Can anyone help with ASC?
I am trying to get some direction in dealing with Americas Servicing Corp. I have been working with them on a loan modification and have submitted documents repeatedly. I even have paid a loan modification fee, after pre-approval, in September and was told that I would be called by someone in the loss & litigation area. I was also told that my modification would be in place by 12/1/07. I have received no communications except someone else’s letter. I was sent someone else loan payment plan, which consisted of 3 payments and 1 large $16,000 payment. This was addressed to someone else but had a cover sheet with my name. I am getting nowhere with ACS, but I am fearful of the next steps. I am on the verge of filing bankruptcy to force them to do something.
I have a 1st and 2nd mortgage with this company. The 1st is at 8% and the 2nd at 11 or 12%. As part of my loan modification, I requested that the two be combined at the lower rate. Obviously our housing market in Florida has dropped drastically. There are 100’s of houses up for sale in our neighbor and some have been for over 1 year. We could not even sell the house to pay the loan value. I am lost as to what to do. I am going to file a complaint with the local BBB, but I am sure they are flooded with these types of complaints. Thanks for any direction or suggestion that you can provide.
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Anyways, there is no help for us out there so I am giving up.
ASC ordered a company to break into the house in January to "winterize". In the process they broke the front door. Can they do that when they don't officially own it yet? Also, I had storm damage at the house which prevented anyone from living there, so I took out my 401K to fix the damage. I had the insurance adjuster out and they paid the amount of the receipts I was able to show them, but the repair was not finished becuase I ran out of money first. Well, they said they would not pay anymore until I could show receipts, but they send the insurnace check to the mortgage company. So, not only does ASC keep insurance money, but they also prevent me from finishing any repairs. They royally screwed me, so like I said before......I give up.
Here's what you do. If the servicer is not answering your inquiries or otherwise delaying for months, make sure you quietly document everything. Send letters rather than making phone calls. Keep copies. When you do talk, get names (not likely given) or Identification numbers of every person you talk to. Write them down. Do not let them intimidate you and do not let it become argumentative. Just record the events. Note every department that you speak to. Then, take some time to write your entire experience down including the information that you have collected and send it to your state attorney general's consumer complaints division.
If you are looking for immediate help, contact me here. Tell me as much of your story as you are comfortable divulging. Try to be as thorough as possible i.e., dates, your place of residence, etc.
The current regime (Bush Adminstration) practices top-down economics that was the hallmark of the Reagan administration (a/k/a trickle down theory). Pursuant to this theory, government should always support and even subsidize the creation of wealth in the business sector. The idea that Reagan had was based on--albeit naively so--belief in the benevolent, trustworthy businessman. If the theory had worked, the benefits bestowed on businesses would be passed down to consumers through job creation and employer based health care and rising salaries, etc.
The problem was with its premise of the benevolence of businessmen in America. There is no such thing. Businesses are driven by the ever increasing need to increase investor wealth. Giving good salaries, pensions, heal care and other benefits does not exactly allow for the fastest revenue growth. The same is true for the banking industry's lending practices. Giving everyone prime rates and conventional mortgages is not in keeping with the goal--albeit corrupt--of increasing profit margins at all cost.
So, that said, currently we have a government wedded to big business. The 700 billion bailout is, so far, just that. Until the next president, do not expect to see any of that money passed directly to struggling homeowners (where it is most neede and where it will do the most overall good for the economy).
What's the net of this? I'm not going to tell you who to vote for. I'll say only this, do your research about the economic policies of each candidate. Don't be a fool to believe that the plans outlined will be exactly or even close to what is actually implemented. Your main concern should be the candidates' "guiding philosophy and beliefs about economic policies" and how they translate into help for you. While the plans may change, the goals do not.
If the goal is to help businesses first, you come last and only if the business community chooses to give. And, how has that approach worked so far? If the goal is to help the consumer, then you can expect radical changes in consumer protections and how incentives and rewards are distributed so that they insure that banks and businesses in general do right by the American consumer before the get anything. So, go out and vote.
They finally sent me a letter saying that I had agreed to some payment plan that I've never heard of before where I would make three monthly payments for SLIGHTLY less than is my normal payment, and then on the fourth month, I would give them a HUGE amount of money to be caught up. Where does this magical money come from, you may ask? Well, i sure don't know.
If I HAD that kind of money, I wouldn't BE behind, now would I?
We were thinking of just short selling the house and forgetting the whole thing, but now I'm reading all your horror stories about that!
If there is an attorney out there willing to take us on, a class action suit sounds like a wonderful idea.
Let's hope our new president is true to his word and makes these greedy fools do what they should have been doing all along.
I will say that a lot of times, unfortunately, unless you are IN foreclosure, they are often hesitant to talk to you.. so.. that's what I know for whatever it's worth. :)
ASC lied to me about my state raising my real estate taxes and requested an additional $300 per month to make up for the difference between my tax escrow and the new tax rate. I called my state government and confirmed that my tax rate had not gone up at all. When I confronted ASC with this piece of information, they told me to fax them proof from the state. I obtained the proof, and faxed it to the number ASC had given me, but they continued to deny receipt of my faxes and continued to bill me the extra $300 per month. It was a lot of money to me - my original monthly payment was only $700, so it was a huge increase. I actually went into forbearance for a bit, because I had so much trouble coming up with the new monthly amount.
Eventually I got a lawyer to send the fax for me, and ASC dropped my monthly payments back to the original amount.
We were only one month behind on our adjustable rate payment when I tried to get ASC to modify our loan and all they did was give me the run-around! I couldn’t believe it when the guy on the phone (he was a big jerk!) actually said that my family shouldn’t eat so much because then we would spend less on groceries and would have more money to make our mortgage payment! He also said we should get a cheaper car and a bunch of other stuff that was really rude. This whole thing was keeping me up at night worrying about what was going to happen to us. I told my friend at work about this and she said I should call the loan modification company that got her loan modified down to 3.25% fixed interest rate! I finally decided to call them, and in about 45 days they got my interest rate down to 3.85% on a fixed rate too! The company is American Foreclosure Specialists and we are really happy with what they did for us. The website is afscanhelp.com. We chose them because they didn’t make a bunch of promises like some of the other companies and they had a 100% money back guarantee. I hope this helps some other people fighting with their loan company!
Go to http://www.afscanhelp.com/loanaudit.cfm






