Posted on: 16th Jan, 2009 08:50 pm
I have recently been questioning our mortgage company and its lending practices. We were first time home buyers and went to a finance company where we had done small loans with before. We trusted these people but now I am really wondering about things. We received just one document at closing, which was an open end mortgage. We had to meet with the manager on a Saturday, and we were rushed through the signing. Basically it was a sign here, initial there, we will take care of the rest the next week. Well, I finally after 7 years got most of the documents from our loan. We have been requesting this information for the last 2 years. We have now found out it was a HELOC mortgage. We finally received a good faith estimate, which they also call their settlement statement, basically a range of what we were supposedly charged. Our interest rate is 15%, which was not what we were told in the beginning, but we paid points to have it bought down. We have a pre-payment penalty, a ballon payment in 2016, and a mandatory arbitatration clause. There was not a 3 day right to cancel, a truth in lending statement. We bought a modular home which cost $41,898.00 now we find out the HELOC states our initial line of credit was $49,941. and the initial advance was $47,178.88. So where did the approx. $6000.00 go? We have made payments for the last 7 years and I requested a payoff statement as of December 2008 and it was 50,521.68 with a per diem interest 15.90. We were also charged for a single premium insurance at the cost of $1160.00 which we were unaware of. I'm not sure if any of this makes any sense to anyone, because I am having a hard time understanding it myself. We were very naive buyers, but we really felt secure with borrowing from this company, and expected them to be open and honest with us. We had not questioned any of this before, but my husband became very ill a couple of years ago, and we were told we had disability insurance, which is a whole other story that I won't go into. My husband became disabled and we waited 18 months on SSDI but got behind one payment during his illness. When I try to talk to the branch manager about any of this she threatens foreclosure, which she tells me, they can make us move out immediately. I have been trying to read some info on the net about HELOC's and open end mortgages, but I am starting to get more confused, the more I read. Am looking for anyone elses imput if at all possible. Thanks!!
Wow,
I am very sorry to hear this has happened. It is exactly this type of practices that give the whole mortgage industry a bad name. The lender like that should not exist.
After seven years I doubt you can take any legal action against them. Although it doesn't hurt to check.
This is exactly what people talk about when they mention predatory lending.
As far as making you move out immediately no lender can do this and no one can foreclose on you while you continue to make payments
The fact that this is a Heloc means you have been paying only interest for last seven years and have not paid any principle balance off.
I am not sure how come you have only seen this now.
The $6000 went to the lender and the guy that gave you this mortgage. Some of it might have gone to costs.
If he did not have you sign section 32 addendum then its considered predatory lending and you may have a legal recourse.
You could contact attorney general, US Department of Housing and Urban Development, or local news station to see what they can do to help.
Another thing you should consider doing is refinancing out of that loan as soon as possible into a normal loan.
This is bad all around
Let me know if I can help any further :x
I am very sorry to hear this has happened. It is exactly this type of practices that give the whole mortgage industry a bad name. The lender like that should not exist.
After seven years I doubt you can take any legal action against them. Although it doesn't hurt to check.
This is exactly what people talk about when they mention predatory lending.
As far as making you move out immediately no lender can do this and no one can foreclose on you while you continue to make payments
The fact that this is a Heloc means you have been paying only interest for last seven years and have not paid any principle balance off.
I am not sure how come you have only seen this now.
The $6000 went to the lender and the guy that gave you this mortgage. Some of it might have gone to costs.
If he did not have you sign section 32 addendum then its considered predatory lending and you may have a legal recourse.
You could contact attorney general, US Department of Housing and Urban Development, or local news station to see what they can do to help.
Another thing you should consider doing is refinancing out of that loan as soon as possible into a normal loan.
This is bad all around
Let me know if I can help any further :x
well said, eugene. let me chime in and point out that refinancing is a very smart thing to attempt at this time. contacting everyone who might have an interest in helping you, such as eugene noted, is also a marvelous idea.
you mentioned a "branch" of a finance company. that makes me hopeful that you'll have success in fixing this mess, as it sounds like it might be a nationwide firm. if so, they'll not like the bad publicity that can accrue from a case like yours.
pull out all the stops - go consult with an attorney, call legal aid if that's not feasible, and as eugene noted, let everyone know you've been scammed. the more you roar, the better your chances of obtaining a reasonable remedy.
you mentioned a "branch" of a finance company. that makes me hopeful that you'll have success in fixing this mess, as it sounds like it might be a nationwide firm. if so, they'll not like the bad publicity that can accrue from a case like yours.
pull out all the stops - go consult with an attorney, call legal aid if that's not feasible, and as eugene noted, let everyone know you've been scammed. the more you roar, the better your chances of obtaining a reasonable remedy.
eugene,
i am not sure that i know what a section 32 addendum is. i don't think i have even heard of that before. yes it is a nationwide firm, they are a subsidairy of a large firm that got a huge bailout recently. i am wanting to take some recourse on this. my understanding is there is not a specific length of time to try to get something done. i could go on and on about what they did, but these are the most prominent points that i have told here. i would love to refinance out of this loan, or do a loan modification, which they do not even consider talking to you about. the worst problem now is that my husband is disabled and we live on a fixed income, and sense our loan is what i would consider non-amortizing i haven't found anyone that really wants to touch it. our credit got hurt somewhat while my husband was ill, he was hospitalized for 3 months, and we racked up some extensive medical bills. but we have kept up with our mortgage payment, whats even worse is we have a second mortgage, (home equity loan of credit) with them. this finance company is very shady in my opinion and i don't know where to start filing a complaint, or even if i have reason to file one. i am at a total loss. we live in a very rural area in illinois, so its hard to find an attorney who actually deals with cases like this. i would like to as they say "get my i's dotted and t's crossed before i start persuing a case. thats why i am trying to gather as much information as possible.
i am not sure that i know what a section 32 addendum is. i don't think i have even heard of that before. yes it is a nationwide firm, they are a subsidairy of a large firm that got a huge bailout recently. i am wanting to take some recourse on this. my understanding is there is not a specific length of time to try to get something done. i could go on and on about what they did, but these are the most prominent points that i have told here. i would love to refinance out of this loan, or do a loan modification, which they do not even consider talking to you about. the worst problem now is that my husband is disabled and we live on a fixed income, and sense our loan is what i would consider non-amortizing i haven't found anyone that really wants to touch it. our credit got hurt somewhat while my husband was ill, he was hospitalized for 3 months, and we racked up some extensive medical bills. but we have kept up with our mortgage payment, whats even worse is we have a second mortgage, (home equity loan of credit) with them. this finance company is very shady in my opinion and i don't know where to start filing a complaint, or even if i have reason to file one. i am at a total loss. we live in a very rural area in illinois, so its hard to find an attorney who actually deals with cases like this. i would like to as they say "get my i's dotted and t's crossed before i start persuing a case. thats why i am trying to gather as much information as possible.
Ooops!! Sorry I wasn't logged in when I gave the above reply sorry. If anyone can give me an idea of where I can find information or help or even more advice about our circumstance I would greatly appreciate it. I am getting ready to contact the Attorney General, and we have an appointment set up with an attorney. It is very expensive, but if I understand correctly we could benefit, even if it did cost us several dollars in attornye fees. Thanks for your advice guys, I do appreciate it. This is a good forum, and I am glad I got such quick responses. Thanks once again.
Hi aglick,
It is good that you will be consulting an attorney. An attorney will be the right person to tell what steps you need to take in this case. He will be able to guide you in the best way.
Thanks,
Jerry
It is good that you will be consulting an attorney. An attorney will be the right person to tell what steps you need to take in this case. He will be able to guide you in the best way.
Thanks,
Jerry
In November, our 2nd mortgage "home equity line of credit" payment rose by $28.00. I called the finance company at that time and asked them why it went up and they told me they would check into it and get back with me,and I would then send them the extra amount, no reply from them. In December, I requested in writing several copies of documents from them and made a copy of the statement and in writing asked them why it was up for November but in December it went back down. Still no response, and I made the "normal" payment. Today they called and informed me that I needed to come in this week and make the payment as it was showing me as being late each month. I asked her what this was all about, and why it went up in November. She proceeded to inform me that was our payment now (normal plus the $28.00) because they had traded credit life insurance providers. I told her the statement shows the normal amount and she told me that it couldn't have (even though I have the statement in my hand as we are speaking). Then she proceeded to tell me that we had received a letter about it by the insurance/corporate office. Hmmm, well if that was the case and I had been informed, why did I question it to begin with. We never received anything about it. But she said they had the letter in our file and she knew that we had a letter also. I won't even go into the story about how we didn't know we had credit life insurance to begin with. Funny how it seems that in December I asked for ALL documents pertaining to our loans with them and it wasn't in there either. So what the heck is going on here. Any thoughts or advice??? I am so totally confused with this whole finance company, I don't know which end is up. Any comments would be appreciated!!!
Hey aglick,
It's really surprising that the lender did not inform you about the credit life insurance and had suddenly raised the charges. In my opinion, you should once again ask the lender to give you all the documents relating to mortgage and then you can check whether the insurance policy is given in it or not.
You can even take the advice of a mortgage attorney regarding this issue.
It's really surprising that the lender did not inform you about the credit life insurance and had suddenly raised the charges. In my opinion, you should once again ask the lender to give you all the documents relating to mortgage and then you can check whether the insurance policy is given in it or not.
You can even take the advice of a mortgage attorney regarding this issue.
Well, this morning I received another phone call from finance company, this time branch manager. She told me that the $28.00 was late fees, but our insurance did go up and that we were sent a letter. I told her we hadn't received a letter, and she was so hateful. I am beginning to think they are hiding something from us and I can't quite pinpoint what it is. I have asked for all documents, in fact she stated that when she gave me copies of the documents in December that letter was in there about the insurance policy, Well, it wasn't and I am getting quite frustrated with all of this. So now what do I do. She was quite nasty about it. I guess this is more of a vent than anything, but anyone with any comments would be greatly appreciated.
Hi aglick,
You have the right to demand all the papers from the bank. You can request them once more for the papers and if they are not ready to give it you, you can consult and attorney. It will be better if an attorney deals with them on your behalf.
Thanks
You have the right to demand all the papers from the bank. You can request them once more for the papers and if they are not ready to give it you, you can consult and attorney. It will be better if an attorney deals with them on your behalf.
Thanks