[quote]Originally posted by Tammie:
Anyway... for those that say that "those people should have just paid their bills" WE DID! Our payment jumped from $813 a month to $1676.00 more than double after the first two years... by the 4th year we COULD not pay double what the original was..... We were told when we got the loan by our lender that refinancing would be easy in the third year... YEA RIGHT! WE tried and tried again...[/quote]

I would definitely be interested in a class action lawsuit, and in addition, filing grievances with government organizations overseeing unfair banking practices. Predatory lending is an understatement as to the under handed practices that went on that caused so many thousands to get burned into losing their homes.

There was serious manipulation (blatantly bogus reporting) done to my credit record just prior to the two year cap on my ARM expiring that made my credit appear to be unacceptable for refinancing. When I say blatant manipulation; old "slow pay" information while struggling through my divorce that had been FULLY PAID OFF dating clear back to 1998 had been "COPIED AND PASTED" into a loan taken out in 2005 and listed as derogatory credit rendering me a liability. I had sold that home years before (in 1998) to avoid going into default because of falling ONE MONTH behind for three consecutive months.

That note was held by Bank of America, a fixed rate, and the persons I spoke with about making payment arrangements to catch up on the one month that I missed because of the stress of divorce and then surgery did not offer any options to recover from a hardship. Instead, penalties were assessed and although I was able to pay the next month's payment with each succeeding month for the following three months; I received a letter of default for lagging 30 days behind each month for three consecutive months. The home sold within hours of placing the realtor sign in the yard; it didn't even make it until nightfall. The buyers were pre-qualified so the bank didn't have a chance to even attempt a foreclosure. THAT credit made future loans more difficult to obtain, although I eventually worked through it and it fell off of my credit report; or should have.

Between that mortgage and the ARM, I had taken out and paid off another fixed rate mortgage while refinancing and upgrading the home that I had bought thereafter. During the second refinance, the lender suggested going with the ARM while emphasizing it was the best possible option, and with my credit getting more and more stable; I would have absolutely no problems in securing a re-fi at the end of the 2 years. He even told me that he would do the loan himself and wave his portion of the fee. Of course, he was not available when that time came. The first re-fi was done with Wells Fargo with a 2nd mortgage through National City. The second re-fi was to consolidate the 1st and 2nd mortgage from before, as recommended by the broker, and was done through Homecomings; all were done through the same lending broker... a reseller of loans working for the banks. There seems to be a string of banks that operate with the same ethics and almost appear to be one large entity with multiple operating aliases.

Once trapped into the ARM where my mortgage began doubling, I had to undergo another surgery. I knew that I would not be able to make the full payment on time and called the mortgage company to try to make some kind of payment arrangement. The representative appeared to be located at a phone center offshore, poor and broken English, and adamantly stated that their bank did not accept partial payments or any type of payment arrangements. She told me that if I could not make the payment IN FULL when it was due, then I would have to make the payment whenever I could get the full amount. She made it very clear that if that FULL payment was not made within 30 days of the due date; it would be shown as derogatory credit and reported to the credit bureaus. I had told her that I would have the funds to pay within a week and a half beyond the 30 day cutoff.

Within 3 days of my account falling beyond the 30 day cutoff, I not only received a late payment notice and late fee, but also a very hefty penalty bordering $300.00 for whatever clause I had violated. ??? I looked over the life of 10 years in being in that home, only to have gained approx $1,400.00 in equity when making payments of over $1,200.00 and made the determination that I would be better off to get the hell out. I had received another notice that the mortgage was due to increase to $1,400 withing 2 months and would only be good for another 6 months at that rate.

Rather than accepting the penalties, struggling to find new ways to meet the UPCOMING hikes in pymts, and all else; I used the money that would otherwise have paid both months payments and contacted a bankruptcy attorney. I handed the property back to the bank without regret.

I'm in the same situation, my house was on the market for a year and 1/2, I paid my mortgage faithfully, then I could not, exhausted my 401k and saving, now my house went into foreclosure. Everyone is getting bail out except the middle America, are we the backbone of this country? Aren't our taxes being paid to support these companies that have us in foreclosure? I suggest we band together and sue the banks they have taken out a loan on us and were being penalize in all ways at least we deserve some form of debt forgiveness so we can start over. Are they any lawyers out there who can help us?

I was in a similar situation. My spouse and I also lost our home to foreclosure. We had our mortgage through Wells Fargo and tried multiple time to work out a plan with this bank. We jumped through multiple hoops, and submitted info for hardship,and income verification and all the paper work they requested. We faxed copies to the company 5x and they always said they did not receive this or that. Basically the bank was not willing to work with us. We are a hard working family and I am sure that out family was not the first family that was jumping through the hoops. There is nothing worse when you do what they ask of you and you are left with no hope. We put our entire savings into our renovating it. Why are we bailing out banks, when no one was there to bail out those who tried to save there homes. I like others payed my bills. But those got rich off of first time home buyers like my husband and I who trusted the bank. I am tired of the rich getting rich off the poor and middle class. I even like the poor get more help from the government than the middle class.

If you have already lost your home, unfortanately there are not any programs, even the government programs to save your home are flawed. on the news today they said in the whole US only 78 people have applied. if you sell within 1 year all the profit goes to uncle sama nd after that 50% of the profit goes back to the government. how is that helping anyone? your best bet is to talk to your bank as they have forebearance and loan modifications that can keep you in your home, you just need to call them and get a good person on the other line, that speaks english and that actually cares and will take the time to help you. if you are not getting anywhere ask for a supervisor. they can take the money you are behind and put it to the back of the loan and start you paying current again, they can lower your rate to tadays fixed rate bringing your payment down. call them and start saving your home.

We have lost our home - and I am sorry, but I think there should be some sort of punishment for those that made billions of dollars wagering on the fact that home buying Americans would not be able to pay for their homes. YES! You do know that a large part of what went wrong was the fact that our Government lifted laws that had been in place for 100 years that protected home owners. Rich people made bets to see how many middle class folks would loose their home! (They actually bought insurance policies that covered them when (not if) all of these sub-prime loans went to Hell in a hand basket)

Anyway... for those that say that "those people should have just paid their bills" WE DID! Our payment jumped from $813 a month to $1676.00 more than double after the first two years... by the 4th year we COULD not pay double what the original was..... We were told when we got the loan by our lender that refinancing would be easy in the third year... YEA RIGHT! WE tried and tried again...

Again, I say these billionaires that made money off the horrible misfortune of the American working people should be punished! HOW could they wagier on such a thing? Part of the punishment should be to help those that they hurt.... oh but I forget.... instead our Government is going to Bail out those that were handing out the insurance policies to these CREEPS! All the while they are spending hundreds of thousands of our tax dollars to bail out thugs that screwed us and then go on luxurious trips to the Galapogos Islands... It's all beyond me! CLASS ACTION lawsuit anyone????????????

Get a Realtor-look into Lease/Purchase.

Skipper.

Yes there is help for those who have suffered through foreclosure.

Some sellers who do not have mortgages on their propeperty will sell and hold financing.

Typically the interest rate is a little higher, because of the credit risk.

If you are moving to Florida, I am currently marketing very nice 2 bedroom condo in North St. Petersburg and a beautiful studio on Clearwater Beach that have the terms you need.

If you need further information, feel free to contact me.

best of luck

Skipper,
As I understand recent developments, the short answer to your question is no. I have spoken with my state representative about this and I have written to my congressional representatives. Who knows what the future holds? As of right now, it seems it's just a matter of rebuilding your life and waiting.
I can only hope that those that are hurt in this mess will be allowed a little flexibility when they apply for a future mortgage, much like what happens with medical bills in many instnaces. There is no guarantee that will happen either. Most of the lenders I work with are of the opnion that two years with no additional credit problems and continued income/employment and they will likely be able to do something for my buyers. I really hope they're right.