Bank of America foreclosure faux paux of the day
... and on Christmas Eve, no less.
Don't get me wrong, I like Bank of America, my mortgage is with them (even though they sold it to Bank of New York Mellon the other day). But they are really doing some stupid stuff lately and apparently even they can't figure it out.
With a hat tip to Barry Ritholtz at The Big Picture, The CT Watchdog reports, "Bank of America's Christmas Present, Foreclose Even Though Not A Payment Missed"
“In one of the more bizarre foreclosure cases, Bank of America is threatening to throw a West Hartford family out of their home even though the couple never missed a mortgage payment.
The largest bank in the United States earlier this month notified Shock Baitch and his wife Lisa (Friedman) Baitch that foreclosure action will start today – Christmas eve – unless the couple agrees to put their home up for a forced sale.
Why?
Because another unit of Bank of America erroneously reported to credit agencies that the family was seeking a loan modification, ruining their credit rating and as the result putting their mortgage into default.
All this is happening even though the bank – after admitting it erred and sent a letter of apology in September – handed this case to a special unit at Bank of America that is charged with dealing with severe customer issues. It promised to notify the credit reporting agencies that the couple were not deadbeats, but were good credit risks.” (emphasis added)
Simply amazing.
But this unfortunate story does provide a good lesson for everyone to please make sure to monitor your credit scores and be aware of the implications of any of your financial activities.