the agreement - in this case the borrower and the lender - and both parties should expect the other to perform as agreed. If they do not, then the makers have rights....which it sounds like you are seeking to enforce, assuming you are in the right.

As for consumer protection, we were provided so many disclosures (before and at signing) that it was frankly more confusing than necessary....just my opinion. And all these documents are the result of the alphabet soup of consumer protection laws designed to help us. This includes the appraisal disclosure which we got and also thought it was too low.....but the market sure made it correct in about 3 months!!

But that's just my point, all this talk of government intervention scares me more than the result (and sorry you are on the receiving end of this) of rising foreclosures...the cure being worse than the disease. I know that's easy for me to say.

I also agree with ***...you sound very determined! Good luck.

[detleffish]

Professor Shays - here's the thing: time is money. We applied for a loan extension (which is – I am sure you know- common in construction) it was August. After our home being devalued and denial of our funds....and arguing and finally getting through to the CEO Michael Perry - we got our money - 6 MONTHS later. I knew back in Nov 2oo7 that IndyMac was going to fail....because what they did to us...force us into foreclosure was not based on anything other than FEAR. And, why should the bank be allowed to destroy our home and lives because they made bad decisions? Where are my protections? I read my loan documents. I consulted with my loan officer. I asked the questions. Their answers to my questions I believed in and their answers changed with the change in the market. They changed the rules to the game in the middle of the game. We allow this. We allow a bank to survive and the "little guy" to be the pawn. IT's wrong. Yes, there are behind the scenes investors – but IndyMac does their bidding. And where can you tell me that undervaluing someone’s home while under construction and not enabling them to finish is in the best interest of the investor? Think about it: IndyMac failed! When do we hold them accountable?

[detleffish]

One more thing.... IndyMac's incompetence not only impacted us - it impacted all the trades people who worked on our house. We are the kind of people who pay our bills - Indymac impacted our community in a negative way. I even wrote to the Thrift supervision...and all they did was ask Indymac to respond...they didn't investigate. And, now 6 months later they are being held accountable for not monitoring INdymac sooner...yet I wrote them and that should have been an alert to investigate..... lots of backs to slap...and little accountablity.

[The Professor]

Look, I'm not saying that you don't have a real complaint against IndyMac. The problem is IndyMac doesn't exist. The bad guys you point to have lost their jobs. There is a whole line of people out there who were told that they could put more than $100K in the bank and not have to worry about it because the way their account names were structured their deposits would still be insured. Guess what? They weren't. They, like you, are mad as hell. They, like you, are telling their story. Problem is, Mike Perry et al., are no longer in control and what they said or what they did doesn't bind the newly formed bank. File your claim in the receivership action. Chances are you won't get a dime out of it. That's why I suggest you focus your energies on searching out a solution and stop complaining about the problem.

Daniel