But Wall St. said they were such a nice company:
More federal bankruptcy judges are calling into question the business practices of Countrywide Financial Corp., as Bank of America Corp. prepares to buy the ailing mortgage lender.
According to court documents in a bankruptcy case in Houston, Countrywide didn’t properly credit a borrower’s payments made during bankruptcy but instead applied them to prebankruptcy debt, which isn’t allowed. In the same case, involving a debtor named William Allen Parsley, Countrywide represented to the court that Mr. Parsley owed fees that turned out to be unsubstantiated and in error. These included an improper $450 fee and a $65 unsubstantiated fee.
Judges in Cleveland also have discovered a pattern of banks filing foreclosure actions without having a proper chain of title. In other words, the banks are trying to foreclose but can’t prove they own the mortgage.
http://thebellwetherdaily.blogspot.com/2007/11/cleveland-federal-judge-dismisses-32.html
And of course they can’t show that they own the mortgage because the rolled up and sold off all the mortgages as part of a package deal. Hopefully more judges around the country will hold the banks to the law too. Meanwhile, if someone tries to foreclose on you, make sure they prove that they own the mortgage.
Funny how companies’ “mistakes” are always in their favor, huh? They’re counting on you to not be paying attention or too busy keeping your head above water to deal with what is often a questionable charge of under $50 or so. If you pay “just to be done with it,” it’s free money. If you actually make it through the maze of recorded prompts on the customer service line and get the correct, authorized person on the phone, it’s “oops.” For the company, it’s win-win. Or at least win-don’t lose.