When we started looking for a home here in California we knew right from the start exactly what we could afford. We told our real estate lady and the broker we were going with. That figure was 2500.00 per month and we wanted our insurance and taxes included. We found a house we liked and after a couple of negotiated offers we were told that it was no problem the mortgage would come in under our cap. We were ecstatic and closed within two months.

About a year and a couple months down the road Homecomings Financial our lender sends us a letter stating they have to up the mortgage by 160.00 dollars because our house was reassessed and the value now requires this amount more to cover the taxes. I wrote this off as OK, if that's what they need fine.

Approximately four months later we get another letter stating the same thing on like the 20th of the month but this time they want 450.00 more to cover the arrears we are in. This time I said whoa wait a minute. I dug up our closing paper work and found that we paid 1775.00 dollars at closing for a year in advance of the taxes that Homecomings Financial estimated they would be at that time. It took me all of 5 minutes to find out online what the laws are regarding taxes in California.

Proposition 13 which was enacted in 1978 states that your taxes will be 1% of the assessed value or purchase price. Amend the end there's no questioning that. Seeing as we paid 360, 000.00 our taxes would be 3600.00 per year not the 1775 Homecomings so estimated. This is a very large financial institution and they don't know the LAW?? Nooo, they sure do know the law but had to get us to sign on the dotted line so came up with that bogus figure to keep us under our 2500.00 per month cap. Knowing all along they'd just up the ante somewhere down the line.

I'm a layman as far as the law is concerned but this to me is outright fraud. Needless to say that first month which was less than 11 days from notice of the letter we paid our regular amount. We just couldn't afford the extra 460.00 dollars. Since then we've been able to scrape enough to make the payment but seeing as that payment wasn't assigned and every month thereafter gets put towards month before. We have now been charged a late fee and show our mortgage being paid late every month since. This is bullshit!!!

Today I have received a letter from Homecomings stating our account is in default under the terms of our mortgage some 5002.82 dollars. If we don't work with the Loss Mitigation Dept we could go into foreclosure. We've made every payment but that one 460.00 dollar increase. I have got no clue what this 5, 000 dollar figure is.

I'll let you all know as soon as can talk to someone there.