I have only been banking with Bank of America for one year now, but it hasn't been a good expieriance thus far. This past week though was horrific. My lovely wife and I spent the weekend in Louisiana to celebrate our 1 year anniversary. We made a mistake in our spending and unintentionaly overdrew our account.


An old purchase surfaced late and one of the hotels charged us an extra $30 to park that we weren't expecting. We discovered the error upon our return and notified the bank to resolve the issue. At that point their were already $140 worth of charges for our $90 dollar mistake. The customer service representative suggested we not take any action yet because their were more penalties pending. She told me they would be able to work something out with us on all of them once they cleared. Nine penalties and 2 customer service reps later they told us their was nothing that they could do. So now Bank of America expects us to pay $455 of penalties for a $90 mistake. I went into the branch to resolve the issue and was told that I shouldn't have followed their own reps advice and that they could not check with their own customer service department. The associate I spoke with left me waiting twice to speak with the branch supervisor, and both times returned stating she was unwilling to work with me. She never spoke to me personally and simply had him give me her card and placed our account on hold. I explained to them I have a small struggling business and my wife is a part time teacher. We could manage the $140 fees but $455 was just not possible right now. Don't you think that is a real bully tactic?

After catching BoA stealing money from my father's account I took a personal interest.
My findings: yes, they STOLE THE MONEY!
Point of interest regarding character - BoA corporate policy regarding "this call may be recorded..." - Only THEY may record the call. Not you!
If BoA dares to contest this, they may contact me at any time

I am posting this to hopefully shead some light on what a lot of American's are facing. I purchased my home in 2003 and have made my payments on time every month. I went through a divorce and took on the entire house to keep it from going into foreclosure back in 2007. In July of 2009 I was laid off from my job. The day I was let go I called BOA and explained to them that I would need help as my savings would only carry me a few months with no income. I started the Making Homes Affordable program at that time. Since that time I have been nothing to lied to, confused, and been given the run around. I have been told literally everytime I have called "Oh well the person you spoke to last didn't do it right or know what they were talking about." When I called in December to follow up, since the promised package never showed up, I was told that my house went into foreclosure on October 22...which happens to be my birthday. But yet I was never notified and they could not tell me when I needed to be out. Then in the begining of Feb the promised package with the 3 month trial payment plan showed up ... apparently the house did not go into foreclosure. So I made my 3 month trial payments. Then at the end of May I received a final package, stating what my new final monthly payment would be and guess what ... it was HIGHER than when I first started this entire thing!!! MUCH Higher than the 3 month trial payment (which by the way are not placed towards the balance of your loan and it does not appear that you're making payments - so your credit is hurt even more). I was given 5 days ... 5 DAYS to sign the papers and send in the new HIGHER payment. Their goal or what the president wants to be the goal is getting your monthly payment to 33% of your income. They got mine to 70% of my income. So after a year of fighting to save my house, I'm done. I can't take them anymore and I cannot make the higher payment. So here you go BOA ... here's another house to add to the pile of things that are hurting our economy. Do you care? NOPE! Thanks for using our tax dollars that our president put out there to help Americans for your personal gain. Because it's certainly not going to the American people. It's certainly not helping us. Enjoy it because we can't take material things with us when we go and how we act in this life, depends how we live in the next. And I know I tried my best and am a good person. You can't look in the mirror and say the same.

Company phone = 800-669-6607
Incident = In February 2010 I contacted my mortgage lender Bank of America about their Making Homes Affordable Program in which I was solicited via the internet. I did call and inquire but was told I did not qualify. About 6 weeks later I receive a FED-EX package about the program. I called Bank of America and was told the documents were sent by mistake and to "toss them in the trash." That is exactly what I did.

On June 4, 2010 I noticed that $199.16 was missing out of my checking account. After looking through my bank statement my fixed rate mortgage had jumped from $424.17 to $523.75 in May of 2010.

I contacted Bank of America and was told "this is your new payment as we opened an escrow account to pay your property taxes and insurance for the Making Homes Affordable Program. I explained to 7 people over a 2 hour time period that I was not eligible for the program, never signed any documents nor submitted an application and have paid my own taxes and insurance outside of the loan since I first purchased the property.

The bank did admit that I did not qualify for the program but the escrow account had been set up and it could "never be terminated." "You will have to just live with it Mr Russell the rep explained." I told her my taxes are $199 a year and my yearly insurance is $250 but your withholding almost 1, 200 a year? Response: "well at the end of the 27 years we will refund you the difference". I then informed her that Bank of America fraudulently changed the terms and conditions of my loan without permission, my knowledge, or any signed documents. Response we do this all the time its perfectly legal for us to withhold for your taxes and Insurance. I stated my taxes are paid to date and so is my insurance, you cant legally raise my mortgage!

I explained to the representative that I may not even be able to pay my mortgage next month as Bank of America has funneled out $199.16 out of my checking account due to the "increase in my mortgage." Well Mr. Russell if you don't pay your mortgage, we will simply have to foreclose on you and have the Sheriff remove you." I explained to her I have a limited amount of money and pay my property taxes each year with a small bonus check I receive from work, my insurance is paid in small increments monthly and I cant afford a $100 monthly increase in my mortgage. The representative then hung up.

I called Bank of America back and basically was told pretty much the same thing after speaking with 4 more people and a supervisor. The supervisor informed me that he could "try to opt me out of the program"(could take months) you know the program I did not qualify for, and never returned any documents or applications I stated. He said yes sir that one. I demanded my $199 back (1/2 of next months mortgage payment) that Bank of America had fraudulently removed from my bank account via auto-pay. The authorization was only for $424.17 a month not $523.75 Response: its not possible Mr. Russell. Because of Bank of America fraudulently increasing my mortgage and illegally withdrawing more than agreed upon I'm sure I will have overdraft fees as I only have $9.00 left in my account.

It is quite apparent that Bank of America is committing blatant fraud in order to account for the TARP money they have received. If you are wondering why their numbers have increased by 70% in one month, allegedly enrolling more people in the Making Homes Affordable Program? This is how their doing it. I no doubt will loose my home as I will never be able to catch up or pay the higher unlawful increase in my mortgage. Mortgage loan # 8709XXX Did I mention my taxes, insurance, and loan payments have never been late!
Damage Resulting = My end up loosing my home.
Contact me = Y

June 5, 2010

Bank of America
CA6-919-01-41
PO Box 5170
Simi Valley, CA 93062-5170

Re: Loan # 180170276


To whom it may concern:

First I would like to say that our family is being harassed by Bank of America and we are formally asking you to stop harassing us.

We did a loan modification with BofA in October of last year, it was finalized in March of this year. Your bank was kind enough to reduce our payment by 50% for 12 months. We appreciate that very much because it has allowed us to continue to make our payments on time as we have always did. In March, when we got word that the modification was done and we should start paying $269.18, we were please. I then started making that payment on time every month. Then in the late part of May I started getting calls from a loan counseling center, on my house and cell phone, sometimes up to 6 times a day. The people were telling me I was late, I knew I was not and told them there must be a mistake. The first few times they said the loan modification was not showing up and next month it would be all fixed. Well, next month came and the phone calls came along with it.

One day this past month I spent 5 hours on the phone with 2 different Bank of America departments. One department showed my loan mod was done and I had made all my payments on time and the other showed I was not making my payments and I was late. Neither one of these departments would talk to each other and they claimed they were unable to do a conference call. BUT at the end of the phone call I had a supervisor on the phone and he promised to have the loan mod negotiator call me within 48 hours to fix the problem. 48 hours came and went and I never heard from her, still haven’t. Then the calls started again! I spoke with a lady named Rosa, Rosa told me she saw everything I was telling her was correct and she was going to talk with her supervisor and get everything corrected, that never happened.

The 50% that the loan mod discounted my payment is showing late every month although I am making my payment every month and have done so since I got this loan! This needs to be figured out and corrected today. I am tired of trying to play nice and I will report Bank of America if this does not get fixed by June 30, 2010. I am doing everything I am supposed to do and Bank of America is not, you are simply harassing me and my family. Please review my account and fix it so the phone calls stop immediately!

Also, if you have been reporting this late on our credit reports I would like it corrected along with a letter of apology sent to us, just incase it does not come off the credit reports as lates!

Thank you,

Kevin and Maria Hickman