Grief with CW**Found LoanSafe** SUCCESS!!

[The Edman]

Hello everyone, I found this forum while searching for information on options that Countrywide offers and I must say I am feeling a little bit better.This might be a little long winded but here we go.

I was laid off last September due to my position being outsourced to Guadalajara, Mexico. We have been in our house for 2 years and 4 months and during this time I have not been late on a payment until January of this year when my unemployment compensation was exhausted. I called Countrywide every time I had an issue and was able to hammer out an agreement about my situation. I slowly fell behind, 2 weeks at the time, until I was 30 days down. I spoke with 2 different individuals on 2 separate occasions and told them that I would be 30 days behind for the next several months until I obtained another job and I would pay, along with any late fees, January in February, march in April, and so on until such time as I could catch it up. They were agreeable and said that it would be fine but that every month I would be reported to the credit agency's about being delinquent. I asked them for their names each time and requested they send an email, a fax, or a letter stating this is what has been agreed upon. Each time I was refused stating "It is company policy, but don't worry everything is in the notes here on the computer". I have stood by what I told them I would do every month and have done it. I have received a foreclosure letter every
month since January stating they would proceed if I did not pay full arrears, 4280.00. by the 15th of the next month.

Each time I have called and discussed this on the phone and had it cleared up. Last Monday (4/21) I picked up a registered letter, dated 4/16, saying I had until 5/16 to cure the default of they are going to move on the house. I called (for the 4th time in 4 months) and spoke with another individual in customer service about what had transpired, what had been agreed upon in the past, that it was all in the case notes, and how it was in both our interests to allow me to carry on as I had been doing thus far. He told me he was sorry it was out of his hands but to help he was pre-qualifying" me for a "loan modification". I told him to look in the notes and I wanted to continue on instead of changing the structure of my loan because I knew after all of this BS, everything I have read about Countrywide, I would really end up getting screwed up and take forever getting straightened out. I finally got it across that I had been keeping my word and fully intended to here on out. I told him I was making the next payment, the March payment, on April 30th.

Well this was hinging on a car I had sold and cashing in some assets we had been saving. I rolled the dice and lost as this individual of course backed out this past Sunday. (insert "don’t count your chickens..." here) On Tuesday, 4/29 I called and talked to a totally different person once again. I explained that I would not be able to supply payment on the 30th as I had promised and I needed some help, another few days, something. He told me there was only one thing they could do for me because I was unemployed and that was to allow me to skip 3 months worth of payments to give me some time until I found a job and then I could pay it back, along with my arrears "over 3, 6, or 12 months" along with my regular payment. This person said I had to write a hardship letter, fax it to the attention of "Workout" RE: Forbearance" and a person would contact me and I would be "approved in 30 days". I said ok let me ask some questions.

1. If I start this in motion does all action against me at this time cease?
His response "Don’t worry it takes 90-120 days for the process to complete which gives you plenty of time to do something before anything happens."

2. What happens if for some reason I am late on one of those 2900-3000.00 payments which would place a hardship on us once again, to get caught up on other bills, acts of god, etc. job or no job?
"If you are late on one payment Countrywide will immediately move to foreclose on your property."

3. What other options are there to get some assistance from Countrywide?
"There are no other options for someone who is unemployed. This is the only one we can offer."

4. Explain to me once again how this works.
"Countrywide is required to offer homeowners options to help them out of these situations. We are offering this option to help keep you in your home. etc. etc. etc. Ask for 90 days and that should get you back on track"

5. Can you send me a letter, fax, or email stating we have talked and what was put in the "notes" on the computer. "No we are not allowed to do that. Everything is in the notes on the computer"

I wasn’t feeling too cool and groovy after this conversation and the more I asked the more anxious he seemed to get off the phone. I really don't want or can afford 3 free months with no payments and then paying back 10K plus over the next year on top of my regular payment. That will only put me back on the chopping block if just one thing out of the ordinary hits us. It seems that people who take this route are being set up for a fall and Countrywide sits back and says "well we gave them an option and they blew it"

With all that above what can I do?
Do I write them a hardship letter and fax it off to see what they say?
What happens if I say not I can't afford that option what else can you offer me?
Is there anyway to get confirmation as to what was discussed and agreed upon besides their notes and mine?
Is "Forbearance" plan a generic name for different options or is it exactly what he said it is a repayment plan?

I have a single Fixed Rate 30 year conventional loan of 274,000
Interest rate is 6.75
The house is appraised at 290,000 and home values here where I live seem to be ok right now.
Property taxes, mortgage and home owners insurance, are escrowed at this time. Last year the plan was to have all this out of escrow by this fall. and get our payment down. We started out in 2005 with two separate loans As our credit got better we refinanced several times to get to where we are now. I know trying to get a refinance or restructuring is next to impossible being unemployed but I do have some equity in the house. Can this help me out?

I know there are people out there that are a whole lot worse off than our family and I cannot imagine what it must feel like when your payment doubles or triples.

On top of it all my wife has to have a cervical fusion done on her neck soon to repair damage from a car wreck 25 years ago. She is in constant nerve pain some days which is causing her lapse into depression. So the sooner the better for her. We are both in school and took out student loans last year to further our education and get different/better jobs. Our credit that we both spent years building back up is in the cellar once again.

We were so depressed Sunday night because we thought our whole world was falling apart around us and there was nothing we could do about it. Then I got really scared about only having 15 days to come up with the total arrears to stop this runaway train and knew there was no way to do it. Then I found this site after I talked to this guy Monday night and decided to hold off on hardship letter and the "payment plan" until I had more information. I want to keep my home. I grew up with my father in the military and never had anywhere I could call home until now. I don't know what I would do if I lost it.

[Moe Bedard]

Hi Ed Man,

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

Your original loan is an agency loan...........fixed 30 year 6.75%...pure vanilla.......they are not going to be able to give you anything better than that for a modification because you are not on an adjustable rate.........which is what CW is modifying.

By offering you the forebearance agreement..........that is the only thing they are able to offer you without employment.......and these workouts come from the investors on the loans and what they will or won't do on their loans.

I hope it all works out for you.........

[Moe Bedard]

Thanks for sharing your story and welcome to Loan Safe.

With all that above what can I do?

There are really 3 qualifications when applying for a loan workout.

1. Hardship
2. Can you afford the home and just not the loan
3. Ability to pay
4. There is no 4

I don't mean to say this any way that is condescending, but how do you expect to make any payments without a job?

They say a loan modification or loan workout is a privilege and they do not have to work with you in any way. But they do, if it makes business sense to them. I learned a long time ago, that there is little human compassion in the loss mitigation process.

I know this is a tough time for you and your world is coming down on you and your family. The best thing you can do is plan, plan, plan. Hope for the best BUT plan for the worst. You have to because it looks like they are not going to budge.

Try calling 888-995-HOPE Homeownership Preservation Foundation and or National Association of Consumer Advocates – Consumer Protection Advocates and Attorneys , NACA.

Please make back up housing plans and stay strong for your family. You'll make it through this and come out stronger and smarter.

[The Edman]

I was laid off 6 months ago and fell behind February and again in March. I called every time I would be late or called with a promise to pay date. I worked it out that i would be 30 days behind for a couple more months until I went back to work.I never missed a date a promised to pay until April. They sent me a default/foreclose letter wanting me to pay the full by the 15th of may.

I am back at work and have been trying to contact someone. I have called and called countrywide for the last 4 weeks and got a different person every time. Each one at the call center in India. Everyone has a different thing to tell me. "Don't make your payment hold on to it for your loan modification" . "Make your payment". "a loan negotiator is being assigned to your account this week." "Call back on the 29th for a status update."

I finally started calling numbers of Countrywide offices around the country. I got through the switchboard to a loan officer who listened to my story and transfered me to customer service in Arizona. The girl was very nice, helped us out and gave us some hope. She gave me a fax number and the "direct line" back to their service desk. Faxed all our pay stubs, expenses, bank statements, hardship letter, etc. Called back and the number sent me to India again.

I am only 2 months behind today but will be 3 months down on the 15th if I don't make a payment. and I'm sure this could be worked out with out all the headaches. I want to make a payment so I don't fall further behind but the payment area on the website is locked out. I cant get a return call but I cant get through to anyone that wants my payment. Everyone that answers the phone tells me someone will call back or to call back for an update. The last person I talked to on Friday night was in the Lancaster office and very, very belligerent and told me to call back on the 29th for status. My wife heard it as well and we are sending a complaint.

What do I do besides keep calling, and faxing? I am NOT going to lose my house. I am going tonight to call, fax, and email whatever I can find again. Should I do a QWR? Would that maybe help get someone to call? It's very hard to have someone call me during the day at work as personal phone calls are a no-no. But I don't want them to call leave a VM, on my cell or at home and then be in the merry go round again trying to get in touch. Any ideas on how to get through to someone in an American office that can give me a consistent answer on progress?

[The Edman]

Sorry everyone, Should have posted under my original thread.

[Moe Bedard]

Ed,


Just put your hardship in the body of an email and sent it to each of the email addresses below you should receive an answer within 48 hours........
Hope this helps.....

[The Edman]

Thanks! Its on my list of stuff to do tonight! I will post here what happens in the next couple of days.

[The Edman]

This email was sent this morning to the following addresses. and BCC'd to other individuals outside of Countrywide as per their request. All we can do now is wait for them to contact us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: C. and T. H.
Account Number: XXXXXXXXX
SS: XXX-XX-XXXX
Re: Assistance is not forthcoming

To Whom It May Concern:

We are writing this letter to explain what has caused us to become delinquent on
our mortgage payments and the efforts we have made to rectify this. We have
fallen behind and would like you consider working with us to come to an
arrangement that will help get us to get caught up on our loan.

I was laid off in August 2007 when my systems technician position was outsourced
to Mexico. This caused us to rearrange our bills and obligations until
unemployment compensation started to arrive to supplement my wife’s salary.
Soon thereafter, I was calling customer service and making arrangements along
with promise-to-pay dates of which we adhered to. Once my unemployment
compensation was exhausted and freelance jobs were drying up as well, it caused
us to fall even further behind. Now, it’s to the point where we cannot afford to
pay what is owed to Countrywide in one lump sum.

Prior to my layoff, our payment history, with Countrywide and previous lenders,
going back to the purchase date of our home has been on time. This should help
to show that the last several months is not a pattern of behavior with us. But
now we have almost run out of options so we are turning to you for help. I am
once again employed and our income has now increased since the faxing of our
monthly expense sheet. We are in the process of bringing this up to date as well
as trimming even more expenses and cutting others out completely which adds to
our savings.

Each time I have called I have received a different answer to my same questions
which are as follows. Does the foreclosure process freeze until a decision has
been made? What is the process that is going to transpire and how much time do I
have? Once I have been submitted to the “workout department” how long before
someone contacts me? How can I make a payment being that option in my account on
the Countrywide website is locked? Is there someone else I can talk to about
this? The answers I have received are, “Don’t make a payment, you will need it
when they call”, Make every payment you can as soon as you can”, “The
foreclosure will stop until a decision has been made in your case and that will
take at least 30 days”, “The process will not stop until it is decided you are
eligible for a re-finance. But don’t worry it takes 120 days to take your home
and that is plenty of time to get something done”, “Send us your financial
information and you will be contacted in the next few days”,
“A person is being assigned to your case this week. Call back in a couple of
days and they will have an answer for you”

When I have called your published customer service numbers I have spoke with
four of your representatives in India and two in the continental U.S., one of
which, the last one in the Lancaster, CA call center was very, very,
belligerent, and told me he couldn’t tell me anything and to call back on May
29th for a status update. When asked why it would take that long he responded
that “all call center staff have been escalated to account mangers so they make
these decisions on what to tell callers.” I personally find that hard to believe
as another individual did who was sitting here who and heard the conversation.
Also I asked him if there was someone else I could talk to he responded "Why do
you want to file a complaint?" Again this was heard by the same individual
present in my office. At no time did I do anything to provoke this kind of
behavior. If someone wants to contact me about this, I will supply the
information on who I spoke with.

I have asked if I could get an email, a fax, or a letter stating what we have
discussed and what I have been told me about my situation and the answer is
always “No. It is company policy that we cannot send you this information. Don’t
worry it is all in the notes I have put it into the computer.” We have faxed our
bank statements, our pay stubs, my hire letter from my employer because I don’t
as yet have two pay stubs from my new job, our current monthly expenses, other
documents, and a hardship letter, three times to the following numbers.
800-658-0395 and 800-658-9364. Two times to the first number and once to the
second. No response of any kind has been forth coming. We do not even know if
our faxes have been received or have even been made to the right departments
because these numbers have been supplied by your customer service
representatives who have given us conflicting responses on all our other
questions. We are also concerned that if they have gone to the wrong number or
department who has access to our information and will they forward it to the
correct department?

After all that has transpired, how can I make an informed decision on how to
proceed? How can I trust what someone tells me when confirmation will not be
supplied which makes it is my word against theirs? My home is not in foreclosure
until the 16th and I was hoping to clear this up simply and quickly to keep it
out of this process, which will cost both your company and myself more time and
money than it already has. I am more confused than ever about what to do because
I don’t know who to believe. I have made every effort to contact someone and get
this worked out from the first day I knew I would be late, only to be more and
more in the dark than when I started my phone calls. We are now afraid that we
have waited too long to write this email and now I will be into the 3rd month of
arrears, late once again with more fees, and into the foreclosure process we
sought to avoid with a simple discussion. We are hoping you will work with us on
the delinquent amount we owe and work out some sort of mutual arrangement
so we can keep our home, afford the basic necessities, and regain our currency
and good standing with your company.

The proudest moment in our life was the day we purchased our own home. The
biggest goal in our life is to keep the home that we love and would be really
thankful for help in doing this. We hope that you will work with us and we are
willing to consider all options that are offered to save our home. Please
contact me on my mobile phone the number below as I can be reached anytime day
or night at this number.

Thank you very much,

(contact information removed)

[The Edman]

[QUOTE=*** Damiano;19389]Ed,


Just put your hardship in the body of an email and sent it to each of the email addresses below you should receive an answer within 48 hours........
Hope this helps.....


Sent my letter by email at 11:40 am EDT. I received 3 replies in less than 45 minutes with contact information stating that if I don't hear from someone in two days time to contact them directly. This makes us feel a little better being we now have a response and feel like we can make some progress.

Thanks!!

[Moe Bedard]

Ed,
Your welcome....

That is a really good hardship letter...........
I hope it all goes well...........
Keep us posted

[The Edman]

Its been one month since I last posted and quite a bit has happened even though I am not quite sure it is to my benefit. After being assigned a LN, and sending all my stubs, bank statements, expenses and mortgage payment history I was finally able to discuss my situation. I went through several people and it is the same story. Being told one thing and the next person telling me something different and they are in the same department! I received a loan modification that doesn't make sense to me at all. First my monthly payments will go up by 314.00 on this agreement after they went up 203.00 in feburary! They show 5822. in arrears payments and then 4376.00 in escrow. I am 3 months behind and my May 29, 2008 statement shows arrears of 6726.00 and 1990.00 escrow thats a 1482.00 difference with a 300.00 modification fee on top of that.

They are adding 10198.00 to my loan, and upping my payments by 300.00 but they are not changing my interest rate fixed at 6.375. They also said my taxes, "hazard" and PMI Insurance are required to be escrowed. I asked if I could shop for my on my own for an insurance company to use in the escrow and I was told no I could not. Whats up with that? I don't have a choice to cut costs or change because I am uncomfortable?

Also page 2 is a letter describing "The following documents have been enclosed"
Modification agreement (no problem)
Step Rate Modification Addendum(Not enclosed No problem there)
Automatic Payment Application (Not enclosed)

I have a very big problem with this.
No little check marks, no initials, nothing verifying what is or is not supposed to be in there.

I called my LN about the automatic withdrawal thing and she stated "don't worry about that it doesn't apply to you. Its a generic form letter." Well if I sign this thing with all I have been through with no one knowing from one call to the next what is going on, someone might call me up in a few months and say "Why didn't you return the APA form? we need it now because we are supposed to be taking money from your checking account" Then here we go again. If it doesn't apply to me then it shouldn't be in there.

I am calling her today and telling her I cannot sign this in good conscience because I don't understand what it is saying or what she is telling me because the numbers don't seem to add up to what my records show, and several things in it do not seem to be right. I feel like they are taking advantage of me because I am in limbo of just getting back to work and working to get back on even ground with this situation and have much to offer. Raising this loan by 10K also makes the loan worth more than I can get for the house. This document and my cashiers check is supposed to be in their hands by close of business on Friday, 13 June or they will move forward on foreclosure.

Even though I am not to sure what I am looking at it looks like to me like a Re-Finance with 1782.00 in fees and a 300.00 increase in monthly payments and not a loan modification. When asked to explain what the difference is and and break it down for me they kept going back to my payment coming up after this is signed and saying its the interest that is computed on your arrears. When I asked about my monthly escrow amount she couldnt tell me anything but the amounts, not where they go and in two instances there were exact duplicate amounts of 101.00 and 108.00 going to the same place. Sounds to me like I am being double charged for something. Because I cant afford a lawyer, and I cant afford to pay someone to look at my loan paperwork. I am having to try and muddle through it best I can. On top of that I cant get my broker to return my calls in the last 2 weeks. We have always had a good relationship. He is a friend of my wifes family and is highly regarded but I don't know about that either. I am going to submit a written request to have all my documents sent to me and sit at my dining room table and see if i can figure this whole mess out and not lose my house in the process.

[The Edman]

Any advice on what I have before I call Countrywide? I have no idea what to do except not to sign something I don't understand with the numbers adding or not adding up, and things written in it directly conflict to what I am being told? Is this a straight refinance with all kinds of hidden fees and costs I not being told about? Any help will be gratefully accepted

[Moe Bedard]

Ed,

If you have access to a scanner and can get your docs into a PDF format.........I would be more than happy to look them over for you...........just make a copy first and black out your personal info.............I don't need that........

If so you can email them to me at ***@loasafe.org


also if you can just refresh my memory by telling me .............

original interest rate
original loan amount
original payment amount
number of months in default
were taxes in default and what is the yearly tax amount

[The Edman]

***, Thank you ever so much. I have been fighting this and working it alone and making some headway but I feel I am getting short stopped and lied to once again. I can get them to you this evening when I get home. I have software and a scanner to convert and can email them from there. I would do them now from work but I have so much scribbles and notes on them that only I know what it means. Plus its a new job and don't need to get noticed. I am in New Jersey EDT I will be home and working on it and should have it out to you at 6:30 or 7:00 EDT. I am assuming you are in CA so there is a 3 hour difference which will help.

You folks and what you have done with this forum is an awesome thing. I would have signed anything they wanted me to before I found your site thank you.

Loan is a 30 year fixed Interest only
Interest is 6.375%
Original loan amount was 274,000.00
Original payment was 2039.00
It was upped to 2242.00 in Feb. They said wasn't enough to cover escrow

Months in default
I'm saying 3 and my statement says 3. They are saying 4. I will check my documents again when I get home as the info on my handheld is not current. I would be one less behind if they wouldn't have told me "don't make a payment save it for your loan mod" I paid all my other bills with it to get current to be ready for CW.

Taxes in default.
No. Unless Countrywide has screwed up. I haven't received a notice yet to that effect. they have been escrowed since the beginning of the loan in April 07 or very soon thereafter.

Yearly tax amount
I will have verify exact amount when I get home.

[Moe Bedard]

Ed,

Big Congratulations to You and Your Family!!!

I am So Happy I was Able to Help You!!!

[schwefls]

Kudos Ed Party Hardy

[RudyJay]

Congratulations on your accomplishment. rj

[The Edman]

Yep! After yesterday at 5:01 PM EDT it was time for some of that there "Redneck Champagne"! (Hint: Anheuser-Busch product, tall, dark brown bottle, chilled to 40 F.) Its been a long hard uphill battle but I think we are the downhill slope. Everyone All I can say is thanks for your help. Even for you folks who just drop in to post and ask questions I never thought to ask, or alerted the forum to do something in a certain way, or how to force someone to contact you, All of you, no matter how small it was had a hand in this.

***? your the best! Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise. If they do I'll call Vinnie and Vito and have that little issue taken care of. The help I got from reading your advice to others, and your unsolicited offer to review documents helped me to no end. I was ready Wednesday afternoon to tell them "I cant sign this because I don't understand it", given a written request for all my information to go it alone and would have hosed myself on a very good deal. Just because I didn't understand the math and the "Contract-ese" for the lack of a better term.

Yes my sense of humor is returning slowly but surely. Yesterday morning I was ready to commit all kinds of unspeakable acts at Countrywide Home Loans and today, I feel like 10 tons has been lifted. The other major benefit to all this I/we are going or have gone through is that it gives you the strength to keep going. Because of people like, ***, Moe, and others you are not alone. Remember you to belong to something that you and lenders like Countrywide Home Loans, Chase, Option One, and unscrupulous brokers who will never forget what has been done here. Especially Mr. Angelo Mozilo. Hey Angelo? Yeah you Slick! You want some cheese to go with that whine of yours? (Man oh man. Sometimes I just cant help it. )

Yall haven't gotten rid of me yet. I'm still around and will drop in from time to time to see whats up, keep up to speed on how to handle my stuff from now on, and maybe provide a little motivational reading

The Edman
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are many in this old world of ours who hold that things
break about even for all of us. for example, I have observed
that we all get the same amount of ice.
The rich get it in the summertime and the poor get it in the winter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[The Edman]

Oh yeah! Before I forget... If you have someone at your job who is a major pain in the @ like a manager who is 15-20 years younger than you are, and suffering from that "power trip-itis" syndrome, or just downright mean, I have a little something to brighten your day.
1. Get in early one morning. Don't do this before you leave work in the evening or the cleaning people will think it was done to them.
2. Get some clear, lightweight fishing line, 10 lb test is perfect and tie one end to the wheel or the armrest of their desk chair. Push the chair under the desk as far as it will go.
3. Take the other end of the line run it all around over, under, and around things on the desk. The more you do the better the effect and shock factor. Nothing is sacred unless it will cause injury but thats your choice. Even the picture of the girlfriend/boyfriend who they are always bragging about taking a cruise with to Cancun next month.
4. When they slide into work and pull out the chair 80% of their desktop will be laying around their feet! Imagine if you will, the mouse hanging over the edge swinging back and forth, pencils and pens cup rolling around in a circle, paper clips everywhere, yesterdays half empty coffee cup in the middle of the chair, etc. This works the best on people who are have obsessive compulsive disorder or just downright anal about everything having its place.

Don't say anything to anyone and sit back and listen to the chatter from your co-workers. You will smile from 8:00 am until the ride home.

Don't get mad...Get even!!

Seeya!