Countrywide Home Loans ripoff is not a company looking to help people in need Van Nuys California

First and foremost, if you had a conventional loan, they would have foreclosed and that would be the end of it. The fact that you have an fha/hud loan means you are protected from a deficiency judgment if they foreclose and entitles you to the loss mitigation plans you mentioned (special forbearance, partial claim, loan modification). What it doesn't do is make it where YOU the borrower get to select your option. The options are done in priority order, determined based off of your surplus income, in order to get the loan caught up as soon as possible.

What the options don't do is lower your payments, or allow them to accept partial payments until your hardship is over. (See your mortgage that you signed at closing as to why they are unable to accept partial payments on your loan).

The mortgage company acted withing HUD guidelines and there is nothing you can do as far as suing them that will offer any kind of victory for you.

Unfortunately, they don't have to let you live there for free, and you have been. People that purchase homes don't always think something might happen that could cause a hardship, but it always does. And most people don't have any savings. You probably need to evaluate your lifestyle and learn to live well below your means so that you could put some money back. If you had a cushion to fall on, none of this would be happening.

And in response to the last post about telling the mortgage company you are applying for a government subsidized loan, that is completely and utterly false. There are no government subsidized loans for mortgages. In addition, there are no grants by USDA, HUD or any other government entity to bring your loan current in times of hardship. Whoever said this, check your facts, you are getting hopes up when these things don't exist. If there were programs like this, people would remain in a constant state of hardship.

The upfront contribution they requested is for attorney fees, late charges, etc. All of these things MUST be paid outside of the loss mitigation plan (see HUD's mortgagee letter 2000-05 for details on that).

Again, they have done nothing wrong here at all. They have followed servicing guidelines. The only person that messed up was you when you missed your payments. I know it stinks, but this is real life.

Michelle,

Nobody is immune to the experiences of hardship. There ARE specific hardship programs that you can apply for. But first, you must send a request in writing to Countrywide AND Federal Trade Commission asking them for a detailed "proof of debt", make sure you have your loan # and request a breakdown and explanation of charges.

By Federal Law they have 20 business days to respond or they are in violation of RESPA,Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. You must include a statement of reasons that you believe the account is in error.(This applies to EVERYONE who believes they are being overcharged or wrongfully having action taken against them)

Send a copy to Countrywide by certified mail and a copy to ;
Federal Trade Commision
Consumer Response Center, Room 240-H
Washington, D.C. 20580
877-FTC-HELP, 877-382-4357

www.ftc.gov and follow instructions under filing a complaint. Send a letter to your Senator, they can assist too and forward your complaint to the Attorney General in fraud/misrepresentation complaints. Squeaky wheel gets the oil!

Ok, for the here and now... these complaints take time, so,you must swallow your pride and go to social services immediately. Most states have State Emergenceny Services that help homeowners STAY IN THEIR HOMES! You don't have to be on public assistance either! They can assist in back payments , insurance, taxes and even repairs and refer you to other agencies that can help too. There are also government sponsored loans and grants through your state Housing Authority,and HUD, even the USDA!

Call Countrywide and tell them you want to finance through a government guaranteed or subsidized loan. They'll get the hint that you have talked to a government authority about your situation. Whatever they "offer" get them to put it in writing. Keep a journal of dates, times and first and last name of the person you spoke to and what was said. Keep all correspondence from Countrywide in a file.

I know it is overwhelming, but you must take whatever steps neccesary to protect yourself and your home!

You also have a right to a hearing before they can take possesion of your home. But I urge you to take steps now before it goes that far. If you have sent a complaint and asked for a proof of debt, then any judgment on the proceedings can be set aside pending the outcome of Countrywide's response. They have a duty to PROVE you owe ALL debt they claim. God Bless and don't give up!

P.S.Also, the case referred to by one of the rebuttals was Alanna Curry/U.S.A. vs. Fairbanks, and once again, Fairbanks, Equifax and numerous other "loan servicers" like Countrywide are subsidiaries of BANKERS TRUST Co. of California, a group of international PREDATORY investors- headquarters in Germany. In a sense, foreign money is used to finance U.S. property in order to control U.S. interests, I believe it is illegal for mortgage money to come from foreign sources...Hmmm, maybe we could all have our loans CANCELLED on a "technicality".

I am writing in response to the first post. What in the world do you think they should do for you? Let you have the house and make payments whenever you feel like it? Everyone has responsibilities in this world and it is not up to your mortgage company to take pity on you and not get their money.

If they felt sorry for everyone who had a sob story and did not make them pay, they would not stay in business. It sounds like to me you have a lot of growing up to do and maybe you should have thought of all of these possibilities before you had your son if you are now worrying about putting a roof over his head!!

I don't care if your boyfriend has to get 3 jobs until you straighten things out. You have to do what you have to do and can't just espect everyone to ignore your obligations because you had rough times.

(PS.. It sounds like most of your rough times were in your control and you are just always expecting everyone to take care of you) This may sound harsh but it sounds like someone needs to give you a reality check. If you are not old enough to have a house and a family, stop playing house and move back with your mom and dad and quit whining to everyone.

My wife and I have been going thru all of the same stuff you people are describing here for the past 4 years with another company, Fairbanks,
aka Equicredit. Without a bunch of redundant details about the fight, the end result was that there was a class action suit against them and we got a SMALL of money repaid to us. It was barely a drop in the bucket compared to the charges they trumped up against us but, at least there was a settlement.
I really apologize for not having the name of the law firm that brought the suit against them but it is a matter of public record. All that info was in my computer and it just crashed into
the cyberdump taking a ton of info with it. But,
as I said, some digging around will reveal the name of the lawyers that brought Fairbanks down.
Contact them and see if they have any knowledge of what is going on.
My wife started her crusade to save our home right on these pages here so...start writing.
Send your story to your Congressman, your home state Senator(I actually spoke on the phone with
Jeb Bush a couple of years ago about our situation...they will listen to you.) as well as, it would appear, the Senator from California.
I believe that is Barbara Boxer, no?
Fight the good fight people...
p e a c e

I could have read this wrong, but it sounds like the last payment you made was in the 2nd week of April. If that is the case, considering it is now November, it would seem they have been trying to work with you. If they sent you a foreclosure letter in October, that would be six months of no payments. Most mortgage companies would have sent letters sooner. It has helped that you have been in contact with them every month, but you say they want 960.00 to get you on a loan modification, and you say you can't even afford a regular payment or an apartment, I really don't understand what you want them to do. Of course when we buy our homes we can't see into the future and don't expect these things to happen, and alot of us live paycheck to paycheck, but, of course they are going to ask for a "downpayment" to get you into this program. If you haven't made a payment in six months they want their money. Had you been in an apartment and hadn't paid for this long, you probably would have been evicted.
As far as not making enough for the repayment plan, that isn't the motgage companys fault. I'm not saying it is yours, but, they have their guidelines. Giving you the runaround for months was definatly wrong.
If I understood this wrong, I apologize.
I in no way meant to offend you, but I didn't see this as a ripoff.