Home Loan Modification – Has Wells Fargo Helped You?
Posted on | November 22, 2009 | 7 Comments
President Obama created the home loan modification program making home affordable back in March to help homeowners lower their monthly mortgage payments and avoid foreclosure. There is very little argument that this plan got off to a very slow start as banks and lending institutions were trying to figure out how to make it work.
In the last few months we have seen the amount of loans and trial periods actually increase but they’re still many people out there who are struggling to make mortgage payments and foreclosures are at an all-time high. Wells Fargo and many of the other big banks are trying to help modify mortgages but it seems many customers are struggling to make this work.
Many readers and contributors to subprime blogger have complained that the home loan modification process is just not working for them. After sending many documents to their lenders they are getting no response and if they do get a response that is something that is not helpful.
If this is something that has happened to you be a very good idea to contact at HUD representative and see what your options are. Another good option would be to go to the making home affordable website and do as much diligent research as you possibly can.
Obviously you cannot force your mortgage lender to modify your mortgage but if you know the rules and regulations of what is supposed to be done you might have more of an up or hand against your lender. Do not let high monthly mortgage payments force you into foreclosure, make sure to do your research and modify your mortgage as soon as possible.
If the current economy and your financial struggles have gotten you down make sure to check out the inspirational blog My Life After Retail. The blog is an account of the journey to find peace of mind and happiness in today’s society.
Author: Alan Lake
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7 Responses to “Home Loan Modification – Has Wells Fargo Helped You?”
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November 24th, 2009 @ 4:16 pm
Nine months after requesting a loan modification with Wells Fargo we were accepted into a trial period of three months paying the modified amount. Just two weeks after this acceptance and one modified payment , they took the offer away.During this period we were forced to file bankruptcy due to a business failure, and the intial reason that prompted the request for a loan modification.
The bankruptcy was filed just about the same time as the approval for modification came through.
They told us request for modification now had to go through the bankruptcy division of the bank, but it would not take as long. We faxed over all the information for the third time. The reply we heard two weeks later was aking for the same information again. I really don’t even know where to turn.
November 25th, 2009 @ 12:45 pm
I have a loan that was sold to Wells Fargo. I was really ticked off when that was done as I had left Wells Fargo for the way they conduct their business and their attitude of “We could care less about you, the customer and you are a low life and we will put you in the poor house if we can”.
This economy has left us in trouble, cannot sell old house, the market has tanked, in a community of 50,000, 600 of the 1600 homes for sale are foreclosures and the appraisals for refinancing are coming in at 50% lower than a home purchased or built in 2007. People are walking away from their homes if they lose their jobs. You cannot refinance because you owe 50% more than your present mortgage. The taxing authority will not lower taxes based on new appraisals as they don’t want to give up tax revenue.
The bottom line, is there is a lot of pressure on our community that I have never seen in my lifetime.
I inquired about the Home Loan Modification on line with Wells Fargo, they sent me an offer based on the inquiry. It was a six month loan reduction payment that was 50% lower in those six months, and a balloon payment the sixth month of all 50% reduced payment plus one entire month of Interest tacked on, a short term 16% annual loan. The 6 month loan payment was equivalent to Five months of payments. An entire mortgage payment added in. There were strong words like “if you are one day late, we will foreclose on your home”.
I called Wells Fargo and said what kind of modification run by the Federal Government is a 6 month reduction that results in an additional monthly mortgage payment? 16% of interest tacked on the normal six month mortgage payments. The person replied, OH, that is a Wells Fargo program to help you and not the Government program, send back the paperwork offer.
I thought at that point, no wonder people are losing their homes especially if they do not add up the numbers.
In the mail, unsolicited, was the “Official Home Loan Modification” with a $250 lower monthly payment. Based on the first Wells Fargo scam, I ignored it. Well, things have not gotten better, I continued to make payments from my retirement funds, I have not saved 40 years to pay for a mortgage with my IRA’s. I got numerous calls from Wells Fargo, finally called them. The person on the other end said that I had qualified for the trial period with a surplus and needed to get the paperwork in. I told her that I thought Wells Fargo was scamming me with that first offer and I did not trust what they were telling me . She assured me that all I had to do was get the paperwork signed and submitted and they would probably be able to grant it very quickly as they are willing to help.
Yeah right. Well I thought about it, there appeared to be sincere effort so I took the bait and sent it in. After 3 weeks, I never heard a thing from Wells Fargo.
I called them, talked to one person and then they transferred me to the “Loss Mitigation” and I was told the line was being recorded and anything I said would be used against me in collection or foreclosure. I am not behind in any payments but I am eating away at my retirement funds because of the homes the banks are dumping on the real estate market that are being sold at Manufactured home square foot cost and below.
She said that they have my packet with all my tax returns and wages and disclosing all my financial information. I am sure they treat this at a high level of security, yeah right.
She said, your application is being evaluated and it will take 45 to 60 WORKING DAYS to complete. There are 21 working days per month, with the Holidays, the time to determine whether granting or denying is another 90 days, three months, from the time they received the application.
When I pressed, she said, make your payments, and we will let you know. Don’t call us, we will call you. Judging from all the horror stories, Wells Fargo will figure out a way to continue to drag their feet and the end result will be a denial and an offer of some alternative that is a similar scam like the first short term 16% interest loan offer.
So, since starting this fiasco with Wells Fargo, I have looked that they are one of the largest servicers of home mortgage loans and so far have granted NINE PER CENT 9% of the loan modification applications that have submitted as of the first of November. Another Website has 295 entries of horror stories of how Wells Fargo are giving people a hard time in getting the loans modified. They lie and mislead the home owners running them around in circles.
FYI, the trial period, the taxpayer gives Wells Fargo $1000, and if they can extend it to as long as possible, probably another $1000 they receive for just sitting on the application.
Wells Fargo is Criminal. They are not in the business to help people in these tough times, they are capitalizing on the hardship of the economic times. Judging from their 9% granting home loan modification track record, they have figured out that they make more money with homes that are foreclosed on than they make with loan modifications. Barney Frank needs to really get on Wells Fargo.
I am not sure who in Congress is monitoring this program, but with the rise in foreclosures nationally from 803,000 when the modification program started the end of the first quarter of 2009 to 938,000 in the third quarter of 2009, Congress needs to kick banks like Bank of America and Wells Fargo in the ass. Interesting to note, both of these banks originate in California. I think BofA has granted 10% home loan modificatins.
They must think we are stupid. I guess we are, this mess was created by laws passed by our stupid government with flim flam Wall Street and the banks scams.
What a coup for Wall Street and the banks at the expense of the American Tax Payer and Home owner.
Another example of Greed and Immoral behavior of our Banking and financial system.
FYI, a major factor in the demise of the Soviet Union was the corruption and lack of response to the Russian people twenty years ago by the banks in Russia.
November 28th, 2009 @ 3:59 pm
Most government help is okay, there better options than to go to hud. But I will say that doing your homework is vital.
December 9th, 2009 @ 2:50 pm
I successfully completed the 3 month trial modification in September, and after the trial they requested I send another payment to complete the modification in October. I sent the October payment, and went back and forth with final modifications two additional times which lowered my interest rate further each time.
I didn’t have to send any documentation to complete the modification except sign the documents they sent me.
The modification is now complete, and my first payment is due January 1st 2010.
5.125 Fixed!
Thanks Wells Fargo!
December 19th, 2009 @ 9:59 am
Wells Fargo has the worst customer service and communication which creates the problems right from the start. My modification was lost after the completion of the process. I finally got a hold of a person to explain I havent received any statements etc. and it had been four months since it was supposably finished. He stated it would start occuring the month of December now 11 months after the originations and 4 months after the completion of the signed agreements by both parties. I was then told that they didnt calculate the escrow analysis correctly and now the payment we agreed to in writing is now higher and all the payments I have made to made we over 150.00 a month lower than the new amount. Therefore, a week before Christmas they want to tell me now Im behind and had never called or wrote to me an explanation of this situation. I had to aaaaaaaaaaaargue with four people to have something sent to me in writing outlining this since I had now been paying for over 8 mores on time per the agreement. 150 x 8 now not paid and they just set me up for failure. I cannot believe the lack of communication, documentation and effort on the part of Wells Fargo and hope the stage coach wheels fall off. I wonder if they would be upset if their taxpayer handout that they lined up for from us took over a year and we treated them that way hwo they would feel.
December 25th, 2009 @ 9:09 am
The government tries to meet the needs of the people who weren’t able to pay their mortgage. I appreciate their efforts aside fro that they should also generate employment in that way they will be able to help themselves too.
January 6th, 2010 @ 3:09 pm
Here is a report on how Loan Servicers like Wells Fargo make more money from Foreclosures than they do from doing modification. That could explain how only 4 to 8% of the HAMP applications have been granted.
One million foreclosures and counting, estimated to be 14 million in 4 years. Compare that with April of 2007 where there were 230,000 homes in foreclosure.
This link is a good article on why Loan Servicers like Wells Fargo are not assisting home owners to stay in their homes until all their savings are exhausted, maybe.
http://www.consumerlaw.org/issues/mortgage_servicing/content/LoanModificationOnePage091109.pdf