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Guest · Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 10:51 am Subject: Mortgage Hardship...any info?

I have a question, hopefully someone knows the answer. I have a mortgage through Chase. Originally it was through another company, but Chase bought the mortgage a couple years ago, and in our original contract, we did not have our taxes escrowed. Chase then decided this year to escrow our taxes, which were already paid. They paid our taxes for us, even though we already had, and they were reimbursed by the tax office. But, they refuse to remove the escrow which has raised our mortgage by $300 per month. We usually pay our taxes with our income tax at the end of the year(for the next year). So, this larger payment is killing us, therefore we have fallen 2 months behind, which we never had before. So, we can't afford an attorney. So, I called Chase because I was told they should have some type of hardship program, but they say they do not. They refuse to work with us at all, and the other day, the lady completely refused to talk to me and hung up on me. It is like they WANT my house or something. I was surfing the web and found other mortgage companies all have hardship applications on their websites, but Chase does not. What is up with that? Are they just allowed to be jerks who don't care about anyone? Or, do they have to provide us with hardship info? My credit is terrible or I would try to refinance somewhere else. Chase denied us refinance even when our credit was great 3 years ago, so they would most definitely deny us now. What should I do?

Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 11:33 am Subject:

Did you try their collections department? They should have some sort of loss mitigation services where they will refinance your past due payments back into your mortgage, but you will have some costs up front.

Guest · Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 11:37 am Subject:

Yeah, that is who I spoke to, and was informed that I would have to call an outside agency for assistance, because they do not have any programs. They even say it in their collections letter. There is a little thing at the bottom stating that I need to pay past due amount immediately and that Chase does not offer hardship or counseling programs. And to call a non-profit organization for further assistance. Interesting, just wonder why everyone else has a program. My sister is the one who told me about the hardship program because her mortgage company has one.

Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 11:42 am Subject:

Were you behind on your mortgage before Chase purchased it?
Did they give you a number to call for this non-profit organization?
They may have purchase it for that reason. Sometimes these banks will purchase "questionable" risky mortgages and they can be tough.

I would borrow from a relative or a friend if you can to get your payments caught up.
Have a garage sale, do some overtime. They usually don't foreclose on 2 months arrears, but you never know.

Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 11:50 am Subject:

Did Chase swallow up another company, is that why they have it now? I'm really suprised that a company that size would not have a loss mitigation department. Is there anyway you can make it in a couple of bi-weekly payments? I'm sorry I don't know anything about Chase, I would I could help more.

Sue

Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 11:52 am Subject:

Yea..I'm not too sure about them either, Sue. Someone on here probably knows about them, I'm sure. Hang tight guest.
By the way..you could register here and have a debt counselor call you for a free consultation. Maybe you can reduce your other debts to make up for the loss.

Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 12:14 pm Subject: Mortgage Hardship

Chase is one of your more difficult banks to deal with. My sister-in-law had a mortgage with them and fell behind with mortgage payments after my brother passed away and they would not work with her either.
Be careful before you send them any money if you make an agreement with them make sure you get it in written first because my sister-in-law sent them 2 payments they said they would put the balance of the past due on the end of the loan she did not get it in writting first and they did not do it. I do not know what state you live in but some non profit organization will help you get out of a possible foreclosure if you are not more than 5 months behind. Also you can try HUD take a look at there web site give them a call they maybe able to help. If your credit is poor - I do not know how poor but there are some banks out there that will work with you be careful though they can charge high interest rates. How far behind are you? Do you have any equity? What state do you live in? What type of loan do you have?
is it a VA Loan? If you can answer some of these questions maybe we will have a better understanding of what is going on.

Guest · Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 12:42 pm Subject:

No, I was never behind on my payments, ever. I got the loan in 2000, Chase bought it around 2002-2003. I never had a late payment until 2005, they added the escrow account at the end of the year, and we just can't make the payment. Our mortgage payment went from $933 to $1278 plus $50 late charges when we pay late. That is a big jump. When they sent us the letter about the escrow we called them immediately and told them that would be impossible and that we signed an escrow waiver with the original company. But they said they can open an escrow account anytime they deem necessary. They said they would send it for review to remove the escrow. A month later, we called and they said the removal was denied. They escrowed only our taxes, not our insurance which we still pay. Our taxes total about $1800 for land/school taxes, if we are paying $300 per month escrow, we are way overpaying taxes. That is $3600, double our taxes. What are they going to do with that extra money? We were never behind on our taxes. We were two months behind, but I sent in one month payment, so we are actually not quite one month behind, it was due on the 1st.

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