Gephardt Round Two?

I wish I could give you all hope and tell you that our modification ordeal is finally over, but alas, that's not the case. Rather than wait around for absentee negotiators to deign to call me back and let me know why, after nearly five months from the date we signed our permanent modification documents, our credit is being slammed by false reports by BOA, our late fees are adding up and their system still shows our old payment and our account in severe arrears, I decided to email Bill Gephardt from Channel 2 news again. It seemed to help last time and I pray that it will again.

I decided to share my letter here with you all:

Dear Mr. Gephardt,

You may not remember me, but we spoke on the phone several months ago about my mortgage company giving me the run-around on applying for the Making Home Affordable Plan mortgage modification, even though according to the government website, our family was very much qualified to do so.

Anyway, perhaps because of you, they finally let us do it, and we were approved for the trial plan not too long after you and I spoke. I wish I could say that was the end of the story, but it’s not. Far from it.

According to the way Obama’s HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Plan, or Making Home Affordable) works, once you’re approved for the trial plan, you make three trial payments on time, and then are set up (assuming you have met all obligations and criteria) for the permanent modification. We made five trial payments. During this time, even though all our payments were made as agreed and very much on time, Bank of America (our mortgage company) reported us late to the credit bureaus—this is also against HAMP guidelines when you’re making your payments as agreed under this government modification. When I caught this, they fixed it the first time.

Five trial payments and many, many phone calls later, we finally signed our permanent modification documents in the middle of December 2009. We were ecstatic. Finally, we could see the light at the end of the tunnel. No more having to call them to fix our credit reports. No more getting statements from them in the mail saying we were delinquent, even though we were making our modified payments on time, no more dealing with lost paperwork, inaccurate information, or loan negotiators that weren’t very good at returning phone calls or even answering the simplest of questions. No more wondering how much longer we would make these so-called trial payments, or if we were going to have to suddenly leave our home with our children because of some error or decision made by the mortgage company.

Our permanent modification payments started February 1, 2010. We’ve made every one so far as laid out in the documents. We were told that it should all be put in the system in a matter of weeks. When that didn’t happen, we called and were told it would be about 30 days. At the end of that time we were told 60 days. At the end of that time we were told 90 days from the time we signed. You can see where I’m going with this, right? I continued to call and be put off. I demanded as courteously, but firmly, as I could to have some answers. I’m never given the same answers.

On my last call, I was told that while we’ve been improved on Bank of America’s side of things, our investor, Freddie Mac, has yet to approve us. It’s my understanding that they can’t even offer the permanent modification without investor approval to begin with. I’m so tired of this run-around. I want to feel secure in my own home. I want to know that if I plant my garden, I’ll be here to harvest it. I want to know that when I bring my baby home from the hospital, I’ll be coming to this home.

Our credit is being destroyed by this, too. They’ve started reporting us as delinquent to the credit bureaus again. I called them to fix it again. They sent a letter to me saying they would do so, but have not corrected it after more than a month later. According to their website, we’re over $12,000 delinquent, even though we’ve been making payments all this time. I fear that any day we’ll receive a notice of foreclosure and have no place to go because our credit has taken such a hit.

I’m exhausted from all of this. It’s a full time job on top of all my other things to do. Do you think you could help us get to the bottom of this? We would be forever grateful and in your debt if you would. You can read more about our situation on www.thejugglinghomemaker.com. I’ve outlined our ordeal on my blog for others going through the same thing—and believe me, there are many, many others. Also, if you want to know more about the program we’re under, you can go to www.makinghomeaffordable.gov.

I’m happy to help you help us in any way I can. Thank you so much for your time.

Anyway, I hope none of you give up out there. Stay strong and fight back! Best of luck to you!

Want More Money-Saving Tips?

There's another blogging mama out there who's got her system down when it comes to saving money. She's got her own website called The Savings Geek and I promise you that it's one you want to check out. If you do, I promise you'll learn how to save big bucks on things you already buy!

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I'm still earning money on Youdata, too. It's not a lot, but it's so easy, and it's totally worth the few moments it takes to do it.

Those are my savings/earnings tips for now. Now go check it out!

Modification Nightmares

I have to wonder how many people Obama's Home Affordable Modification Plan (AKA HASP and Making Home Affordable) is really helping. Thus far the numbers are quite low for the homeowners who have successfully navigated through this long and tedious process.

Over a year ago this plan was introduced and the White House Administration claimed it would help between 3 and 4 million homeowners. Now, over a year since they introduced this plan, only about 170,000 homeowners out of over the million who have tried, succeeded in getting their modifications. It's estimated that about another 90,000 will be dropped from the plan in the next few months. Those are some discouraging numbers.

Some would have you believe that the low success rate is the fault of homeowners for not turning in paperwork, not meeting guidelines or not following through with important steps of the process. After doing this myself for a year, I have to tell you that's a load of malarkey.

In our own process, which we started at the end of March of last year, we have been told we didn't qualify to even apply after being told we did and had already applied; have been told we have to be late on our payments when the government website, Making Home Affordable, clearly states that you can be current; have been subject to lost paperwork multiple times--including the actual Trial Modification package offer--etc. In short, it has been a nightmare.

We've made it farther than many others in our shoes, but it hasn't been easy. Even with being as tenacious as I am when I'm working for something, I've thought about forgetting the whole thing multiple times. Nothing is going the way it's supposed to--the way Bank of America Corporation has told me it would go.

We signed our permanent modification agreement the second week of December, 2009. We were ecstatic. Finally we could see an end to this roller coaster ride. BAC had sent the notary, we signed the docs, then their notary took them and overnighted them back to BAC. It took them several weeks to find those docs in their system (they weren't even labeled) and let me know that they while they had been received on December 17, they weren't yet entered into the system to finalize everything. I was then told that it should be only another week or two until it was entered into the system as our new loan agreement. We were relieved to hear it, though a part of us didn't fully believe that we were just about finished.

Well, turns out, it wasn't that easy. Now, over three months after signing those permanent docs, we're still waiting for it to be updated in the system. We've continued making our payments (every one made on time and as agreed). We've done everything they've asked, the moment they asked it. We've jumped through every hoop--sometimes multiple times. What did we get for it? They reported us as delinquent to the credit bureaus on our mortgage (one thing that the government website says they aren't supposed to do under HAMP). And when I called--multiple times--to have them fix this, they tried to start us all over in the process. Obviously one hand doesn't know what the other is doing in this program.

We've been called several times to set up an appointment with another notary to sign the very documents we already signed over three months ago. It's ridiculous. Every time I tell them we've already done this. Every time they say they don't see it in the system. I tell them I have the proof here at home. It's just so exhausting.

Oh, and they transferred our case to a new negotiator. This new negotiator was supposed to have called us at some point in the last month. Has he? Nope. And believe me, I've tried to get into contact with him.

So, you tell me: whose fault is it that these modifications aren't going through? In my experience it's the mortgage company's fault. Something needs to change with this program. Until then, people are going to continue losing their homes.

I sincerely hope there are others out there having better luck than we are with this whole thing. I also hope that people out there aren't falling prey to all the scammers out there. This program is supposed to be done through your own mortgage company. Please don't pay attention to any of those third-party mailings you get from people claiming they can do this for you. This process is tedious, but it's free. Just be careful out there and don't give up.

And then there were Seven!

Hey everyone, I'm so sorry for the long delay between posts, but we've have some big changes taking place here. For one, the addition of another little one in our home. Yup! That's right! The Juggling Homemaker will be juggling one more:) We'll have another beautiful girl in about four months.

We've been making some adjustments here to make things go smoother, and had to jump some hurdles that have popped up in our path. But we have every faith that we will be okay. I'm definitely learning there's some real truth to the saying: "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans!" Haha

I've thought of writing often, but have only been feeling well enough to even think about it for a few weeks now--and that meant lots of catching up on the balls that I dropped for those months I wasn't well ;) Fun times!

Anyway, There's much to talk about, and I'm happy to get right to it!

Home Affordable Modification Plan

Have you noticed how many name changes this government modification plan has gone through? HASP, Making Home Affordable Plan, HAMP...blah, blah, blah. Maybe they'll do a better job at getting the plan right, than they have at coming up with the right name. Hah! We can hope! :)

Anyway, I thought I'd update you on our case. We finally got our signed documents returned from Bank of America. These are only the ones we signed for the trial modification at the end of July. It took three months for them to sign and return our copy back to us (acknowledging the agreement, I suppose), but I'm told this is a good sign. We went ahead and continued making the lower trial payment for November, since that is what the HOPE Department told me to do. We'll see what happens from here, but I have hope that all will go well in the end. Call me an eternal optimist!

If you need information or support on how to start your own HAMP process, I highly recommend checking out Loan Safe. I got a lot of tips there that certainly helped to escalate things in our case.

Credit Card Reform for Whom?

I've heard quite a bit of talk in the last year, as I'm sure most of you have, about credit card reform. These new laws were supposed to help protect consumers from shady credit card practices with the excessive charging of fees. These laws are set to go into effect next year.

I'm wondering though, who is this really helping? In this last year, my rates on four of my credit cards have jumped, and the credit lines were decreased. Was this because of me being late on my payments, or charging excessively? No. In fact, most of my cards didn't even have a balance, and I've never paid late. I also pay more than is due most of the time (though that overage amount hasn't been much lately because of my husband's hours being cut at work and our income dropping close to $1000 a month).

I know this isn't happening to us alone. I've heard many stories both online and in person of people getting their credit lines cut (even businesses) and their interest rates rising significantly. I empathized, but hadn't really been affected as much as some, since our rates only jumped half a percentage point at first, which was bearable, if annoying. And while our limits were cut, it didn't really hurt anything, except maybe our credit scores (which would recover eventually).

Still, it made me think. Who was this reform really helping? Certainly not those who have been utilizing their credit and making their payments on time. Certainly not people like me in middle America, who have been slammed by the economy, but have still been responsible in the use of credit and meeting payment obligations in whatever way we can.

There is one card we have been using in this last year to help us get by until Tony's hours improved a bit and we were finally approved to do the Making Home Affordable Plan (also known as HAMP or HASP) trial modification. This card had the lowest interest rate to begin with (at 9.99%) and was initially with Washington Mutual. It helped us when we needed two new sets of tires last winter. It helped us when our cat had a veterinary emergency. It payed the bill with the unexpected medical emergencies that came up in our family. You get the idea. It payed for those extras that we just couldn't come up with when the economy tanked and business went down here.

We haven't used it recently, since Tony is now finally up to 40 hours a week (still well below what we've gotten used to over the last 14 years, but much better than 32 hours a week) and we've been making the lower mortgage payment. Finally, we could see a way to catch up.

That is, until I got the notice from Chase (who took over WAMU). They were changing my interest rate. I'd already received a small rate hike of half a percent at the first of this year, which I took in stride. But this new rate was ridiculous. They changed my fixed rate to a variable rate, effective December 1, 2009. What did that mean for me? Well, starting on Dec 1, my rate would be double what I first had. Double! Can you believe that? I would be paying twice the interest every month! It would effectively be the monthly payment I'm currently making, all for just interest.

So I called them today. I asked them what I could do to prevent this. They said I could refuse the new terms. I asked what that meant for the account. They said I would have to close it. I asked if that meant I had to pay the balance in full, because there was no way I could do that right now. They answered no, that I just would be unable to use the account in the future, but would retain the current interest rate on the current balance until it was paid off. I said, "Close the account."

I hope everyone knows that is an option. I hope no one thinks they have to accept these new terms the credit card companies are imposing on them to make up for what they are losing out on when these new laws go into effect.

But I ask again, are these changes really worth it? I know it hasn't helped me. It's only hurt us. I'm struggling to think of a single person I know who it is going to help. Please, someone enlighten me.

Anyway, if something like this is affecting you or someone you love, please don't be afraid to make that phone call and see what your options are. If you don't understand or agree with the first person you talk to, call back and talk to someone else, or ask to be transferred. Fight for your rights. Take care and God bless!

Loan Negotiator's Response

I very quickly received a response from our loan negotiator from Bank of America in regards to the email I shared with you earlier. And here it is:

Hello Nellie,



Unfortunately I don’t have the answer you are looking for.

However you can call 1.877.221.0825 they may have your answer



Thanks

That's the very number I called and told him about. It's the HOPE Department. They too, didn't offer me much information, only said for me to keep making the trial payments until I hear otherwise. Feel like banging your head against a wall with me, anyone? Hah!

Making Home Affordable Update

So I decided to call the HOPE department today, to see if they could enlighten me on what we can expect now that we've made our last trial payment on the Making Home Affordable 90 day trial modification. I had attempted to reach my loan negotiator, but wasn't so lucky in succeeding in that endeavor. I know they're swamped, so I'm not going to take that personally--yet;)

Anyway, they had no new information for me. They don't know when they'll have anything to tell me. I was assured our application doesn't have any negative notes and that they have all they need from me at this time. I'm trying to be reassured by this, but we all know I've heard that before. If you're new to our story, you can catch up here.

I was also told that I should continue making the lowered trial payment until I hear something back from them. That is a relief, since there was no way I was going to be able to make our regular monthly mortgage payment on November 1, anyway. Something that wasn't helped with my pricey lesson yesterday. Haha!

Here's the letter I emailed to my negotiator today:

I left a voice mail yesterday, but haven't heard back yet, so I thought I'd try email. We've now made our third trial modification payment for Making Home Affordable. That payment was made toward the end of September, and was due October 1. Since this time, all of our payments have come out of the suspense account and were applied to the mortgage interest, principle and late fees. None of it has gone to our escrow account and now it is extremely short of what is needed to pay our taxes next month.

Also, I still haven't received any kind of package, notice or info on what is going to happen with our loan now. Every time I check the website the information changes and the date gets pushed back. As of today, there's no date listed at all. Does this mean I continue to make the trial payments until I hear something, even if we're outside of the 90 days? One person on the HOPE team told me to do just that.

It's nearly the end of October and I have to say that I'd thought I'd know something by now. We've made all payments as agreed, we've sent all required documentation multiple times and have done everything required of us. Can you tell me what we can expect now and what is happening with our account?

What happens if, at the end of all this, for whatever reason we get denied? Do we suddenly have to come up with thousands of dollars for the difference between the trial payment and what our actual mortgage payments are, including late fees? That really would be a nightmare for us.

We are responsible, upright people and are willing to do what it takes to keep our home. We do not want a free ride, we just want a chance. We didn't ask for our income to be cut, as I'm sure you understand. We want to meet our obligations and are doing everything on our end to try to make that happen. This program can make that possible for us. We just aren't sure if we're being jerked around (pardon the expression, but it's the only way I can explain our fears) and we'll end up in a worse mess than when we applied for this program for help.

God Bless,
Nellie Butler

Hopefully I hear something back from him soon. In the meantime, I've been going to Loan Safe periodically to see how others there are faring. If you haven't checked that site out yet, you really should. I couldn't have gotten even this far without them. Lots of valuable information there!

Feel free to share any information or stories of your own here, too. Also, if you have any questions, ask away. If I have the answers, I'll let you know. If I don't, I'll try to point you in the right direction:)

A Pricey Lesson, but I'm Thankful

It's amazing how much of a difference one day can make with one's attitude. Last night I was feeling pretty overwhelmed. "If it's not one thing, it's another!" I cried. It all started with an ice cream dessert with my family. We were watching Smallville on DVR (a favorite around here) and decided ice cream sounded good. We had a bunch left over from the multiple birthdays we had going on in the last month, so all we had to do was make a trip to the kitchen. Sounds like a great way to cap off the night, right? Not in this case.

The ice cream was super soft, which was curious, since the freezer was set just above the recommended setting (the only way we can keep up with the ice consumption in our house). So I opened the fridge to see how it was faring. I had noticed that the milk wasn't as cold at dinner, but had figured maybe I'd had it out longer than I'd realized. Nope. Everything in the fridge was definitely not as cold as it should've been. Not even close.

So we pulled the fridge out, moved things around, looked for blockages, tampered with the dials, anything to try and fix this ourselves and avoid an expensive repair or worse--buying a new fridge! We couldn't figure it out. Maybe our four year old fridge really was the lemon we'd started considering it as. After all, the repairman had already been to our house three times for it in the first year and a half. Twice it was for the ice maker and once for when the digital display and the lights had all gone out on it.

For this last year, two out of three lights wouldn't work at all inside (and the third one was temperamental). Maybe this was it. It was fried and we would be stuck shelling out mega-bucks on an expensive service bill or an entirely new appliance! No! Not now! We don't even know what's happening with our loan modification! If our Making Home Affordable application isn't approved, we have at least a few thousand dollars we have to come up with to make up the difference between the lowered trial payments and what our regular mortgage payments are set at. And then there's the late fees! Ugh! Not to mention we would have to still be able to pay that normal amount starting on November 1, too. You can see how any new expenses would not be in our budget, right?

Well, we set the temperature dials at full blast and did the only thing we could do at that time of night: we said our prayers and went to bed.

Once I got the kids off to school today, I called the repairman and was lucky enough to get an appointment for late morning. Turns out, it was all our fault. How, you ask? Well, it was all caused by a canister of raisins and an inconspicuous air inlet. It seems the canister was just the perfect width and height to block the one and only air inlet that regulates the temperature for the fridge. Somehow it had gotten shoved right up against the inlet and caused problems with the sensor.

And the bulbs? Well, it seems whirlpool fridges are a bit picky when it comes to brands. Who'd have thought it? A snobby fridge. It didn't like the energy efficient bulbs we put in there. The repairman replaced them with regular bulbs and I can actually see the whole inside of my fridge! Not necessarily a good thing, though, since now I can more clearly see that it's time for a scrub-down. Haha!

Anyway, it came to just over a hundred dollars with tax. And with that, I also found out why the timer on my oven quit beeping. Seems someone held down the timer button for too long (five seconds) and it turns the beeper off. So, I got three issues fixed because of my canister of Great Value Raisins. Hah! ;)

I choose to look at this in a positive light. Nothing serious was wrong. My fridge, thank heavens, is not on it's way out. And for that matter, neither is my stove. I hadn't realized how stressed I was about both of those seemingly minor problems until they were fixed.

Oh, I just have to tell you that I really have a lot of confidence and respect for the folks at Doyles Appliance Service. Shad Anderson is very professional and isn't going to charge you for unnecessary repairs. He took his time looking for the problem and then made sure I understood what was going on (and he didn't make me feel stupid for what turned out to be customer error). The easiest and most profitable thing for him to do would have been to just order a new control board, thermostat or some other item--since at first, the problems we had seemed to indicate that was the issue.

So if any of you are in or near Davis County (they may even service the Salt Lake area), I would definitely recommend Doyles. I couldn't find a website for them, but their contact information is here: (801) 292-0676, 45 West 200 South, Bountiful, UT.

Many problems can be solved by simply checking the manual, too. If you've misplaced your product manual, check online. I know that Whirlpool has their manuals listed online for free and it's really easy to look them up with the model number. I've saved myself a few calls to the repairman doing this.

Am I happy that this lesson cost me money? No, but it could've been worse! And who knows? Maybe my lesson can help one of you out there with your appliances. God Bless!

I'm Inlove with my Bread Machine

No, really! We met about 11 years ago and while I was intimidated by its advanced technical skills at first, after a few years I was hooked. I make Italian Herb Bread, Old Fashioned White bread (the family wasn't impressed with the wheat recipes), roll dough, pizza dough, and now.....bread bowls!

I have a Broccoli Cheddar soup recipe that I've finally got down (though having said that, I do still reserve the right to tinker with it at a later date if I want to). And what goes better with Broccoli Cheddar soup than eating it in a bread bowl? Nothing, I say!

I've only had one problem with that: I can't find any decent bread bowls at any of the stores around here! They're all soft and flaky on the outside, and that doesn't make for the best soup bowl.

So I decided to do something about it. Why couldn't I make my own? I can make just about anything else I've set my mind to. This shouldn't be too difficult, right? So I did a search on the internet (using my swagbucks toolbar--which I love since I get to earn free stuff doing what I already do anyway!). I found this article detailing how to make homemade bread bowls from frozen bread dough. I thought, why can't I just use my French Bread recipe and run it in the dough cycle instead of the bread cycle and then follow the directions from the point of shaping the thawed bread dough. So that's exactly what I'm doing now. So far, so good. Keep your fingers crossed that it works for me! I'll have to update you, but I don't see any reason why it shouldn't work. I know my way around dough;)

I'll share my recipes for tonight's dinner here for those of you who are interested:


Broccoli Cheddar Soup

5 cubes chicken bouillon
1 tsp Worcestershire
1 tsp garlic
4 cups water
2 cups half and half or whipping cream
24 oz chopped broccoli
5 diced potatoes
¼ cup butter/margarine
½ cup onion
¼ cup flour
4 cups cheddar cheese
Season salt (to taste)
Mrs. Dash original seasoning (to taste)

Boil water, bouillon cubes, Worcestershire, cream, garlic, seasoning and potatoes. Cook until potatoes are tender. Add Broccoli.

Melt butter in pan. Add onion and cook until tender. Slowly add flour to make paste. Add mixture to soup slowly, mixing well to avoid clumping. Add cheese and mix well. Do not boil.

French Bread Dough

1¼ cups+3 tbs water (room temperature)
1 tbs butter/margarine
1 tbs olive, vegetable or canola oil
4 cups flour
1 ½ tbs sugar
1 ¾ teaspoon salt
2 tsp active dry yeast

(Use the link to the bread bowl article to finish)