Hi All,
I have had my current mortgage for the past 2 years. In that time I have had a reasonable HELOC through USAA. 8 months ago I decided to use a 0 percent credit card to put a big chunk of the HELOC balance on, and pay down more interest...obviously putting it back onto my HELOC when the time was up. Just a simple strategy.
Low and behold, USAA froze my HELOC and left me with 40k of house debt on a credit card. Please keep in mind my house is $$$, I can currently afford the payments, and no money has ever been drawn on the original HELOC balance.
They froze it due to a "Valuation" of my area etc...and readily admit they do not use location, land size/value to determine, just comped homes that had sold recently in the area. I saw their list they comped homes with, and they comped my 2400 sq/ft house with a 4800sq/ft lot to homes that were 900sq/ft, 1100sq/ft etc...with much smaller lot sizes.
So I am now doing the legwork to get them to extend the loan, only to find out they have now changed their loan to value ratios closer to 70% instead of 80%, which puts me in a bind yet again.
I went as far to call other lenders, locally and nationwide, and since they have all changed these requirements, and are using these bogus valuations, they are telling me that I cannot refi at the current market value.
So...I am left with 3 years on my arm, a chunk on a HELOC at 4% for the life of the loan, and 40k of housing debt on a credit card.
I am posting today because I am considering selling in the down market, since if things don't improve in 3 years from now there is a decent chance they won't refinance be now or LATER.
I spoke with LOSS mitigation of B of A today, to explain my situation. I was hung up on and threatened...and when I finally spoke to someone who was reasonable they didn't care since I hadn't missed a payment yet. I explained to them that I needed a reason at this point to continue paying on my house for 3 years if there is a possibility all of my money will go down the drain, if I can't refinance.
They told me to not take it personal, and that it was just a business decision. Is foreclosure an option as a simple business decision? If I stop making my payments and just save my money for 9-11 months, will they simply come after me if the difference is not made in the sale of the house?
Don't let the headlines fool you. Banks are not bending over backwards to help people avoid foreclosure. The government is bending over backwards to help them.
I have had my current mortgage for the past 2 years. In that time I have had a reasonable HELOC through USAA. 8 months ago I decided to use a 0 percent credit card to put a big chunk of the HELOC balance on, and pay down more interest...obviously putting it back onto my HELOC when the time was up. Just a simple strategy.
Low and behold, USAA froze my HELOC and left me with 40k of house debt on a credit card. Please keep in mind my house is $$$, I can currently afford the payments, and no money has ever been drawn on the original HELOC balance.
They froze it due to a "Valuation" of my area etc...and readily admit they do not use location, land size/value to determine, just comped homes that had sold recently in the area. I saw their list they comped homes with, and they comped my 2400 sq/ft house with a 4800sq/ft lot to homes that were 900sq/ft, 1100sq/ft etc...with much smaller lot sizes.
So I am now doing the legwork to get them to extend the loan, only to find out they have now changed their loan to value ratios closer to 70% instead of 80%, which puts me in a bind yet again.
I went as far to call other lenders, locally and nationwide, and since they have all changed these requirements, and are using these bogus valuations, they are telling me that I cannot refi at the current market value.
So...I am left with 3 years on my arm, a chunk on a HELOC at 4% for the life of the loan, and 40k of housing debt on a credit card.
I am posting today because I am considering selling in the down market, since if things don't improve in 3 years from now there is a decent chance they won't refinance be now or LATER.
I spoke with LOSS mitigation of B of A today, to explain my situation. I was hung up on and threatened...and when I finally spoke to someone who was reasonable they didn't care since I hadn't missed a payment yet. I explained to them that I needed a reason at this point to continue paying on my house for 3 years if there is a possibility all of my money will go down the drain, if I can't refinance.
They told me to not take it personal, and that it was just a business decision. Is foreclosure an option as a simple business decision? If I stop making my payments and just save my money for 9-11 months, will they simply come after me if the difference is not made in the sale of the house?
Don't let the headlines fool you. Banks are not bending over backwards to help people avoid foreclosure. The government is bending over backwards to help them.
Comment