How they steal your home-

There are some basic things to realize about how your home can be taken from you in mortgage servicing scams.

These are not "predatory lenders." These companies do not loan money. They operate in the lending industry after-the-fact. They take on a function that a lender doesn’t want - the backroom functions of handling payments, escrow accounts, annual statements, dealing with borrowers, collections, etc. The perpetrators of the loan servicing scam acquire the servicing rights to loans that other companies have already made. (Loans that were deliberately constructed by predatory lenders are
ideal for processing through servicers that specialize in aggressive collections or rapid foreclosure processing, but the loan servicing scam can be operated against any mortgage loan if the servicer acquires the rights from the lender.)

These scams are designed and deliberately operated. These situations are not errors, mistakes or situations where a servicer’s managers or employees failed to do their job. Their systems are well-designed and state-of-the-art in terms of analytical technology that helps them choose and process their victims. These scams generate enormous profits from a business that is difficult to run, people and
litigation intensive and normally only marginally profitable. Many have failed and been acquired (Fairbanks bought several).

You, the borrower are not their customer. Lending companies and investors are their customers. As a borrower being "serviced" in the scam, you are simply one of millions in an ever-growing pool of what the financial services industry deliberately labels as "sub-prime" borrowers waiting to be taken advantage of.

They have almost unlimited legal resources. If you had the financial resources to have effective legal representation and the documentation to challenge them, they would turn their attention to easier targets. Of course, because most sub-prime borrowers are not well off and don’t have an attorney, you’re a likely target.

They have leverage and information and will prey on your fears. The fear of possibly losing your home is the key that unlocks your bank account for them. They know almost everything about you financially and even from an employment and income basis. They are made aware of your inquiries into other lenders about refinancing even without a request for a payoff and that shopping may lead them to
target you before you can get out of the loan you’re in.

They are experts with millions of successful cases behind them. The loan servicing industry, including those who founded and are running the servicing scam companies, helped craft the "standard" loan documents in widespread use. They are written entirely for the protection of the lending industry, not the consumer. That situation allows them to manipulate their processes and procedures to push you into a position where they can take funds from you or ultimately take your home, often within the terms and conditions of the loan. Some do go beyond the terms or even break the law and aren’t stopped because the borrower does not actually understand the agreement they signed or the laws and regulations.

The path toward losing your home to this scam is actually quite simple. The first phase is designed to fabricate the default, and typically begins with one, or a combination of ways to arm the servicer's records with false data:

When the servicer decides to manipulate the date the payment is received in order to artificially create a late payment.
When the servicer applies part of the payment to something other than principal and interest and creates a partial late payment or deficiency.
When the servicer decides to "force place" an insurance policy on the property by claiming the homeowner has not provided proof of insurance.
When the servicer pays your property taxes late, then adds their late penalty to your account without your knowledge.

Any or all of those processes result in at least one month of the account being past due and a negative note is made in the credit report (which effectively prevents the borrower from refinancing). It also helps the Private Mortgage Insurance carrier keep the policy in effect on the loan, which is why these insurance companies have investments in servicing companies in the first place – a late payment or two
allows the lender to keep the insurance in force.

IF the borrower has anything more than about 10-15% equity in the property, it is to the servicer’s advantage at this point to not aggressively attempt to collect. In fact, if the borrower makes contact, the servicer will engage in delay tactics to avoid resolving the problem in time to prevent default. If the equity position is considerably less than 10%, the servicer does not have as much leverage, nor is the opportunity as great and they will typically be more aggressive in collection efforts and more willing to keep the loan in force.

In the case of force-placed insurance, it is to the servicer’s advantage to ignore the borrower and any proof of insurance as long as possible, again to keep the borrower’s credit status in a negative light and to maintain their relationship with the insurer they contract with. These policies are extremely profitable because they provide absolutely no coverage for the homeowner. They protect ONLY the value of the loan if the property is destroyed.

If the servicer has analyzed the opportunity and marked the property for default and recovery, the next payment received will be rejected as being insufficient. If it is accepted, the application of the funds leaves the loan sixty days past due. Typically, the scam now moves toward formal legal notice of acceleration in order to coerce the borrower into signing a highly-profitable forbearance agreement to
somehow "save the home." The servicer rolls thousands of dollars in penalties and an incomprehensible combination of legitimate and illegitimate fees into the agreement and the homeowner is left with no choice but to sign it or lose their home. The amount demanded will be calculated to take as much of the homeowner’s equity as possible.

If the homeowner decides to sell the property to get out of the situation and take their equity, they will find the payoff amount (which in the last month of the scam will take longer to get than the amount of time left before foreclosure) strips them of their equity. That combined with their artificially-damaged credit rating helps keep the victim trapped.

If the borrower cannot pay the amounts demanded in the forbearance agreement, the servicer will have one of their network of specialized attorney firms foreclose and the property will be sold, typically at a county auction or through their real-estate network.

If the borrower signs the agreement, they will soon be recycled through the process with yet more late payments and fees. But in the terms of the forbearance agreement, they may find they have signed away any legal protections they may have already had, including the right to sue the servicer for fraud or
misrepresentation.

In the end, if the homeowner cannot afford competent legal representation to stop this fraud, they lose their equity and in many cases, their home.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE...
For more information on this type of fraud visit these sites.

http://www.msfraud.org/ -Mortgage Servicing Fraud. org

www.ripoffreport.com- Homeside Lending/Washington Mutual complaints.

http://www.wamufraud.com/ Many, many complaints from angry consumers.
"How they steal your home"

Washington Mutual Sucks.com Basically, I would highly recommend that you never have anything to do with WaMu. I get 80-100 visitors a day on my website and many of them write me and tell me there horror stories.

www.smartmoney.com "I can't believe they treat people like this" Washington Mutual, the nation's no. 1 mortgage lender, calls itself a customer-friendly bank. Many customers beg to differ. One frustrated customer even refinanced his mortgage just to get away from WaMUu.

Yahoo ! Mortgage Fraud Victims more victims vent their complaints.

http://www.homesidecomplaint.com/ This site was created and is maintained for the many people who feel they have been victimized by HomeSide Lending.

Case Watch Cohen Milstein Representing Plaintiff in Litigation Against Washington Mutual and Bank United Corp. for Predatory Practices in Mortgage Services.

Consumer Affairs.com-
Washington Mutual Mortgage Problems
Class Action Suits Hit WAMU

ebusinessrate.com more nightmares and complaints about Washington Mutual

Planet Feedback.com Read about the complaints and ordeals that consumers have been going through.

www.complaints.com Complete Lack of Accountability - payment problems

http://www.wamu-sucks.com/others.htm Mortgage Problems Checking Problems eMail from "Insiders"*, Customer Service & Other Problems, Law Offices interested in hearing from you

The Complaint Station- several complaints about Washington Mutual Nightmare

Washington Mutual- why do business with a bank that is so unfair -This is My True Story "How I Feel Washington Mutual Cheated Me, a Single Mother of two, out of over $8,000.00" I was an employee of Coast Federal Bank for over 12 years.
Responses from others.

Sleaze Brigade on Troubleshooter.com- Solving Consumer Problems - Answering Questions - Taking Complaints Provided By Consumer Advocate Tom Martino & The Troubleshooter Network Go to slease brigade section, select "national" from the pull down menu, scroll to see this comment- "Washington Mutual-All I can say is that we have never had more complaints about any bank -- ever. They are infamous for poor customer service and abusive commercial practices. The bank should be avoided."

Latest News- January 30, 2004
Washington Mutual to lay off 188 workers- P. Douglas Filaroski-Washington Mutual Inc. told 188 mortgage-servicing employees in Jacksonville yesterday their jobs were eliminated as part of the Seattle-based financial service giant's ongoing downsizing.

Brochure: Mortgage Servicing: Making Sure Your Payments Count (Adobe Reader Required)

Latest News- January 30, 2004 Washington Mutual to lay off 188 workers- P. Douglas Filaroski-Washington Mutual Inc. told 188 mortgage-servicing employees in Jacksonville yesterday their jobs were eliminated as part of the Seattle-based financial service giant's ongoing downsizing.

Latest News- January 30, 2004
Washington Mutual to lay off 188 workers- P. Douglas Filaroski-Washington Mutual Inc. told 188 mortgage-servicing employees in Jacksonville yesterday their jobs were eliminated as part of the Seattle-based financial service giant's ongoing downsizing.