Monday, January 7, 2013

Trying to Hit the Bank's Ever Moving Target

On Christmas Eve I received Bank of America's "Notice of Intent to Accelerate and Foreclosure".  That notice advised me that if I didn't pay $1,961.03 by January 26th that they would proceed with foreclosure.  That amount included two mortgage payments, normal late fees and other "uncollected costs".  Later that month I called the bank to make a  payment but was rerouted to the "account manager" that was allegedly assigned to me.  As previously stated, I still have not heard back from that alleged person.

Being unable to actually speak with someone from Bank of America, I sent a $948.62 payment using a certified bank check. Having no trust in them at this point I also sent it via U.S.P.S. Express Mail so that I could track the delivery of the payment.

A few days ago I received the latest notice from Bank of America.  In it they acknowledge that they did receive that $948.62 payment that I sent weeks earlier.  They also noted that the partial payment doesn't stop their intent to foreclose on me after the January 26th deadline.  They also advised me in the notice that future payments before the January 26th deadline may be returned to me if they are not for the full amount.

But my question is, "What is the full amount exactly?"

I ask this because the amount still owed that they most recently list appears to be different than the total amount listed only a few weeks ago.  I'm not a math wiz but I pretty sure that $1,961.03 minus my $948.62 payment equals $1,012.41, right? But this latest notice says that after that payment, the drop dead amount to come up with by January 26th is now $1,046.20. Since the original amount included late fees and "uncollected costs" where is this new $33.79 coming from and how was I supposed to know that it existed in the first place?  If I would have paid the full amount that they originally wanted, would I have come up short $33.79? How do I know that I am short if each notice (within weeks of each other) lists new and unexplained higher amounts?

I suspect that the $33.79 is one of those"uncollected costs".  My understanding is that these are fees that the bank charges to do things like allegedly send someone to the home to make sure that it is not abandoned.  I get the impression that there are many other fees that they assess that would surprise most homeowners.  Those fees likely only get worse the longer it takes for you to catch up.  And good luck with the level of fees and alleged "costs" that they will heap on you if they actually do file a foreclosure action against you.

For the record, I don't have a problem with Bank of America charging me legitimate late fees if I'm late.  I might even be open to this unaccounted for $33.79 extra that they are now demanding only weeks after the original notice.  But my biggest problem is the lack of simple communication so that I know exactly what they  are demanding and why.  If they are going to keep adding to the drop dead amount, shouldn't someone let me know that fact and give me an explanation?

This feels an awful lot like trying to hit a constantly moving target.  This situation is bad enough, i honestly don't need or want the extra challenge.

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