My letter of complaint against Aurora Loan services and Lehman, to the Office of Thrift supervision, which is the Federal oversight organization that investigates consumer claims against banks and lending institutions:
To whom it may concern,
I would like to meet with someone In the Office of Thrift Supervision to discuss my concerns as a US Citizen and California Homeowner who believes that he is being systematically defrauded by Aurora loan services.
14 months ago, after nine months of arduous negotiation, I received a permanent fixed loan modification from my loan servicer; Aurora loan services. I am one of an extraordinarily small percentage of people who can make this claim. I am part of an even smaller group of freelance individuals who were able to achieve this. In a recent discussion with a consumer advocate for people like myself, it was pointed out that in the two years that this individual has been advocating for home owners like myself I am, in fact, one of only two people that he had heard of who had achieved this and not only gotten the Mod, but successfully maintained the payments and loan obligation!
When I applied for my loan modification I was not in arrears or late in any way. I proactively sought a solution in order to prevent any kind of problem with my ability to pay or maintain my fiduciary obligation to my mortgage. To this day I have a 100% and on-time payment history for the last decade. I also had to take the extraordinary measure, when I first purchased the house, of putting down $270,000, almost 50% value of the house, in order to qualify as a freelance person, to purchase the house. With the ten year perfect payment history and my deposit I have invested almost half of a million dollars into this home over the last decade, with 20 years of labor, prior to purchase, invested into saving for this home, AND MY LOAN IS STILL $500,000!! So I have not been able to pay down any principal and in the end run will have paid double for my home.
In this moment I believe that Aurora loan services is attempting to use a property tax loophole in my loan agreement in order to balloon my payment in such a way as to place me in default so they can acquire my property.
On Friday, June 18th Aurora wrote a letter, which was mailed and postmarked on Saturday June 19th. It arrived at my home on Monday, June 21st, which I opened immediately. The exact language of the letter was an inquiry into the status of past-due property taxes that were approximately 16 months in arrears. I found the inquiry confusing because my financial particulars had been scrutinized with a microscope for over nine months. Nevertheless I immediately contacted Aurora to try and straighten things out. I called at noon on June 21st and explained to a supervisor that I was in contact with the state tax assessor and had received information and documentation stating that the state was not interested in coming after me for my delayed property taxes. I had in fact made arrangements to pay a portion of the 2008 delinquent taxes and explained to the assessor my financial limitations due to physical injury, high medical expenses, and unemployment. It was then explained to me that I would be paying 1 ½% interest on the past due taxes but that no action would be taken unless I was five years in arrears. I tried to explain this to the supervisor at Aurora. I was then shocked to hear the following; “Aurora had decided to ignore the letter that had been sent to me three days earlier, telling me I had 30 days to resolve this matter, and that they were paying my tax bill that day!” The language of the letter sent to me and my promissory note both state that Aurora has the right to do this but that it is a discretionary choice because the language is; “Aurora may choose…”.
I then explained to the representative that this discretionary choice was not only a violation of their fiduciary obligation to both myself but also to their client and the investors who hold my title. I explained that, since Aurora knows all of my financial particulars having just spent 9 months investigating every single detail of my financial life, and that choosing to pay this tax bill and ballooning my payment by establishing an escrow account would increase my monthly mortgage payment from $1677 to almost $3600. I explained that this would be impossible for me to pay and that it would in fact placed me in a position of a forced default. A position I would fight and would end up costing hundreds of thousands of dollars and tying up the issue in court for several years.
I was then told; “too bad, you should’ve known better, but if you can raise $11,000 by tomorrow morning, (which was less than 12 hours away), I could avoid this entire thing by beating their payment to the tax assessor”. I was then told I could file a complaint in writing, but that the process would take up to 60 days to review, which made no sense since the action being taken that places my home in jeopardy was going to occur in less then 12 hours!
Over the next seven days I repeatedly called seeking help and a viable solution. Every representative that I spoke to, (while obviously referring to their scripted responses), told me that this situation was what it was and could not be escalated, but I persisted and at the end of every single conversation the situation was in fact escalated. (I have recordings of every single conversation.)
Finally, after eight days of some of the most surreal conversations I’ve ever had in my life, I reached a senior supervisor in the executive division capable of actually addressing the situation. During the course of that particular recording I have a senior representative acknowledging that an error has been made and a violation of the inherent agreement presented to me in the initial letter dated June 18th. I was offered 30 days to show I was resolving the problem and denied that without notice. I believe that this is in violation of not only the Consumer Protection Act, but also several fair trade practices. I further believe that this attempt is motivated by several factors; 1) that I am in fact a successful loan modification candidate who is maintaining his credit and payment history with perfect payments, and 2) that they are not making any money because I’m doing that, and 3) that my house is not upside down and that they can acquire this house and what little equity I do have by initiating this discretionary move.
During the course of the conversation the supervisor agreed that I should be entitled to not 30 days but 60 days, and that she would arrange that, and that my credit would not be negatively impacted in any way if I maintained good faith and paid my payments, and that they were working best faith efforts to try and find a solution.
Unfortunately, as Aurora knows, I am still partially disabled and not eligible for unemployment and I am still unemployed. I am not eligible for disability, and my unemployment precludes me from obtaining an equity line or fair interest rate loan to bridge the new payment costs. They also know that every month, no matter what it takes, I somehow manage to pay my payment, every single month, on time, no matter what.
I do not, nor have I ever tried to deny that there is a property tax delinquency. My complaint is that Aurora chose to violate my rights as a valued client and homeowner by offering a 30 day window to solve, or show that I am solving, the tax issue problem, and initiated an action that was not only unnecessary but purely discretionary, and essentially places me in a position of forced default. Even if the tax assessor was going to take action they are required to notify the bank which then have the opportunity to pay the deficit. the only reason it was paid is so that they can balloon my payment and force me out.
I explained that I would fight this to the very end, to which point I am writing this letter to your organization to initiate an investigation into what I believe are extremely unfair and prejudicial business practices by Aurora. If one goes to Google and types in the phrase “suing Aurora Loan services” literally thousands of stories like mine appear. Where is accountability and transparency? Where is advocacy for the consumers and american homeowners who are being trampled by these cheats and liars?
In these uncertain times I am an exemplary model of fiduciary frugality. I have an absolutely perfect credit history and tier one credit with one exception; which is a short sale on the house that I lost at the beginning of the real estate and financial debacle we are now all facing. Aurora loan services knows absolutely everything about my financial predicament, and also knows that I proactively sought a solution and received a permanent and fixed loan modification that would allow me to keep my home.
By choosing to do this, by choosing to ignore the letter I was sent offering me 30 days, by initiating an action that was not necessary and that prevents me from obtaining a bridge loan, I believe that Aurora is trying to steal my home and I will fight this for as long as I humanly can. It is incredibly offensive to me to have to be dealing with this issue considering it took 20 years to save, ten years of perfect payments and 9 months of arduous negotiation to get the loan mod.
I’ve spent my entire adult life, from the age of 15, working incredibly hard and assiduously maintaining my credit history and profile. I have never been overleveraged or over indebted. When a situation arose that could potentially be a problem I have proactively sought and received and achieved solutions. I’ve successfully raise a child who is sober and sane, having graduated from public school with honors and attending college in the fall with an almost full scholarship.
I pay my taxes, and I’m a solid citizen of the United States. I deeply resent that Lehman and Aurora have received federal funding specifically designated to help individuals like myself who have been fiscally prudent and hard-working, and that they are systematically targeting and defrauding homeowners like myself.
The entire system is set up to not only prevent individuals from actually receiving help, but also so convoluted and bureaucratic in nature that when a problem does arise, the system is entirely designed to get a consumer to give up in frustration. I am not one of those people. I’ve worked too hard and too long to buy and keep my home and will not turn it over to a bunch of corporate thieves and bureaucrats who caused this problem in the first place.
I would like to initiate a full investigation into this sequence of events. I am in possession of all documentation and shall attach copies of the letters sent to me detailing the timeline and the fact that I had 30 days, which was ignored. I am also in possession of all conversations between myself and representatives of a Aurora loan services, as legal audio recordings.
I believe that I have the right to keep my home. I believe that the 20 years of labor that I spent saving up to buy my home has value. I believe that the 10 years of absolutely perfect payment history, even in the midst of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, has value. I believe that I put my obligations as a homeowner above almost everything except for my responsibilities as a parent to my child. I have made incredible sacrifices in order to maintain and pay my monthly mortgage payment. I recognize that this is my responsibility.
I do not recognize the right of Aurora loan services and Lehman to take my home on a technicality that was entirely avoidable and at their discretion. Again, I believe that this discretionary action is a significant violation of Aurora loan services fiduciary obligation to both the investor holding title and myself as the homeowner and I seek justice.
The solution that I’m seeking is to be able to keep my home that I’ve invested 30 years of my life building and investing in. But I believe that the only reason that the loan company is pursuing this matter is an attempt to acquire my home which is, at this point in time, not upside down, although most likely unsellable, due to the current economic climate.
The current status is that Aurora has made three suggestions that make no sense;
The first offer that was made to me was a suggestion to actually apply for a new loan modification. This absolutely made no sense to me! I just received a permanent loan modification 14 month ago, not a trial loan modification, but a permanent fixed loan modification, terms are 30 years at 4%. This was a modification that I received after nine months of arduous and debilitating negotiation to move from a negative A.R.M. loan that was accruing over $1000 a month in debt obligation prior to the modification. The first contradiction is obviously that Aurora of knows that I just received a permanent loan modification 14 months ago. They also know every single detail, down to the penny, about me and my financial particulars! They also know, 100%, that I am not eligible for loan modification under current guidelines. That I got a permanent loan modification at all is something close to a miracle. That I have maintained it assiduously puts me in an extremely small percentile. So it’s not really an offer of solution or resolution to suggest applying for a secondary loan modification, to pay off the $11,000 that they chose to pay and then penalize me for. As I have stated numerous times, I was working with estate tax assessor, there was no problem, and for whatever reason the decision was made in panic that has caused this problem. So again, to offer as a solution that I go through a process that almost got me hospitalized through stress the first time, and that I actually completed and maintained, is not a real offer resolution.
The second offer they presented was that I simply pay off the entire $11,000 payment in one shot. This again is a non-resolution as they know everything about my finances and now that I have no money, or at least not that kind of money, to be able to make an $11,000 payment. In point of fact, if I had that money in the first place I would’ve simply paid the state tax assessor.
The third offer makes the least sense, and that concerns me the most because of the implied dishonesty. I was told that they would be willing to spread the payments out over a five-year period at $267 a month. I asked if that would be including any kind of an escrow account that would also balloon my payments, which Ms. Farley, the exec in charge, could not answer. On the recording that I have she then goes on to state that they would not be charging me any interest for this five-year period. Here’s where it gets weird; $267 a month for five years equals $16,000. The amount in question that was paid on June 21 by Aurora is $11,000. So contradiction number one in this statement is that obviously they are in fact charging interest! Not only are they charging interest, but actually charging extremely high rate of interest where the debt, at the end, would actually be at 50% interest. If the amount financed is $11,000, and the amount is paid over five years and ends up being $16,000, then they are making a $5000 profit on this arrangement. So you can see why discussions and negotiations with this organization are almost impossible, because at every turn they are positioning themselves to either make money or steal my house.
The choice to pay this tax debt was discretionary! The problem that is happening right now is because Aurora preemptively chose to ignore the letter that they had sent me and pay a debt that was not necessary to be paid in that moment. I recognize there was a debt obligation to the tax assessor and that I was responsible to resolve that. The current and ongoing problem is entirely due to the panicked decision to preemptively pay this tax debt. As I pointed out to you there are thousands of examples of people being defrauded of their homes by this company in exactly this manner.
If they want to seek resolution they need to approach me with integrity and some sense of honesty and a desire to seek a mutually beneficial solution. I have 100% demonstrated over a ten-year period my absolute integrity and good faith. I am a valued client who is being treated very badly and who has to remain extraordinarily vigilant in order to protect myself from what is obviously unethical business practices.
I also wish to report this in an effort to dispute and refute the current claims by the GOP that we are all fiscally imprudent homeowners who are not eligible because we are utilizing our funds for entertainment and frivolous ventures. Quite the reverse; I don’t go out, no vacations, having bought a new piece of underwear in two years, extremely high medical expenses, a son headed to college, luckily on scholarship, and financial hardship due to both physical and medical issues, an financial hardship due to the current economic downturn and unemployment issues, not eligible for disability, nor am I eligible for any of the federal assistance programs as I don’t fall within the guidelines that are extremely unrealistic and unhelpful anyway.
Please help me resolve this matter in a timely manner and help me keep my home.
Thank you.
J. March
You have all my prayers and good wishes behind you. Go get those bastards.
They probably have that default insurance where they get paid if they can prove that you are in deault. It’s a double or triple win for them, they get all your payments and the balance of your loan and they still have the house!
Thank you Katie I am trying!…and Flee I don’t know about the insurance you mention but 2 things have arisen that I notice with this process. I discussed the first with Mike the other day, which is that this process steals not just the house but your life. the amount of time spent cutting through the corporate red-tape and the system and the stress involved literally sucks the life force out of you. The second is this strange thing i noticed and mentioned to Congressman Berman’s aide who has been trying to help; I said it feels like I am being pursued by bill collectors or the repo guy, ONLY I AM NOT LATE!!! I have paid and paid and paid perfectly and in fact even paid my July payment in good faith, KNOWING they are trying to screw me. Yet they still take this hard line and attitude like I am a deadbeat client, I just don’t get it. Anyone reading this post with an idea of how to actually solve this please feel free to post something or call Congressman Howard Berman’s office and let them know you heard of this travesty.
Esther Azal, Field Deputy
Office of Congressman Howard Berman CA-28
Esther.Azal@mail.house.gov
or better yet call:
Ms. Julie Richtel – Senior VP Aurora Loan services
Phone: (720) 945-3000
then dial her direct extension 9454055# and let her know you saw this posting and what you think about the whole thing!
Thanks for the support!
Hello, it’s been a long time since you last blogged. Two years ago the same thing happened to me with Aurora. I had a 10 yr perfect payment history. They insisted I go late if I wanted my adjustable converted to a fixed. They insisted for 9 months and when my interest finally increased from 5.25. to 5.375, I complied and went the required 90 days late. they immediately filed a Notice of Default. My interest rate then began to decrease and I have letters in writing informing me of my new lower payment, but they refused to accept that payment and so I had to continue to pay at the higher rate. In all, my interest dropped 3 times over a year and a half. The payment decreased by $1200. I continued to pay the higher payment and they foreclosed anyway while I was making my payment 5 days before Christmas 2009. I started an Aurora victims group. If you are interested (we are actively fighting aurora at every level) you can email me at jallayne@hotmail.com. I hope you are still in your home.
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So what happened..did the ots do anything. you do realise that the ots is filled with people who used to work for lehman? I talked to them once and they said, “banks can do whatever they want”. But aurora loan servicing is not a bank and it doesn’t represent the investor..it represents lehman and his bank.
OTS did nothing…it is ongoing…Aurora has now added “litigation fees” to my monthly statement, only it never went to litigation or even arbitration. I am filing charges again next week. Not really sure what else I can do but be honest and keep fighting, maybe someday true advocacy for people like me will show up.
We have been trying to get a modification on our loan for 3 years. Aurora tells us “pay this amount for six months, submit the required paperwork and we will get the modification completed”. Then the six months are up and they tell us that they are missing paperwork. We have gone through this provess 5 times and the same thing everytime! When we were going into the third round of a “6 month period” they told us that they can not accept a payment. NOW… as of 11-4-11 we received a letter stating that Aurora is no longer doing modifications and that we must pay the 20K in fees, charges, etc… by 11-11-11 or they will foreclose. IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO?
I cannot offer you legal advice. I am sorry. but I understand.
There are resources you can look to; homepreservationnetwork.com is a great starting point, also immediately contact the Office of Thrift supervision and your congressman and file an immediate formal complaint, if what you are saying is true there are laws governing this kind of thing, also the only encouragement I can offer is to try and disconnect emotionally, (I know it is our homes) but if you can treat it like a business, be tough with aurora, talk in business terms and fight. That is what we all have to do, one house at a time, and hope someday our leaders will recognize they funded a bunch of criminals. I wish you the best possible outcome.