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We all know that the process of getting a loan modification seems like throwing time, effort and paperwork in to a black hole. We also know that the lenders aren’t set up to handle the requests very well, as their outsourced call centers can’t make any real decisions and the volume is cripling the hastily-created loan modification ‘departments.’
But the saga of one Mr. Dan Bailey is particularly illuminating – as we get direct insight in to the mindset of folks inside these beleaguered lenders trying to deal with these modifications. In the email chain below Mr. Bailey sends his modification request to a host of email addresses only to get an email that wasn’t meant for public consumption.
While I can’t say for sure that Mr. Mozilo of Countrywide wrote this email, it did come from his office, and certainly paints a grim picture for homeowners hoping for some relief from the nation’s largest lender.
Read the whole saga at loanworkout.org and if you want to learn how to do loan modifications on your own read more here.
From Loanworkout.org and Dan Bailey’s loan modification saga:
Dan’s initial email about his hardship:
05/19/2008 06:12 AM To advocacy@countrywide.com, customer_service@countrywide.com, pressroom@countrywide.com, david_bigelow@countrywide.com, angelo_mozilo@countrywide.com, lisa_riordan@countrywide.com, elizabeth_moyer@countrywide.com, sarah_perek@countrywide.com, chris_oltmann@countrywide.com, gabrielle_williams@countrywide.com, maheshika_ruwanpathirana@countrywide.com, adrienne_ely@countrywide.com, raquel_robinson@countrywide.com, linda_turner@countrywide.com, daniel_whitehead@countrywide.com, melissa_guerra@countrywide.com, mary_archer@countrywide.com, aline_ramirez@countrywide.com, kacie_miller@countrywide.com, patricia_mckenzie@countrywide.com
cc
Subject bailey acct# xxxxxxxxxxxTo Whom It May Concern:
I am writing this letter to explain my unfortunate set of circumstances that have caused me to become delinquent on my mortgage. I have done everything in my power to make ends meet but unfortunately I have fallen short and would like you to consider working with me to modify my loan. My number one goal is to keep my home that I have lived in for sixteen years, remodeled with my own sweat equity and I would really appreciate the opportunity to do that. My home is not large or in an upscale neighborhood, it is a ?shotgun? bungalow style of only 900 sq. ft. built in 1921. I moved into this home in May of 1992?this was the same year I got clean and sober from drugs and alcohol, and have been ever since, this home means the world to me. [read the entire letter here]
Countrywide’s mistaken response:
Angelo_Mozilo@countrywide.com wrote:
This is unbelievable. Most of these letters now have the same wording. Obviously they are being counseled by some other person or by the internet. Disgusting.
There’s much more, but that is the lightning-rod statement from the office of Mr. Mozilo.
I don’t know about you but I find a lot of things about this mortgage mess disgusting. The greed of banks and Wall Street, the incompetence of the Fed, and the bail out minded politicians looking to use tax dollars to rescue speculators. I don’t find individuals trying to resolve their problems through negotiation with the private company that issued the financing anything remotely close to disgusting.
Peter Viles of the LA Land blog has Countrywide’s statement in response:
On Tuesday evening, Countrywide issued the following statement: “Countrywide and Mr. Mozilo regret any misunderstanding caused by his inadvertent response to an e-mail by Mr. Bailey. Countrywide is actively working to help borrowers, like Mr. Bailey, keep their homes.”
Nice to see blogs can generate action from the monoliths.
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