Faces of loan modification: Christine Attalla, Bolingbrook, Ill.
Filed under: Banks, Budgets, Credit, Real Estate, Recession
How well is the government's loan modification working? WalletPop's four-part special report continues with profiles of some of those trying to get help. To read the overview, click here.Christine Attalla is among the lucky. The suburban Chicago homeowner not only got a temporary loan modification, but she's on track to convert it to a long-term adjustment before Christmas.
She even calls herself lucky, although when she does there's a quiver in her voice. That's because in the process, her credit took a beating.
For a solo entrepreneur -- Attalla, 38 and divorced, runs her own public relations company -- poor credit is a serious problem.
It all began last spring, when Attalla realized the economic downturn was making it increasingly difficult for her to manage her $3,000-a-month payment on her Bolingbrook home. And she was pregnant, so she knew she'd have less earning power later in the year.
Attalla heard from a friend about the modification program, applied in April through her lender, CitiMortgage, and waited.
She was approved for a three-month trial reduction -- for June, July and August -- which cut her monthly payments in half. If she kept current, she said, she would qualify for a permanent modification that started with a 2% interest rate and tiered up after a decade. So far, so good.
Then, the bank's debt collection arm started to call. At first, Attalla would calmly explain the situation.
"This went on for months," she said. "I would return their calls saying I was undergoing a mod. They would say they didn't know anything about it and to call their loss mitigation department. I would call loss mitigation and they would say that yes, my records showed I was under the three-month period and to ignore the calls."
In August, Attalla had her baby -- via C-section -- and after five days in the hospital returned home to a very troubling letter.
"I came back from having my son to an envelope saying, 'We are going to assess your home for sale,'" she said. "You can imagine, after surgery, a new baby and hormones ... I went nuts."
More phone calls, more tears, until finally someone at CitiMortgage figured out the problem: due to a clerical error, Attalla said, her original loan had never been processed. By then, however, her credit already was shot and so far she's been unable to clear her record.
Attalla reapplied for the temporary modification, and qualified again, but that was not quite the end of her story.
"The punch line: after all the hassle, they sent me someone else's paperwork with their address and their loan payment information," she said. "I didn't know whether to pay their loan or the amount that was given to me by phone. I paid the higher of the two and still don't know where the excess payment went."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-15-2009 @ 4:06PM
BG15 said...
We filed the paperwork with B of A back in February. Since then we have been told we quailify and that was in May of this year. We got so frustrated we sent an email to Ken Lewis the CEO in August. He pushed it to his Loss Mitigation group in NY. We even received a cc'd letter to Ken Lewis from our loan person after Ken Lewis lit a fire under their butt. They kept saying you are approved and we will complete the process, we will process--and now it is November. Our income dropped and I had to take a new job at a lower pay scale after I was forced to shut down my business. My wife is having to work extra shifts so we stay current.
Here is the biggest thing that is holding others like us up is the fact that even though we qualify, B of A is only processing those who are 60+ days delinquent. I said to our loan person--"Should we stop making payments so this can get completed?" This is riddiculous since we qualify--just modify the loan.
We could have been saving $700 a month in interest with the modification. We have lost in my opinion almost $4000 because BofA just wants their bottom line to stay reasonable. Should we hire an attorney?
I tried to make contact through Freddie Mac the Hope Line on the Making Homes Affordable.gov site and gues what--there are no Freddie Mac people to talk to. You know who is on the other line--Homeownership Preservation Foundation--they are buddies with ACORN and are funded by Govt.. Same with Serve.gov and www.barackobama.com Change for America and SEIU--they take your money and then do not do anything. This is all a big machine--and our corrupt govt is behind it!
Sad part is the way this country is going the Govt. will own our homes any ways. When are people going to wake up?
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11-15-2009 @ 7:52PM
Frank said...
I was with countrywide and they do not know their left from their right. So b.of a. bought them out and should be handling my loan so I called up their loan mod. group and talked to them at the bank or what I would hope was employee's from B.of A. and they said they would look into my loan and then I receive a call from them telling me to only pay $73.98 on my home equity loan and that after 3 months they would revue my loan well 3 months went by I called the bank and asked do I need to make this 3rd payment or can we start on the review they said make the payment so I did. Then I checked my credit score and it was one point about good and I have always been Excellent so I checked it out and the bank has me past due over 30 eays for 2 months which has dropped my credit score . Now I have hired a loan mod. company that is going to handle it and told them about my credit. Then I called up the bank again and told them about my credit score and what were they going to do about it. They said since I hired a loan mod. company that I should still make the small payment on my loan until it is modified.
Since this has all started I lost my job company went bankrupt after being in business since 1964 and I have worked for them for 25 years now what Obama?
We are lied to through the press the gov. and everyone else till we are all homeless and jobless.
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12-01-2009 @ 4:00AM
Cate said...
My husband & I both lost our jobs and were out of work for 8 months. We lost all our savings, 401K due to having to cash it in at a lower amount & I did not received unemployment for my work because they fought it. My husband received it but his work decided after one year to appeal it and WON. We now have to pay back $9000. We contacted our local congresswomen in Nevada who had helped us get a trail mod. which only knocked our payment down $400 but helped a lot . Hopefully after the new year which is after our 3 rd payment, we will get a lower payment.
Our friend gave us a refi loan back in 2004 with an ARM which is why our payment was $2500 which we paid until we lost our jobs.
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