Home Loan Modification

Okay everyone I am mad.  I just wrote this on a site called Loan Modification Hell and thought I would share it with everyone, with an addition or two..

Loan modification hell...I think it is worse than hell.  A year ago in April I applied for the Making Homes Affordable Program.  My ARM (which was sold to us by and unscrupulous broker with country wide) was going to adjust in August of 2009.  I thought with interest rates going down that it would be fine but was told that it would only adjust up, and up it was going from 3400 a month to over $8,000.  There was no way I could pay that even if my husband's business wasn't floundering which it was.  I applied sent all, of the paper work, and kept paying the $3400 a month.  I called about every two weeks and they said everything was going well.  In August of last year my payment went up to over $8,000 a month I called to make a payment telling them that I could only pay the $3400, but that I had paper work in for the modification.  I was told "We don't take partial payments" and "Your modification was denied you didn't send in the paper work".  So they refused a partial payment I didn't have a spare $4600 on me so no payment.  I reapplied for the program and was told that I would have trial payments but not to make a payment until I heard back from them.  I called weekly and was told "we are behind"  In November I reached someone who said that I was supposed to be making a payment of 2,300+ for three months and that I should start right away, I sent all additional paperwork requested and continued to make the "trial" payment. I  called  every week  and was told every thing was fine just keep making those payments "we are really behind but everything is fine"

On March 23, 2010 after making 5 "trial" payments, I received a Fed X package... I thought this was it my modification but No.  It was a packet telling me that I should start my trial payment right away that I was eligible for the Making home affordable program and I needed to send in the documents yet again.  So I did and started my new trial payment in April.

I received another FedX packet in May with a new IRS form to fill out.  They wanted my husbands name on it first because his name is on the loan first.  I explained that the instructions for filling out the form clearly state that the person whose name comes first on the tax return is the name that has to appear first.  I downloaded and printed the form properly and sent it back to them.  I received another form a month later saying it needed to have his name first.  I again explained that if they did that the IRS would send it back.  I finally got a person who said "Oh, that was just sent back because you forgot to put your phone number on it"

Two weeks ago I received a call from underwriting asking for my bank statements which hadn't been requested prior to this and for a couple of things they already had.  She said she would send a Fed X envelope to me.  After a week nothing came,  I called the number she gave me and was told by a man that I hadn't called the number I had called.  I told him "I can see what number I called and it is the one she gave me."  he said "no you didn't call that number"  "she must be in another state and it must be later there".  Ummm it was 1:00 p.m. .  If she was in this country it wasn't closed.  He says I was supposed to fax it to the number she gave me. I say "NO she didn't give me a fax number and said I could send it fed x."  The next day I call again and the person is able to contact the person who had allegedly sent me the fed x package.  It was too late for that but I could fax it from the local B of A for free.  Gosh that saves me hundreds of dollars.  She even gave me the direct fax number not the 800 number.  I tell her how frustrated I am and I don't know what I am supposed to do and she says "neither do we, it changes every day, none of us know what is going on"  An honest answer in this hell...

Today I went to B of A to fax the requested docs.  The bank manager assisted me and called to make sure the fax number was correct.  I received a call in less than an hour telling me that I had left off a page of a bank statement.  So I faxed it too them.  She said it would go to underwriting tomorrow.  We will see..I don't trust anyone.  I am at the point where I don't care if I keep this house.  I have given the bank $350,000 including my 10% down payment.  The house is now worth about $60,000 less than I owe on it. I put a new roof central air and a new kitchen in this house just a year before the mortgage went up.   I understand the frustration of the guy who bulldozed his house.   I can't pay $8,000.00 a month, and I really don't want the mortgage company to benefit from the upgrades I made while my payment was still affordable.

Renting is beginning to sound very very nice.

I've been a homeowner for 22 years I was NEVER late with a payment until B of A refused a partial payment.  I had good credit until then.

Wouldn't you like to see CEO's of B of A, Chase, Wells Fargo and Aurora doing a perp walk? I'm not a vindictive person but  I would love to see justice...  This has pushed me way beyond my limits...

It's way past the time for a revolution...it's time for us to RISE UP....But they have us so busy re-sending documents that have already been sent, calling them and being put on hold for over and hour after being told "I will be back in a sec", and making new rules that we don't have time to rise up.  I don't know what to do.   I think we are all to stunned to do anything. Yes the legal system, but it is so slow.  Perhaps it is time for some non violent civil disobedience...  Any ideas on how to start?

Learning

I don't know about anyone else but there are times when I think that I have read and heard so much about a topic that there is nothing left for me to learn.  I don't know why I think that because I'm always wrong, it is good though that I know I am wrong because I keep reading and listening to what others have to share.

Today I went to a retreat on contemplative prayer...  I am not a person who likes to sit still so I don't really like the practice of contemplative prayer.  I try to practice daily... begrudgingly sometimes... I know that when I do I am different.  I see things differently.  Today I learned so much, I learned things that will make it easier for me to practice.

Requiem for a Church

I haven't blogged about this for a while but it is on my mind.  Sometimes writing helps me to process so if you aren't up to hearing (reading) it again then it would be best to ignore this post.

In March, I was invited to attend a meeting about the future of the church that I was asked to leave.  The invitation came from a member of the diocesan staff who had heard my story.  Because there are several churches that are a drain on the diocese, a committee was formed to assess and assist churches that were having severe financial problems.  I don't mean financial assistance!   I have heard that the church is no longer able to pay its bills, and the Priest in Charge (AKA Her Holiness) is now 1/4 time.  I never thought that kicking out pledging members was a good idea but it seemed to be Her Holiness' answer for everything.   When people are treated poorly, sometimes their friends who also pledge leave as well.  The meeting is this coming Sunday and I am not going.  I don't think that I am supposed to be there... I will admit that I thought about going anyway.  This Sunday I am scheduled for a job at the church I attend, I asked around to see if someone else could do it but NO ONE was available. Perhaps God is protecting me.

At the request of Her Holiness, the diocese provided a list of questions for the congregation.  I wonder if the people will have questions for the diocese... I know that I would.  First and foremost would be "Why did you let this happen?" People tried to talk to you about the situation, people wrote you letters that went unanswered and called asking to speak to you but the calls went unreturned..Why?

There are times when I wish that I had followed a more traditional path to ordination.  There are times when I want to be a parish priest.... then I remember that I have a tendency to tell people in authority the truth and I realize I wouldn't last in that system, or worse, I would go nuts trying.  I am right where I belong... Thanks be to God.

I am grateful that I am ordained by a community that "gets me" and I am grateful that I attend a church that accepts me just as I am...

I do hope they will sell the stained glass windows I want to buy one of them...

Easter Caviar and Chocolate

Warning to my Vegan Friends stop reading now…

More on my journey tomorrow, tonight I must digress

I tasted Caviar for the first time and OH MY it is so good. A cracker, some caviar, a dollop of crème fraiche, and a squeeze of lemon… Heaven.

We had this awesome party at church after the Easter Vigil… Champagne, Chocolate and Caviar…

Good Friday

So another Good Friday and time again for my Good Friday Rant, but this year I don’t want to rant I want to talk about Barbie dolls……

A few days ago someone I follow on Facebook posted some pictures of Malibu Barbie dressed as a priest and it reminded me of how much fun I used to have playing “Barbies” with my BFF Becca. I think we played with them long after many girls had stopped. But of course the Barbies were having orgies by that time. We didn’t have a Barbie Dream House, any furniture, or even a “Ken” doll, so we were very creative. I made a little toilet for them out of an Avon “Wishing” bottle; we put little brown rocks in it for realism. The Barbies were married to the Beatles. We had bobble head Beatles dolls and they all slept in the same bed. Barbie even was pregnant a few times. The Skipper doll was married to George Harrison, we put eyeliner on her with a ballpoint pen so she would look like Patty Boyd.

What on earth does this have to do with Good Friday? Well I was thinking about my prized Barbie dolls what they looked like, what it was like to play with them, and what they felt like and I remembered that they were hard plastic. They were inflexible cold and stiff with a fake smile pasted on their faces. I don’t think Barbie ever made a mistake, ever colored outside the lines, or ever broke a “rule”.
For many years I was inflexible because if the bible said it I believed it. But then I started to think for myself and realized that Anslem’s theory of the Atonement didn’t make sense for many reasons. (For more on that just read my Rant on the Atonement).

Later I went to a more “liberal” church, but I avoided Lent at all costs, I hated Good Friday more than any other day in the year. A very insecure, narcissistic priest, who was, like Barbie, very rigid, led this liberal church. We did not deviate one iota from the BCP Good Friday liturgy and somehow for 2 years I was the person assigned to carry the cross down the center aisle. Even though I had said I wouldn’t do it, I was on the schedule and found it impossible to not show up.

So today I went to the Good Friday Vigil, which consisted of meditations on the last 7 phrases spoken by Jesus. These meditations were from different people from all walks of life and I was moved to tears. None of the people were plastic or rigid, none seemed at all afraid of being themselves.

When people are hurting, or suffering it is so hard to hear Gods voice. I don’t think that God abandoned Jesus on the cross; I think that in his humanity Jesus could not hear God’s voice. Jesus was not a Barbie Doll or even a Ken doll. For so many years all I saw was the abandonment that Jesus must have felt, reliving my own feelings of abandonment… This year I was able to leave them at the cross….

Love

So much has been written about love and I am certainly not an expert, but today's lectionary readings remind me that God's love for us is extravagant.  Regardless of where we are in the wilderness or why we are there (a wilderness of our own making, or a wilderness that we have no control over)  God is there and it is okay for us to be there as well.  God provides water,  rivers, and my most favorite thing on earth...Wild Flowers.  So just be where you are enjoy God's love.
When you are ready share God's love...it's easy.

the desert

The word that pops into my head when I hear the word desert is "wildflowers".  I know that many see the desert as desolation, dry, lonely, or hot.  Many can feel the sand in their teeth and the stings of the red ants on their legs.  But I see wildflowers... In the midst of pain, frustration loneliness, god promises us springs in the desert... springs of fizzy water (Arrowhead, Perrier, Pellegrino, Poland Springs, pick your favorite) to keep us hydrated, to keep our immune systems functioning so that we don't dry up and die.

So google California desert wildflowers and look at some of the pictures.  Know that god does not leave us in a dry place........ Know that a time of trial is not forever... the flowers always come back.