Game Over

Posted on April 19, 2010 by Cooler By A Mile

Phoned Chase/WaMu on July 3, 2009 at 9:30 am and spoke with Chris. After verifying all of my contact information Chris advised me that my loan modification request was reviewed two days ago and I did not qualify due to the amount of equity I have in the house. I do not meet the interior department guidelines. A letter of denial has been sent and I may certainly re-apply if “my situation changes” or maybe, he said, I ought to consider selling as they are open to a short sale. He then terminated the call.

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Chasing WaMu

Posted on April 18, 2010 by Cooler By A Mile

WaMu becomes Chase!

Phoned Chase/WaMu June 5, 2009 at 9:55 am and spoke with Hank who had fond memories of vacationing on the seven-mile island of Avalon, NJ. Hank confirmed my re-submission fax was received on 6/3/09 and that the loan modification clock starts anew. Hank advised there was nothing for me to do but “be patient and pay my mortgage”. The government had changed all the programs in March and the programs change daily; his department had only been established on May 1, 2009. Hank assured me they are working on it and said it was okay to call back and check in every week.

Phoned Chase/WaMu on June 12, 2009 at 9:35 am and endured a recorded collection message informing me this was an attempt to collect a debt. Note: I had never been late nor had I missed a payment. After the message played I was put on hold for ten minutes when Kim B. picked up. Kim’s sole purpose appeared to be to transfer me and introduce me to someone who could answer my questions. I then spoke with Adam who noted I’d called before. Adam confirmed receipt of my 6/3/09 fax and advised that all paperwork was in hand, WaMu had a “complete” package. Adam said I should have an “update” by end of month; it’s taking 20-25 days for an “update”. I pressed him on what an update meant and he said deny, modify, etc.

Phoned Chase/WaMu on June 23, 2009 at 10:30 am and spoke with Brad who advised that as of 6/15/09 the loan was in the Imminent Default department and I should be calling a different number. Per Brad the loan had been assigned to Brad U. – I could see this conversation was going nowhere and asked to speak to someone in Imminent Default. I was transferred to Troy who told me the files had been “sent to Guardian to microfiche” and that should take a week. They are taking pictures of documents and basically my loan is still in the review process. There was nothing he could tell me and nothing I could do. Brad was in Loss Mitigation, now I was talking to Imminent Default and they do not share names. Troy terminated the call by hanging up on me.

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Maybe, Maybe Not

Posted on April 18, 2010 by Cooler By A Mile

Phoned WaMu May 8, 2009 at 12:55 pm and spoke with Amber. Now that they have received the “missing” information, as of 4/15/09 they have 28 business days to assign to a negotiator as the package is now “complete”.  It will go to a different negotiator and within the 28 days I will be contacted.  

WaMu is Becoming Chase!

As it was the one-year anniversary of my salary reduction it seemed time to approach the owners and ask for a salary adjustment. Given that I was still doing 100% of the work at 50% of my salary, I was confident they would see how well the business was doing and make some positive salary adjustment in recognition. In acknowledgment that times were still tough, even though our sales were robust, I offered to take on additional work as part of a salary increase and posed several options. All ideas were rebuffed and no salary increase was granted.

Phoned WaMu/Chase on May 20, 2009 at 8:45 am and spoke with Julie. She indicated my loan was assigned to modification officer Brandon U. on 5/13/09 and it would take 77 days from then. Per Julie, no file was opened until 3/31/09 and anything related to my 2/24/09 submission and all prior communications were null and void. Stanley S-D. may have been an “opener”. I will receive a form letter telling me they are looking at the loan and considering my request for a modification.

May 20, 2009 at 3:35 pm I received a call on my landline, not the cell phone number I had provided to WaMu/Chase as my sole contact telephone number. It was Rich Naylor calling to tell me Brandon U. is a processor. Rich Naylor was in charge of doing the review and my loan was no longer in Loss Mitigation, it was now in the Imminent Default department. The package was considered incomplete as of 5/13/09 and would not be looked at until all updated and additional material was provided.

Rich directed me to the web site and told me to download the forms and submit all of the requested information. This site had no cheerful exclamation points – just a Borrower’s Assistance Form with a lengthy checklist.  Rich also requested:

– Updated/current utility bills showing proof of residency

– 2 pay stubs or 30 days worth of pay documents

– 2008 income tax returns

– Documentation of all assets

– Recent bank statements

– Profit & Loss Statement

– Monthly Budget

All were to be faxed to the Imminent Default department and should be mailed as well. Upon receipt of all documents, the loan would go to review and then be assigned to an underwriter, after which it would take 30-40 days.

Basically, after three months of paper shuffling WaMu, now Chase wanted a complete resubmission of my loan modification request.   

May 23, 2009 was spent assembling, copying and faxing the requested documents, now totaling 53 pages. With the exception of my 2008 tax returns (I’d already submitted 2006 & 2007), most of the documents were updates on the same documents I’d submitted 2/24/09 and 3/13/09.

May 26, 2009 I mailed the same documents to WaMu Imminent Default. No upbeat Home Ownership Preservation moniker at this address.

May 29, 2009 I confirmed the packet had been delivered at 8:51 am via Certified Mail.

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April Fools

Posted on April 17, 2010 by Cooler By A Mile

Phoned WaMu April 3, 2009 at 11:20 am and spoke with Amber. Per Amber, on 3/31/09 a loss mitigation file was set up and the negotiator (a Stanley S-D.) had been assigned and he’d left a note in the account requesting that I provide copies of my last two years of income tax returns and verification of the freelance income I was reporting. She said a letter had been sent to me requesting this information.

Verification was going to be a problem on the freelance earnings. It was just that, freelance, with no guarantees and no real “boss”. No paycheck either – the money was wired to my checking account and WaMu could see that, but they wanted to know why and where it was coming from. After some wrangling I managed to get a letter from my “employer” stating that I did freelance work for them but it wasn’t easy.

Phoned WaMu April 6, 2009 at 9:00 am and spoke with Kimberly and told her I had spoken with Amber on 4/3/09 and I had still not received a letter telling me where to send the requested documents. Kimberly insisted a letter had been sent and gave me a fax number to submit my documents.

Faxed WaMu April 7, 2009 at 10:00 am and submitted the requested documents.

Phoned WaMu April 8, 2009 at 8:14 am and spoke with Kyle. I wanted to follow-up on receipt of the fax but per Kyle, they “are swamped” and I must allow WaMu 7-14 business days to receive a fax; I could try calling back on 4/14/09.

Phoned WaMu April 13, 2009 at 8:49 am and spoke with Kathy. I asked her to verify that a letter had been sent to me and to confirm receipt of the fax. Kathy alleged a letter had been sent via USPS and “the file is still open which means they must have the fax.” She advised it was now taking 79 days from when the negotiator gets it to completion. I asked to speak to the modification officer and was advised she could no longer transfer calls. I then reviewed with Kathy the entire timeline starting with WaMu’s confirmed receipt of the 2/24/09 packet and said I never got a letter acknowledging anything was happening; no one had ever gotten back to me about anything and the only way I knew additional documents were required was by repeated phone calls. I asked if I might get something in writing indicating they were working on my case. She indicated that the file went to the negotiator on 3/31/09 and confirmed my cell phone number as the correct way to reach me. It was not a friendly or productive call.

Phoned WaMu April 17, 2009 at 3:36 pm and spoke with Paula. Per Paula, they forwarded the faxed info to the negotiators on 4/15/09 and it should take 68 days. Per Paula, the negotiator is still Stanley S-D. I should call back every week or two to check on the status.

Phoned WaMu April 23, 2009 at 9:15 am and spoke with Kathy who said there was “nothing new to report at this time.” The negotiator is working on it and the time frame is now 69 days from 3/31/09.

Phoned WaMu April 30, 2009 at 1:40 pm and spoke with Kim who asked if I was just checking in on my loan modification today. Per Kim, the timeline does not start until the file is sent to a negotiator and that it would take 76 days from 3/31/09. I asked if there was anything I could do or if there had been any change since 4/15/09 and Kim said it is frustrating and she understands but there was “nothing I could do at this point.”

April is over and I am the fool.

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Barn-raising

Posted on April 13, 2010 by Cooler By A Mile

Welcome to my world. At the moment it is very small and focused on only one thing – keeping my home. It used to be a much bigger world, especially back in the 90s when finally, after working since the age of sixteen and saving virtually every penny earned, I was able to achieve my dream of having a house “down the shore”. Even that was not as neat and orderly as it sounds; as in so many stories, there were twists and turns along the way.

I wanted to buy an old house, not build one, but after searching for years, writing letters and even knocking on doors of the remaining bay front homes still rich with character and charm, it became obvious the last ones standing were much-loved and not for sale. In 1998 I bought a 60’ x 110’ plot of land in New Jersey on the seven-mile barrier island shared by Avalon & Stone Harbor, a plot on which there had never been a house. For a while I tried to move an old cottage onto the lot, but cottages were few and far between and the lot had two beautiful trees that would need to go in the face of a house, even a small cottage, being dropped on site.

My next idea was to hire an architect to re-interpret and design for me a riff on a Craftsman bungalow I’d rented for several years, a real charmer with porches and gables and knee walls. The architect and a very capable builder were hired and we were good to go – until I lost my high-paying job of eleven years. Sitting at home stewing and reading newspapers, I tried to figure out what to do next in my life. While perusing the classifieds in a local paper I saw an auction ad – it included two barns that were to be dismantled and moved in order to clear the land. I went to the auction preview toying with the notion of buying one of the barns, dismantling it and moving it to my lot on the bay. My architect and builder were called in to review and endorse this idea; instead they politely pointed out the barns were termite-ridden and if I really wanted a barn, they could build something designed to withstand salt water and bay front weather.

A barn was sketched on a cocktail napkin, turned over to the architect for engineering plans and off we went. As the house took shape, I developed a concept that evolved with the construction: somewhere there was a “big house” owned by a moderately well-to-do family living in the 50s and 60s, and as they improved the big house, the cast-offs were relegated to the barn. Things like a cast iron skirted tub from the 20s, a GE monitor-top refrigerator from the 30s and a Chambers range from the 40s. Each of these components and many more vintage features were integrated into the home, with a master carpenter on-premises for over a year. I went to San Francisco for another big job, flying home on weekends to supervise construction of my beautiful barn, leaving post-it notes and books filled with barn details and other inspiration scattered amongst the construction. The house was completed in May, 2000 to critical acclaim. It is not reflective of the McMansion style of building overtaking Avalon and Stone Harbor.

The house was featured as the cover story in the September-October 2001 issue of Coastal Living magazine. It was also featured in The Avalon Garden Club Tour of Homes in September 2001.  

In 2006, the house was included in the book Island Living by Linda Leigh Paul. Island Living was published by Universe Publishing, a Division of Rizzoli International Publications, Inc. 

In July, 2008, the house was part of the Jewels of the Island Avalon Yacht Club Auxiliary 12th Annual House Tour and Luncheon.

The footprint of my home is 19.5 ft. x 30.0 ft. The house sits on pilings 11 ft. above ground atop a 360 degree deck. The first floor features a galley kitchen, an open living/dining area and the bathroom. The second floor consists of two bedrooms.

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