Bank of America is going to land me in a rubber room.

[dud]

I'm at the end of my rope with them. I've absolutely had it. And the worst part is, there's nothing I can do about it but bend over and keep taking it.

I had a mortgage that was bought by Countrywide and subsequently bought by Bank of America. I didnt choose BoA. Never once before BoA took over was I even a day late on a payment. 6 years.

Early last year, I noticed that my mortgage payment hadnt been deducted from my bank account. I had auto withdrawal set up. I cqlled BoA and they told me that it had been posted, it was clear from their end, that I should talk to my bank.

I did. Nothing. My bank said nothing had been taken out and they couldnt see anything pending, but that BoA could still pull it at any time. I called BoA back, they said payment had been posted, etc. and that everything was fine.

So, no real answers. I assumed based on what I was told by BoA that the payment would be pulled shortly. I called back the next week, since it hadnt been, and BoA once again told me I was current, the last paytment had been posted, etc. Well, I should have taken the money out of my bank account and sent it to BoA, however I still didnt know if/when that payment would be pulled from my account, and cant afford to pay them double.

This happens the next 2 months. I kept begging them to take their money, but explained to them that if there was a chance they were going to pull it on their own, I couldnt send them a check, so they NEEDED to do the withdrawal.

Next thing I know, I get a foreclosure notice in the mail. Someone finally figured out they hadnt been withdrawing their payments, which I had been trying to tell them for months.

Well now of course they want all the payments, PLUS late fees and lawyer fees. I have no problem making the payments, but late fees and lawyer fees, nope, I cant afford 'em. So they tell us to apply for a modification, etc. Anyway, long story short, we were in foreclosure for a long time. I finally bent over, took a deep breath, made a withdrawal from my 403 (b), and paid them the extra fees just so I wouldnt lose the house. Of course, my credit is so screwed from this, I cant refinance, so I am stuck with BoA. Needless to say, I hate them with a passion after all this. However, we're all current, have been for the last 6 months. No screwups.

Friday - they call me claiming I owe them money. Nope. Not a chance. We're current. Well, no, actually, because they DIDNT TAKE THE FULL AMOUNT of the last phone payment. We had a confirmation number, had the lady's name I talked to written down, etc, but no. They took a measly $60 less than what they were supposed to, than what we agreed upon and I told them very, very clearly, and now I've got another late mark on my credit.

They tried to get a late fee and a $20 phone fee from me, too. I told them no. I absolutely blew my top and told them I wasnt paying one red cent for their screw-up. After screaming at one dickhead and then getting a supervisor on the phone who was willing to actually HEAR what I said, they waived them. I'm at the end of my rope with this BS. I want to make them pay but cant, and I know they do this to THOUSANDS of people.

Sorry OP for your pain but I've just got to say this:

People still actually do business with the BOA constrictor?

 

[dirtboy]

I manually pay my BofA mortgage online monthly... they bought my loan from someone else. From what I can tell, unless you mail them a check or pay online manually each month, there is no auto-deduct, unless you're a BofA banking customer.

I've never had a problem, but then again I play by their rules.

 

[Sephire]

Send everything certified mail. EVERY MAIL.

Make copies of what you send. EVERY DOCUMENT.


They have a habit of "losing" or "misplacing" your papers and then asking you to resend them again.

If you can ONLY SEND COPIES!

Call for updates. Always call for updates.


Constant vigilance!

 

[Sephire]

I have a family member that have almost a similar story. BofA is that incompetent.

The OPs story is likely accurate. This is a serious matter especially when you receive a letter that your house goes on auction in a couple of weeks.

 

[Lifted]

I have everything that you mentioned. I tried to bring this to people's attention and never got anywhere. Was I not persistent enough? Obviously not. I should have been smarter about it, yes, but honestly, I was scared and ignorant. I was in a panic for months.

It sounds like you called a lot of people, without recording the calls, and got nowhere. Now you know why everything must be in writing.

Yes, it's annoying.
Yes, it's more work
Yes, it costs more.
Yes, it will save your credit.
Yes, it will save your house from being foreclosed on.
Yes, it will serve as evidence in court.

You took the easy/lazy way out, and now you have to fight for what, some scraps? Take it as a lesson learned and get everything in writing next time. If you ever speak to somebody on the phone, simply say "Please send me a copy of the statement adjustments in the mail along with a written explanation of what was modified." and record the call.

 

[thegimp03]

I would take this to the news. There have been a few other articles recently where people got the shaft by one of these asshole banks, took it to the news, news runs an article and suddenly the people who got the shaft get patched up.

 

[ElFenix]

Really?

I absolutely have the bank statements and phone records from that time period. It never seemed to me that that would amount to any sort of proof, however, and Im surprised to hear that it may.

evidence is something that tends to make the existence of a fact more or less likely. you have evidence. you have the sort of evidence that normal people tend to have. it'd play well in front of a jury, at least.

proof for lawyers is printed on the label of the bottle in the bottom left drawer.

 

[warr666]

.....

 

[djnsmith7]

BofA is one of the absolute worst financial organizations (very disorganized, actually) in the U.S. Unless I absolutely had to (BofA purchases my mortgage from another institution), I would never do business with them.

For as far back as I can remember (opening my 1st checking account in '92), I've heard nothing but horror story after horror story about them. I don't have a single friend or relative, to date, that actually liked doing business with them. My sympathies to those who have / do.

Can't even tell you how many of these types of stories I've heard / read over the past 2 years. Unbelievable that they're even still in business.

 

[halik]

BofA has records of you calling and most of the time they annotate your account about what you called. They most definitely have the records of you calling as well as your permission to touch your bank account twice a month.

 

[OutHouse]

I noticed that my mortgage payment hadnt been deducted from my bank account. I had auto withdrawal set up

Reason #1 i will never ever use auto withdrawal for any of my monthly bills. i send them a check. its a paper record that starts when i apply pen to paper. i have personally known several people who got fucked by that blackhole.

 

[Tsavo]

You might get on the horn with your state's AG. Every AG in every state are getting ready to bend BoA over the barrel for issues exactly like your own.

May not help you out, but it certainly can't hurt.

 

[Caecus Veritas]

as others have pointed out, you have more than enough proof. not sure why you continue to protest what others have pointed out and aren't willing to follow up and fix the problems.

first, your bank will have records of request for transfer from another institution. the fact that there was no such request from bofa to your bank will be one very big piece of the evidence. ask if you can receive record of all monthly transfer requests from boa and subsequent payments, with as much time period as you can get. since there won't be any decline for transfer due to NSF, you should be good to go. and, as others have pointed out, gather 3 months of those bank statements with balance accumulating for 3 months.

print out your payment history with bofa/countrywide.

ask bofa to send confirmation that you've been enrolled in auto pay during those times or something equivalent. or, ask if there's been any request by you to be taken off of auto-pay (RECORD THIS CONVERSATION). if they can't come up with evidence that you requested to be taken off of auto-pay, they're screwed. ask them for the dates that you called on your account - they will have this info and will give it to you.

get your phone records that show all your calls to bofa. if they also lie about your calls to their center, they will again be screwed.

!!!! File a dispute with all 3 credit agencies!!! The LEAST you could do is get the derogatory marks off your credit reports, and it is VERY easy to do. It will be a slam dunk case. All marks gone from your credit.

Next, find a lawyer who's willing to work based on percentage of settlement/awarded amount. shouldn't be hard to find in this economy. sue for emotional distress, loss of sex time, medical bills, lawyer fees, your time ($500/hr) and whatever else you want. profit.

 

[Bateluer]

OP needs a lawyer.

 

[Doppel]

Damn, that is fvcking awful. I am a BoA customer, also was countrywide and it went to BoA without my saying. So far so good, but OP got screwed.

FWIW in the years of having a CC, HELOC, and mortgage with them I've never ever had a payment issue. I do not auto-pay anything, though. I go in each month when it's time to pay and put in a one-time request. Each of these are time-stamped within the system so would probably lend some additional support against a claim like OP's, but even though there are ways he could have resolved this, it's really not something he should have been handed to deal with anyway.

 

[Engineer]

Bank of America is the biggest piece of shit company on the face of the planet. I've had my run-arounds with them and finally told them to stick it up their butts. Their auto payment system routinely screwed up or didn't take payments and placed me in the same situation as the OP, but only on a credit card, not a mortgage. I feel for you OP...time to get out from under them if you possibly can.

FAIL. Why did you pay those fees? I call shens.

Do you ever post anything other than condescending troll posts? What a fucking prick.

 

[dank69]

I didn't read the whole thread, so this may have been posted already, but incase it hasn't:

Get every fucking thing in writing from them from now on. Sorry you are having such major issues with this POS company.

 

[alent1234]

I'm at the end of my rope with them. I've absolutely had it. And the worst part is, there's nothing I can do about it but bend over and keep taking it.

I had a mortgage that was bought by Countrywide and subsequently bought by Bank of America. I didnt choose BoA. Never once before BoA took over was I even a day late on a payment. 6 years.

Early last year, I noticed that my mortgage payment hadnt been deducted from my bank account. I had auto withdrawal set up. I cqlled BoA and they told me that it had been posted, it was clear from their end, that I should talk to my bank.

I did. Nothing. My bank said nothing had been taken out and they couldnt see anything pending, but that BoA could still pull it at any time. I called BoA back, they said payment had been posted, etc. and that everything was fine.

So, no real answers. I assumed based on what I was told by BoA that the payment would be pulled shortly. I called back the next week, since it hadnt been, and BoA once again told me I was current, the last paytment had been posted, etc. Well, I should have taken the money out of my bank account and sent it to BoA, however I still didnt know if/when that payment would be pulled from my account, and cant afford to pay them double.

This happens the next 2 months. I kept begging them to take their money, but explained to them that if there was a chance they were going to pull it on their own, I couldnt send them a check, so they NEEDED to do the withdrawal.

Next thing I know, I get a foreclosure notice in the mail. Someone finally figured out they hadnt been withdrawing their payments, which I had been trying to tell them for months.

Well now of course they want all the payments, PLUS late fees and lawyer fees. I have no problem making the payments, but late fees and lawyer fees, nope, I cant afford 'em. So they tell us to apply for a modification, etc. Anyway, long story short, we were in foreclosure for a long time. I finally bent over, took a deep breath, made a withdrawal from my 403 (b), and paid them the extra fees just so I wouldnt lose the house. Of course, my credit is so screwed from this, I cant refinance, so I am stuck with BoA. Needless to say, I hate them with a passion after all this. However, we're all current, have been for the last 6 months. No screwups.

Friday - they call me claiming I owe them money. Nope. Not a chance. We're current. Well, no, actually, because they DIDNT TAKE THE FULL AMOUNT of the last phone payment. We had a confirmation number, had the lady's name I talked to written down, etc, but no. They took a measly $60 less than what they were supposed to, than what we agreed upon and I told them very, very clearly, and now I've got another late mark on my credit.

They tried to get a late fee and a $20 phone fee from me, too. I told them no. I absolutely blew my top and told them I wasnt paying one red cent for their screw-up. After screaming at one dickhead and then getting a supervisor on the phone who was willing to actually HEAR what I said, they waived them. I'm at the end of my rope with this BS. I want to make them pay but cant, and I know they do this to THOUSANDS of people.

i've had a mortgage with BOA/Countrywide since 2003. pay them every month via the website. the latest mortgage was a PITA to set up on the website since they do a deposit of a few cents to verify the account #, but after that it was OK

i never call people or CSR's. i check the website since that will have all the information.

you are making things way too hard on yourself

 

[KingGheedora]

Bank of America is the biggest piece of shit company on the face of the planet. I've had my run-arounds with them and finally told them to stick it up their butts. Their auto payment system routinely screwed up or didn't take payments and placed me in the same situation as the OP, but only on a credit card, not a mortgage. I feel for you OP...time to get out from under them if you possibly can.




Do you ever post anything other than condescending troll posts? What a fucking prick.

For the record I've been using BofA automated bill pay for 5+ years and it has been nothing but awesome. There was only one time where the payment didn't go on time. It was the first instance of the rent payment after I set up auto-pay for my rent for the first time. They contacted my landlord and told him it was their fault, and sent him another check, and paid the late fee for me. As long as you use it correctly (schedule the payments far enough in advance, and always have enough funds so that the payments can be made on time), there should be no problem. They guarantee they will pay any late fees if they fuck up.

 

[Stuxnet]

I'd write a letter to the attorney general of your state, copy the AG of SC (where BOFA is HQ'ed), and worry about proof later. Do your best to catalog the calls you made (dates, times, content) and send that with your letter.

I've never heard a good story about BOFA.

 

[Stuxnet]

For the record I've been using BofA automated bill pay for 5+ years and it has been nothing but awesome. There was only one time where the payment didn't go on time. It was the first instance of the rent payment after I set up auto-pay for my rent for the first time. They contacted my landlord and told him it was their fault, and sent him another check, and paid the late fee for me. As long as you use it correctly (schedule the payments far enough in advance, and always have enough funds so that the payments can be made on time), there should be no problem. They guarantee they will pay any late fees if they fuck up.

The problem is getting them to realize they fucked up. Just because you can sign their praises doesn't mean they haven't screwed 10 others.

 

[KingGheedora]

The problem is getting them to realize they fucked up. Just because you can sign their praises doesn't mean they haven't screwed 10 others.

Yes. I didn't say they haven't screwed others. Just making sure people know that not all experiences with BofA are terrible. I only use them for checking. I wouldn't use them for anything else if I can help it.

One of the problems with user testimonials is that a lot of time people make mistakes but get pissed at the company/bank anyways, and then badmouth them online. Some of my family members make mistakes and then carry grudges against companies like they have been singled out. Side note, also reminds me of another pet peeve -- when people post customer reviews for products on Amazon or newegg, and then give bad ratings because of the shipping service, which has nothing to do with the product at all. "This product was great and worked perfectly and I love it, but I gave it one star because the DHL service took 12 days to deliver it..."

 

[SSSnail]

I say it's time to gather all the proofs that you have and hit up a newspaper or TV station.

 

[piasabird]

Contact the district attorney's office. Bank Fraud is illegal.

 

[thepd7]

So for 3 months they're telling you that your payment is posted even though no money has left your account? And you just took their word for it and assumed everything was cool?

I'm not saying that what they did was right, or that they aren't trying to screw you for all the fees they can, but c'mon... did you seriously expect this to end well?

This. If it went ONE MONTH without being pulled I would have started writing checks. This is the same as if you wrote a check and they didn't cash it but said they did. Send another and stop payment. At the VERY least, you should have sent in a check the 2nd month, even if they then took the second month out as scheduled you would be out two months like normal.


I can't freaking fathom how someone could imagine not paying a mortgage (I don't care what BOA said, you knew they didn't have your money) for 3 months would end well.

Tthey were automatic bank withdrawals. BofA simply didnt take them. 3 months. The whole time, they left me with the impression that they might still be pulled at any minute, so while the money was in there, I budgeted as though it wasnt. I couldnt double pay. I couldnt take the chance that they WOULD be pulled, AND have checks out. No, of course I didnt think it would end well. But what was I supposed to do when both MY bank AND BofA told me the money could be withdrawn at any time?

In retrospect, the best thing to do would have been to stop the withdraws and send checks, however that still would have left the original missed payment in limbo and not solved everything.

Ultimately, yes, I could have been a little more savvy, but I wasnt. I had never before had an issue and expected this to be resolved, since I had indeed made every effor to get them their money. Naive? Yes.

Extremely, sorry you had to pay for your naivete with your credit.