My Sister's story

This is the story of someone who did everything right her entire life yet is on the verge of losing her home.  My sister is the type of person that sends out her payments the same day she receives her bills.  Her credit score was around 800.  She had savings to cover her for more than a year if anything shoud happen.

Then her daughter became ill and she had a mountain of medical bills to pay.  That was ok because she had a great job and was albe to pay the bills.  As she was finishing paying those bills, she lost her job.  Again, she thought that was okay because she had a cash reserve to last her for than a year.  This was 2 1/2 years ago. 

Last year, when she realized she was getting low on her cash reserve, she contacted her bank.  By this time WAMU had been taken over by JP Morgan.  She called WAMU who told her to call JP Morgan.  She called JP Morgan only to be told to call WAMU.  This went on for several months.  She went down to WAMU's office, now a JP Morgan office to speak to someone directly.  They asked for her financial records.  She gave the records.  They told her they have 6 months to review her application and will get back with her. 

In the meantime, she continued to make her mortgage payments. But one month, she inadvertently paid her credit card a day late.  A credit card that she had had for over 10 years with late payments.  The bank (JP Morgan) raised her interest rate from 9% to 32%, making a tough situation tougher. 

She fell behind on her mortgage and contacted JP Morgan.  JP Morgan told her that she needed to be behind 3 months before they would be able to do anything.  So she waited the 3 months.  Called JP MOrgan again.  Once again, they requested her financial information, which she gave them.  Not long after that, she was served with foreclosure papers.  She did not tell anyone becuase she was embarrassed that this was happening to her. 

She arranged to have a cash buyer for her house.  It was a short sale, but the person was paying cash.  She called JP Morgan to let them know.  They asked for the listing agent's name, address, and telephone number.  She told them that there was no agent, she had advertised the house for sale on her own.  JP Morgan then told they would not approve the sale because the house was not on the market for 3 months.

When she appeared in front of the judge, she tried to explain to the judge that she thought she was working with the bank on a modification.  The judge would not listen to anything she had to say and simply told her that she had stayed in the house too long and had the foreclosure sale scheduled.  In an effort to try to save something, she filed for bankruptcy.  She is now waiting for a letter from the court scheduling the foreclosure sale of her house.

I am writing this story because I am very sick and tired of people calling homeowners in foreclosure "deadbeats."  The banks have been able to blitz the market with their version of the story and have managed to quiet the real story.  This is the real story of an ordinary homeowner who did the right thing her entire life but the bank refused to help her.