I Am A Home Owner Looking For Some Advice
my spouse purchased this home before we married. he has a VA loan and has had several "bumps" in the road as far as his reliability in making payments goes. needless to say the lender is beyond sick to death of renegotiating the payment arrangements and i would be too, quite honestly. in june my husband was activated for duty, he is overseas now in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. since he has been away (7 months) all the payments are sent automatically from the bank.
now here is where it gets wonky for me.........
apparently, the second payment sent by the bank arrived to the mortgage co. a day late. so, they sent it (a cashiers check) back, not to the bank but to me.
a month passed another payment was made and accepted. the lady who is from the VA advised me not to send back the payment they refused explaining that because they accepted a subsequent payment she felt someone there had made a mistake that would work in our favor and i shouldent tip them off .
so , another month another payment she says we should be safe to send it back. meanwhile back at the ranch, i am receiving forclosure notices but then another month another payment accepted, and no word about forclosure. the VA says no sale date has been set. they say, also, that the lender will absolutley not consider any repayment contracts ( i have no idea even what a repayment contract is) as they have already rewritten several in the course of a year.
i, as you may have gathered by now (ha), have zero total knowledge of this issue. despite having made a sincere and dogged commitment to educate myself via the internet, i find myself, alas, here mucking about your forum. it is with a painfull awareness of what must certainly appear a very lowbrow and general subject that i appeal to you for some guidance. or some humilliation... i do have a sense of humor and do not mean to test your patience/
the mortgage company has just sent another refused payment back to me. so, in all, they have somewhere in their possession 5 of the payments. they say in their last correspondence that the account has been sent to an attorney. i am so over my head here....
my point is this; every payment has been made and is guaranteed to be made for the next year at least. as this is the amount of time it is out of my darling husbands hands. i can empathinze with their frustration in having had problems in the past. although it seems to me that they are creating a problem where one need not exist. that is probably a naive idea. can you help to straighten out my thinking here? 
Wow!
I don't even know what to say except..."Would someone that understands VA loans please help this poor lady!"
If it were a local bank, I'd make an appointment with the President and show him your willingness to make things right and show them your spouses duty orders. More likely, you are dealing with some heartless collection department that could care less. A letter outlining your steps taken to rectify the situation should be sent asap to the President or high ranking officer of that company. It sounds like they've placed a hold on the computer that kicks out your payments automatically and returns them. You need intervention from a real person at that company. You have rights and should exercise them now!
Good luck!
Jim :cry:
[addsig]
Smile! You are in the driver's seat.
However, you need to let them know that.
There is something called The Soldier and Sailor's Act (or Sailor and Soldiers Act?). It protects members of armed forces from foreclosures.
Try doing a keyword search for it here or on Google. Or go to a couple of web sites and do a key word search or send them an email: LegalWiz plus http://www.the.com, and NoLo plus http://www.the.com. Make sure you know in writing exactly what this law covers.
Then scare hell out of the $8 an hour clerks who are tormenting you. Put them on notice that either they work with you NOW to clear this up or you'll go to the local TV station - they would love a story at Christmas time about the mean ol' bank trying to evict the wife of a man serving our country in war.
Good luck!
yes, I agree with going to the bank. They are probably not fully aware of the situation. If you have multiple accounts the bank knows you are "thier" costumer and will be somewhat affraid to lose you. Go in thier and try to set an appointment, forget the phones. Hopefully you have a smaller account.
anj,
I am no expert but there are a few things that come to mind:
1. You state that it is a VA loan. Most likely the servicing company knows little/nothing about that loan. I don't think the VA holds/services their loans.
2. You state that your husband is deployed. Go to the HUD site and look for information concerning the laws (new laws?) about mortgages and our military during this time of war. I have seen links. http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/about/hudvet/national/index.cfm http://www.hud.gov
3. I am wondering if you have spoken to anyone that is actually involved w/the VA, or HUD. Do not make the mistake of thinking you are being helped by someone in the typical collection or service depts where those letters come from.
I realize that this must be a mess and is very hard on you, but I could not follow what has happened based on what you have written. >>>Take an hour and document exactly what happened on what date. You will need this clarity for whomever is going to clear this up for you. Use lined accounting paper or at least that type of format so that someone could see at a glance what payments are made and what is missing.
from SPOCH's website:
www.SPOCH.org
Here are some of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Law's Highlights:
Consumer Credit
Interest rates on credit card, auto loan, mortgage and other kinds of debt can be cut to 6% if a military obligation creates a financial hardship. Contact the creditors and be prepared to to furnish copies of military orders.
Leases
You can invoke the Law to break a lease on a dwelling, office, or even farm land if the Contract was entered into before miitary activation.
Evictions
If you are about to be evicted from a dwellng whose rent is less than $1,200 per month, you can apply to the Court for a postponement of three months, or whatever the Judge says is proper.
Installment Contracts & Auto Leases
If at least one payment was made toward such a debt, the service member or spouse can request relief. The service member must show that the debt is a burden and a consequence of the new, presumably reduced, finacial situation. Also, generally, the debt had to be incurred before active duty called. As for National Guard members, the law kicks in only when members work in a Federal capacity, and does not apply when members are activated by a State Governor to protect airports, for instance.
Contact
For answers to specific questions, check with the Judge Advocate General at the nearest military base with such an office, or check: DEFENSE LINK
Ouch! Yesterday when I read your post, I "shot from the lip" without checking my facts. Please read the following info and then check with the appropriate liaison at the military base that your husband shipped out of. Or the local VA, or a base newspaper. Then if you need more help, contact the best real estate lawyer in your town, say you're the wife of an active duty military man in Iraq, need help, and want it "PRO BONO". Most lawyers donate an amount of work each year. If he/she has no more pro bono available for this year, ask for a referral to another lawyer.
Here's a paragraph from a 2003 book on foreclosures by Melissa Kollen-Rice:
---------
The Soldier's and Sailor's Civil Relief Act of 1940
"In some cases, a lender must modify a foreclosure action in order to comply with the Soldier's and Sailor's Civil Relief Act of 1940. Under this act, when property is owned by a person who is in active military duty, and the mortgage loan was originated prior to the commencement of that military duty, then no sale, foreclosure, or seizure of property for nonpayment of any sum due will be valid if it is made during the period of the military service, or within several months thereafter. This does not apply if the courts think that the ability of the delinquent homeowner to comply with the terms of the loan obligation is not materially affected by the homeowner's involvement in military service, or if the foreclosure sale was granted by the courts before the active duty began. Under the act, active-duty military personnel may be allowed a reduction of interest rates on debts, including mortgages, if their military service impairs their ability to pay their loans at the current interest rates. Repayment plans and extensions of time to pay can also be worked out. Consult a mortgage expert, your State Banking Department, and/or an attorney who specializes in foreclosure purchases and sales for more information about the specific foreclosure that apply to your state."
hello again. i want to agknowledge a debt of gratitude to those of you who took the time to reply to my post.
i had hoped to get enough response to be able to glean a sense of both the language and the appropriate posture for me to use in my negotiations with the mortgage co.
the links to info on the soldiers and sailors act were invaluble as well as the advice to sit down and organize myself on a "line by line" basis. it surely must be common knowledge to most folks, and i appreciate the tactfull way it was presented to me.
so, i am off and running with this .... armed with a bit of your collective wisdom. i hope you will not mind that i intend to come back and report on the outcome.
thank you for your polite attention despite your busy schedule.
sincerely anj119
hello again. i want to agknowledge a debt of gratitude to those of you who took the time to reply to my post.
i had hoped to get enough response to be able to glean a sense of both the language and the appropriate posture for me to use in my negotiations with the mortgage co.
the links to info on the soldiers and sailors act were invaluble as well as the advice to sit down and organize myself on a "line by line" basis. it surely must be common knowledge to most folks, and i appreciate the tactfull way it was presented to me.
so, i am off and running with this .... armed with a bit of your collective wisdom. i hope you will not mind that i intend to come back and report on the outcome.
thank you for your polite attention despite your busy schedule.
sincerely anj119
hello again. i want to agknowledge a debt of gratitude to those of you who took the time to reply to my post.
i had hoped to get enough response to be able to glean a sense of both the language and the appropriate posture for me to use in my negotiations with the mortgage co.
the links to info on the soldiers and sailors act were invaluble as well as the advice to sit down and organize myself on a "line by line" basis. it surely must be common knowledge to most folks, and i appreciate the tactfull way it was presented to me.
so, i am off and running with this .... armed with a bit of your collective wisdom. i hope you will not mind that i intend to come back and report on the outcome.
thank you for your polite attention despite your busy schedule.
sincerely anj119