BOA and Tunicates!

I told you all I would post some extra information about our piece on how the Coast Guard responds to pollution on our waterways. Well--we got busy yesterday following up on our story on Bank of America. I have had so many emails from customers of BOA this week...and I'm working to get back with all of you.

In the meantime--Katie received an email from BOA saying they are researching Laqurdia's case and working with the investors to see how they can resolve the situation. We're asking some more questions about what exactly that means...so check back here to find out what we found out. Of course, when we get some solid answers we'll also update you on WINK NEWS.

Ok--so back to pollution in our waterways. The Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment is actually a pretty neat part of the Coast Guard. Some of the stuff we didn't get into on our broadcast--both of the men we interviewed have degrees in biology and other marine science areas. They spend years with the Coast Guard before they can actually be on our waterways identifying pollution. In short--they know what they're looking for.

I wanted to show you some of the Pictures LTJG Michael Novak shared with us of some of the false reports. These look like tarballs--but they're actually tunicates. You can click on the word to read what Fish and Wildlife says about these creatures.

But here are the pictures:





Pretty interesting stuff, eh?

You can also check out our full story as well as find information about reporting oil spills by clicking here

Loan Modification: WHERE TO COMPLAIN!

I'm really excited about this information. As a reporter, when someone calls you with a complaint--you want to tell them an official agency to register their complaint.

You may wonder--what good does complaining do? I'm just one person. But these government agencies really do keep track, tally, then research complaints. But usually they wait until the complaints reach a certain threshold. And if noone complains, they never reach that threshold.

Over the last...wow, it's been almost three years! I've had a lot of you write and call me about your loan modification and foreclosure. I've told people to call the Attorney General. I've told them to call the Homeownership Resource Center. I've never known if those complaints are registered....until NOW!

There's a government agency called the Office of Comptroller of the Currency. Bizarre name, huh? Well, Abraham Lincoln established it to oversee national banks because he didn't trust the states to regulate them. So the OCC takes complaints and holds nationwide banks accountable.

I spoke with someone from the OCC today...who told me here's what you have to do. Call this number 1-800-613-6743. A live person (hooray!) will answer the phone, take your info, and may ask you to send them your documents. They will then assign you a complaint number and take your complaint directly to the bank's headquarters. You will be able to check in on your complaint by calling the 800 number and they will give you a response in writing as to the outcome of the complaint.

Pretty awesome.

Kevin from the OCC also told me some interesting stuff about why you might be struggling to get a loan modification. Basically, he says, your bank may not own your loan.

The banks act as servicers for many loans...they basically just collect the payment. Someone else owns the loan...maybe a pension fund...or another investor. If the bank owns your loan, it's very easy for them to alter the terms of your loan. BUT if your loan was sold to an investor, the bank has to approach the investor and ask them if they can modify the loan. If the investor group says "No," you may be out of luck.

Well, you learn something every day. I hope this helps you naivigate this process!

A late response

I told you last night Bank of America didn't get back to us by news time and that I would keep you posted on when they finally did here on our Call for Action blog. We finally received a response almost an hour after the deadline we gave them.

First I'll post my email to Bank of America I sent at 10:12 a.m. on Tuesday:

Christina--
We are running a follow-up story today. We have had a LOT of responseto our story and I have several questions I would like answers to before we run our story at 6pm. If we do not receive a response by 6pm, we will be unable to include it in our story.

1) Nicole informed us the respresentative from Bank of America said they were speaking with Isla Blue developers to buy back her home.Isla Blue told us they had NOT been contacted by Bank of America at all. They told me they were receptive to a call from BOA just had NEVER been contacted. Why did the representative say this to Nicole if they had never actually picked up the phone and called?

2) We have had more calls from people who have been in the loan modification process only to have their homes sold while they are in the trial period. What is BOA's procedure for processing loan modifications? How many people typically work on a loan modification? Why are we seeing a trend of communication breakdowns between borrowers and BOA and the courts?

3) MOST IMPORTANT--is BOA still receiving money from the Federal Government for these modifications that they process and then foreclose? How much does BOA receive per loan modification?

4) Does BOA sometimes choose to foreclose because it more advantageous to foreclose a claim against mortgage insurance rather than work with a homeowner?

Thanks.


Now their response from 7:03 p.m. Tuesday night:

Melissa,

Thank you for the opportunity to respond. Please include the following in future updates:

Before a Bank of America associate contacted Ms. DePuy yesterday afternoon, we confirmed that our outside counsel had reached out to an attorney of the third party purchaser to inquire about repurchasing the property. The attorney stated that they would get back to us with their interest. We will be submitting an offer to the third party tomorrow morning for their consideration and asking for a delay of the eviction while we work out a settlement. We are still researching exactly what transpired that lead to the foreclosure sale. We are doing everything within our power to keep Ms. DePuy in her home.

Through the first half of 2010, Bank of America has completed mortgage modifications providing homeownership retention solutions for about 160,000 homeowners who face difficulties in making their monthly payments due to economic conditions. That brings the bank's total of modified home loans to 650,000 since January 2008. The July Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) performance report from the Department of Treasury shows Bank of America continuing to lead all servicers with more than 72,000 permanent HAMP modifications completed through June, up from 63,000 reported by Treasury the month before.

Bank of America apologizes to its customers if they did not receive the service level they expect from Bank of America. Recognizing the need to do more for our customers, Bank of America has opened Customer Outreach Centers in various parts of the country. Last week, we opened one in Fort Lauderdale. The centers offer customers facing financial hardship with an opportunity for face-to-face counseling. Bank of America Home Loans has expanded default management staffing to nearly 18,000, an 80% increase since January of 2009. We are also introducing case managers who will be assigned to a customer throughout the modification process.

Keeping customers in their homes is in the best interest of servicers, investors and especially the homeowner. Foreclosure is a last resort. The decision to move forward with a foreclosure relies heavily on the customer's past payment history, their ability to make future mortgage payments and investor guidelines. Ms. DePuy did not have mortgage insurance on her loan. The Treasury's Making Home Affordable program offers a $1,000 incentive to servicers for placing a customer in a permanent modification. The servicer does not receive any incentive payment until the borrower has successfully made the requires trial payments and modification is completed. The servicer is eligible for an additional $1,000 incentive each year that the homeowner makes timely payments for the first three years after the modification.

Christina B. Toth
Bank of America
Media Relations

My producer received a call from Laqurdia Tatum--the woman we introduced you to last night-- after we sent our initial email. Laqurdia told us she had received a modification, paid the first mortgage payment, then left to go to Fort Bragg to send her son off to Afghanistan. She came home to find her home auctioned. So my producer Katie sent this email to Bank of America at 3:19 p.m. :

Christina:
I am a producer with Melissa Yeager at WINK-TV. We just interviewed another woman who says she was also approved for a Bank of America loan trial period and even sent her first payment in-- and her home was also sold out from under her.

I have copies of the letter from BOA that states she is in fact part of the modification trial and during that time, no foreclosure would happen. I also have a canceled check for her first payment due on July 1st. She called BOA to make sure her home would not be put up for auction-- and an agent told her (after 45 minutes to an hour on hold) that she took care of it and her house would not go to auction. She even placed calls to the lawyers that were in charge of the auction to tell them of the recent developments-- and still the house went to auction.

She found out her house was sold on July 8th only after she came back home from Fort Bragg-- saying goodbye to her soldier son who was being shipped out to Afghanistan.
Can you please look into her case and let me know how this happened?

Again, we are running her story-- as well as an update about the woman below-- tonight at 6pm. That is the deadline to hear from you.

Thanks!
Katie Cribbs
Executive Producer, Special Projects

So we received this response back at 7:28 p.m.:

Katie,
You may use the following in any further updates. I will let you know anything I find out tomorrow.

Bank of America:We are still researching this case. If we proceeded with the foreclosure sale in error, we will work on trying to resolve the situation for Ms. Tatum.

Christina Toth


I understand it takes some time to look into these cases--but we initially contacted Bank of America a WEEK before we actually ran the story. We wanted to run Nicole's story when we had some answers from Bank of America. I'm still not sure we have those --but trust us to keep asking for you! In fact, if you have questions you would like to pose to BOA...feel free to post them in the comments. I would love to hear them. We're running an updated story at 5 p.m. And thanks to all of you sending me emails about your story. I am keeping them as we do more stories about the loan modification process.

(On a side note--I'm really irritated by the late response by BOA two days in a row. If I paid my credit card payment late, they'd charge me $35.00. By my math, that's $70!)

Also--Katie and I are busy bees back here in Call for Action. We have a GREAT piece running at 6 p.m. about what the Coast Guard is doing on a daily basis to keep our waterways clear. If you're a boater--this is some great information...and look back here tomorrow for some extra info!

CALL FOR ACTION FOLLOW: Inconsistencies with Bank of America's story

We want the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth; but we may not be getting the "whole truth" from Bank of America.

We've been trying to track down Bank of America for a week in regards to Nicole DePuy's situation. She's a Cape Coral woman who fought to have her loan modified by the bank and finally won; however, her house was still scheduled to go up for auction. Bank of America assured her as soon as she started paying her new, modified loan amount, that the house would be pulled from auction. It wasn't. And Nicole didn't know until the new owners came a knocking-- telling her to be out by the end of July!

Finally, right before our story about Nicole aired last night (July 26, 2010), Bank of America called Nicole to explain they were working with the property group that bought Nicole's house to come up with a solution. We were not able to confirm this with Bank of America but we did get in touch with the property group that bought Nicole's home. They tell us: BANK OF AMERICA HAS NEVER CONTACTED THEM!

In fact, the property group that now owns Nicole's home tells us that Bank of America, from the beginning, has told them that they've always wanted to foreclose on and sell Nicole's home. Again, we're still trying to get in touch with Bank of America to get its side.

Bank of America has told us, however, that it has contacted Nicole and is working on a solution.

So what's the truth? We're trying to get it! Tune in to WINK News tonight, July 27th at 6pm to find out what we're now being told now!

To watch Nicole's full story, click on this link.

Oil scam warning

Florida's Attorney General and Chief Financial Officer are warning Floridians of a new scam targeting Gulf Coast residents.

People are now receiving emails claiming to be from BP headquarters in London and are signed by BP CEO Tony Hayward. This is an email phishing scam! The email promises you a grant of $500,000 for responding to the email and providing personal information. Do not respond!

For more information on this latest scam, click on the following links:

Florida Attorney General

Florida Chief Financial Officer

Census survey not a scam

A viewer recently e-mailed with questions about something called, "The American community Survey." She wanted to know if this survey was a scam or legit.

The answer: This is legit!

The American Community Survey is sent through the U.S. Census Bureau. It's a separate part of the 2010 Census program. Response to both surveys is required by law.

Unlike the ten-year Census, The American Community Survey is ongoing, every month. It asks for more specific information from you, like how much your home is worth or how much you spend every month on utilities; however, it will never ask you for your personal information like social security number of bank account.

For more information on The American Community Survey, click on this link.

Rental scam in full swing in SWFL

For the second time in just weeks, the Call for Action office has received word of a rental scam circulating SWFL. On June 24th, 2010 we told you about the scam in full detail, click here to watch the story.

Now, another viewer wrote in to tell us about the same scam. Here's what happens:

The scam artists registers a home on a rental site and you contact the scam artist about that home. That scam artists is smart and uses the name of the actual owner, registered on the property appraiser's website-- so he looks legit! And almost always the scam artists says he is in Africa and usually on some sort of missionary trip. Take a look at the e-mail this viewer received (the name and address has been removed to protect the actual home owner).

Viewer's e-mail:

I must confess that I am very very new in this landlord business..However,My name is xxx,I own the house located at (xxx Estero, FL). Due to my job as a missionary I spent less time in the States so I could not get a hold on any Realtor to handle this rent issue, although it was when I knew how long we are going to stay in Africa that I decided to rent out the house. However, the initial plan was to sale out the apt. which I tried, but sometimes the agents inflates the prize and it takes longer to sell i am telling you this incase if you find the house on another website, that is the old advert. because of this reason and more we need a responsible person that can take very good care of it as we are not after the money , but want it to be clean and for you to take it as if it were yours.

The rent is $800 and600 for Security Deposit
For this 2BR
Pets : Dogs, Cats Allowed!!!
Below is my phone numbers

LEASE APPLICATION FORM FULL CONTACT NAME? OCCUPATION? RESIDENTIAL HOME ADDRESS? YOUR CELLPHONE NUMBER? YOUR HOME PHONE NUMBER? YOUR WORKPLACE NUMBER? WHAT TIME IS THE BEST TIME TO REACH YOU? AGE & MARITAL STATUS? OWN A PET? OWN A CAR? HOW MANY PEOPLE SHALL RESIDE IN THE PREMISES? ANTICIPATED MOVE IN DATE? REFERENCE? ============================== ======= Application Comment ============================== ======= Please make sure this questions are fill correctly because the best way you answer with your comment will impress me the more to accept your applications. I know you would want to see the house before making any kind of rental payment , which is understandable.We can make arrangement for the keys and documentation including an Authorization letter to be shipped to you, this will give you the opportunity to view house. Regards,

*************************************

Important to note:

--People out-of-state of out-of-country will get a Realtor or rental company or even a friend to handle renting out their property.

--Once you contact the person, he or she will try to get you to send money before getting a key to look at the place. You should never have to pay any money up front to look at a home.

--This scam usually involves someone living in Africa as a missionary and the person provides on overseas phone number (usually a Nigerian number).

--Watch out for poor grammar-- a sign that someone is not legit.

--If you have any questions or concerns that this may be a scam, contact your local sheriff's office or call the Lee County Sheriff's Office Fraud Hotline: 239-477-1242