Saturday, September 26, 2009

Loan Modification

What ever you do, do not fall for the scam of the Modification Attorney. Never take advise that tells you NOT to pay your mortgage and never pay for this service! Fist, talk to your lender. If they are unable or unwilling to help, then talk to your state! If you pull up the website for the Attorney General for your State, there will be a link for those in need of modification assistance. This is a free service! Here is a n example taken from the Iowa State home page:

Who We Are Attorney General
Tom Miller
Office Directory What We Do Protecting Consumers Fighting Crime
Helping Victims of Crime
Working for Farmers
Protecting the Environment
Protecting Charitable Giving
Raising Child Support Awareness
Representing State Government
Issuing Attorney General Opinions
Enforcing Tobacco Laws
Protecting Utility Customers Resources File a Consumer Complaint Other Helpful Resources News Releases & Publications
Legal Resources
Jobs & Internships
Contact Us Consumer
Private Right of Action: What consumers need to know
IOWA MORTGAGE HELP.COM 877.622.4866

Attorneys: request Mediation Notice form here


Information You Can Use

Eldora / Hardin County hail and windstorms: information for storm victims.

Consumer "Private Right of Action" --
What Consumers Need to Know.

Consumer Advisory Bulletins -- Tips for Consumers on Scores of Topics

Most Recent:

How to Deal With Credit Card Offers

Cash for Clunkers TIPS

Consumer “Private Right of Action” -- What Consumers Need to Know

Call the Iowa Mortgage Help Hotline

How to Avoid Becoming a Victim of Identity Theft and What to Do if You Think You May be a Victim




Remember, if it sounds to good to be true, it is. These schemers will tell you they can cut your interest in half and all for a few thousand dollar...they will say just send us your money and don't pay your mortgage, you have to be behind to qualify. WRONG! Call your state or your lender and if all else fails, call your Representative or Congressman!

You have to stand up for yourself and demand your rights because no one will do it for you!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Why isn't There More Bad Press?

This is also from Complaints Board

Taken from Business week article (link is below quoted article)..Lend America in Melville, N.Y., uses cable television infomercials and a toll-free number (1-800-FHA-FIXED) to encourage borrowers in trouble with adjustable-rate mortgages to refinance with fixed-rate loans guaranteed by the FHA. Anticipating the real estate crash, the Long Island firm switched its strategy in 2005 from subprime to FHA-backed mortgages, says Michael Ashley, Lend America's chief business strategist. This year, the company will make 7, 500 FHA loans, worth $1.5 billion, he says. "FHA is a big part of the future, " Ashley adds. "It's the major vehicle for the government to bail out the housing industry."

But why the federal government would want to do business with Lend America is perplexing. Ashley has a long history of legal scrapes. One of them led to his pleading guilty in 1996 in federal court in Uniondale, N.Y., to two counts of wire fraud related to a mortgage scam at another company his family ran called Liberty Mortgage. He was sentenced to five years' probation and ordered to pay a $30, 000 fine. His father, Kenneth Ashley, was sentenced to nearly four years in prison. "I was just a pawn in a chess game between my father and the government, " says the younger Ashley, who is 43. "It doesn't affect my ability to do lending." The default rate on Lend America's current FHA loans is 5.7%, or 53% above the national average, according to government records.

Asked about FHA oversight of former subprime firms, agency spokesman Lemar Wooley says: "FHA has taken appropriate actions, where necessary, with these lenders with respect to their participation in FHA programs." First Magnus, Nationstar, and Lend America met all applicable federal rules, Wooley says. But on two occasions since 2000 one office of Lend America in New York temporarily lost its authority to originate FHA-backed loans because of an excessive default rate, he says. Wooley says the FHA wasn't aware that Lend America's Ashley had been convicted. The firm didn't list Ashley as a principal, Wooley says. FHA lenders are required to disclose past regulatory sanctions and are forbidden to employ people with criminal records.

wonder why lend america has over 700 employees--not including mike ashley...why not ask all the “new” employees who had to close their doors due to fraudulent activity and predatory lending??? i guess business week is also wrong????

Here's Another Gem From Complaints Board!

Here's the link as well
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/lend-america-c258212.html#comments

Lend America
Posted: 2009-09-23 by Kare13



Unreputable

Complaint Rating:
Company information:
Lend America
Melville, New York
United States
LendAmerica.com

DO NOT USE LEND AMERICA!

I refinanced with Lend America and it was the biggest mistake one could make. I was contacted by loan representative named Arsen who assured me that this was the best way to go. It started with my having to close the loan not once but twice. The first time there were numerous mistakes in closing documents the closer found and had to spend time on the phone getting corrected. I thought all was well and the loan would fund. I was contacted my Arsen again and was told some bullshit excuse that I had to close a second time. Again the closer had to make corrections and I had to print my own closing documents. After the loan funded, I was contacted by my prior lenders that the payoff was not correct and I had to come up with money to pay the difference. This created a hardship for me to say the least. A couple of weeks after the closing I was contacted again by Arsen saying they needed my financials again. I asked to speak to someone else who could better explain as to why they would need information that was given a month before. Since no one called me back I didn’t send the same information they already received during the processing of my loan. Several months later, I had financial hardship and requested a modification and this is when the real nightmare begins for me. The Loss Mitigation Department is over loaded with people like me. When I finally was able to speak to someone I was told to contact HUD. I contacted HUD and explained what I was up against and HUD reviewed my financials they said I never qualified for the FHA Loan that I got through Lend America to begin with and felt the loan was fraudulent and they did not follow FHA’s guidelines. The HUD representative that I was assigned felt I qualified for FHA’s new HAMP Program and he would speak to Geri from Loss Mitigation. I finally was able to get her on the phone and she stated that that program was a last resort for me. I reminded her that she told me I did not qualify for Lend Americas’ modification programs so this was in fact a LAST RESORT for me in terms of modifications. I was given two month forbearance and was told I am on her list! I have consulted with a couple of attorneys and was informed Lend America has a bad reputation and is disorganized to say the least. I was also told that if I got a modification through them it would be a miracle and that I would end up in court for a foreclosure hearing in which he would represent me free of charge. Having said all this, I am a single parent who works hard and is not willing to lose everything I worked for. My only hope is to get them to modify my loan since my house is now worth less then the mortgage. SO I REPEAT DO NOT USE LEND AMERICA THERE ARE OTHER REPUTABLE LENDERS OUT THERE AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THE COMPLAINT BOARDS

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Update For Donna Healy's Complaint

Donna has heard back from the State of Indiana and they are now opening and investigation into preditory lending in regards to Lend America. She is still waiting for a responce from the NEw York Banking Commision about her complaint and so am I as a matter of fact. Either they are so busy they are running behind or... well I will leave that up to your imagination

Answers? I Think Not!

After many days, (this complaint was forwarded on the 25 of August!) Lend America has finally responded to my complaint. Remember I had five simple questions I wanted answered and to refresh your memory here they are:

1. How did this happen?
2. Who was involved?
3. Why did this happen?
4. Who let it happen?
5. What are they going to do to insure this doesn't happen again?

Now here is their answer:

Date Septemebr 20, 2009

Dear Marti Robovsky,

We have recieved and reviewed the complaint forwarded on behalf of Deborah L Dean. A review of the loan evidences that Lend America reviewed all pertinent information but was unable to render an approval. During the course of processing a loan, we exaimine other programs that the applicant may be eligible for. Lend America will not share confidential informantion with non-affliated third parties without expressed premission from the applicant. We understand the concerns regarding this loan. As such, we have taken a proactive approach to ensure the privacy and integrity of each borrower is maintained and safeguarded.

Yours truly
Cherud Wilkerson
Chief Compliance Officer
(631)944-6800 ext 2228

Now excuse me but what is this drival? It's not even well written! Did I recieve any answeres? The State of Iowa is going back in for round two and I will keep you posted!

Friday, September 18, 2009

Problems with ANY Lenders

If you have a problem with a Ginnie Mae certified lender here is some contact information to lodge a complaint! If you don't speak up for your self chances are no one else will!
Ginnie Mae Contact Information

Mailing Address:
Ginnie Mae
451 7th Street, SW, Room B-133
Washington, DC 20410
(202) 708-1535

Physical Location:
Potomac Center South
550 12th Street, SW, Third Floor
Washington, DC 20024
(202) 708-1535

Ginnie Mae's Office of Capital Markets:
(202) 401-8970
You can also contact the BBB but... they have no way to punish, prohibt or other form of reprimand and if you don't keep up with the complaint it will be considered resolved weath it is or not.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Forbes Article

Here is a link to a Forbes Article
http://rate.forbes.com/comments/CommentServlet?op=cpage&sourcename=story&StoryURI=2009/05/07/lend-america-mortgages-business-washington-housing.html

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Here is the response I got from Complaints Board.

Lend America Management
16 days ago
Dear Ms. Dean: My name is Mary McPhail and I am a manager here at Lend America. I read your posting and would like the opportunity to speak with you directly regarding this. We take this very seriously and if I can get a better understanding of what transpired, I can possibly bring resolve to this and ultimately give you the results you are looking for. Please email me directly at mmcphail@lend-america.com or call me directly at 631-944-6883. I await to hear from you. Thank you.

As far as the State Of Iowa Attorney General, my complaint was forwarded to Lend America's local office in DesMoines on the 25 of August and they must respond in writing. Hopefully I will have some answers to these questions
1. How did this happen?
2. Who was involved?
3. Why did this happen?
4. Who let it happen?
5. What are they going to do to insure this doesn't happen again?
I don't think this is to much to ask for and I am tired of the lies so it will be nice to see something in writing!

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Mishandling of Loan Lend America

James and Donna Healy
1823 S. 300 E.
Anderson, IN 46017
765-378-4678
Loan number: 2009042527

Michael Primeau
President
Lend America

Mr. Primeau:

I am writing to let you know how very unhappy we are with the service received from your company while trying to obtain a loan. In late November 2008 I contacted your company concerning a loan to finish a new addition to our home. Etna Rosso, loan analyst took my call. I explained to her that we had started an addition to our home so we could make my three developmentally disabled relatives residing with us more comfortable and safe. We had enough money to do the framing and get it closed in, but we needed additional funds to complete the inside of the structure. She took my information and said we qualified, no problem. A few days later she called and said all was well and we could look at a closing date of 20 December, 2008. On the 19th I hadn’t heard anything so I called her. She informed me since we had already started construction we couldn’t do the type loan she had set up for us. She hadn’t bothered to call us at all. Had I not called I wonder when she was planning on letting us know. She then said we could do a renovation loan but we couldn’t get funding until we had all the plumbing, heating and electrical done. I told her we didn’t have the money to do this. That was the purpose of asking for the loan in the first place. She said, and I quote, “Couldn’t you just borrow the money from someone and pay it back when we fund the loan?” I told her I wasn’t trying to borrow from someone else!! I asked if the time to finish those projects was going to be a problem, since it would take a while to complete. She said, again, no problem. We were already in the system and the paperwork would be put on hold; so we stretched and begged our workers to work without full pay so we could get that done. We called to let her know those projects done, then she said we had to have a Certificate of Occupancy…more money out of pocket and people we couldn’t pay, all believing as we did that it would only be a few weeks. We got the certificate. We called again. She then told us we had to send all the paperwork again because our initial file had been shredded since it had been so long and she was trying to protect us. We sent all the paperwork back in. She set up for an appraisal. The appraisal came back at $225, 000. Then she said we had some flooring, trimwork, paint and porches that had to be done before they would fund. By this time we were extremely frustrated, but had people we owed due to her inability to give us full information each time we talked to her. She kept telling us “this is the last thing and then we can fund this loan” every time we talked to her. We finished the work and the appraiser had to come out again (adding up to almost $1000 in fees). I called her a couple of days later to see if it was in and she told me it was perfect, all the paperwork was done and we could close end of the week, no problem. No contact after that. From that time on, she told us three separate times we had a closing date, the paperwork had been signed and everything was approved. We asked several times to talk to a supervisor to no avail. I finally had to call the complaint department several times to get responses. This dragged over more than a month’s time. We were supposed to close in May (three separate times, according to her, and yes we have copies of the e-mail traffic from her stating so). Because she lied to us repeatedly, we had payments come due on our mortgage and ended up having to pay those. Finally, we got to the closing date. When the closer started with the paperwork, the amount of the loan was $22, 000 lower than it was supposed to be. The appraisal amount was lower than the appraiser quoted. The interest rate was higher than we were quoted. It was a mess. We signed the papers because at this point we have to be able to pay the people we owe or we would have cancelled this loan. I called your complaint department this morning. They transferred me to Andreas Elestheriou, Etna’s supervisor. He acted as if he understood, but had no idea any of the changes had been made, or anything about all the lies Etna told us. He couldn’t tell me why the totals were different or why the appraisal was changed. Shouldn’t loan officers know about changes before they send anything forward and shouldn’t the client be informed? We have been totally coerced by your people, lied to, cheated and treated terribly. If your whole company conducts business like this, I can’t imagine how any of you sleep at night. There will be a copy of this letter sent to the Better Business Bureau and I am investigating whether there is any other authority I can report to. I thought my husband was going to have a heart attack trying to get through this process and we have had extremely hard times trying to make this work. We did our part and your company was very shoddy about doing their end of the process. We have been through several mortgage loan processes and have never had this much heartache or been treated so badly.
This was supposed to be a special year for my family. My two sisters and a niece who are developmentally disabled were supposed to have a better and safer place to live, my son was graduating this year and was planning a graduation trip (which had to be cancelled) and to give up much more he should have been able to enjoy for his senior year. We were supposed to finally get a mortgage that would give us more freedom to do the things we wanted to do. In an economy that is awful, we were going to be doing better and being more secure. That was what this loan was supposed to do. Instead, we have had to beg, borrow and scrape to do the things this loan was originally intended for. It was intended to finish this house….we had to do that ourselves, begging people to wait for their money, putting them off time after time because your workers couldn’t get their jobs done. What was supposed to be a good year for us turned into a total nightmare.
I don’t know if you really care about your company’s reputation, or if it’s just a money game to you, but I will do my best to let everyone know how we were treated. If you really do care, I hope you will look into this and try to fix it so your future clients don’t have to suffer through what we have. I would appreciate a response.

Lend America Complaint board Let's Hear from YOU!

This is a copy of my complaint on Complaints board.com. I would be very interested in hearing about other complaints against this company. Please contact me at home at 515-532-2281 My name is Deborah Dean. You can also contact Donna Healy at 765-378-4678. Woe want to hear your stories good or bad Thanks!

Here is a copy of an email I sent to Lend America. Their answerer to my complaint was to vilify me for having bad credit as if this whole thing was my fault that they where terrible!

Also my name and number was given without my consent to a legal office that does home modification. I feel that I should have been notified of the fact that I was not getting the loan by some from you company and not a person who does not work for you. I was looking to refinance not modify my mortgage. Wolfgang told me in any earlier conversation that you (Lend America) did not deal with any outside loan modification company's. I also feel put upon to have paid for an appraisal and now be expected to pay for a modification. Unless this matter is resolved I feel it is my duty to report your company to FTC and the BBB.
1. In regards to the refinance on my mortgage. I started this process in April. I never received a call back from your company. I called back and spoke to Wolfgang. He gave me the confidence in your company to continue to work with it instead of going to another company. He ordered an appraisal and everything was going well until I found out he was no longer working for your company. I had planed to use some of the cash back to pay my taxes but... the next person who was assigned to my case was Brian Dowling. He was not very good at returning calls and requested lots of information. I was very quick to get this info to him but every time I finally got him on the phone...he needed more information, i.e. LOE's, more pay stubs, doctors notes. I complied with everything even tough I felt like I was jumping through hoops! I finally contacted Chris Ryan, Brian's supervisor to find out the status of my loan. Again more information was requested. I was easier to contact Chris and he finally had the document expeditor Pinchas Barwigdor contact me directly to get all the paper work he required. Things finally started moving along and the file went to the under writer. Now I find I am being denied the loan due to back taxes. I did offer th borrow the money from my mother-in-law even though I feel if the loan had been done in May or the beginning of June I would have been able to pay those taxes before they where listed as past due. Apparently the underwriter is not pleased with my score or the back taxes. If this is the case fine. I feel you have wasted 3 ½ months of my life on a loan that was never going to happen and I can not in all fairness recommend you to ANYONE else. I feel if the underwriter felt so strongly about my loan, Lend America should have been up-front instead of wasting my time and theirs. I really need this refinance due to difficult financial constraints of having a disabled child and the need to give her the attention she requires. I wonder if I had gone to one of your competitors if this would have been taken care of months ago.
Sincerely,
Deborah L Dean
Here is the copy of my complaint to the Attorney General of Iowa and New York as well as Ginnie Mae and the FHA

Deborah L Dean

My complaint is against the direct lender Ideal Mortgage Bankers, LTD. Dba Lend America. I was trying to refinance my home with an FHA loan. My complaint is that they gave personal information to a third party mortgage modification attorney without my consent, lied to me and generally treated me like insignificant trash. Here is everything thing that happened while dealing with this company.
I called Lend America’s toll free number in March of this year. I was told that they would run my credit and get back to me by Monday. A week later I still had not heard back so I called again and spoke to Wolfgang. He told me he would personally handle my account. It took a few days for him to access my information. He said he was waiting for a supervisor to unlock everything because he did not want to run my credit again. He told I qualified and he was ordering an appraisal that I would have to pay for. A third party contacted me and they set up the appraisal. I took almost two weeks to get the appraiser out here and then another week to get the report. I was in contact with Wolfgang during this whole process. He wanted to do the mortgage in both mine and my husbands name. There were several bills we would be paying off and the rate would be 5.5%. Closing cost would be around $3900. I am enclosing the copy of my credit report that he emailed me. My score was 534 and my husband was 560, which are within the FHA guidelines. I tried calling Wolfgang for 5 days with no return to my calls. I finally called the general number and spoke to the first person who answered. I told them I was looking for Wolfgang and they told me I would need to talk to Chris Ryan. They transferred me to Jeremy Shippy. I called back and used the prompt for the directory and got Chris’s extension. I called him several time and did not leave a message. I finally reached him and asked him what was going on. This is mid May. He told me Wolfgang was no longer with them and Brian Dowling would be handling my case. He gave me his extension. I called and left a message. I did not hear from him so I called back the next day several times without leaving a message until I reached him. I appeared they had not received my appraisal. I called the Management company and had them resend the appraisal. I finally reached Brian the next day and he told me we would be closing soon. He gave me three different closing dates. He sent me a package Fed EX that I signed paperwork about rates and such. I was getting 6%. He said the rates went up. Closing cost where 8900. He said I had to pay a lot of “points” because of the low amount of the loan and the credit score. He had Funding Suite contact my creditors and agree to pay them for me. They called my currant Mortgage Co (CITI Bank Rep. Jodie 1-800-769-7143) and asked her inappropriate questions twice once with me on the phone in a conference call. Jodie called and told me about the first time. Then Brian told me then need additional information. I got it back to him within a day. Then he need more information. This took awhile since he need a letter from my daughter’s doctor saying she was disabled. This is now July and the Doctor was on Vacation. I still had it back to him within 10 days. Then he needed more information. Again I got it back to him within the day. Each time I talked to him I asked if I was getting this loan. He said yes it was just taking awhile because my credit score was so low. He finally stopped returning my calls and I got back in touch with Chris. He told me he would be handling my case personally. We talked several times and he requested additional information as well. Again I complied quickly and again I continued to ask if I was getting this loan. Again I was told I was but it was taking awhile again due to the low score. He had the document expediter call me directly and he request more information. I complied quickly again! Chris told me it was going to the underwriter. I called Monday and he said the underwriter was looking at it to call back that evening. I called and did not reach him. I called on Tuesday and he told me not to keep calling him HE would call me as soon as he heard something. I got an email from him later that afternoon to call him ASAP. I called and he asked if his associate had reached me and I said no. I asked what number and he had been calling on my fax so I told him I would unplug my fax and what for his call. About 20 min later I got a call from a man named David and he told me he worked for an Attorney that did debt consolidation and other things as well as mortgage modifications.. He said that Chris had asked him to call me hoping he could help me since I did not get the loan. I was angry and embarrassed ! I flat out asked him how much this was going to coast me. He said they could cut my payment in half. How much I asked again. He told me maybe nothing but probably around 500 to 600. He would call me back. He would not give me his number or the name of the law office but he could also tell I was mad. I sent an email to Frank Lagrega and Michael Ashley telling them why I was upset with their company. Frank called me . The upshot of the conversation was that my credit was terrible and I should have expected not to get financed. Did I really feel I needed to lodge a formal complaint? Chris would be fired if I did and was I really that mean of a person? Chris called me that night and let me know that he was just helping me and now I was going to get him fired unless I changed my story. That they would give me my appraisal fee back but if I complained to the Attorney General’s office, he would lose his job and I would get nothing. I spoke to Frank aging the next day and again listened to how bad my credit was and how they did everything possible to help me. I wanted to speak to Frank’s supervisor and he told me I could speak to the head of underwriting. I told them they where not listening to me . I understood that I did not get the loan and that I wanted to fell that I mattered, my business mattered I wanted the time I had wasted back and not to have payed for an appraisal. Again they went on about my terrible credit. I started to interrupt and was told that he had let me speak now I needed to let him speak. They had tried everything they could but could not get my loan approved due to my credit and they could not sell it to their investors that if they funded this loan they may be stuck with it. I told him that I did not want to hear about my credit anymore that they where rubbing salt into wounds. I didn’t care about not getting the loan and they weren’t going to make me think that the way I was treated was justified due to my:”lousy credit score. I was mislead, lied to, my information released to a third party, and then made to feel small and delinquent . I said I had a complaint and I felt they could not correct the situation unless it was brought to their attention and that is what I was doing and their answer was to NOT Listen to ME! Frank agreed to mail out a check for the appraisal fees and then he sent me an email which I will enclose. I don’t think a company that is Ginnie Mae certified should treat people the way I was treated and if they will not address the problem they should be held accountable.