Complaint Review: Country Wide Mortgage Company Remittance Dept - Van Nuys California

Looking at all of this nonsense here, the crux of the issue is....your friend is an idiot. How he let the mortgage responsibility fall upon someone who can't pay it on time or doesn't have the capacity is beyond me. I hate Countrywide with a passion, but they are not totally in the wrong here. The simple fact is that your friend (landlord) holds the mortgage and is ultimately responsible for payment. That he deligated that authority to you should land him in the hall of fame of jackasses for being so stupid. Now, because you had financial problems, he is losing the home. You had better start looking for another rental now...a cheaper one that you can afford. If I were your friend, I'd sue the bajesus out of you for damages...but then I'd also be wasting my money because ultimately the mortgage holder (not you) is responsible to have that payment into the lender by the date due. The mortgage holder is also solely responsible for negotiating any or all settlements on this home/mortgage...NOT YOU!!! You don't have rights...not even squatters rights since you haven't been paying. I'd suggest you pack your bags and check the local rental books...you're going to be out in the street shortly unless your friend pulls out a miracle...or files chapter 13. Either way...he must be one hell of a friend for letting you mess him up so much....if it were me, I'd sic the dogs on you, change the locks, and evict you immediately...friend or not. You aren't much of a friend to him. Man...why can't people take financial responsibility for themselves instead of blaming everybody else. I can see by your grammar you're no scholar....so I can see how this can be confusing for you.

I was recently talking to one of my co-workers and we began discussing bankruptcy (I just completed one) and she was looking for some info. Turns out Countrywide has been handling her mortgage for several years now and they've had nothing but trouble from day one. Originally her pmnts were only supposed to be around $350 month (including property taxes, insurance, etc.). When they went for the signing they were informed this amount was incorrect and the mortgage would be $400-500 a month, she reluctantly signed as she really wanted to own her home. More recently she'd been informed that due to an increase in property taxes/insurance - her mortgage jumped to well over $700. She checked recent tax records and insurance, etc. and found this excuse to be totally bogus. She told them they could just take the house 'cause there was no way she could make such excessive payments. Countrywide CSR advised they couldn't do a "voluntary repossession" and they would have to forclose (this was scheduled for mid February). She moved out and found a rental unit - then rec'd additional correspondence advising they (Countrywide) had discovered the house was now vacant and would have to increase her mortgage (due to higher insurance costs) to over $800. Needless to say she and her husband contacted the attorney that I used and started their bankrupcty procedings. However, she also spoke with another attorney in the same office that gets paid only if he wins. He seems to feel he can get her a settlement (damages) for roughly $100,000.00 in addition to getting her house back [free]. Seems Countrywide sold this family "hazard" insurance they had no idea they were paying on - Countrywide is NOT licenced to sell insurance of any kind. This insurance was in addtion to the insurance they were required by law to carry and had been paying on each month. Her bankruptcy is temporarily on hold until August 2005 - until the settlement has been completed.

HUD has something called Loss Mitigation Program which is the child of the HUD Assignment Program. If your loan is a HUD or FHA backed loan, contact HUD and tell them you need a "Housing Counselor". HUD has Housing Counselors in every state and they can help you. Otherwise, the HUD office you called may have folks that can do the job as well. Without getting into great length and detail - this program is designed to prevent forclosures of HUD or FHA backed loans. NOW THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!!!! Lenders have to be approved to be able to have HUD or FHA backed loans. If the lender isn't following the HUD rules, they could lose that ability and this could cost them hundreds of millions of dollars in loan. DON'T BE AFRAID TO TELL YOUR LENDER THAT YOU ARE MAKING A COMPLAINT TO HUD. IF your lender won't follow the rules, you do have a big stick. Good Luck.

I also have had the same no one ever said that' problem. Because Countrywide REFUSES to do written complaints I have come up with a different approach. Buy a cheap cassette recorder and a phone hook up at your local R.S. store. Hook it up and make your phone calls. Once the customer service person comes on the line immediately inform them that this conversation is being recorded. Not only will you have bothe sides of the story on tape you will also catch them in their lies. I personally have over 4 hours of conversation between Countrywide and myself. They have admitted that they made mistakes and REQUIRE that I pay for them. They have even said that it was my fault that their service person told me the wrong information. Once I am done with the tape I will edit it and call a lawyer to sue them for violations of the fair trade practices act. No "he said, she said" when it comes to a court of law. Just the truth. Good Luck

Unless you as the renter are on the mortgage, you're pretty well hosed. The owner can ignore anything and everything and may have a reason they want to get forclosed upon...usually the reason is that they're not that bright or just don't care. You, on the other hand...learned two important lessons. READ THE FINE PRINT...and DON'T TRUST ANYONE-especially your "friends." I'd be willing to gamble you don't even have a valid rental contract. Hand shakes and winks don't work these days...even with a good attorney, you have no recourse but to find another place to rent, recouperate from ruining your credit, and licking your wounds. Get your credit in shape and buy a home...and read the contract. When you rent, save your cancelled checks for at least 12 consecutive months....you will need them! Then before you sign, see if things changed...and go to RIPOFF REPORT to check if you are working with a scammer or not. Best wishes.

One of Countrywide's favorite tricks is to return payments. They cannot foreclose unless you have missed three payments in a row. By refusing to accept a payment "because it is late" they make it possible to foreclose. If your loan were an FHA or VA loan, your state's U.S. Senator might have someone on staff who could help. Otherwise checking with an attorney who specializes in forclosures may be your only answer and hope the first consultation is free.

My fianmce' and I bought a new home in January 04. He lost his job in April 04 and we have gotten a few months behind as well. I house was originally mortgaged through our personal bank. 2 months into the loan they sold it to countrywide. when he lost his job we knew that it was going to get tough so I borrowed money from my 401k and we paid a house payment and at that time we called and countrywide said we did not owe a payment at that time. we got a few payments behind and have been struggling. I called to let them know we would have a payment in on Friday of last week. they said ok and to get it to them ASAP. At noon that friday I called them to let them know I was on my way to the bank to get the certified fund they were requesting for a single payment. They said don't send it that it had been fikled for foreclosure that morning. I was all confused. they said to get as much together as we could and call them monday. Over the weekend we sold a car and some other possessions. we called them Monday to tell them we have Two full payments by wed. and we'll get it to them ASAP. they said this amount would not work. It wouild take approx. $4500. with Attorney fees and so fourth. We said it would take a few more days. we are waiting on some other funds to come in. A few days go by and we receive another call from Countrywide. This time we get yet another person as many have said. I do not think we have ever talked to the same person twice either. This lady on around august 2nd tell us that we have till August the 6Th to come up with just under $6100. and if we do not have itr by then more moneys will be added to the amount. We have till sept. 6th to pay this amount we have no idea what it will be but at this time we have a little over $3100. and they will m not except it. They want May,June, July and August + all the fees added and if this does not happen by Tomorrow it will go up drastically. My fiance is supposed to get a letter of offer from a new joob offer in the next few days. It seems that will even come to late in time to stop this companies ever going up price every time we talk to them. can you help us?

I can appreciate your problems, but your rebuttal has nothing to do with this subject. We have here a person who is trying to deal with a mortgage company that doesn't legally have a mortgage with them! Sharyn does not own the house and her name is not on the deed or title. This is a totally separate issue.

I have learned from months of trying to deal with Countrywide that you seldom speak to the same phone clerk twice. One may be in Texas. The next in California. Many need customer service training. You can only hope that the notes one clerk puts in the computer are both accurate and actually entered. Frequently they are not. You will also seldom get the same answer twice in a row. I have never had more trouble dealing with a company. From the day Countrywide bought my loan until today they have kept me on the verge of a nervous breakdown with their inefficiency and lack of ability to communicate with each other. In three phone calls today I talked to three different people and got three different answers. There was one point about a year ago when they had failed to post my payments for five months. That does wonders for a credit report. Prior to Countrywide I never had a problem with the mortgage holder. Oh to have those days back.

Like a previous response, I am very puzzled also. The writer stated they were paying rent, so I do not see how they can possibly be involved directly in foreclosure problems (other than losing the place they live in of course, but it's not their credit going down in flames). Even if they were paying for the mortgage directly, so long as the promissory note is in someone else's name, they should not be directly involved in any legal discussions with the mortgage company (IANAL - I am not a lawyer)) Putting all that aise, and assuming the renter somehow has legal permission to be the one handling the problem, she should have done everything in writing with delivery confirmation or gone in to their office if possible and requested things in writing at that point. Failing that, if you have to do stuff on the phone, take detailed notes and ask a non-involved party such as a friend to sit in and use a speakerphone so you have an independant witness to the conversation. Makre *sure* it's not someone directly involved as their testimony would be "tainted" since they'd have a financial stake in the outcome. Finally, *never* do business with friends unless you do it exactly the same way you'd do things with a stranger. There should have been a rental contract and payments should have been made to their friend and the friend should have had all dealings with the mortgage company. Sure, they might have gotten evicted if they could not pay but it sounds like they are going to get that and a hell of a lot more angst out of this deal. At this point, assuming this problem has not been resolved via sherrif's sale...they really need a lawyer or some sort of legal aid. Many states have a recission period even after a forced sale in which the house may be re-acquired by the actual owner, they need to consult their state's laws and again, talk to an attorney, it's way past the time when they could fix things themselves. I've had a mortgage and a HELOC with Countrywide for more than 5 years and have never had a moment's probem with them and in fact, just re-did the HELOC and got them to pay every penny of the assorted costs and got a lower interest rate than I had been payingand only spent about an hour of my own time on paperwork and such. I'd definitely refer friends to them, I think this poor person got in over his/her head by making too many assumptions initially. Jim P.

First of all, is the mortgage in your friend's name? If so, Countrywide should not even be discussing the financing with you. Maybe the reason the representative at Countrywide is confused is because they have no record of you in their system. Second, if you don't make a house payment, you're going to be foreclosed on. This is common knowledge. If your friend is smart, she would file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy and include the house in it, and then kick out tenants that don't pay their rent. This is what any other landlord would do. If the title of the house is in your name, then just pay Countrywide in full. I guarantee this will get rid of your headaches.

This is an update:
After writing the letter on lies more lies, I received another yet distrubing phone call from the liars at hand. The woman told me to call another person that could only send me the paperwork of foreclosure, which I never received. As I well know this is becomming a full time job, trying to get in touch with these people as I did call that particula department. This woman told me that I should call the work out department. I told her what had previously happend and she said, "Have you called the work out department?" I said, " No one ever told me about hte work out department. So I called the work out department and have left numerous amount of messages on this mans extension. He has not returned my calls. Nor has any of the departments that I called have called my dear friend (our landlady.) I cannot seem to get in touch with these people. Is this another one of their lies? Sharyn