On March 4, 2009 President Obama initiated the Home Affordable Modification Program with guidelines to help American homeowners keep their homes. Because of the mortgage crisis and the struggling economy it became clear that homeowners were in desperate need of assistance to stay in their homes. Unfortunately not all home owners have been successful with this program.
Bank of America has been pressured by the Obama Administration to increase efforts to help homeowners through the Home Affordable Modification Program. According to Bank of America the number of mortgage holders who have a permanent Home Affordable modification has increased from 3,200 to 13,100 over the first six weeks of 2010.
While this news is good for some, many more homeowners are left frustrated with their efforts to modify. Consumer review publications continue to report that homeowners are having serious customer service issues as well as being asked to repeatedly provide additional documents in order to move forward with a loan modification. After jumping through all the hoops, some discover their modification was denied or worse the property had already gone into foreclosure.
Another common complaint reported by many Bank of America customers includes being offered new mortgage terms on a trial basis. The homeowner is required to make three consecutive payments while under the impression that the loan will be modified if payments were made on time. At the end of the trial period many discover the modification is denied or worse they find that Bank of America has no record of ever even offering the loan modification.
This information is disturbing for homeowners counting on that modification in order to afford the home. Hopefully the Obama administration will continue to put pressure on the big lenders to follow through with the program they are spending so much money for.
It seems Bank of America continues to follow the same difficult path it has been on all along. It’s time for them to take serious measures on their own to improve customer service and speed this process up. If a homeowner is facing a financial hardship and has fallen behind on mortgage payments with Bank of America, it is imperative to begin the modification process as soon as possible. Being successful with BOA is quite literally a lot of work and patience, with average modification reviews lasting 60-90 days. Delaying the inevitable and falling further behind on payments will only push the homeowner towards foreclosure and eventually auction.