Success with EMC Mod

[irie131928]

Hello folks,

Here is the short version of this experience.

I applied for home loan with Wells Fargo in Nov. 2004: $229,000.
They provided me with a "good faith estimate" 3 or 4 days prior to closing: Conventional loan / 6.75% / fixed / 30 years.

At closing the paper-work showed an ARM.

I signed because the Wells Fargo loan officer told me He would 'refinance it for free in about 6 months' to a fixed rate. Turns out, he lied. There was nothing free about it, so I passed on his offer of a second "financial raping".

I lost my job, and had a car accident. Fell behind 2 months behind on the mortgage. Before I knew it I was in foreclosure and Wells Fargo set a date to sell my house.

Wells refused to talk to me. told me loss mitt does not exist. pay up or move out.

I was instructed by a bankruptcy attorney to file a chapter13 to save the house. I did.

I had to pay 672.00/month to the trustee and 1440/month to Wells Fargo.

In Nov 2006, Wells sold the loan to EMC.

EMC increased the interest rate (per the ARM) from 6.75% to 9.75%; and 6 months later another increase to 10.75%.

Payments went from 1440/month to 1920/month.

Again I lost my job, fell behind by about 2 months on the post petition payments to EMC. I got another job and I paid as i could...almost consistently 2 months behind.

I approached EMC about 9 or 10 months ago requesting a mod. They had me fax them the hardship letter etc...and i waited the 60 days they said it woud take to do it. I called every 2 weeks for status. It was always 'under review".

I escallated my efforts when I found that EMC was not responding in January. They had me re-fax everything..repeatedly. Finally they tell me March 1 that they had everything they needed to do the mod. (including a letter from the attorney saying they can talk to me). Since then I have called at least 2 times every week. Same response.."still under review"

I come home Saturday, April 19th to a letter from their attorneys requesting the bankruptcy court grant a 'relief from stay'. They claim the outstanding balance is 255,000 because they paid taxes and hazzard insurance when the insurance had lapsed..all true.

All I need is a mod. But I cant get anyone on the phone who can tell me what's going on with it. I got really irritated last friday and told the woman to tell me YES or NO RIGHT NOW!! She said she didnt have the answers.

How do i proceed?

[schwefls]

Welcome irie13928:

I am sorry to hear of your hardships. I just wanted to stop in say hello, let you know we are all here for you. Shortly someone will be getting back to you with some advice on how you should proceed.

This posting reminds me of one important view from a lender's perspective that all of you need to keep in mind. The holder of the first loan is never really first. They are always junior to the real property taxes. As the taxes fall due, and you as a borrower fail to pay them, you are in essence putting the lender's secured position in jeopardy. If for example, in California you fail to pay your real property taxes for a period of five (5) years and that results in a tax sale, not only might your interest be wiped out as the result of a tax sale, but so could the lenders secured interest. I know it is easy to skip that tax payment, but it provides further evidence that your request for a loan modification should be viewed with caution.

As to the fire insurance, I think you can make pretty much the same argument. If there is no fire insurance and Murphy's law strikes, the lender could be faced with a reduction in the value of their collateral to the value of the lot less the costs of leveling the structure and cleaning up the debris.

Having concluded the "dutch uncle" lecturing part of my posting, I suggest to this borrower that since a bankruptcy court sits as a court of equity, be ready to make an equitable argument that you have attempted to communicate with the lender, providing them everything then needed, had a history of keeping things current during this last go around showing good faith, and you are willing to do the right thing. I suspect the weakness in your situation stems from (1) not paying taxes and fire insurance when due, and (2) you have no equity in the property. Since (1) above is true; if (2) above is also true, then it may be time to move on.

If (2) is true, I'd recommend you look at postings in the forum where we discuss "Are You Going to Walk Away from your Home." There is a tendency here on the forums to "want to shoot the messenger" when that message isn't "fight to save your home." Sometimes the best advice is to surrender, gain that "fresh start" something like a bankruptcy can provide, and move on free from the stress associated with these difficult situations.

Take care,

Daniel

[Moe Bedard]

Welcome to Loan Safe Irie!

Sounds like you need to obtain a 'LIFE OF LOAN HISTORY' on your mortgage accounting for every penny that they claim you owe and where the money it is that you have paid and owe has went and is going.

You may want to look into this very seriously. Here is some info on a Qualified Written Request and that you can use to obtain your life of loan history.

Yes the taxes come first has the Professor has stated, but they need to properly account for that which you owe and have paid. That must come under scrutiny when this happens. We cant trust these servciers to do do what is right and not to charge bogus fees.

FROM HUD.

Loan servicing complaints

Section 6 provides borrowers with important consumer protections relating to the servicing of their loans. Under Section 6 of RESPA, borrowers who have a problem with the servicing of their loan (including escrow account questions), should contact their loan servicer in writing, outlining the nature of their complaint. The servicer must acknowledge the complaint in writing within 20 business days of receipt of the complaint. Within 60 business days the servicer must resolve the complaint by correcting the account or giving a statement of the reasons for its position. Until the complaint is resolved, borrowers should continue to make the servicer's required payment.

A borrower may bring a private law suit, or a group of borrowers may bring a class action suit, within three years, against a servicer who fails to comply with Section 6's provisions. Borrowers may obtain actual damages, as well as additional damages if there is a pattern of noncompliance.

C) after conducting an investigation, provide the borrower
with a written explanation or clarification that includes--
(i) information requested by the borrower or an
explanation of why the information requested is unavailable
or cannot be obtained by the servicer; and
(ii) the name and telephone number of an individual
employed by, or the office or department of, the servicer
who can provide assistance to the borrower.

(3) Protection of credit rating
During the 60-day period beginning on the date of the servicer's
receipt from any borrower of a qualified written request relating to
a dispute regarding the borrower's payments, a servicer may not
provide information regarding any overdue payment, owed by such
borrower and relating to such period or qualified written request,
to any consumer reporting agency (as such term is defined under
section 1681a of title 15).

Please read more here

[irie131928]

Thanks everyone for the information...I will proceed as you described Moe. i will give you an update as I go.

[irie131928]

Ok, here is a status.

I called/faxed my 'story' to everyone we could find at Bear Stearns, JP Morgan, EMC, Hope NOW, Congressmans office, Governors office. (Thanks Moe...thank you Motherof5).

Over the space of 2 weeks, we escallated from the outer rims of authority at EMC (customer service reps) up to an inner rim of authority (COO office: Mr. Vello).

It is important to approach this quest for a modification like peeling an onion. Its just layer after layer of people who you have to force to do their jobs. We found it effective to 'affect' their jobs to get them to move on your request. If they are not the correct party, they will generally want it off their desk, and therefore escallate it to their 'ranking officer'. Keep or increase the pressure as you go up the ladder to force action. DO NOT BE AFRAID TO COST SOMEBODY THEIR JOB OR THEIR CONTRACT. Sometimes it has to perceived by them that it will cost them something more than an inconvenience before they will 'work' for you.

Anyway, the long and short of it is this.


EMC outsourced bankruptcy related loans to a company: National Bankruptcy Services (NBS). THEY ARE COLLECTIONS. THEY ARE COLLECTORS. THEY HAVE NO DESIRE TO PROCESS A MOD UNLESS THEY HAVE TO. THEIR OBJECTIVE IS TO FORCE YOU INTO A CORNER TO HAVE YOU PAY YOUR MORTGAGE, WHATEVER THE COST TO YOU....

We were not supposed to find this out...but after been given the runaround for a few days, we asked them a direct question: " Am I back in EMCs collections department, or are you a collections agency for EMC?"

She responded "...collections is a service we provide to some of our clients..." WHAT!!! Let's back up.

In February 08, EMC explains that they finally had all the paper work they needed from us to proceed with the MOD. That information was then 'handed off" to their "Modification Group" which was in fact National Bankruptcy Services.

Until two weeks ago, our almost weekly request for status was always the same...'still being reviewed'. That's when we figured this all out.

NBS does the math and presents it to EMC for their blessing to do the MOD, but NBS first priority is COLLECTIONS. Maximum profits I presume.

NBS told us to pay up...except they are not supposed to say that to an account in chapter 13 bankruptcy. EMC doesnt want them to be that forceful..In fact EMC wanted a transparent relationship where you believe you are working directly with EMC.

Thursday, April 24th, 2008: We got into EMCs legal department and made a huge fuss...well my fiance did...She laid the story and its timeline out for them. She also told the person on the phone, that EMC has been sued for this type of activity before, and infact has pending litagation from the FTC. She demanded to be transferred to someone who can make a decision on this mod. Tell us YES or NO RIGHT NOW TODAY!!She got transferred to someone who answers the phone as being in the 'executives office'. The person (let's call her Q) who answered was given more of the same. An all out explanation of how we came to be talking with her.

Q explains that we should be working with NBS. I explained that NBS has denied the mod request, but wont say why, in fact they have told us to just pay our bill, and have refused to return phone calls or answer their phones.

Q calls over to NBS...in the space of 7 minutes, she has the same experience we described. She explains that she cant get the person working the MOD nor that persons manager on the phone, so she will need to work that out and call us back.

She did.

This time we are on the phone with Q and the mod rep from NBS. This is when we recognized who is in charge. Q explained the process to us and admonished the mod rep to do the process and provide her a running update.
There was significant deference to Q from the mod rep. Q said it might be about 2 weeks b4 they would have it done...but my tenacious fiance demanded sooner since NBS has had our file since Feb 6th...(by their own admission). Still Q insists it would take some time to do the work. We should know something by Tuesday...which would be April 29th.

OK fine.

Friday, April 25th, 2008: Even though we were told that it would take a week to 2 weeks, we called Q for status. Of course she explained that our agreement was to check back in a week...to which we countered with, "...easy for you to say when you dont have to look at your children in the street...". She understood and said we should have something soon. We also called the mod rep and her manager and queried the staus...She explains she is still working on it.

Monday, April 28th, 2008: We repeated fridays activities. Except this time the mod rep says that she is preparing the terms to present to EMC for their approval.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008: We called the mod rep at NBS. She is out of the office...car trouble they say. Got to the manager. He put us on hold for about 9 minutes. Comes back and explains that he has the folder out, and is on the phone with EMC validating the info. 3 minutes later, he returns with an offer. He'll put it in the mail...we'll have it in 2 days.

I'll provide an update when we receive that package.

[surreal4me2]

You're so right to keep fighting...Keep peeling back the layers of the corporate onion until you reach its core. I pray that the offer you receive will be just what you need to go on and regain your life. This Site is Awesome because it allows us to speak to the hearts and minds of so much who are suffering. Your story is encouraging and I am one of many standing in agreement with you!

Peace and Blessings

Another American Fighting for Her Home

[irie131928]

Mod for house in chapter 13 bankruptcy completed in 2 months after it had stalled for 9 months. Thanks for all your help guys.

[Moe Bedard]

Did you sign docs already?

[Upthecreek]

irie
Hey love the name by teh way,
What kind of mod did you get? I am dying to know. We have a condo with EMC we may try to save and move into if we can't save our house. Also do you have the email addresses of all the higher ups you used? I would so appreciate any help.
Cheers!

[irie131928]

Paperwork signed off by the bankruptcy judge, and by my attorney and by their attorney. Records already updated at EMC to reflect the new terms: 30years/5% fixed/including taxes and insurance. Total: 1880.00/month.

Balance went from 229k to 255k to include past due, delinquent taxes.

All done:

[Moe Bedard]

irie131928,

Congratulations!!

Gr8 Mod and Gr8 Rate!!!!

[schwefls]

Congratulations irie131928, party hardy you deserve it.

[Upthecreek]

You Rock!!!! I am happy to know you got such a great mod and a little hopeful for myself. Any suggestions of who to fax, do you have names and fax numbers you could share? I have a loan with EMC too...any help is greatly appreciated...I want to feel "irie" too!

[mom2three]

Irie: I would appreciate the names and fax numbers and emails if you have them too. I am trying to fight EMC for a loan modification too! Thanks!

Upthecreek: if you have this info could you please pass it along to me????? thank you!