Six new Bank of America (BofA) mortgage help centers will be opened in Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside/San Bernardino, Antelope Valley, Modesto and Bakersfield by early summer. These new mortgage help centers will provide homeowners in danger of foreclosure on a BofA loan the ability to discuss their individual loan situations with BofA staff in hopes of obtaining the near-mythical permanent loan modification.
This newly-announced move comes in response to a scathing critique (full of bark, but oddly bite-less) of the Big Banks’ loose lending and servicing procedures which precipitated the Great Recession. [For more information on the recent audit of the Big Banks’ lending and servicing practices, see the April 2011 first tuesday article, Mortgage servicers to regulate…themselves?]
The housing counselors staffing these new mortgage help centers will be comprised largely of existing BofA employees the Big Bank is looking to redistribute during the current slowdown in loan originations. [For more information about the lack of buyers in the market, see the May 2011 first tuesday article, Jobless Californians, high vacancies.]
But will these six new mortgage help centers actually help? The critics are skeptical. Like many Americans, the pundits have taken a “we’ll-believe-it-when-we-see-it” attitude to the multitude of reform promises made by the Big Banks. These centers, after all, aren’t changing BofA’s modus operandi; they merely provide friendlier faces for their refusals.
first tuesday Take: Count us as one of the critics, but don’t believe the modifications will somehow magically flow forth. Viewed in the best light, BofA is 1) providing its homeowners with a more reliable way of reaching someone who will deny their loan modification requests, and 2) giving its under-employed employees something to do. But we are talking about a bank here, so the likelihood that this move will live up to the best possible interpretation is pretty darned miniscule.
It’s been clear for awhile that marking all these loans to market will hugely undermine (and that’s a nice way of saying “topple”) BofA’s claim to solvency. And even if you believe BofA cares for its customers, it doesn’t care enough for them to go out of business. [For more on mark-to-market vs. mark-to-management accounting, see the October 2010 first tuesday article, Deflation’s push on the real estate recovery.]
So, we’ll say this for BofA: they can be congratulated on their ability to get press coverage on their staffing acuity while they avoid increasing the swollen ranks of California’s unemployed. But mortgage assistance? Don’t count on it.
Re: “Bank of America to Triple Number of Mortgage Help Centers” from the New York Times
The banks will only modify when it suits thier banking needs not the customers. The banking industry and the politicians need to adjust all underwater mortgages to slow foreclosures not just those that are headed for foreclosure. The folks that pay thier mortgages suffer when a bank devalues a neighborhood. This is why many homeowners walk away from thier homes.
All homes that are underwater should be eligible for a principal modification.
The big banks can be held accoutable for the fraud they continue to take part in everyday. Tens of thousands of law suits are being filed everyday and are settling in courts.. No trials as banks will never let this stuff go to trial. Banks got paid for your mortgages in bail outs.. they were made whole and loose nothing if you default. So they can’t claim damages. Do your homework. You can fight the banks and win.
Big banks like BofA need to come to their knees for what they have done. Lets break the banks and take our country back. I am working with teams of attorney’s doing just that…. if ypur loan was sold off, then it was securitized and fraud along the way. You have rights.. and lenders are breaking federal law everyday by leading people to think they will get loan mods.. they want to sell your house! Its pure profit for them,, they can’t loose as they were already bailed out. Mortgagefraud.. living lies. look up all the info you can get the whole thing is a scam. The largest fraud in our nations history was done to homeowners. Get the facts and fight back.. you can even get your homes back after loosing them to foreclosure and trustee sales. The foreclosures are all illegal. Get a mortgage fraud attorney … find one that understands this stuff.
I have several “Purhase Mondy Loans” loans with Countrywide, purchased by B of A. B of A has sent at least 12 certified letter to me to modify my loan which are variables. The agents told me the variables would be changed to 30 year fixed.
Full documentation was sent to them. My credit scores are over 700 and I have had no foreclosures nor any credit dings on my report. My income is in excess of their required ratios.
I asked them if “modifications” would change the status from purchase money to deficiency balances if I were to default and the properties sold for less than their loan. To which they replied, B of A won’t change their “documentation” for anyone. In other words, modifications mean “refinance” and then the deficiency kicks in should I default for any reason.
I didn’t take their bait but they keep sending the same certified letters anyway and I keep shredding them.
What a bunch of deceitful operators. Too bad the corporate officers can’t be held criminally liable for all the misery and poverty they have caused to the working people in this country because of their greed!.
The banks have outlasted the Congress in their bid to not making –HOME AFFORDABLE –Banks could care less,( ie foureclose asap) and now good luck trying to modify.Congress is now too busy in the upcoming presidential and there own Hieney’s election to give a rat about about what the banks are or are not doing. I think maybe the best thing to do now is find a mass joinder lawsuit with a reputable law firm and let them deal with your modification . Tie the banks up in court .They hate that and many make court step settlements.